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A review by trevert
Second String Savior: From the Tome of Bill Universe by Rick Gualtieri, R.E. Carr
4.0
Let's get the negative out of the way first - The profusion of self-aware, "ironic" books in the wake of Buffy has officially started irritating the fuck out of me. Dialog like, "Oh, so I'm a 'Chosen One' then? Tell me what trope you're supposed to be before I Final Girl all over you" has just become so common that I want to choke a horse. Genre self-awareness was wild and refreshing when they did it in Scream and There's Nothing Out There, but now I just sort of start withdrawing when characters start quoting TV Tropes.
And yeah, this is one of those books.
That said... This is pretty excellent! Yeah, Buffy comparisons are inevitable in any book about a high school girl gaining superpowers and fighting vampires, but there's so much more here. Bigfoots, for one. When our heroine gains magical red hair with a mind of its own, she learns about a world of monsters and magic that's right under "normal" life and this kicks off a bouncing adventure where she and her friends try to figure out what exactly IS her role in all of this. Is she a predestined Slayer/Warrior/Heroine? Or just an accident? I thought the ultimate answer to all of this was really refreshing and original, and before that you get a rollicking story that moves at a fast clip through vampire and Bigfoot politics and high school drama. Way fun.
And yeah, this is one of those books.
That said... This is pretty excellent! Yeah, Buffy comparisons are inevitable in any book about a high school girl gaining superpowers and fighting vampires, but there's so much more here. Bigfoots, for one. When our heroine gains magical red hair with a mind of its own, she learns about a world of monsters and magic that's right under "normal" life and this kicks off a bouncing adventure where she and her friends try to figure out what exactly IS her role in all of this. Is she a predestined Slayer/Warrior/Heroine? Or just an accident? I thought the ultimate answer to all of this was really refreshing and original, and before that you get a rollicking story that moves at a fast clip through vampire and Bigfoot politics and high school drama. Way fun.