Kristin and Jenny’s marriage started with an ultimatum: to further their relationship, Kristin must watch Jenny's favorite show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. With the terms set, they began a journey that has led them through seven seasons of the beloved genre show, a podcast rewatching the series with their newly minted listenership of “Scoobies,” unexpected success, and a divorce. Through it all, their love for Buffy and their commitment to their community held them together against the odds.
Slayers, Every One of Us is the story of how two queer women navigated divorce on a very public level and managed to stay in each other’s lives through it all. While chock full of Buffy (and Buffering!) content for true fans, this is ultimately a memoir of queer love and chosen family. It's a heartwarming story for anyone who's experienced lost love, and a roadmap for staying close with your ex.
Say the words "Slayers, every one of us" to any Buffy fan and they will immediately reply with "Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?" It's an iconic line from an iconic speech from the finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (Spoiler, I guess, sorry.) It's a fantastic choice for the title of this memoir, a history of a podcast based on the show and of the lives of the two hosts, Jenny and Kristin. As gay women, they had a particular experience of the show that struck a chord with their listeners and quickly propelled the show to the top of the 'must listen' lists.
I hadn't heard of the podcast before - I'm not really a podcast person - but they made it easy to follow along. This was one of my rare audiobooks rather than a physical book, read by Kristen and Jenny themselves and featuring snippets of audio from the podcast. If you can get your hands on this version, I recommend it - I occasionally had difficulty telling their voices apart, but that's entirely consistent with me, and it didn't matter much to the memoir anyway as their lives were so entwined.
Kristen and Jenny are remarkably honest and open with the reader, and it's a fun read that touches on some of the high points of Buffy fandom, and fandom in general. You should really be at least vaguely familiar with Buffy to get the best of this, but it's a lot of fun and really interesting.
Slayers, Every One of Us publishes on the 8th of April, 2025. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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