I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Slayer by Kiersten White Series: Slayer #1
Published by Simon Pulse on January 8 2018
Genres: Young adult, Fantasy
Pages: 404
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A nostalgic trip down memory lane, Slayer deftly builds on the Buffy universe and brings new characters and situations into the mix. It’s not Buffy, but I loved it anyway.
Being chosen is easy.
Making choices will break your heart.
I have to admit that my feelings about Slayer went through several changes over the course of reading the book, and I honestly didn’t know what my rating was going to be until the very end. But as you can see, the story ended on a high note—this was seriously one of the best wrap-up/endings I’ve ever read—and hit all the right emotional notes that I needed in order to embrace a book set in my beloved Buffy universe. But I did have some issues with the world-building and I’m going to be nitpicky with my review, so fair warning. Buffy is extremely important to me, I mean have you seen the name of this blog?? So my criticisms with the world building in particular come from a place of really knowing and understanding this universe, and I’m sure anyone out there with a ‘verse that you are obsessed with will know what I mean.
I also want to point out that if you are not familiar with the Buffyverse, this story may be very confusing to you. Although I’d love to hear from readers who haven’t seen Buffy but have read this book! Also, apologies for the very long review!
Nina and Artemis are twin sixteen-year-old sisters who live with the last group of Watchers in a castle in Ireland. Two months before the story begins, Buffy destroyed something called the Seed of Wonder (and I still don’t know what the hell that is! Edited: The Seed of Wonder is from the comics, Buffy Season 8, which I started but never finished. Thanks Mervi!) which ended all magic on earth. This event led to several important things. First, all the portals leading to various demon dimensions were destroyed, which means that some demons are now trapped on earth with no way of getting home. And secondly, it decimated most of the Watchers council, leaving only a small contingent alive who are now hiding out in the castle. In this world, the Watchers have evolved from simply guarding and training Slayers into a more “hands on” role, fighting and killing demons themselves in addition to protecting Slayers. With magic destroyed, however, all the Potential Slayers are no longer relevant, and the remaining Watchers are feeling lost and without purpose.
Although Nina lives with the Watchers, she was never intended to be one. Her sister Artemis had all the potential and has been groomed by their mother Helen to eventually become a full-fledged Watcher and join the Council, while Nina was encouraged to study medicine and assume the role of doctor instead. But one day, Nina and her friends are attacked by a hellhound, and to everyone’s surprise, Nina kills the beast with her bare hands. It turns out that for the past two months, Nina has noticed some strange changes going on—she’s become stronger and she’s having weird dreams about Buffy—but she’s kept this information to herself. Now that her friends have witnessed her ability to kill a demon, her secret is out, and Nina must face the truth: it turns out that when Buffy destroyed the Seed of Wonder, Nina became a Slayer at that exact moment, which means she is the very last one.
For rabid Buffy fans, you will love all the connections between the characters in this story and the characters from the TV show. Finding these Easter eggs was literally like going on a treasure hunt, it was so much fun! For example, there is a young woman named Wanda Windham-Pryce who, you guessed it, is related to Wesley from Buffy and Angel. And does anyone remember the evil Watcher Gwendolyn Post from Season Three? Well, her daughter Imogen is in this story! White also mentions (although sometimes she doesn’t even use their names) Faith, Angel, Spike and even D’Hoffryn, the vengeance demon who brings Anya over to the dark side. But the most delicious connection, at least for me, was that Nina and Artemis are the twin daughters of none other than Merrick, Buffy’s original Watcher. If you’ve seen the (slightly lame) Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie starring Kristy Swanson, you’ll remember that Merrick is the one who gives her the bad news that she is indeed the Chosen One. You might also remember that he dies at the end of the movie, and that death is very important to Nina’s character development in this story.
One of the best parts of Slayer for me was Nina’s emotional journey. She’s got a ton of baggage and has a lot to work through, mostly related to a terrible house fire where the girls’ mother Helen chose to save Artemis over Nina. Even though Nina survived the fire, she’s been struggling to connect with her mother for years, but Helen is an uncaring, cold fish when it comes to Nina, for some reason. Likewise, her close relationship with Artemis has taken a turn for the worse, and once it’s revealed that Nina is a Slayer, Artemis begins shutting her out. It doesn’t help that Artemis failed her Watcher’s test and is now consigned to a life of living in the shadows of the real Watchers, and seeing her sister become a Slayer is more than she can bear. There are lots of misunderstandings, which are eventually resolved, but the emotional toll on Nina is quite harsh, and I really felt for her.
There are also a lot of very funny moments, so kudos to White for doing a great job of keeping an important part of the Buffyverse—humor—in her story. One of the funnier moments is when Nina admits her annoyance of how “popular” of a Watcher Giles was, and that no one remembers her father Merrick. Which is true, because Merrick is the dead, forgettable Watcher from the movie, lol. Throughout the story, Nina is constantly reminding us how much she HATES Buffy, because Buffy was ultimately responsible for her father’s death. Buffy ruined her life. Buffy is STILL ruining her life. After a while, Nina really started to sound whiny about the whole “I hate Buffy” thing, and what was even funnier was that Nina, like all Slayers, is connected to the entire line of Slayers through her dreams. And Nina cannot escape Buffy in her dreams. I loved Nina’s Buffy dreams, because I hated that she hated Buffy, and those dreams simply cemented the fact that Nina really doesn’t know much at all about being a Slayer, and probably never will.
But as much as I loved Slayer, I have to admit that some of the world-building didn’t sit quite right with me. The story revolves around the remaining Watchers who are still alive after the Seed of Wonder incident, and even though magic is gone and there just aren’t any Slayers out there, these Watchers and potential Watchers are still serious about training and taking tests to determine whether they are good enough to become full-fledged Watchers and be accepted into the Watchers Council. Except, there isn’t a Council anymore, so I couldn’t really see the point of what they were trying to do. Also, Buffy is still alive and well, although she’s only in the periphery of the story and not actually present. If Buffy is still a Slayer, and if she’s still rejecting the Watchers Council, then what exactly are the Watchers training for? Yes, there are demons roaming around, unable to leave this dimension, and they still need killing. But I got the impression that White has imbued her Watchers with much more power than Joss Whedon gave them in the TV show, and the idea of a Slayer seems almost pointless.
Also, the details about what’s happening to all the Potential Slayers are vague. Although I have to admit, one of the show’s low points was the invention of the “Potentials,” any girl in the world who could be a Slayer, will be a Slayer. It’s a sentimental idea that worked at the time, but where the TV show was ending and the writers didn’t have to deal with “what comes next,” White is forced to figure out where the Potentials fit in her world.
But wow, the author really pulls everything together at the end and gives us an epic finale that tied up lots of the loose ends and even set the stage for the next book. She even throws in a prophecy for good measure, because what would a Buffy story be without one? The story might be confusing and overstuffed in places—seriously a lot happens in Slayer, and my review has barely touched on most of it!—but its heart is in the right place. Just like the TV show, Slayer is all about the choices we make, both the good and the bad, and I cannot wait to see where White takes her story next.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
I*m so glad this turned out to be very good! I’m very tempted to just get this book. 🙂 I love Easter eggs like that.
Seed of Wonder is apparently from the comics.
Mervi recently posted…Rebecca Moesta, ed: Fiction River: Superpowers
I thought it might be, but I never finished the comics. Thanks!
Do you have to read the 8th season comics or is having watched the show adequate prep for this one?
Well, I haven’t really read the comics and it was fine for me. But I think my complaints about the worldbuilding might be because I DIDN’T read the comics and I didn’t know what the freaking Seed of Wonder was, lol. Also, in the comics the Watchers might have gained more skills and power than in the show, which really confused me. I say go for it!
I’m glad to see this book still earned high marks from you in spite of the worldbuilding issues.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Early Reviews: WATCH US RISE and GOODBYE, PERFECT
It really has a lot going for it, tons of fun even though I had to bring up certain world building aspects that just didn’t quite work.
I have this on reserve at my library and since I never saw Buffy (ducking because you’re throwing things at me right?) you might get your review wish (someone who doesn’t have that point of reference). Stormi has started this and kind of figured Buffy fans would be angry because it seems the characters are anti-Buffy. Yours is the first review I’ve seen. I am curious about it so I hope it comes in soon!
Buffy really gets bashed in this book, but since the story is told from a different perspective, I get what the author did. I really hope you read and review it, I’m mostly curious to see if you’re confused or if the story makes sense!
Great review! I’m waiting for my library hold to come in. I’d been wondering if this book picked up from the TV show or the comics, so thanks for answering that. 🙂 I’ve been trying to keep up with the comics, but still need to read season 11. I’m hesitant about this book just because (like you) Buffy is really important to me, but I’ll give it a try.
I just couldn’t get into the comics, they were so out there and strange. And now that I understand more about where this book fits in the timeline, I’m not sure starting things after the comics (or in the middle of) was the right move. The comics and so different from the TV show and she might be losing fans by doing that. But we’ll see…I’ll look forward to your thoughts!
Like you, I never finished the comics, they just didn’t have the humor and emotion that I got from the show itself. I loved the show so much that most of my social media handles are buffywnabe. So I know where you are coming from with this review. I also got a little irritated with the whole “I hate Buffy” stuff. But in the end it all worked out. If you want, you can check out my review of this one HERE.
Heading over to read your review now!
Though I was never a fan of the show I always like Buffy premise and stories. Too bad the world wasn’t quite right. I think that’s the best part of any urban fantasy 🙂
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It was a different world for sure, with elements that felt familiar. I guess I wanted just a little bit more of the universe I remember.
If you liked it, I know I will enjoy it too. And I am SO glad to hear the author included humor. The wit of the series was one of the big draws for me and something many of the book adaptions ignored.
Yes, the humor was so important to the show, and even though it’s not exactly the same type of humor, it worked for me:-)
We LOVED Buffy as a family – it was one of the few times when we all got together to watch the series together, so this one sounds very tempting… Though I have a fair few books stacked up – but thank you for sharing:))
It will bring back lots of memories if you get to it! I just loved all the name dropping of characters from the TV show.
Wonderful review, Tammy. This is a terrific endorsement from you, even if the book wasn’t perfect. I’m definitely interested.
It’s always going to be hard to get things perfect for me when it comes to Buffy, but this was definitely worth reading:-)
I plan on tackling all the books in the shelf queens box at some point, so I hope this will be next on my plate! I’ve enjoyed her books in the past and I have a good feeling I will like this one a lot too 🙂
This is the first book of hers I’ve read. I’ll definitely try her again!
I can’t wait to read this. I adore Buffy and I’m always looking for a strong female protagonist with some major flaws to work though. Got it on my list now!
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I hope you love it, Laura!
I was waiting especially for your comments on this one so it’s reassuring to read your thoughts. If this can win your approval (niggles aside) then it must indeed be good. Lynn
It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad I read it:-)
I just watched Buffy for the first time this past year. 🙂 So this sounds like fun
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Oh cool! I must rewatch the whole series, I’m having withdrawals, lol.
I have been waiting for your review for this because I have been TERRIFIED to read this book based on how much the ‘verse means to me! I am actually writing my comment as I read your post, so uh, sorry in advance lol
“And secondly, it decimated most of the Watchers council, leaving only a small contingent alive who are now hiding out in the castle. In this world, the Watchers have evolved from simply guarding and training Slayers into a more “hands on” role, fighting and killing demons themselves in addition to protecting Slayers”
Wasn’t the Watcher’s Council already decimated in the tv show though? Like didn’t Caleb destroy it? Was that just the HQ? I know that based on Angel s5 Buffy and the Scoobies kind of started their own thing, is that what she destroyed? ALSO on just a side note, but how disappointing of a development to the ‘verse… making all Potentials slayers and then rendering them all irrelevant. OMG I am so glad I never read s8 I would have been so pissed off.
This is a great review Tammy, and I am glad you enjoyed it overall. I am less terrified to read it now, but I do think I will have a lot of questions… and the whole Potentials/new Watchers with more powers but there being no magic worldbuilding issues are probably going to annoy me. LOL. At least I am now warned!
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Thanks Kaleena! If you decide to read this, I cannot wait to hear your reaction. I have a feeling that some of the set up was from the comics. The Seed of Wonder, which I found out was destroyed by Buffy in the comics, also destroyed a bunch of Watchers. I think those two things are connected. I honestly don’t remember the watchers council being blown up/destroyed on the TV show but obviously it’s time for a rewatch, lol! You could totally be right.
I think one of the things that struck me is that this story is about WATCHERS not the SLAYER. So it was weird for me going in expecting a Slayer centric story, and it’s really focused on the Watchers. Even though Nina becomes a Slayer, she also says things like “I can be both a Watcher and a Slayer!” which I thought was weird. On the show, the Watchers are just there in the background. But anyway, I am curious to read more bloggers’ reviews, I love comparing thoughts!!
Glad you ended up loving this! I’m definitely feeling up for some Buffy nostalgia. I definitely like the sound of the connection to the show. Great review!
I want to go back and rewatch the whole series now:-)
I’ve been looking forward to your review/perspective of this since you’re a big Buffy fan and I’m not. Your review didn’t disappoint. I’ll be looking for your review of the sequel before I pick it up.
I’m really curious about the next book, hopefully I’ll get to read it:-)
I honestly don’t know what to make of this. I feel the whole premise is messing with the buffy world too much and I guess I can’t wrap my head around that. I dunno, I’m uber weird about Buffy (and the X-files) lol
Yeah, if you are uber weird about Buffy, this might not be for you. Plus Buffy really gets bashed and I didn’t like that part!
Great review! I can’t wait to pick this up for myself!