Book Review: In Every Generation by Kendare Blake
It’s been two decades since the show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” went off the air. The show spawned a spinoff show Angel that also ended and since then fans have been turning to novels and comics to get the latest on Buffy and her friends. In the new young adult novel In Every Generation published by Disney, readers find themselves transported to modern-day Sunnydale, home of the Hellmouth and the most interesting teenagers who happen to be slayers and werewolves. Read on for a full review of In Every Generation by Kandare Blake.
A return to Sunnydale finds readers following Willow Rosenberg’s daughter Frankie Rosenberg. Frankie is a student at Sunnyvale High and gets the terrible news that an explosion has killed the majority of the slayers around the world including Buffy and Faith. With this news Spike (200 hundred-year-old vampire with a soul) heads back into Sunnyvale to guide Frankie. Frankie discovers she is a combo witch/ slayer and since Sunnyvale is starting to see it’s share of vampires and demons again, it falls to the Scoobie Team Version 2.0 to help protect the town.
Armed with a stake and some witty banter, Frankie is helped by Jake (a young werewolf) and Hailey (a new friend) with training to fight off powerful vampires and the like. Frankie goes up against a powerful demon but things are tenuous as she worries that her mother’s magic may spiral like before. Since Frankie isn’t too confident in her slayer skills, it’s going to take a village plus a few magical teammates to keep Sunnydale safe.
In Every Generation Review
In Every Generation is a fun book that Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans will enjoy and if you never watched the show, some references may be confusing. Author Kendare Blake’s novel has that delicate balance of bringing in some of the banter and humor of the old television series with new and modern characters who are just as compelling as Buffy, Willow, and Spike were. The plots are updated for modern young adults, for example the first demon that Frankie encounters is one that uses social media to feed off its teenage victims.
There are some references to old characters like Dawn (Buffy’s sister), Angel (Buffy’s old lover) and Dru (Spike’s old lover) but the main focus is on the powerful witch Willow Rosenberg’s family. Willow’s dialogue is really comforting, and it’s reminiscent of the show where Willow was kind but unbelievably strong. In Every Generation shows that Willow is comfortable serving snacks and drinks to the teenagers that gather in home as she is in using powerful magic to protect those same teenagers. I liked that the author remained true to Willow’s sexuality and there’s an interesting back story to how Frankie was conceived.
The ending of In Every Generation is a bit abrupt, I would have liked the “are they alive or aren’t they” aspect of the remaining slayers in the world to be wrapped up but perhaps there will be future books to answer this question? Overall, returning to Sunnydale to follow a new generation of Scoobies was pretty enjoyable and I’m hoping Disney expands this series.
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