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pawspagesandpurrs's review against another edition
4.0
4*
Going into this, I was expecting something else. A little bit. I am happy to say that I really like this anyway.
It's a very believable canon for the show. And no, I haven't read seasons 8-12 in graphic novels. So, yeah, there's a lot of catching up to do but, really, it was easy to get into and not feel too confused.
I think all the known characters are true enough to the show, maybe a little bit off with Spike but it's all good. Frankie was really nice and I did enjoy Hailey quite a lot, too.
The plot flowed very nicely and I liked the big bad.
Definitely cannot wait to get my hands on book two, One Girl in all the World.
Going into this, I was expecting something else. A little bit. I am happy to say that I really like this anyway.
It's a very believable canon for the show. And no, I haven't read seasons 8-12 in graphic novels. So, yeah, there's a lot of catching up to do but, really, it was easy to get into and not feel too confused.
I think all the known characters are true enough to the show, maybe a little bit off with Spike but it's all good. Frankie was really nice and I did enjoy Hailey quite a lot, too.
The plot flowed very nicely and I liked the big bad.
Definitely cannot wait to get my hands on book two, One Girl in all the World.
amandamurray414's review
4.0
A fun read for Buffy fans! Love the nostalgia and Easter eggs throughout. This could easily be made into a series with adventures for the new Scoobies and it would be 5x5.
ipomoea's review
3.0
I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I went into this book with a lot of conflicted Buffy love in my heart. It's hard to address the media that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer without acknowledging the behavior of its creator behind the scenes, as well as the dated gender/sexuality/race politics that are inherent to something created in the late 90s/early 2000s. But Buffy also meant so much to people and still does, so I went into this as a Buffy fan with a cautious eye.
Set in Sunnydale, the book focuses on the next generation-- Willow's daughter Frankie, Oz's nephew Jake, and their guardians (Willow and Oz). Spike is still loitering in the town, under a protection spell and working at the new Sunnydale HS (which is of course built right by the Hellmouth because Sunnydale has terrible planners). Buffy is out of town, at a Slayer conference with all the awakened slayers from the last season. When something goes horribly wrong, Frankie feels a change-- she's become a (the?) Slayer. And there's a new Big Bad in town, who's hungry for virgin blood and the opportunity to run wild while Buffy is gone. With the Slayers AWOL, someone else showed up in town-- Hillary, the younger sister of Vi, a slayer from Oregon. How do you defeat a Big Bad when the person you've always turned to is gone? How do you accept and grow into being a Slayer? Is Spike still putting Weetabix in his blood? Two of these questions are answered in the book.
This book feels like fanfiction, sometimes in the way it feels like a love letter to the show, sometimes in the "look! Only True Fans know this reference" moments. Like a Buffy episode, I knew this would end relatively okay, and I knew that there would be a larger story arc across the planned books/episodes. While it sets up a general knowledge of the background of the Buffyverse, it didn't feel like an entry point for someone who wanted to learn about it with no knowledge. This is a gift to fans, and I enjoyed it as such.
I went into this book with a lot of conflicted Buffy love in my heart. It's hard to address the media that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer without acknowledging the behavior of its creator behind the scenes, as well as the dated gender/sexuality/race politics that are inherent to something created in the late 90s/early 2000s. But Buffy also meant so much to people and still does, so I went into this as a Buffy fan with a cautious eye.
Set in Sunnydale, the book focuses on the next generation-- Willow's daughter Frankie, Oz's nephew Jake, and their guardians (Willow and Oz). Spike is still loitering in the town, under a protection spell and working at the new Sunnydale HS (which is of course built right by the Hellmouth because Sunnydale has terrible planners). Buffy is out of town, at a Slayer conference with all the awakened slayers from the last season. When something goes horribly wrong, Frankie feels a change-- she's become a (the?) Slayer. And there's a new Big Bad in town, who's hungry for virgin blood and the opportunity to run wild while Buffy is gone. With the Slayers AWOL, someone else showed up in town-- Hillary, the younger sister of Vi, a slayer from Oregon. How do you defeat a Big Bad when the person you've always turned to is gone? How do you accept and grow into being a Slayer? Is Spike still putting Weetabix in his blood? Two of these questions are answered in the book.
This book feels like fanfiction, sometimes in the way it feels like a love letter to the show, sometimes in the "look! Only True Fans know this reference" moments. Like a Buffy episode, I knew this would end relatively okay, and I knew that there would be a larger story arc across the planned books/episodes. While it sets up a general knowledge of the background of the Buffyverse, it didn't feel like an entry point for someone who wanted to learn about it with no knowledge. This is a gift to fans, and I enjoyed it as such.
tayhoch's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
thenextgenlibrarian's review
4.0
“In every generation there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the force of darkness. She is the slayer.”
aprilalwayswithabook's review
3.0
It was fun, but around 75% I got bored and missed the original Scooby gang and everyone just seemed like they didn't have their own personalities. They were facsimiles of the first wave.
chelseayedinak's review
5.0
* I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review *
I really really really loved this book! I love Buffy and am always excited about tie-in books, and this was no exception. It took me a minute to get all the characters sorted in this new generation of Scoobies, but this really captured the spirit of the original show (minus the terrible Joss Whedon misogyny). The banter, the references, the Big Bad, and the relationships all gave me such a happy, nostalgic rush. This book follows Willow's daughter, Frankie, who becomes the next Slayer after an accident at a Slayer convention (maybe) killed the rest. She has to figure out what happened to the rest of the Slayers while training with her Watcher to keep Sunnydale safe from a new Big Bad who arrives after hearing there's no one protecting it anymore. If you're not already a Buffy fan, then I probably wouldn't recommend this one, because it does rely on a lot of knowledge of the show and the universe to understand. You might still enjoy the banter and the villains, but understanding the relationship dynamics and the history are going to be rough without background knowledge. If you are a Buffy fan, then this is probably a great read for you.
I really really really loved this book! I love Buffy and am always excited about tie-in books, and this was no exception. It took me a minute to get all the characters sorted in this new generation of Scoobies, but this really captured the spirit of the original show (minus the terrible Joss Whedon misogyny). The banter, the references, the Big Bad, and the relationships all gave me such a happy, nostalgic rush. This book follows Willow's daughter, Frankie, who becomes the next Slayer after an accident at a Slayer convention (maybe) killed the rest. She has to figure out what happened to the rest of the Slayers while training with her Watcher to keep Sunnydale safe from a new Big Bad who arrives after hearing there's no one protecting it anymore. If you're not already a Buffy fan, then I probably wouldn't recommend this one, because it does rely on a lot of knowledge of the show and the universe to understand. You might still enjoy the banter and the villains, but understanding the relationship dynamics and the history are going to be rough without background knowledge. If you are a Buffy fan, then this is probably a great read for you.
alykane6's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A Buffy book that actually felt like it was set in the Buffyverse. I enjoyed it.
kittykat1126's review
5.0
This was so much fun to read! I loved all the call backs to the original series. I also enjoyed that the book follows Spikes comic arc. I enjoyed seeing him as a truly good guy and not just assisting Buffy. Frankie is an adorable main character. Each of the new addition side characters are so cute and funny. I loved seeing willow, and Oz come back as supporting characters in this novel and I'm excited to see where their relationship goes from here. I'm truly here for the romantic subplots that are happening. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.
slaywithsteph's review
4.0
I’m prefacing this with I’m a huge fan of the Buffyverse, so I might be seeing this through rose-colored glasses of nostalgia. I’ve also read Kendare Blake before, and I’ve generally liked what I’ve read.
This is a very fun, adventurous book that any young girl who saw herself in Buffy or wanted to be a slayer will likely love. The main character, Frankie, as the dust jacket says, isn’t as “perfect” as Buffy came off when it came to her slayer duties. She’s also not the renowned witch that her mother is. And so, she feels very relatable.
Unfortunately that relatability doesn’t compensate for the fact that Hailey is already a stronger, more memorable character who I’m very interested in knowing more about. In fact, Kendare spent most of the book teasing us with an Angel-like figure rather than focusing on Frankie’s first big evil. I think middle-school Stephanie would have been a lot more forgiving of this, which makes sense because this is a book for young adults.
I also want to note that Kendare seemed to lean a lot more into the potentiality of Willow’s bisexuality, which I’m of two minds about: First, Willow is an iconic lesbian character. One of the first shows, if not the first, to show a main character go from presenting as straight to coming out as gay and being in an epic relationship with a woman. Second, it’s been said by the writers, the showrunners, etc., that the 90s was a time when people thought you could only be one or the other, and this was why Willow had to “pick” and declare herself as lesbian rather than coming out as bisexual. Back then, you couldn’t be one or the other, so I’d almost argue her back & forth with Oz (her first great love in the Buffy series) is perhaps her character testing the waters.
But Willow doesn’t seem to change her stance in this book and instead Oz is left mooning over the love that once was rather the love that is. I already know that this is inevitably going to rub a lot of readers the wrong way, and I hope that in the next book we get some type of closure on where Kendare is going with Willow rather than this weird teasing vibe.
That aside, I felt like Kendare did a good job of referencing the show, and it rarely felt forced. She made me feel like I was back in the early days of Buffy, excited to see what’s going on but simultaneously worried that she’s going to kill off some of the more iconic characters, whose fates we are left unaware of while Frankie is coming to terms with her life as the slayer.
The ending is rather open-ended, which is rather disappointing but I hope this means the series will be good.
Overall, I enjoyed a new slayery arc — the thrill of a new big bad! I hope to see a Frankie who is more memorable and fun — I mean, I like her eco-witch stuff, but she’s just not comparable to Buffy or Faith or Willow just yet and I yearn for a bad ass slayer — and more adventure and plot in the future.
This is a very fun, adventurous book that any young girl who saw herself in Buffy or wanted to be a slayer will likely love. The main character, Frankie, as the dust jacket says, isn’t as “perfect” as Buffy came off when it came to her slayer duties. She’s also not the renowned witch that her mother is. And so, she feels very relatable.
Unfortunately that relatability doesn’t compensate for the fact that Hailey is already a stronger, more memorable character who I’m very interested in knowing more about. In fact, Kendare spent most of the book teasing us with an Angel-like figure rather than focusing on Frankie’s first big evil. I think middle-school Stephanie would have been a lot more forgiving of this, which makes sense because this is a book for young adults.
I also want to note that Kendare seemed to lean a lot more into the potentiality of Willow’s bisexuality, which I’m of two minds about: First, Willow is an iconic lesbian character. One of the first shows, if not the first, to show a main character go from presenting as straight to coming out as gay and being in an epic relationship with a woman. Second, it’s been said by the writers, the showrunners, etc., that the 90s was a time when people thought you could only be one or the other, and this was why Willow had to “pick” and declare herself as lesbian rather than coming out as bisexual. Back then, you couldn’t be one or the other, so I’d almost argue her back & forth with Oz (her first great love in the Buffy series) is perhaps her character testing the waters.
But Willow doesn’t seem to change her stance in this book and instead Oz is left mooning over the love that once was rather the love that is. I already know that this is inevitably going to rub a lot of readers the wrong way, and I hope that in the next book we get some type of closure on where Kendare is going with Willow rather than this weird teasing vibe.
That aside, I felt like Kendare did a good job of referencing the show, and it rarely felt forced. She made me feel like I was back in the early days of Buffy, excited to see what’s going on but simultaneously worried that she’s going to kill off some of the more iconic characters, whose fates we are left unaware of while Frankie is coming to terms with her life as the slayer.
The ending is rather open-ended, which is rather disappointing but I hope this means the series will be good.
Overall, I enjoyed a new slayery arc — the thrill of a new big bad! I hope to see a Frankie who is more memorable and fun — I mean, I like her eco-witch stuff, but she’s just not comparable to Buffy or Faith or Willow just yet and I yearn for a bad ass slayer — and more adventure and plot in the future.