Review: You Are Mine by Janeal Falor

Title: You Are Mine (Mine #1)
Author: Janeal Falor
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: May 6 2013
Source: Netgalley & Chardonian Press

★★★★

Four stars.

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When Serena is tested and found to be of good stock, she knows that the rest of her life is written. She will be married off to a warlock and become his, his property. To serve him and do as he pleases, no matter how cruel or pointless, and produce his children. And if she disobeys, she will lose it all. She will be shaved, tattooed, and barren- and perhaps even sacrificed- and worth nothing to society. Her ownership is won by a man from another country, who lets her get away with a little rebellion that no one else had ever tolerated. But how much is she willing to chance in a society that sees her only as a material good?

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I have to say, I was very much impressed with this story. It uses a few of my favorite things: dystopia, magic, and romance, and wraps them up into a unique package.

I loved the cast of characters in this book, namely the heroine Serena. She was strong in her principles, even when she knew the consequences of daring to have an opinion. At the same time, she knows when enough is enough. I never questioned her fighting back to be over the top, as I have in other books with "strong" characters. I also loved Zade, the "barbarian" who wins her hand. The land that he's from differs from hers, to a better degree. I enjoyed their light romance throughout this book.

I liked the magical societies that Janeal Falor created. At the beginning of the book there is a tournament in which many lands come together, and that helped to draw me in from the get-go. I'm a sucker for fantasy novels, and I loved the blending of the horrors that are associated with a dystopian society (such as abusive and inequality) and more fantastical elements of spells and magic. I was a bit afraid of this merge, but Falor definitely pulls it off with her writing.

This book is definitely one that sucked me in from the beginning, and the action only tapered off at a few minor points for me- it was hard to put down as a whole. The tarnished, or the no longer useful women of society were a really interesting, creepy element of the story that reminded me of the Avox from The Hunger Games series.

I will for sure pick up the next book in this series (assuming from the #1 after this title that there will be more installments!) and I'd advise fans of dystopian young adult as well as fantasy YA fans to do the same.

Thanks to Netgalley and Chardonian Press for my copy.