I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

Has a lifelong Buffy then I really wanted to enjoy this book but sadly it felt like a little bit of a letdown.

I was interested by this title when I read the premise, which is essentially that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" character Willow has a daughter who is a Slayer but also a witch, and that Buffy herself needs her help. We're also introduced to other Slayers, Hailey and Vi, who are half-sisters, and Jake, who is part of the Osbourne werewolf pack. Characters make surprise appearances, and there are plenty of tie-ins that answer "what ever happened to...." One note is that this book does not follow the comic book series that appeared after the television show went off the air. This book appears seems to try to pick up on its own timeline, set a few decades after the events of the show. There's still a Sunnydale High, somehow miraculously reconstructed.

The writing itself is solid, and the writer is great. I think where the book lands will depend on each reader. It's clearly intended as a Disney/Hyperion tie-in to try to appeal to YA readers now who weren't around for the original TV show run of Buffy, or who have perhaps watched it for the first time on streaming services.

I personally think when a particular narrative arc as epic as the television show's ends, it should stay that way. This endless cycle of "everything old is new again" makes me cringe, and this book is no exception to that--again, not because of the author, whose writing is perfectly fine, but just the idea of "the saga continues" and trying to recapture the old magic that was so specific to a particular place and time. Again, some readers really dig continuations and carrying these stories on, but for me, the television show is canon and I'm not interested in the spin-offs that happened with the comic book series ("Angel"'s tv show is its own entity and I'm not referencing that here).

In Every Generation is both beautiful nostalgia and a warm welcome to the Buffyverse. Fans of the show will reconnect with characters they love and find all kinds of fun easter eggs throughout the book. New readers are given the background they need, while also connecting with new characters that they can continue the series with. You don't need to be a Buffy fan to like this book. Kendare Blake's writing is touching, funny, and engaging. This will not be a hard sell for your fantasy or contemporary readers.

Buffy fans unite! I absolutely loved seeing this iconic cult classic be resurrected from the Hell Mouth for new generations of fans to devour! Bringing in the kids and families of the former scooby gang to try and save the slayers and the day was absolutely genius. A trip down memory lane for hardcore Buffy fans with wonderful cameos from our favorite characters plus a whole new gang that have their own flair to offer the buffyverse. If you're a vamp fan, read it! If you're a buffy fan, duh read it! If you're fan of some kick ass characters and the paranormal, Read it!

As a Buffy fan of a certain age, that was terribly awkward to read about these characters as Adult adults with children. I love Kendare Blake but I am going to have to skip this series. I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley for my honest review.

Two stars because the story for better near the end. Before it got worse again.
Ugh. I wanted to like this book. I mean, I really did. I love Buffy. I have since I was a kid. And this book just didn't so the Slayerverse justice.
It was like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be about the original characters or the new ones. Honestly, I would have been fine with either. But as soon as the newer characters took the lead, there had to be some old info drop or line to throw it off again. It just wasn't realistic dialogue how often they brought up the past.
Speaking of past that didn't need to be brought up, Willow is gay. She made it so abundantly clear to Oz in the middle of the series that she is a lesbian. Yet they kept bringing up Willow and Oz rekindling that relationship. Just no.
Another no- the menstruation humor. Honestly, just no. Ew. No one does that.
It was like Blake was desperate to be hip with the youngins that she wrote in things that just don't make sense.
The plot only picked up in the middle of the story. At least the end plot. There was a whole different Instagram or whatever plot until the middle then all of a sudden the story was about the Countess. Like the story couldn't make up it's mind.
Hailey, Jake, and Frankie could have been the same character. You know how there are those little quizzes, Which character said this line? Yeah, you wouldn't be able to tell these three apart.
Overall, big disappointment.

Kendare Blake has done a masterful job of reviving the Buffyverse with an uncertain but kick-ass new slayer, a new gang of Scoobies, and some familiar characters. 'In Every Generation' captured the spirit and energy of a show beloved by many, while adding her own unique voice. A fanging great start to a new series and a new chapter in the Vampire Slayer world.

I am a huge Buffy fan, and I was so excited when I heard this book was coming out. Sadly, it missed the mark for me and was simply... average. I liked the tone and some of the references to the original series. I also loved seeing the storyline continue and being immersed in the world of Buffy again. However, the main character was a bit too whiny for my taste. And ultimately she "transforms" but we never actually see that happen. It's more like- she goes from 0 to 60 just by putting on a jacket, and I'm not sure where the actual character growth was. I also very much did not appreciate the "romantic" elements between Willow and Oz, nor the fact that at one point Willow had to defend the fact that she is gay. She is a lesbian, that is not up for debate, please drop it. I would give this book 2.5 stars, rounding up to 3.

Spike is a watcher... but still... so Spike!
Demons feeding off stupidity!
Lots of gross, snarks, mystery and new big bads!

And an ending leaving all the things up for grabs in the next entry!

Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

You do not have to be a Buffy fan to read this book. I've watched a few episodes here and there, but I did not know enough about the Buffy world before I started this book. The author does a great job in the beginning and throughout explaining characters from the world of Buffy as well as what happened at the end of the series.

The beginning was a little slow for me. It probably wasn't until halfway through the book that it finally picked up. The beginning starts off with Frankie, a witch, Frankie's mom, Willow (from Buffy), Jake, a werewolf, and Oz, Jake's werewolf uncle, finding out that there was an explosion at the slayer convention and that all the slayers are presumed dead. Xander and Dawn (from Buffy) are at the site trying to find any details and survivors. This news also explains why Frankie passed out at school and feels different. She learns that she is considered the next line of slayers. With the slayers dead, vampires have returned to Sunnydale and it is up to Frankie, Jake, and a newcomer, Hailey, to stop them. Hailey is one of the slayer's sisters that Spike (from Buffy) was a watcher for. After hearing that the slayers are dead, he goes to get her to bring her to Sunndale. We also can't forget Sigmund, the sage demon who was sent to help them learn about the mysterious portal.

When I mention Buffy a lot, it seems like it is a lot to keep track of and a bit overwhelming, but I promise, the author does a way better job of making everything make sense and filling the reader in on all the details.

In my opinion, the story picks up when we learn that there is a vampire in town whose agenda includes turning everyone into vampires, particularly a specific group of people. We also meet Grim (who happens to be my favorite, mysterious character) who initially allies himself with the queen vampire, yet every time Frankie is almost bitten by vampires, he shows up and kills them all. Frankie's scoobies (and adults) aren't sure what to make of him, but her gut tells her that he really is on their side and is the only person capable of helping them defeat a vampire who is basically immortal and can't be killed with a stake through the heart. There is also a little surprise towards the end of the novel.

I enjoyed the second half of the book a lot more than the first half, but that isn't to say the story isn't great as a whole. I am excited for the next book in the series and to learn more about Grim and whether Buffy's slayer line is truly gone.

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and were not affected by the free copy.

I should start this off by saying I have never seen, nor read, anything Buffy related. I have a vague picture of the general knowledge from pop culture, but that's about it. However, I love Kendare Blake, so I wasn't going to let that stop me.

Frankie, a self-proclaimed eco-witch, is happy with her quiet life. But that happiness is destroyed at the news that the annual Slayer convention was attacked and all of the slayers-including her famous Aunt Buffy-might be dead. That news wasn't enough though, she had to discover that she now has the powers of the new Slayer.

I ended up liking most of the book. The author did a pretty good job keeping the non-Buffy knowledge people like myself, in the loop. Very rarely did I get confused because I didn't know that the backstory (I'm sure the references are way more fun if you do know). My favorite part was that Frankie wasn't magically amazing at everything fighting (YA trope, anyone?) She has to work at it, and still manages to stake herself. Logically, I understand her skepticism and fear of her new role, but it did irk me how often she had to be saved (usually by a "big, strong man). I enjoyed the banter between Frankie and her friends Jake, Hailey, and Sigmund.

The biggest detractor in this book was the number of sexist jokes and remarks. To this day, I have never, ever once in my life made a joke about menstruation. This book manages to includes so many, that the two female characters turn it into their own inside joke. The book also ended very suddenly; not so much on a cliff-hanger, the big story arc was kinda sorta wrapped up, but it was just suddenly over.

All things considered, this book succeeded at one big thing; I'm very interested in watching the series now! I look forward

Wow is it great to be back with the Scoobies in the Buffyverse! This is a fantastic intro to a new series with some of the familiar faces from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer show. Joining the familiars, Willow, Oz, Zander, and Spike, are a new generation of warriors. You don't have to have watched the show to understand the book, but if you are a Buffy fan, there's a lot to make you smile: series events are mentioned, as are funny episodes, and recurring jokes.

This book covers several smaller fights while the ongoing story arc is playing out. There feel is that you're binge watching a season of Buffy, and I loved it! The new characters are relatable and have room for growth. They're not clones of the original Scoobies. You'll enjoy them for who they are. Kendare Blake knocked this one out of the park! I hope she writes future books in the Buffyverse! This one is not fully resolved by the end.

I'm calling it: I rarely DNF books, but I can't make myself read another page. I knew going into this that we'd be exploring the Buffy world from a new angle with a second generation, but I had no idea it was going to read like bad fanfiction. I've read my fair share of fan fiction, from various fandoms, but this was something else. The writing wasn't engaging, I couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters, and the author immediately jumps into the Buffy universe and kills off the main character, Buffy herself.

Without background from the show, there's no way to tell what's going on at any given time, so new readers are immediately going to be lost. It's been awhile since I've seen the show, but even with the background I had going in I was constantly confused on what was happening.

I had such high hopes for this book, especially with it being the start of a new series, but was almost immediately let down. I won't be wasting my time with any future books.

As someone that grew up with "Buffy," I really enjoyed this book and hope that it gets another generation into the fandom. It was a fresh writing but held to the heart of the original show. I loved it!

LOVED! A long time fan of Buffy, this was a perfect book to return to the universe. The tone and style of the writing feels very much like that of the show and Kendare Blake did an amazing job of bringing new characters to life and keeping the same voice as the beloved original crew. I can't wait for more and definitely recommend this to anyone who loved the show.

Full disclosure--I am a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, and thus a fan of most, if not all, of the Slayerverse. And here comes Kendare Blakes, In Every Generation! And the Slayervers is introduced to a whole new generation! (Unless they are my students, and they’ve already been introduced.)

I know I am not the only adult who reads Young Adult literature for fun, and I won’t be the only BTVS fan who reads In Every Generation. I do want to warn you--Blake does a good bit of filling in the blanks, for those who do not know what happened with Buffy and the “Scoobies.” At first it annoyed me until I did some self-talk to remind myself that not everyone has entire episodes memorized. (I am hardcore, let me tell you. LOL.) Knowing that going into the novel will save you some frustration.

We are introduced to witch, Frankie Rosenburg--yes, Willow’s daughter--Hailey, Jake and star athlete that also happens to be a werewolf, and a charming, nerdy, and sometimes awkward Sage Demon. Together they embark on solving the mystery of what happened to “Aunt” Buffy, Faith, and Vi, Hailey’s sister. All were at a slayer convention when a bomb destroyed the tree spa resort where they were gathering. With the help of now-watcher Spike, Willow, Jake’s uncle Oz, and receiving information from Xander and Dawn--a new slayer, and the first slayer-witch, begins training to save Sunnydale, to prevent the Hellmouth from opening, and to save any remaining slayers from the convention.

If you cannot tell, I am a fan of this new series. Blake does extremely well tying in the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer lore as well as using the witty banter that Buffy and Friends were known for. I cannot wait to get In Every Generation into the hands of my students and start our book club.

* This is a voluntary review written in exchange for a free E-ARC. Thanks to Disney Worldwide Publishing, Hyperion and NetGalley.

My heart is soaring after I finished this book. I’ve been a huge Buffy fan for a long time and it’s been really hard to find a book that can do the show justice. The last one I read was from way back and it was Faith’s backstory. Everything else just didn’t do it justice especially after the show ended and authors tried doing something with new Slayers.
Kendare Blake… you did it girl! You gave everything to this book and it worked. All the best characters were there in some way whether by name or in physicality to the story and you did them justice. There were parts where I cried out loud because you broke my heart but then you fixed it right up with the new characters and the new Baddie. Thank you thank you thank you!

For fans of the world of Buffy and Angel comes a fun new YA book bringing it to the next generation! This is definitely a fun story, but It would be great to see it further developed in a few ways. First, it is so great to see some of the old gang still there and most of it feel 'natural' to the characters, except for Willow. Willow seems to still be in her 'troubled teen' stage, which would not be accurate. At her age, (and even at the end of the series) Willow was pretty well comfortable with who she was - a lesbian. The weird vibe between her and Oz in the book doesn't feel right - they could be besties, yes, but there is too much of a "will they get together" that they would be well past by this stage. Secondly, Frankie: She is a bit of a weak character - at her age, Willow had basically almost destroyed the world - but Frankie knows so little magic? Not really believable. Frankie constantly needs to be saved by her friends/others (mostly male). I get that she is supposed to be developing, but really?! Look at the Buffy development early on - Frankie could well develop without having to be saved so much by other people. - her friends come across much more strongly and as more developed characters. Frankie is a bit of a whiner, honestly. I wish she were a stronger female lead.

Otherwise, the story is honestly fun and fast, and a good read. As a Buffy fan, I am understandable picky!

I am a HUGE Buffy fan, so I was highly anticipating this novel— and I’m here to report that it’s a mixed bag, filled with a lot to love and not so much love.

Things I liked:
- The writing style. This book very much felt like Buffy, the show, in terms of voice and setting. It really felt like the early three seasons of the show. If you miss that vibe, I think you’ll enjoy it here in this book. It also seemed like the writer was trying to imagine this story as if it could take place on screen, and I thought that was charming; for example, there are reasons integrated into the plot for returning immortal characters to appear the actor’s actual age.

- The new Scoobies. I really enjoyed the new characters and how they were related to the old Scoobies in surprisingly fun ways. Jake was easily my favorite, a cute werewolf boy who has a good heart. The friendships within the group were also strong, I thought.

- References to the show. There are so many references scattered throughout the book, and if you’re a big fan, they’ll all make you smile! Some are very in your face, especially at the beginning, but then others are subtle. It felt like this book had the perfect amount of throwbacks.

- The old Scoobies. Unlike the previous Slayer YA duology, this book really leans into making some of the OG Scoobies integral to the story. Seeing them interact with the new generation was really fun, and especially seeing them interact with one another in present day. Willow and Oz specifically have a lot explored with them, and I’m here for the concept of that. Spike and Vi (Felicia Day’s minor character from season 7) also have a lot to do. And besides them, off the top of my head, we get some cameos and mentions of Xander, Dawn, Buffy, Faith, Giles, Angel, and Andrew as well.

- The new continuity. Also unlike the Slayer YA duology, this book establishes its own continuity post-season 7. I’m a diehard comics canon fan, so I appreciated Slayer trying (but also kinda failing) to keep with the canon, but it just didn’t work and I’m sure it was confusing for new readers and fans who didn’t read a decade of comics material. In Every Generation scraps all of that, and while I would have loved to keep with continuity for my OCD sake— having a new continuity was exciting! Not knowing where these OG characters have been was interesting and I wanted to get to know them again. If this book had tried to stay with comics canon, like Slayer tried, I think it would have failed.

- The fanfiction-y aspect. This book seems to know what it is: published Buffy fanfiction. Some people will take that to mean that this book isn’t good then, but that’s not true! Much fanfiction is great! And this reads like someone who has dabbled in Buffy fanfic back in the day (a compliment!). And besides, any novel continuing the show’s narrative is just inevitably going to feel like fanfiction; let’s accept that. So if you go into this knowing what it is and appreciating what it is, I think you could enjoy it too. And since we’ve established that this is just one of a few continuities post-season 7, don’t hate on it just for existing and or see it as trying to replace another continuity; it’s a choose-your-own-adventure game! And this fanfiction-y option has a lot of fun in it!


Things I disliked:
- How Willow’s sexuality was portrayed. To start off, Willow, the iconic lesbian witch, was magically impregnated because of a side effect from a spell— something she apparently didn’t have any consent in. That sucks! The Buffy and Angel shows have a history of treating female characters awfully in terms of pregnancy storylines, so I’m a tad surprised the lesson wasn’t learned here; and with the lesbian character, it sucks in a whole new way. But wait! There’s more!! The book is pretty dismissive of Willow’s lesbian identity in order to fuel a “will they, won’t they”-esque trope between her and Oz. I’m all for exploring a complicated relationship between Willow and Oz, as it’s ripe for material with them having dated and her since having realized she’s gay, but… this ain’t it. The narration and multiple characters question if Willow and Oz are currently together romantically because they’re sort-of “co-parenting” (which is cute, ngl). The thing is, Willow. Is. A. Lesbian! And everyone knows this! She is an iconic lesbian character. And she has to defend her identity to her friends and family?! This book questioning that identity in such a fickle way feels icky to me. And untrue to the character and what she stood for. She straight up defends her sexuality with “No! I’m gay!” during one of the times sometime speculates she’s banging Oz currently in the book. And theres at least two more speculative moments about it afterwards. Willow and Oz are shoved into romantic situations throughout the book, and it was very uncomfortable to me. Oz is hardcore still into Willow, but she does officially friend zone him near the end. To me though, it reads like her sexuality is just being treated as an obstacle keeping them apart. If a new reader picked up this book, I think they would assume and even want Willow and Oz to end up together romantically— and that sucks! This book read like it had a Willow/Oz romance agenda, and you can’t have that without erasing and being dismissive of Willow’s lesbian identity. I understand that sexuality is fluid and a journey, and honestly Willow could have been bi if the show had gone in that direction— but she and the show defined her as a lesbian. She’s a lesbian icon. The comics continued defining her as a lesbian for years. Willow is a lesbian. And to question that identity now, after 20+ years, is ignorant, especially in the context it was presented in here. I get the vibe that the writer truly loves Willow’s character, but the handling of her sexuality seemed borderline offensive to me, and I won’t be shocked if it’s extremely offensive to lesbians who grew up with the show.

- Frankie the Vampire Slayer. Besides that fact that Frankie is a result of the sloppy the-lesbian-got-impregnated-without-consent plot, she also was the least memorable new character introduced. She felt pretty basic, and I never felt like she was undergoing much character growth even when the book seemed to think she was. She constantly is saved by men in the book, and it was frustrating. Her magic/Slayer combo powers are cool and something new to explore, but that was the main thing I liked about her— and the fact that her mom is Willow, because I love Willow. I didn’t really connect with her character.

- “Murdering” all the strong female protagonists from the show off-page within the first 20 pages. Okay, so this was a complete plot device to isolate Frankie, our new Slayer, so that she could be the “Chosen ONE.” And I get it. But it still sucks! If the Buffy fandom is anything like the Terminator fandom, I think they won’t take too kindly to their strong female protagonists like Buffy and Faith being killed off off-screen at the beginning of this story. Sure, maybe they’re alive, but the longer the book goes on, the more likely it is many of them are at least really dead, including Faith. Is Buffy still alive? Probably. But we don’t get any answers in this book, so they’re all still counted as dead for now. And it doesn’t sound good for Faith specifically, and she’s one of my favorites, so I’m really upset she was treated so badly. Anyways, this whole thing was a giant plot device, and for whatever reason the writer didn’t want to explore the empowerment themes from the end of the show, where tons of women were Slayers. In order to go back to the roots of seasons 1-3, I understand why this plot device was needed to tell the story that she wanted to tell. It just still kinda sucks from the way it was handled.

- The illogical and/or incorrect references. I’m bunching these two things together; there were a handful of moments throughout the book where I went, “What? How?” or “No, that’s incorrect.” And those stemmed from me either not being able to suspend my disbelief enough based off of what we’d been told already in the narrative, or the writer wrote something that didn’t add up with something already established in the show(s). For example, Sunnydale was destroyed but was rebuilt to be brand new and different— so how can a character recognize Giles’ old Magic Box shop and the alley behind it? It’s illogical and doesn’t jive with what’s been established in the novel already. And more on me just being a know-it-all fan, for example— a character who should know better is surprised when a vampire’s detached limbs don’t turn to ash, but the show has already established cut limbs from vamp’s don’t turn to ash (re: Angel season 5).

- The cisgender/heteronormative aspects. There’s a repetitive menstruation joke narrative throughout the book, and at one point it’s played as “haha, all women deal with these issues! Feminism bonding!” And it was just super cis based because, no, not all women deal with that. I understand the miscalculation, but the Buffy fan base is so queer that this joke felt really out of place to me, especially for this franchise. And while the show is known for similar dated jokes, it was the 90s. Having gags like this one isn’t great. Virginal blood is also a huge part of this book’s plot, and while it acknowledges that that type of thinking is from the patriarchy and sucks, we really only look at it from a heteronormative POV. What makes a virgin? Just not having straight, vaginal sex? This is something I’d let slide usually, but it’s such a big part of the book that it felt unexplored; and when combined with the other issues I had with how sexuality and gender were portrayed in the book, it was worth mentioning here. Side note— there ain’t any queer rep to be found outside of Willow’s fiasco, which mainly just highlights her dead lover (Tara, RIP) from years ago. I would have loved to have seen Willow living her life with a new woman and being happy. I would have loved to see some queer rep in the new characters. I really thought Jake and Sig were going to get together for a hot moment, but nah. It’s such a shame because the Slayer YA duology had such good queer rep, despite some of its other flaws. Alas, I guess I can still headcanon anyone as bi? I’m lowering my rep expectations for book 2.

- The ending. The ending left a lot to be desired, and it just kind of ended. A lot of this has to do with things I mentioned previously, like the “are the Slayers still alive” plot and Frankie’s (lack of?) character growth. No answers are given to the “are Buffy and Faith alive” thing, but more questions are raised. It was frustrating and felt a bit mean. (And like I said, it doesn’t sound good for my girl, Faith.) I feel like we needed more answers before raising more questions, and it kind of feels like the author just doesn’t know how to handle having more than one Slayer around— but she also doesn’t want to kill them all off because it’ll anger fans. So instead, we’re left a “they’re dead, but not really, maybe not, maybe you’ll find out by the end of book 3” situation. And it’s so unsatisfying. And the ending scene hinders on the reader believing in Frankie’s growth throughout the novel, and I didn’t, so the ending note didn’t land for me.


The verdict:
As you can see, I found a lot to enjoy and not enjoy here. As an uber queer, uber Buffy fan, I came to this reading with a very specific POV, but I think it’s a POV many people are going to be coming with. I’m the target audience for this book, basically, and I was hoping to be treated a bit better in terms of queerness. The other target audience, new readers, may enjoy this book in a different way, overlook some of the problems I had (like Willow’s portrayal), and take it just as its own YA thing. I did love seeing old characters again though, and I found a lot of love in the new character of Jake and the new team dynamic. In the end, I love the old school Buffy vibe this book was determined to go back to, but it possibly sacrificed too much to get there. 3/5 stars.

#InEveryGeneration #NetGalley #edelweiss
In Every Generation brings readers back into the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is a solid reboot to a successful series. Kendare Blake is a young adult author who know her way around a spooky tale and was the perfect choice to lead the series. I think new and old readers will enjoy this one!