Middle grade horror is a tricky thing. We want it to be scary but not go too far. I'm not sure that this one gets the balance right. We have an isolated character, new to town and having a strained relationship with her parents. That's where my problems start. Her relationship with her parents doesn't ring especially true. It's pretty extreme. I liked the haunting elements but the ghosts feel like their meant to be sympathetic, which didn't work for me.

Horror is my favorite genre, and I was so excited to read this new middle grade horror story and share it with my students. Unfortunately, I found the writing to be mediocre and the story to be pretty boring. I'm sure this will find its readership somewhere, but it just wasn't for me.

Although it took a second for me to get into the character (she is a LOT, especially at first), this is a great scary middle grade read that would work for an older audience as well. The scares are legitimately scary, the setting is super strongly and viscerally described, and her parents not believing her set up a good tension. I liked how it ended with you feeling sorry for the ghost without fully taking the bite out of the scariness. I think this will go out really quickly in my library.

[Note: I did not review this on social because I read it for YALSA's Quick Picks for Young Adults list. We voted it onto the final list.]

"Mine" is a fast-paced thrill ride for middle-school aged kids. I am an adult and enjoyed this very much. The writing was strong and the pacing was perfect. I felt invested in the story and wanted to know what would happen to our MC. I felt that the plot at times was definitely recycled, but this is apt to happen with any haunted house story. I thought the ending was well-done though, and can honestly say I didn't manage to predict this one. A fun story!

Despite how short this book is, it was hard to grip me and I found myself taking days to get through ten pages. That being said it's written well, I love how big of a personality our protagonist has, and this author really knows how to bring in the gross factor.

The scares were pretty legitimate for a children's book, but at points it would get tropey with how much they were trying to hide the secrets. All in all I would recommend it, but I'm going to take some time away and revisit it in the future.

Mine was super creepy and spooky for a middle grade book, so make sure your young readers can handle it.

Lily’s family has to move to a new town because of something she did back home. Lily is a bit of drama queen in the sense that she loves acting and she might be a bit over dramatic with everything she does. It starts out with her saying she was dying because she didn’t want to move, her father has had about enough of it. Her mother also thinks she is being to dramatic about things.

The worst part is they end up moving into a hoarders house! Even her mother is not real happy about the mess the house is in because she and Lily will be the ones doing all the work. Her father will be starting his new job as soon as they get there. Lily gets a room that use to belong to a young girl and since their stuff is being shipped in containers they only could bring a few things. She has to use the bed there and so she cleans up the room and throws some things away. Then she flips over the matress and sees the word MINE and starts freaking out. Then some other things start happening to her, but when she tries to tell her parents they just think she is being overly dramatic about the move. So Lily will have to try and figure things out on her own if she ever wants to have a peaceful nights sleep.

There was a lot of really spooky things that happen to Lily, things like you would see in the poltergiest movies…lol. The bathroom starts spewing out green gross stuff but when she screams and her mother comes running there is nothing there, that kind of things. I felt bad for Lily because her parents wouldnt’ believer her because of her being to dramatic about things previously.

My one issue with this book is the use of a Oujia board, Lily and a girl she meets uses it and things go badly. I don’t think the use of a Oujia board should be in middle grade books but that is my opinion. Other than that I really enjoyed all the spooky moments.

This was a perfect, spine tingling, question everything horror novel for middle grades. It was absolutely creepy. Dawson’s skill at weaving together all of the little details is amazing. Lily is moving to Florida with her family after an incident that is not discussed. Her father is annoyed with her, her mother is exhausted, and Lily is less than thrilled about moving to Florida. Their house was a hoarder’s nest, but something sinister is lurking around. I was on the edge of my seat while reading this book. Perfect for young and old readers alike!

12 year old Lily just moved into an abandoned hoarder’s home in Florida and finds things a little “off.” A slimy lake, a dog, and the girl who lived in her room before her. She spends her summer cleaning the house and not getting along with her parents, or particularly her father. Things get weird when she witnesses creepy incidents, like her room trashed and slime coming out of the bathroom tap.

This was a good book. Slightly creepy, but a little long winded with descriptions. I didn’t need the first 100 pages to be about throwing boxes out and rat poop. I had to keep reminding myself it’s a middle grade book. Some things were just a little too predictable and unbelievable. (If this had been a little deeper, it would have made for a great adult book). I do wish all the fun plot points were held off until the last quarter of the book. The idea was really great though. A good beginner’s horror book for tweens.

Oh how I wish we had books like this when I was in school! This book would have been perfect for me. Well, it was still perfect for me.

What I really liked about this book was that the MC Lily was a well written child that was not full of angst. I honestly can't take that type of character. She showed all the proper emotions a young girl would show and act.

I also loved how this book had some pretty good creepy/scary moments. I was surprised on the level of creepiness. I feel like it has been quite awhile for a book to actually creep me out.

I will definitely be reading more of her books!

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Mine was such a good, creepy middle grade novel! I feel like it’s one that anyone who is looking for a ghost story could enjoy.

Mine is a perfectly spooky middle grade horror novel. I knocked it out in one day, finished it before dark (thankfully), and will eagerly pass it on to my middle school students who are constantly clamoring for more horror. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy!

This didn’t grab me at first, in fact I almost wasn’t able to read it, but I’m glad I got through the slow beginning, because I do think it’s a great, creepy middle grade ghost story, I think it would be a bit better if the author revamped the beginning to make it a bit more fast paced and grabbing, but overall I do think kids will enjoy this horror story! Perfect for kiddos looking for horror, but not quite really scary yet!

A great creepy horror story for kids who like their horror a little more in the gentle side. The chills and scares may be too mild for horror aficionados, but will still be enjoyable.

I was excited to receive an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Lily moves into a new home in Florida, she is surprised to learn that her family is sharing their house with the angry ghost of a young girl. Room by room, Lily and her mother spend weeks cleaning the house, which is filled with junk, trash, and old Amazon boxes. But some of the items help Lily discover who exactly still remains in the house and what they are after. This book had some "Coraline" vibes and was really cute for a middle grade horror book!

I began reading this book with expectations that it would be pretty creepy as the synopsis made it sound like it could be something that might keep me up at night. So, I was a bit surprised when I found that Mine was, to me at least, a lower level of horror than I am accustomed to. I've come to the conclusion that this book is a charming, mostly-friendly ghost story with a bit of creepy crawliness to be found along the way.

The plot of an only child, Lily, and her parents moving to an old, trash-filled house in Florida that seems to be a little bit haunted is what drew me to this book, and though the storyline is a bit juvenile in nature, this was a fun read and perfect for the upcoming spooky season. Lily is a teen known for being a bit dramatic at times, so much so that her parents don't seem to take anything that she says seriously. Upon moving into her new house with her parents, some strange things begin to happen, but as a reader, it's difficult to parse out if Lily is just seeing things, or if something is haunting her new house.

Stumbling across the path of a potential new friend, Lily makes the mistake of letting her get too close to the weird things that she's been experiencing and quickly scares her away. With nothing left to do but try to solve the mystery of what is really going on in the big, garbage dump of a house her parents have settled into, Lily decides to dig a little deeper into the rotten food boxes and stale belongings that were left behind from the previous owners, even if it means climbing into the dumpster her family has rented for the clean out and sorting through the trash to find something that she thought had no importance when she threw it away.

Mine is a fun, short read that younger and older readers can find something entertaining in. Just because it didn't terrify me doesn't mean another reader won't find this to be the scariest thing they've ever read, and I think middle-grade readers who aren't quite ready for the nightmares that some horror novels can inspire will find this book to be just the ghost story that they need!

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy

I felt a bit dissapointed by this book. I just think most of this book felt like I was still in the introductory stages. I would have liked it if we got a bit more explenation a bit earlier in the book. In the book it's constantly hinted that something happened in Colorado, which was the cause they moved away and that Lily was behind that. However, it doesn't actually get revealed what happened until like the very end and I think this book would have benefited A LOT if we know this from the beginning. It just helps us understand Lily and her situation a lot more. But overall I just feel like not a whole lot happened in this book. There were some moments were I felt like this book had some great creepy vibes (if I read this when I was younger this book would have 100% freaked me out) but I feel like the feeling I had mostly throughout this book was boredom. I also hated Lily's parents in this book. They were terrible parents. The mom did kind of get redeemed a little bit but the dad is just a terrible human being and he annoyed me WAY too much throughout this book. So yeah, in conclusion: there's a couple of things in here that I quite liked but most of it was just underwhelming to me.

This has a very slow start, and it's difficult to get invested in the story. I feel like there was a fun idea at the core, but I struggled, unfortunately.

Mine is an enjoyable book. I really liked the main character and felt empathy for the ghosts. This was a well written, fast paced, great book. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Lily and her family are moving from Colorado to Florida for her dad's job. Something happened in Colorado, and Lily's parents are always telling her to settle down and not be so dramatic. As Lily moves into their new house she realizes why they could afford it, a hoarder lived there and it is in pretty bad shape. As she and her mom begin to clean the house out, weird things happen. green gook bubbles up out of the toilet, sink and shower and then disappears. Lily's room is tossed and messed up, things she knew she put in one place find their way back. As Lily and a friend begin to investigate the house's history they discover there were deaths there and one little girl who died there is not happy Lily is there.

Super creepy! Ghosts, danger, and a book that kept me reading.

BE MINE!!

Delilah S. Dawson has truly created a creepy thriller for all ages. Lily Horne, our main character, is having some rough times. Her parents just bought a new house and she is part of the reason that the family had to move. However, the new house is not all that it seems. In addition to the house being run-down and the pool full of gross slime, spirits seem to be leaving Lily messages.

This book starts off a little bit slow, but the build-up is WORTH IT! I finished this book after midnight and it had me terrified. The descriptions in this book will creep you out too! Guaranteed! The characters a fully fleshed out and although this book is geared towards younger readers, I think all ages will enjoy the terrifying experience that Dawson has written and developed.