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A review by owlsreads
In Every Generation by Kendare Blake
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I am weak for most things BtVS, so I thought to give this book a try since I have enjoyed Blake's writing in the past. Also, the cover looks super cool!
l knew some of the original characters from the show were going to show up here since this book is legit about Willow's daughter (she had a daughter?) and my gut reaction to their introductions can be summed up by: :D I also really liked the new characters introduced, especially the "new" Scoobies: Frankie, Jake, and Hailey.
There were a looot of nods to TV show canon. Mostly I found them to be super entertaining! I personally had fun remembering the episodes/events/lines of dialogue the characters were referencing. It was obvious Blake knew the show and how to incorporate some bits of it in her writing.
I do have some other thoughts, though. Book/show (and one comic) spoilers ahead:
I would like to know why Buffyverse YA spin-off books always decide to either murder Buffy or to make Buffy this super unlikable person. They wouldn't exist without Buffy. This entire world wouldn't exist without Buffy. I do understand the thought that Buffy might steal the spotlight from the new characters or whatever, since fans do love her, but I don't comprehend how authors think this will endear fans to their books. Buffy doesn't need to be dead or gone or a shitty person for other Slayer stories to exist: we literally saw that on the show with the Potential Slayers who are also! mentioned here.
I did enjoy Oz being back and the nods to Jordy and how Oz became a werewolf. The introduction of Jake, Jordy's younger brother and also a werewolf, worked pretty well for me.
Willow's magical pregnancy via channeling the Slayer energy through the Scythe made me so incredibly uncomfortable. I don't know why Blake decided to go with this route since it's basically... well, not a forced pregnancy exactly, but Willow definitely did get pregnant without her consent. It's just a Big Yikes from me.
About the slayer-witch thing. I... didn't have a problem with it? But I didn't really like how it was used here considering how Willow had Frankie. This same "slayer-witch" element was used in Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer #2 with another character, Thessaly, who was Willow and Tara's daughter. I very much prefer that to a non-consensual magical pregnancy.
Frankie's first patrol scene was wonderful and I laughed out loud at how it ended.
I really liked the insta-demon stuff! I was fun to read about how a demon might take advantage of social media to do Evil Things.
In regard to the Big Bad after Frankie: not sure if Blake wanted to do something like the Dracula episode and make the villain someone people would historically know about, but it didn't quite work for me. It felt a tiny bit too forced, especially with the way Spike kept insisting they were an impostor.
Also! The way the point above sort of tied to Grim who was directly tied to the Slayers was Too Much for me. I didn't care at all about who was after Frankie and that story-line in particular. Things became much more interesting to me when the plot went back to trying to figure out what happened with the Slayers and if they were all really dead... and then that wasn't solved at all in this book. Great lol
The thing I disliked the most here was the "will they, won't they" Blake decided to do with Willow and Oz. Throughout the book, there were several comments about their previous relationship and a few passages from Willow's perspective thinking of how Oz still loved her and questioning their relationship. To be clear, Willow is a lesbian. The show went through great lengths to establish that and Willow herself has said, even in this book!, that she identified as gay and a lesbian. I do not get at all Blake's decision to do this and I honestly found it gross.
In the end, I think there was too much going on for this to read like a smooth story. The plot got a bit too convoluted trying to deal with 3 big mysteries at once--none of them were developed with the care they deserved--that then turned out to be connected in some way. There were too many players in only one book; I know this is going to be a series, so I'm not sure why one subplot wasn't cut. The new Scoobies were pretty entertaining throughout, but they (and the story) lacked the charm and humor from the original series. Not sure if I'll pick up the sequel to see how things go.
l knew some of the original characters from the show were going to show up here since this book is legit about Willow's daughter (she had a daughter?) and my gut reaction to their introductions can be summed up by: :D I also really liked the new characters introduced, especially the "new" Scoobies: Frankie, Jake, and Hailey.
There were a looot of nods to TV show canon. Mostly I found them to be super entertaining! I personally had fun remembering the episodes/events/lines of dialogue the characters were referencing. It was obvious Blake knew the show and how to incorporate some bits of it in her writing.
I do have some other thoughts, though. Book/show (and one comic) spoilers ahead:
I did enjoy Oz being back and the nods to Jordy and how Oz became a werewolf. The introduction of Jake, Jordy's younger brother and also a werewolf, worked pretty well for me.
Willow's magical pregnancy via channeling the Slayer energy through the Scythe made me so incredibly uncomfortable. I don't know why Blake decided to go with this route since it's basically... well, not a forced pregnancy exactly, but Willow definitely did get pregnant without her consent. It's just a Big Yikes from me.
About the slayer-witch thing. I... didn't have a problem with it? But I didn't really like how it was used here considering how Willow had Frankie. This same "slayer-witch" element was used in Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer #2 with another character, Thessaly, who was Willow and Tara's daughter. I very much prefer that to a non-consensual magical pregnancy.
Frankie's first patrol scene was wonderful and I laughed out loud at how it ended.
I really liked the insta-demon stuff! I was fun to read about how a demon might take advantage of social media to do Evil Things.
In regard to the Big Bad after Frankie: not sure if Blake wanted to do something like the Dracula episode and make the villain someone people would historically know about, but it didn't quite work for me. It felt a tiny bit too forced, especially with the way Spike kept insisting they were an impostor.
Also! The way the point above sort of tied to Grim who was directly tied to the Slayers was Too Much for me. I didn't care at all about who was after Frankie and that story-line in particular. Things became much more interesting to me when the plot went back to trying to figure out what happened with the Slayers and if they were all really dead... and then that wasn't solved at all in this book. Great lol
The thing I disliked the most here was the "will they, won't they" Blake decided to do with Willow and Oz. Throughout the book, there were several comments about their previous relationship and a few passages from Willow's perspective thinking of how Oz still loved her and questioning their relationship. To be clear, Willow is a lesbian. The show went through great lengths to establish that and Willow herself has said, even in this book!, that she identified as gay and a lesbian. I do not get at all Blake's decision to do this and I honestly found it gross.
In the end, I think there was too much going on for this to read like a smooth story. The plot got a bit too convoluted trying to deal with 3 big mysteries at once--none of them were developed with the care they deserved--that then turned out to be connected in some way. There were too many players in only one book; I know this is going to be a series, so I'm not sure why one subplot wasn't cut. The new Scoobies were pretty entertaining throughout, but they (and the story) lacked the charm and humor from the original series. Not sure if I'll pick up the sequel to see how things go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood