Mine

by A.N. Senerella

"I could feel his eyes on me, and I did my best not to look at him. His eyes were burning holes into me; I could feel it. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Stop. Looking. At. Me," I growled between my teeth quietly to the boy less than three feet from me. What was his problem? Was he trying to cheat on the test or something? Poor choice on his part, I didn't know any of the material either. Ha. Is that a victory? I feel like it's not."

Anika Mason—simple name. Brown hair—average color. Blue eyes—she wishes they were brown. Anika thought life was pretty normal before she manages to attract the obsessive attentions of the new boy at school and now she needs to get rid of him, and fast. But when she's forced to lie about having a boyfriend to get him to back off, she unintentionally gives him the name of the biggest player in the school; Brady Morrison. She doesn’t like him, he barely knows she exists. And now she has to pretend she’s dating him. Perfect.

"Simply amazing story. It shows the reality and I love that fact. The way that story flows is simply amazing. The description of feelings is damn good, one can feel it while reading. The ending is superb." - Banso D.

"I can not explain the feelings I have right now. I read this whole book in three hours because I could not put it down. It was very mysterious and had many plot twists." - Christy L.

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, High School, Realistic Fiction

201 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 17, 2017

Reviews

[✨ jami ✨]

well. I got to chapter three (of 33) and the actual thought of continuing this book is too much for me I have to dnf it now I can't read a page more

WHAT IS THIS MESS
Basically, what's happened so far is that a girl is interrupted by some rando new boy at her school who instantly it's like "I'm gonna date you, I'm gonna make you mine" which is fucking creepy and then he stalks her and waits at her car and literally threatens to kill her boyfriend what the fuck this is a guy she literally met that day

so the girl doesn't have a boyfriend but her best friend is a guy and she is actually scared this boy will kill him so she gives a fake name as her "boyfriend" and begins fake dating him idk what happens after that thats where I got to

I had to stop because ALL THE MESS ALREADY

for example: the mc hugs her friend Mitchell and the "new guy" says this to her

"is her a friend of yours? or are you two dating? either way, if I see him put his hands on you in any way again I'll break off his arms"

BITCH LITERALLY WHAT THE FUCK

and if that wasn't weird enough he TEXTS this to her from across the room because he's watching her and also he got her number without her permission wtf

anyway she then basically is kinda chill with it and takes it as a joke and he's like "no seriously. do. not. touch. him. again. ... you're meant to be listening to me."

she eventually calls him out for stalking her and being generally creepy and he's like "uh wow you're a bit hostile" UM OFC SHE IS BITCH WHAT THE FUCK

Anyway, I think this is one of those "oh but I knew you in a past life" or something things BUT I DON'T CARE TO FIND OUT

im done this is !!!!! not what I want to spend my precious time doing aaaaah

especially now I found out from other reviews this book also contains "many dark elements including stalking, several massive invasions of privacy, violence, domestic assault, and drugs."

wow things I dont need in my life: that !

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my review

[Yoda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think I pulled a muscle from rolling my eyes so much. I can´t possibly say one positive thing about this book. Not sure what sucked more all the characters and plot or the fact that I actually finished reading it. This book is describing the worst types of relationships ever, the possessive, jealous and unhealthy type. I knew it wouldn´t be any good pretty quickly, right around the time there were three love interests introduced. I still gave it a shot and actually finished it.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Mine by A.N. Senerella to be quite a good book. I liked the complexity of Anika and the pretend romance with Brady. I liked Brady, I found him to be a fun character who was interesting in his own right. I liked Foster, even if he was a little stalkerish and intense. He pulled me into his heart and when you can do that, I will pull for you. Foster was my favorite. I did not trust some of the side characters, sometimes too vanilla is a red flag.

The writing was well done, and the characters did have a depth that I liked. I enjoyed seeing how they all played it out in the last quarter of the book.

Even with a bit of a love triangle feel, it was a good read that I enjoyed.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sierra's nails dug into my side in warning. She wanted me to stop talking. I'd just given a name, and this guy was clearly unstable. I had probably just signed Brady's death certificate in cursive. Not that I really liked him that much, but still, I felt a little guilty, and I would probably feel even more guilty when the sociopath murdered him and we all had to watch his body being scooped out of the lake on the news."...........

Foster is new at school. Anika seems to be his immediate interest. Anika would rather lie and say she's dating someone she despises, Brady, then give Foster the time of day.

Not only is Brady willing to be her pretend boyfriend, but she got her two friends, Sierra and Mitchell, watching her back. Foster is watching everything else.

Foster is a little cryptic, and a little bit on the stalker side. Will he win Anika over? Maybe Anika will find herself interested in someone she hadn't considered before.

The story was told from Anika's side and then Fosters. His side was way more serious. There became a creepy undertone as it went. Brady and her friends also have a shorter point of view that definitely have more perspective to the story.

This young adult story was a fun and entertaining read. The authors sense of humor had me right from the start. It's was a nice change of pace from my regular crime and detective books.

Thank you A.N. Senerella and Inkitt Publishing.

http://michellebookends.blogspot.com/...

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little while back I received an a review request for ‘Mine’ by A.N. Senerella. This book sounded very interesting, and I loved the cover so I added it to my TBR. I hadn’t read many YA Romance novels lately, so it was definitely time to check this book out.

In ‘Mine’ we meet Anika, a sixteen year old girl who really isn’t one of the popular girls. Anika has two best friends, and she has a pretty bad morning temper. One day a new guy arrives at Anika’s High School, and from the moment he walks in his eyes are on Anika. Foster is kind of weird. He seems obsessed with Anika, and he is really honest. Things that aren’t usual for high school teens.
To get Foster away from her, Anika claims she is dating Brady. But now she has to make sure Foster believes she is really dating Brady.

This book was very easy to read. From the moment I started, I found myself wondering what was going to happen and I just didn’t want to stop reading. Anika was a different teen than you normally read about, she is living on her own and she is definitely opinionated.
Definitely enough to keep me fascinated for a while.

But the three guys surrounding Anika were just weird. Foster, Brady and her best friend Mitchell were all just strange. They all had these stalker kind of qualities and they freaked me out. And I honestly wondered, while reading, if this book would have some paranormal elements in it. It didn’t, but I just didn’t really understand this book. And in the end I didn’t really get what the ‘message’ of this book was.

Thankfully, Anika was one character I loved to read about and I kept wondering what would happen and which direction this book would take so I couldn’t stop reading till I finished it. But I would have loved to feel and understand the romance in this book a little more.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mine is a rather difficult book to review. I really wanted to enjoy this one, and yet it wasn’t at all what I had expected. Whilst I was able to power through the book, reading it in a single sitting, it didn’t quite give me what I had been anticipating.

Mine is very much like a large number of young adult contemporary romance novels when it comes to our main character. We have a female that appears to be rather ordinary, yet we’re quickly thrown into a love triangle. Well, it’s more than a triangle in this one. We have three boys chasing after our leading lady for very different reasons. As I’m not a lover of love triangles, let alone more complex geometric love shapes, I was instantly on edge about this story. When such a thing happens, I like for there to be real emotion – with this one, it felt as though it existed purely for dramatic effect, without much by way of deep emotion.

You see Mine deals with a number of darker topics. Assault, drugs, invasions of privacy, stalking, violence, to name but a few. I feel as though there was a lot of potential because of these elements. However, we focused so much upon the romance that these aspects seemed to take a backseat. They were there, but they were never truly dealt with. I feel as though this is a reflection of how the book isn’t quite long enough to deal with all the elements that were brought up. Individually, one of these elements could have been dealt with in this book – however, the book failed to deal with all of the elements.

Mainly, I was addicted to this story because I was constantly waiting for these things to come together. Whilst the story did come together in a decent way, it felt as though the author had a number of ideas in mind and simply put them on paper. Rather than creating a complex interwoven story, the elements were simply thrown in and it was potluck whether or not they were dealt with.

In other words, the story didn’t quite have the depth and emotional impact I had hoped for considering the topics involved in this story. I also feel as though it’s one of those stories younger readers need to take with a pinch of salt. In many ways, it can be viewed as sending the wrong kind of messages to readers.

Don’t get me wrong I was pulled into the story, it simply wasn’t what it could have been if there had been more to it.

[Sarah A · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an honest review of the book which I received a copy of for free from the Inkitt group via Goodreads.
This book is a YA Romance book.
I'm always sad to give a bad review to a book but it took me so much effort to read this to write an honest review and I honestly cannot recommend this book - sorry Inkitt.
The story is of a normal high school girl who has one female best friend and one male best friend. Then two other boys enter the story and all three males are actively competing for her attention whilst she goes from being "normal" to being a huge idiot.
The book contains many dark elements including stalking, several massive invasions of privacy, violence, domestic assault, and drugs.
It felt like a story written by a teenager who wanted to be one of the major characters but couldn't quite decide which. The writing felt immature, the plot lines were uninteresting and badly explored. The characters were well explained and I did get clear images of them from the story but they weren't people I wanted to read or care about, they were people I would avoid and then hear bad things about.

I think if the book were rewritten with a harsh editor then it might make a reasonable teenage romance book. Right now i wouldn't want any teenagers or young people to read this for fear they'd think this is appropriate behavior.

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Review copy received from author*
A character driven story with poor, flimsy, paperdoll characterisation and one too many possessive relationships.

[Dianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Rating: 2.5 Stars
She was an average looking girl, but her life was anything but average. She lived independent of parental guidance, had few close friends and became the object of a rather uncomfortable love triangle as she became an obsession for both the new boy in school and the most popular guy, the one who never gave her the time of day before Foster came around. She even had someone lurking in the shadows, someone she trusted blindly.

Anika is in over her head, drawn to the stranger who stalked her. Drawn to the boy who finally noticed her after all the years she had had a crush on him. Anika is also immature, not her fault, she is a teen, not equipped for the intensity of what is going on around her, not emotionally mature enough to see something was not right and flattered by the attention she was getting as she attempts to spread her wings in life.

Foster is the new guy at school and for an undisclosed reason, he is immediately drawn to her, he wants her, he even rages against anyone else’s attentions to her. Brady has been her crush for years, until she decided she did not even like the boy he was and suddenly he is there for her, is it because of some macho thing when he sees the new guy as a threat to his “awesomeness” or does he truly have feelings for Anika?

When Anika is suddenly in danger, who will stand up for her, how and why? Will Anika realize that she is faced with more than one unhealthy relationship or will her fairytale romances find her swept off by her prince charming?

MINE by A.N. Senerella is actually a great lesson in relationships, the kind to be very afraid of. Ms. Senerella has nailed the teen perspective, the teen blindness to danger and the teen desire to be sought after, to be independent of her parents, on the outside Anika seems to have that life a young teen would find freeing and fun.

Sound the alarm bells, call child protective services, some teens are mature enough to be on their own, not this one! Call in the counselor, no one should find being stalked to be okay, or to gravitate to someone who shows signs of being obsessed. No one should find an attraction to a guy who thinks bringing movies over means he should get lucky.

There is no doubt, A.N. Senerella can put together some well-worded reading. She has great talent as a young author. I would just like to see this one have at least some positive aspects to give to the generation it is directed at.

Publisher: Inkitt (June 17, 2017)
Publication Date: June 17, 2017
Genre: YA
Print Length: 181 pages
Available from: Amazon
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

[Lynndell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Mine by A.N. Seneralla due to a publisher (Inkitt) request. Anika does not like being social at all and will do about anything to avoid any contact or conversation with others. Foster just moved into town from Alaska and is now the new kid at school. Anika describes Foster as giant, at least a foot taller than any other guy at school. For some reason, Foster is possessive and overly protective of Anika and it's freaking everyone out because he threatens and beats guys up if he thinks they are causing any harm to her. Foster also keeps making comments about knowing Anika for a while, longer than his short time as the new kid at school. The story unfolds and the characters and their backgrounds are explained in more detail. It's a bit choppy and jumps around but the suspense and uncertainty make the story interesting and worthy of 4 stars. I voluntarily read and reviewed an arc of this book.

[Danielle's · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that you can't put down but you're not quite sure why you are still reading it.

Anika grew on me by the end of the books but she has her own issues. She's her own person and happy to do her own thing. She's a dynamic character who up until recently didn't have boys interested in her. Now she has a few. The new boy Foster is intense. In fact, she try's to shake him off by pretending to date someone else. The lines become blurred and everything becomes complicated.

My main problem with this book is that it doesn't seem plausible. It's a story and reads like fiction. I kind of loved it but at the same time hated it. Therefore I'm rating it 4 out 5. It has stalker quality's but it isn't dark in the way Penelope Douglas's work is. If anything it's a love triangle that doesn't have perfect edges.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair review*

[Cheryl O'Harney · Rating 2 out of 5]

*This book was reviewed for Summer's Eve Reads*

Title: Mine
Author: A.N. Senerella
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 2/5

This was a story about secrets, friendships, jealousy and unrequited love and as much as it pains me to do so It has to be said that for me this was one hot mess.

Written in the here and now and told from 5 yes that's right 5 different pov's this started out okay but from roughly the middle onwards it went downhill, I found it confusing and to be honest it just didn't do it for me I found myself losing interest but I'm not normally one for giving up so I soldiered on and finished it.

Mine was a coming of age story which had the potential to be so much more, sadly for me it just didn't tick all my boxes.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book would be one of those great stories where the characters were tormented by hurt and love but then realize that they were meant for each other in the end. Like the great couple, Romero and Juliet. Maybe this would be the case for Anika and Foster but I will never know.

First off, Foster did not make a great first impression on Anika. Although, to be honest, it seemed that Anika did not have a good outlook on life and people in general. She was very abrupt. Which in the beginning I brushed off but as the story progressed, it got old quickly.

There are the guys: Foster, Brady, and Anika's friend, Mitchell. None of them would be my first, second, third, or fourth choice. Brady came off as the typical jock. If the author wanted me to hate Foster well it worked. I mean what type of guy hacks into people's phones to watch what they are doing or to text them without being invited to in the first place. Then there is Mitchell. It seemed that he had a crush on Anika but the way he went about things came off as creepy as well. Part of this reason is because Foster did not like Mitchell and was quick to point out all the things he did. Sadly, to say but I could not get even half way before I was done. There was nothing endearing about the characters or the storyline.

[Born To Read · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Foster Woods is new at the school and he starts stalking Anika without any reason.
She thinks the situation is a little bit creepy so she pretends she is dating Brady, another guy from school, to make Foster back off.
The story is a little bit confusing in the beginning. A lot of events, some of them important, are mentioned but not exlained. The writer doesn't delve deeply into the story.
The truth is that I struggle a lot to finish this book.

[Olivia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful, obvious, jumps around. Waste of 2.99

Honestly, I love a quick cheap read. But this was a waste of 3 hrs. None of the plot made sense, the character development was beyond lacking, and it was all seriously unbelievable.

[Shelbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was kindly provided with this ARC from the Inkitt Publishing Team in exchange for an honest review.

Overview of the Book:
After attracting the intense and almost obsessive attentions of the new boy at school Anika is desperate to find a way to get rid of him. Forced to lie and say that the schools player, who has ignored her since sixth grade, is her boyfriend, things start to turn upside down in Anika’s simple life.
Things continue to get crazier when she finds herself becoming attached, but the question is, will she develop feeling for her fake boyfriend? Or will her stalker interfere in more ways than one?

My Opinion:
Well... I finished this book in the time span of 4 hours. During this time I was meant to be writing an English feature article, but lets just say there was 0% chance of me doing that. This book was such a fast paced and surprising book. It honestly didn’t turn out anything like I expected. While it’s plot actually kept me guessing a lot of the time.

Things I liked:
- Fierce main character, Anika, who although a little bit annoying at times, was very independent the whole book
- Foster who was a socially awkward turtle, the purest of all humans, yet also a little bit of an obsessive stalker
- A tough guy (who is my sweet little potato, Foster) being a total softy and cuddly bear with Anika’s little sister. Seriously, who can resist the big tough guy who is wrapped around the finger of an adorable toddler?! That’s right, no one!
- How when Anika is left (slightly heartbroken) she goes and does stuff instead of moping around! She goes and graduated high school early, gets fit and also helps raise her sister. This girl gets stuff done!
- Just though Foster deserved another mention, because he is a socially awkward teddy bear who I adore!
- Yes, there was a bit of a love-square, but it was a very hard to identify one and it actually wasn’t completely infuriating! Because of this, I was left completely clueless about who Anika would end up with, I had my suspicions... But I could never pin it down until close to the end!

Things I didn’t like:
- I felt like at times some of the characters were a little bit sexist, very minor, but I did see it at times. Although this was totally fixed during my all time favourite quote (you can read below)
- I feel like a few lose ends were left without being addressed. For instance, when Foster does a few of his creepy stalker things (not going to specify, because nobody likes a spoiler). I would have liked for this to be addressed, this would have also added a bit more onto the book. Or maybe this leaves room for somewhere the next book can follow on with...
- Anika didn’t have any strong relationships with many female characters and I feel like this lacking in the book was a little bit disappointing

Favourite Quote:
“A-aren’t... aren’t boys meant to be the ones protecting girls?”
She thought for a moment. “Nah, I don’t think so. I think people should protect the people they feel need protecting, no matter what.”
(This quote is even cuter because it is Foster and Anika saying this when they were little kids!)

The Verdict – Star Rating:
I really enjoyed this book, I give it 3.5/5 stars.
I probably would have given this book a higher star rating if it had a little more content. But for the size of this book, it was very good and I really did enjoy it!
(This rounds up to 4 stars on Goodreads)

[Elizabeth Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, I love the book cover, I love how it just pulls ya in right from the start, lots of drama, but not too much to where it is unbelievable, just the right moment to keep ya interested and curious to where it might go??! ... I was glued to the book from get-go. I couldn't put it down. Such a new fan of A.N. Senerella ... I can't wait to see what will be next in this authors future? I know Brady and Foster were kind of odd, okay more than odd ... but for me ... I was like why does Anika not think that Mitchell is just too freakin' odd? hello, what about the party? HELLO? wake up call!!! She kept calling him her best friend, what?? HELLO? wake up Anika ... he is pulling the sheet of your eyes? red flag!! I know Foster was just odd & a lot of what he said a bit strange ... but I think in the background if it all he had a good heart ... he wanted to feel or fit in with others a group, he loved Anika, saw how she need protection, he loves her and wants to be a rock for her. I liked Brady ...but something about him, rubbed me the wrong way ... I just liked Foster bestest (i know that is not a word, but he is my fave) from the beginning & he was my pick. But enough said ... no spoilers here (but there are so many things I wanna talk about, 'cause I am dying here!! I wanna cry when I can't talk or reveal to much. It is not like any one I know has read the book too. I always wish there was some one or a group you could go to when you love a book and wanna throw out some ideas or thoughts!! where can a girl/guy go??!) ...just my thoughts. I LOVED THIS BOOK!! so so much! ( ;

[Sheena · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of two halves

In my humble opinion this is a book of two halves…the first half I found enjoyable an intriguing YA/ high school romance with the usual high school angst and bullying but also a story of infatuation, missed opportunities and unrequited love…the second half descended into a muddle of forward and backward timelines with too many character voices and a very confusing and unlikely plot…

I loved the upbeat narrative provided by Anika with her quirky outlook on life and her humorous asides…but she was also rather irritating; her ability to remain oblivious to the feelings of those surrounding her seemed naive at best and disingenuous at other times…. all the characters had the potential to be interesting but there were too many best friends and potential love interests and it was unclear exactly why Anika became the focus of so much attention… ….Foster is my favorite ….and boy was he tenacious, I loved how protective and over the top possessive he was although this was somewhat hidden behind all the other contenders in Anika’s life..….the majority of the first half of the book was from Anika’s viewpoint but the second had a number of different perspectives and the story began to lose impetus with too many coincidences and too much unhealthy obsession…

Although written in the here and now there were a number of sections focusing on previous events this to and fro between the present and the past became frustrating and in some cases it was an unnecessary device since the events highlighted occurred within the current timeline and could have been incorporated without affecting the flow of the storytelling…. in addition time passed in a haphazard way with detailed days, particularly at the start, and then months and years flew by without any point…

The honest truth is that this book could and should have been awesome...it had the potential to be a captivating coming of age story but somehow it lost direction and energy and I consequently lost interest..the first half was worthy of 4 stars, the second half 2 stars… This book was reviewed for Summer's Eve Reads…

[Debbie Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with this book. Not sure what I was expecting when I started it, but I could not put it down. Every time I thought I had it figured out we had a new twist. I really like that the author fed you back history slowly as you uncovered more and more.

It’s not your typical “high school” kid story. Anika is very mature but still naive enough to make her believable as a high school student. The story line is extremely relatable and easy to follow. It’s just a fun read. I can’t explain what it is that pulled me in but I couldn’t stop.

I like how each character is different and how Anika affected each one, how they grow and change just having her in their life and how they change and grow when she’s not.

[Inishowen Cailín · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was conflicted in awarding this book 4 stars as I found it to be a mixed bag. I had issues with some aspects of the story however I did find it hard to put down and I enjoyed reading it. The first half had me hooked and I just had to keep reading even though I wasn't overly thrilled with the story towards the end. I liked Foster's character and how he acted to protect Anika at school. I wanted to know why he had such an obsession with Anika as it was such a mystery. All was revealed later in the story. However, I found the fact that she had attracted the attentions of three very possessive males with stalker tendencies to be over the top. This is where my main criticism of the story lies. There were too many things going on with her little group of friends and I think the story should have focused more on her and Foster with the main conflict coming from one other character.
However, I did enjoy reading this book and I would certainly watch out for future titles by the author.

[ach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for obsessive, crazy stalkers .But this one just didn't do it for me ,there was so much going on that it made my head spin .
But i realized it was this author's first book and i'm impressed, it had potential to be an awesome book but failed .And this is just my opinion

[Shari · Rating 1 out of 5]

This reader received a copy of A.N. Senerella's "Mine" in exchange for an honest review. Although an adult, this reader does happen to enjoy a well written young adult romance or coming of age story. With the key words "well written". This is a young adult romance that is more of a hot mess than a believable or interesting tale. Senerella uses multiple points of view - five, to be exact, with four basically reiterating what protagonist Anika has stated over and over again. The story reads like a young teens fantasy journal in a stream of thought style... she considers herself ordinary and is shocked when suddenly two good-looking and more or less out-of-her-league males begin drooling over her. Absolutely nothing is written about her character, showing why these males suddenly have the hots for her, either. Senerella barely describes the physical aspect of her characters, let alone showing personality or temperament traits, leaving every single character one dimensional. Male lead Foster is described as "...seven foot twelve or something..." in height. Uh, that's eight foot tall. Senerella wants him to be eight foot tall? No problem, call it like it is instead of "seven foot twelve or something" because twelve inches equals a foot. Senerella wants to imply Anika's view is exaggerated? No problem, have her think Foster appears like the lone redwood tree standing in a forest of maples... or something like that.

The entire story is told - in present tense, mind you - never shown, making it an extremely long, boring read. Readers are suppose to feel in the moment of incidents happening, yet there is time jumping in back flashes and forward jumps. When has that happened in real life? Back flashes, maybe, but skipping ahead months or a year? And instead of telling readers that Anika is annoyed, show us by her chewing on her lips or shoulders trembling or reddening of her face or lips pressed tightly together forming a thin line or narrowed eyes or... you get the picture. Being able to envision "Anika tilting her head slightly with her eyes narrowed, puffing out a loud sigh" is much more interesting to read than, "Anika felt annoyed". Yet, both imply the same thing; simply, one paints a picture with words while the other makes a statement. There are also too many continuity errors to list in this tale.

Contrary to what some others may believe, this reader takes no satisfaction in writing what may be viewed as harsh critiques. It is her goal to point out problem spots or show where things could be improved, in her opinion. Perhaps publishers that push writers out before they are ready, should be blamed. Who knows? This reader truly wished to find at least one item to praise in Senerells's writing, but could not. Settings were not described, simply told about... dialogue was stilted and unnatural... characters were one dimensional... grammar, punctuation and spelling errors were numerous - as well as many tense issues. This reader cannot recommend this story.

[Alicia C · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the author's first completed novel, and I applaud her for that. I don't like to leave negative reviews, and this one isn't going to be neccessarily negative, however I do have a few problems with the novel.

First though, I'll describe the story: Anika is a teenager with two best friends (Sierra and Mitchell). One day, a new guy comes to their school (Foster) and Anika soon realizes that he's started stalking her since he invades her personal space by following her between classes, staring at her during class and whenever he sees her, texting her without her giving him her number, threatens Mitchell after he sees them wrestling around in the hallway, and following Anika to her car, eventually waiting for her there after class. Anika thinks Foster's behaviour is creepy at first, so she enlists the help of the jock of the school, Brady. He agrees to be her pretend boyfriend to get Foster to go away. Alas, the plan fails, and Anika ends up with not one, not two, but THREE guys in love with her.

This book has its funny moments. Anika's quirky and sarcastic attitude at the beginning drew me in. She seemed like a bit of a loner and an introvert, which is okay because I am, too. When she first encountered Foster, she was aware that what Foster was doing wasn't okay, and he was being creepy. But then as the love triangle progressed, she seemed to start to ignore the red flags of Foster's behaviour and make excuses for him, instead. "He's just socially awkward", "he doesn't know how to talk to girls", "he hasn't done anything to hurt me or physically harm me". Stalking may not be physically harmful, but it can be emotionally distressing, as Anika expressed at the start. However, Foster doesn't leave her alone, and continues to stalk her and be pushy until she finally agrees to become friends with him. I find this a little problematic, for a few reasons.

Girls: if a person is making you uncomfortable by stalking your life and invading your personal space, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BEFRIEND THEM. You don't have to make excuses for their behaviour. Just because they haven't physically harmed you, doesn't mean it's any less distressing or upsetting to have your life suddenly invaded by someone you don't know.

Anyway, her and Brady hang out once outside of school, and she suddenly thinks that she may have feelings for him, even though they are only pretend dating. She's a virgin, and she hasn't been kissed, and doesn't want Brady to be her first because he's too much of a playboy, which is fair. But then her and Brady have a fight, and she goes to hang out with Foster directly after that, AND LETS HIM KISS HER. Ugh. So she doesn't want the jock to kiss her, so she decides to let her stalker kiss her instead. Great. Now of course, we have a confused Anika, and she kind of goes downhill from there.

She bounces between Foster and Brady for some time, even though through Foster's point of view, we learn that he's hacked her phone camera so that he can randomly watch her whenever he wants, and placed cameras everywhere. Foster actually shows up at her house unannounced, while she's sleeping in bed with Brady and the doors are supposedly locked. THEN SHE GOES TO SPEND THE DAY WITH HIM. There's only a "How did you get in here? How did you know where I live?!" and that's that. There's no fight, no yelling, no screaming at him to get out. Having a guy you only sort of know just show up at your house without you telling him your address, IS CREEPY AND NOT ROMANTIC. Why would you spend the day alone with someone who just...does that?!

Foster's character annoyed me and reminded me a little too much of Christian Grey. Even though he had no intentions of physically harming Anika, it's still not healthy to obsess over someone as much as Foster obsesses over Anika. And it's not romantic to start a relationship with your stalker, either.

"At least Foster was open about his creepiness." That doesn't make stalking okay. That doesn't excuse that someone is watching your every move, also he isn't completely open either. He hasn't told you that he hacks your cameras and watches you when you're not aware of it, also invading your personal space.

Anika doesn't like people buying shit for her so birthdays aren't a big deal, but Foster intends to shower her with gifts and impress her on her birthday. He even ignores her protests about him buying their movie tickets. That's not being "nice", that's disrespecting her wishes. Anika wonders how he knows that she likes horror movies, and how he knows she likes Italian food, he tells her just wild guesses, and she says he's an accurate guesser. While they're alone at his place, he admits that he still wants to kiss her again, which makes her think that's what he brought her to his place for, so she asks to be driven home. RED FLAG.

At some point in the middle of the story it starts to skip through different POV's for a paragraph or two, each time. She decides to move to Washington to be with her family, mostly since everyone told her she should go. Of course, this doesn't deter Foster, because he thinks that "I would keep tabs on her while she was gone. I'd watch. Someone had to make sure she was safe." That's not creepy at all.

Another thing that was confusing, was when it randomly time jumped all over the place. 1 year later, 2 years ago, 6 months ago, 3 months ago, 3 days ago, back to the present. It was kind of a mess with the random POV switches and time jumps. Her parents weren't mentioned until about halfway through when we learn they live in Washington, and then when she moves there her dad's in the story with no introduction, just a name drop, so I was a little confused for a bit as to who Jensen was.

I'd also like to know how a teenager was living alone in a house. Who was paying her cell phone bills, who was paying for her food, power, internet? None of that was explained. Her family life wasn't really explained much, either. It just kind of jumped into the love triangle without really introducing much of the character's backstories. We learn a little about Foster near the end, and how him and Anika first met when they were kids and she saved him from bullies, but that's basically it. That's where his obsession with her started. Then he moved away to Alaska with his father for some years until returning to high school where he sees Anika again.

The grammar could have been worked on a bit more, as it's written a little immaturely. I do believe the author can improve over time, as this is only her first novel.

[Tina Pierce · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book. Things happened too fast paced. Insta love, obsession, and storyline that didn't flow well were top reasons it wasn't for me. Characters didn't seem well developed. Anika the main character had no redeeming qualities. She seemed mean, childish and grouchy. So why did everyone worship the ground she walked on? And not one but three guys utterly obsessed with her. Ugh! Only character I liked was a little sister that came out of nowhere. And a high schooler living as if she was a grown adult. Way to unbelievable.

[Hannah Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Creepy

This book should not be read. The story is about a girl who is stalked by not one, not 2, but 3 guys. Each one is "in love" with her, when really they are all just obsessed with her. This book is a perfect example of how a relationship should not start, look, or end.

[Hannah Hays · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, but it was awful. It made no sense, everyone was creepy and obsessed with this girl for no reason. Waste of money

[Elizabeth Horbaczek · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is looking for an honest review.

3 stars

I want to say that I loved the blurb on this book. I found in very intriguing and I absolutely love YA books. With that being said even though I did finish the book I was left with a lot of unanswered questions. Ones that were there all during the book and were never answered. As I was finishing the book I was still wandering how things happened and why it felt so incomplete. I felt I never got the whole story from this book. In addition there are a lot of voices in this book. What was funny is all the characters in this book always led back to Anika. Though I liked Anika, I didn't feel as she was strong enough to be the lead. She had so many problems of her own and she was so naive at times which was very frustrating. For someone who could see how great people were, she never saw the bad. The story line was good, I liked that there was a mystery behind the book. Who is who kind of thing. I even liked how conniving some of the characters where. How egotistical some were. How innocent. You even you got your unpredictable and creepy, but there was too much left out that I couldn't get into the book.

So there are five people in this book. Anika, Brady, Sierra, Mitchell, and Foster. All seem to have an agenda of their own and how they get to that place is how everything gets confusing. I want to start with the latter of the characters in my opinion. Sierra is Anika's best friend. Even though she is in this book, she does not stand out. She is a little bit loud, opinionated and stays out of the center of attention throughout the book. She has a bigger role during the end but she seems to be just there. Brady is the somewhat bully, jock and the boy that wants the girl but is too afraid to ask. Brady seems to like Anika, but you know how boys are they want to tease and make life miserable for Anika. I actually enjoyed Brady the most in this book. He may have been you typical teenager, but he also the realist of the whole group. Mitchell was an odd ball to begin with. He is a computer geek and has an infatuation with a girl. He is a bit creepy and as you get to know him you will see more of what I see. Foster just appeared. He appeared and he liked Anika from the start. He wanted to be part of her life at the beginning and he inferred himself in until she couldn't say no. He wasn't a bad guy, just very unusual and you will learn why during the book. Anika was just too naive from the start in this book. She was very sheltered it seemed and to take on a leading role there has to be more.

Infatuation young can be very dangerous. When that person doesn't get what they want they can become deadly. For these five teenagers they are going to embark on a journey that is going to be something they will never forget.

Unfortunately this is a book that I couldn't get into to. There was too much left undisclosed and I felt cheated in a way. This is my first time reading this author, so I will definitely give her another chance.

[Meredith Briere · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received an ARC pre-sale in exchange for a review.

This book was incredibly disappointing. The problem with most young adult fiction is that the stories have been told before using better language and grammar. This story's language and grammar was not actually terrible. In fact, it was refreshing to read something moderately well written. There was a point at which I was excited to read the book because upon the first inspection, the writing was quite good. Then I realized some glaring discrepancies in the content.

The disappointing part about this story comes in the casual way in which the author treats illegal surveillance and young men exerting control over young women. No matter what this author says, it is NOT okay to hack a phone camera, install cameras, or stalk the object of your affection. Stalking does not, under any circumstance, equal love. It equals obsession and it is illegal for a very good reason.

What this author does by casually addressing these issues and mitigating the control that this represents is to normalize the horror of these types of situations. Throughout the book, this author casually refers to illegal surveillance as an act of love from one character and an act of obsession from another. In what world is it okay to hack a crush's phone so you can watch them without their knowledge? This is NEVER okay and should not be accepted under any circumstance.

Young Adult fiction should not include clear references to illegal activity and to chauvinistic behavior in a forgiving or positive light. Young adults are already navigating a world in which their place seems confusing and confounding. Adding inappropriate marginalization of control (this is a form of domestic abuse) in a relationship represents unhealthy behaviors as healthy, which can be quite confusing for a teenager/young adult reading this. It's irresponsible.

As for the storytelling, the jumping from character perspective halfway through and then continually through the rest of the book is sloppy storytelling. It is jarring to the reader and cuts the flow of the story into too many pieces. Telling a story from multiple points of view is fine, but jumping through four characters in the same chapter is not just confusing, but unnecessary. It's lazy writing.

What this author needs is a bit more life experience, someone to help them research, and to keep their voice consistent throughout their writing. The writing style is wonderful. It's just the storytelling and content that need work. The author has huge potential to create a work of high value to society in the future.

[Bobbie Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tough book to review. It's the author's debut novel and debut novels always make me a little nervous. While most writers start writing a long time before they have anything published, their first novel is where a lot of authors work out the kinks and inexperience while they're still honing their craft. If you check out the author's bio, you'll see that she's also very young. Young doesn't always equate to a lack of experience and it certainly doesn't mean she's not talented. It just means that she's still got plenty of time to reach her prime. I have to say, I'm not sure that this book is her best work, but I think it shows promise. The concept was interesting and I think there's potential for a story like this to be something really enthralling. It kept me reading if only because I had to know how things ended. But I do feel like there was room for improvement, as well.

While I liked the characters well enough, they weren't really as well-developed as I would've liked. There was a lot of history left out and I don't think we ever got a good feel for some of them. Sierra, for example, got little attention outside of being recognized as a yappy chihuahua of a person. Obviously, there's room for so much more development there. Even the main characters were less developed than they could have been. After finishing the book completely, I don't feel like we ever got a really good handle on Anika and it's really tough for me to cross from viewing Foster as a stalker to seeing pretty much any other element of his character. The chapters that were written from his point of view never really broke away from the obsessive nature of his thoughts and feelings toward Anika. And her feelings toward him... Honestly, I feel like they were based pretty much entirely on the fact that he was obsessed with her and it's hard not to like attention.

At the heart, this story has some promising elements. I enjoyed the mystery. I enjoyed what backstory we got for some of the characters. I do think that it would've been a much more successful story with a bit more expansion and development. There are holes in the plot here and there where things are referenced, but the reader never sees them playing out. I, for one, was completely blindsided by the suggestion that Sierra and Mitchell were apparently avoiding Anika because there was no mention made of it until after the fact. The author has a talent for storytelling and I'm confident that she'll offer us many more interesting stories. Like I said, she's young and she's got plenty of time and opportunity to grow as a writer. I look forward to seeing her development.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Mine
Author: A. N. Senerella
Publisher: Inkitt
ISBN: 978-1547215508
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/154721550X/...
Reviewer: Teresa Fallen Angel
Blurb:
I could feel his eyes on me, and I did my best not to look at him. His eyes were burning holes into me; I could feel it. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Stop. Looking. At. Me," I growled between my teeth quietly to the boy less than three feet from me. What was his problem? Was he trying to cheat on the test or something? Poor choice on his part, I didn't know any of the material either. Ha. Is that a victory? I feel like it's not. 

Anika Mason—simple name. Brown hair—average color. Blue eyes—she wishes they were brown. Anika thought life was pretty normal before she manages to attract the obsessive attentions of the new boy at school and now she needs to get rid of him, and fast. But when she's forced to lie about having a boyfriend to get him to back off, she unintentionally gives him the name of the biggest player in the school; Brady Morrison. She doesn’t like him, he barely knows she exists. And now she has to pretend she’s dating him. Perfect. 

Total Score: 5/5


Summary:

Received for n honest review.

Anika had everything she wanted. Two bestes, Sierra and Mitchell to hang out with and what else could she want. That was until a new boy in school, Foster, arrived changing everything. Foster immediately placed his claim on Anika leaving her to wonder who the new crazy guy was. Imagine having a guy decide that you were his to the point of physically threatening anyone who laid a hand on her. Possessive would not be strong enough to describe Foster. If that wasn't bad enough, Anika's old crush Brady enters into the game saying he would protect her, but it was difficult who was worse. Anika's old friend Mitchell gets into the conflict leaving the reader to wonder how it would all play out.

This was an incredible story that brought forth the struggles, conflicts, and all that was wonderful about high school and growing up. These real-to-life characters brought the story to life as it unfolded. Mitchell was one character who kept his thoughts close and we all know that sometimes it is the quiet ones that surprise you the most.