BOOK REVIEW: In Every Generation {Buffy: The Next Generation, Book 1} by Kendare Blake

"She was the slayer. Buffy was gone. And it was time to grow up."
If the fact that I legit wanted to change my name to Buffy for the entirety of my formative years doesn't tell you how much of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan I have been for practically my whole life, then I don't know what to tell you; but when I heard about Kendare Blake's In Every Generation {Buffy: The Next Generation, Book 1} you know I needed it in my life pronto!

I'd be lying if I said this was classic Buffy, because it's not. For one, Buffy is only mentioned - she's not an active character {at least not in this installment}. Two, this is a new generation of BTVS characters, who manage to entertain, but lack that...je ne sais quoi that the original Scooby Gang had in droves. Three, though we do get glimpses of some of our old Scooby Gang members {mainly Willow, Oz, and Spike}, they are older/more mature, and without Buffy at the helm, they're not as lovable as their youthful counterparts. That said, for those diehard Buffy fans, this is a worthy read.

Sixteen-year-old Frankie Rosenberg seems typical, if not slightly odd, from the outside. An environmental activist, and sophomore at New Sunnydale High, Frankie blends in with the crowd to the best of her ability; but there's something about her that most don't know: she's the daughter of Willow, the most powerful witch in Sunnydale history. Humbling, yes? Cooler than that little nugget of info, however, is that Willow is actually teaching Frankie magic: under the condition that she use it to better the world {hence her passion for the environment}.

Frankie is content in her little corner of the world, until Hailey blows in. A new girl with a tough exterior, Hailey comes bearing some Big Bad level news: the annual Slayer Convention {yes, it's a thing} was the target of a brutal attack, and all of the slayers {Buffy, Faith, and Hailey's older sister, Vi, included} may. be. dead. This means that it's time for this generation's slayer to be born. And this generation's slayer? Well, it just so happens to be...Frankie. Wiggy, right?

As the first ever Slayer-Witch, everyone is expecting Frankie to bring some next-level strength to the position; but with the Hellmouth on the verge of opening {again}, Frankie has no clue if she'll be able to learn how to control her emerging powers while simultaneously wielding a stake, before the weight of the world falls on her shoulders {literally}. Now she's amassing her own Scoobies in the form of goth-y Hailey; werewolf Jake {yep, you guessed it, a relation of Oz}; and a sage-demon named Sigmund to help her get up to snuff, and be able to take on all of the vamps - or New Sunnydale may just fall to the same fate as Old Sunnydale.

Y'all, the fact that I have to wait until January 31, 2023 for One Girl In All the World {Buffy: The Next Generation, Book 2} to be released is slaying me right now {see what I did there?}. This book is so good. NGL, it took me a bit to get into it; but once I started getting to know the characters a bit more, it just took off. Spike - as a Watcher! Oz - back in Willow's life! Xander and Dawn - alive, but not super strong in this story {fingers crossed for book two!}. Angel - nowhere to be seen {not an Angel fan, so I was happy that he wasn't a part of this tale #sorrynotsorry}.

This book serves as such an incredible form of nostalgia for all of us who spent our childhoods obsessing over Buffy; while building upon that by introducing us to a new cast of characters who bring back that same banter that we couldn't get enough of. Cheers Ms. Blake; book two cannot come soon enough!


Star Rating: ****


xx