A new Slayer for a new generation...
Frankie Rosenberg is passionate about the environment, a sophomore at New Sunnydale High School, and the daughter of the most powerful witch in Sunnydale history. Her mom, Willow, is slowly teaching her magic on the condition that she use it to better the world. But Frankie’s happily quiet life is upended when new girl Hailey shows up with news that the annual Slayer convention has been the target of an attack, and all the Slayers—including Buffy, Faith, and Hailey’s older sister Vi—might be dead. That means it’s time for this generation’s Slayer to be born.
But being the first ever Slayer-Witch means learning how to wield a stake while trying to control her budding powers. With the help of Hailey, a werewolf named Jake, and a hot but nerdy sage demon, Frankie must become the Slayer, prevent the Hellmouth from opening again, and find out what happened to her Aunt Buffy, before she’s next.
Get ready for a whole new story within the world of Buffy!
I've tried Kendare Blake before, and her novels always seemed - fine. Not amazing, not awful, passed time perfectly, didn't really stay in my head afterwards. Like most people in my generation, I adored Buffy growing up and I thought that reading a book set in that continuity would be a good way to try Kendare again.
It didn't work.
Parts of the story are great. The demon feeding on people's Insta posts was really clever, and exactly the kind of thing Buffy would be tackling if it was still airing today. Frankie's group of Scoobies was great. The scene where she's told "We know you can do this on your own, because you're the Slayer and you're a really good one - but you're not doing it without us" was great.
However. Spike as a Watcher? No. Just no. He'd never agree to it. He didn't even sound like Spike, to my ear. Frankie's creation is a bit urgh as well. The whole Hunter storyline was way too similiar to Buffy; having your characters talk about how familiar it is doesn't mean that it isn't familiar anymore. And the whole Slayerfest storyline was strange. For one, why would they call it that? For two, if Kendare just wanted the Slayers out of the way, why not just have them all be busy in other parts of the world? Nothing Frankie faced in this book would have necessitated calling other Slayers in, and her Calling could still be explained away.
I didn't hate it; I'll read the next one to see what happened overall; but it's only alright, as far as I'm concerned. I hope that other readers enjoy it, though.
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