ONE GIRL IN ALL THE WORLD by Kendare Blake

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.

One Girl in All the World by Kendare Blake
Series: In Every Generation #2
Published by Disney-Hyperion on January 31 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Young adult
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: The gang is back in this second book in Kendare Blake’s Buffy-inspired series, with plenty of action, laughs and monsters.

I love when the second book in a series hits its stride and improves on the first book, and that was my experience with One Girl in All the World. I’ll admit I didn’t love the first book, In Every Generation, and I was a bit hesitant to tackle this one, but I’m so glad I did. Blake not only ups the stakes, but the plot is tighter and more interesting in every way. The characters also continue to change and grow, and most of the Buffyverse jokes and Easter eggs hit their mark for me, which was a lot of fun.

Also, please note there will be minor spoilers ahead for the first book in the series!

When the story opens, the new Scooby gang is still trying to find out what happened to Buffy and many of the other slayers who were caught in an explosion at the beginning of In Every Generation. But not everyone is currently in Sunnydale. Vi, one of the slayers who escaped the blast, took off after helping the gang defeat the Countess at the end of the last book, and her sister Hailey is worried sick about her. Likewise, Grimloch the Hunter of Thrace is also absent, as he’s gone looking for another slayer. Frankie, the current slayer and Willow’s mystically-born daughter, has fallen for Grim and isn’t too keen that he’s gone chasing after another girl.

But relationship drama aside, Sunnydale is suddenly being overrun with demons, much more than normal. And the demons are…familiar. Something is drawing them to the Hellmouth, and Frankie and her Scooby gang—Hailey, Jake, and Sigmund—have their hands full trying to keep up with the slaying. With the help of Oz, Willow and Spike, as well as a vision from an oracle sent by an old friend, Frankie unveils a nefarious plot involving the magical Slayer weapon that once saved the world: the Scythe.

I had a bunch of fun with this book. As an uber-Buffy fan, I love spotting references from the original TV show, and there were a lot in this book. Probably my favorite element is the way many monsters and demons from the TV show made an appearance, sort of like a Buffy monster reunion. If you’re a fan, you’ll know what a Polgara demon is, and remember the episode when Giles turns into a Fyarl demon? The swim team-turned fish monsters from Season 2 make a cameo, and many others as well. I thought it was a great idea to include this, and yes, this “who’s who” of Buffyverse demons isn’t just random, it fits into the plot nicely.

Oddly enough, it’s the new characters that I connected with the most. Yes, I’m a big fan of Oz, Spike and Willow, but I’m also much more critical of how their characters are portrayed. Blake does a pretty good job of capturing the magic that I remember from the show, but still, not all of their dialog worked for me. Spike’s character in particular is a little odd. He’s now a Watcher himself, as well as the Sunnydale High librarian, so for me he’s lost a lot of the edginess and charisma that worked so well on the TV show. He’s gone a little soft, in other words, and not because he’s older (he’s a vampire, after all).

But I really loved Frankie’s character in this book. She’s sort of the underdog of the story. She’s the current Slayer, but she’s also a witch (in the story she’s called a “slayer-witch,” lol), so when she fights, she uses a combination of slayer powers and magic. But she struggles to be good enough, always under the shadow of the great (and still missing) Buffy. Frankie is her own person, though, and doesn’t compromise. She’s a vegan and insists on composting the dead demon bodies she slays, and she’s in love with a demon who eats organs (including the hearts of slayers). Spike rarely compliments her when they train, and Frankie’s convinced she’s a horrible slayer. For a “superhero,” she’s amazingly down to earth, and I loved that about her.

I laughed a lot while reading One Girl in All the World, mostly because Blake really nailed the Buffy style humor (I remember doing more groaning than laughing during the first book). There are also some sweet moments between the characters, as their relationships change and grow. One of the things I liked in the original series was the coming of age element, and the author does a really good job with it here. Maybe that’s why I liked the younger characters better than the old, familiar ones, who felt a little jaded and uninspiring to me.

The plot itself is full of tension, and Blake leaves her readers with a couple of unsolved mysteries at the end, perfect for hooking readers and getting them excited about the next book in the series. I’m definitely on board for book three myself, but in the meantime, I think a Buffy rewatch is in order…

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.