Welcome back to the Buffy verse. Long time viewers know that there is only one born in every generation. And that the only way to get a new slayer for the previous slayer to die. That is until Willow and Buffy get together and make sure every possible slayer is given their powers so they can defeat evil. But that was 16 years ago. Something has happened to the slayers. At least four are dead, and no one knows where the others are at. We’re back in Sunnydale with Willow who has a daughter named Frankie. And her daughter has been called up to be the next slayer. Frankie has always known she’s a witch and has always wanted to be a slayer, but when the actual time comes, yikes! However, she won’t be alone. Vi’s sister comes into the picture and Oz’s nephew who was a born werewolf (not a “made” one) are Frankie‘s best friends. They will create a new Scooby game and start getting down to the bottom of what is happening in Sunnydale. Is the Hellmuth really reopening? This book was fun. It does not end on a cliffhanger, but you don’t get the end of the story so have book two on hand. If you are a Buffy person, you’re going to like this book. If you’ve never watched Buffy in your lifetime, but you like the idea of vampires check this out. My nephew got hooked on the audiobook in the car with us, and he only listened to an hour! It’s nice to see vampire that don’t sparkle and are sometimes the bad guys.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!

This was everything I could have hoped for in a revival of Buffy, next generation style! All the feels, all the nostalgia. IS it 100% accurate to the timeline of the show? No. Did/do I care? Also no. Do I care that there is a whole new generation of kids/tweens/teens that are going to get excited about this book and want to know more! I talked it up to a few other teachers and students too and each one of them LOVED it, new eyes and older.

Overall, I am so excited to see where this story goes in the future!

Thank you Net Galley, the author, and publisher for an audio ARC of In Every Generation. I loved it! This was such a fun book. I have not watched Buffy so I did not have any preconceived notions going in to this story. I loved the narrator! She did a fabulous job. This was action packed, full of vampires, demons, and werewolves. I loved the "Scoobies" reference and how supportive Frankie's friends and family are. Can't wait for the next installment, I have so many unanswered questions. This book gave me major book hangover. I was so sad it was over. Can't wait to recommend this book to students.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this advance listener copy.

Description from NetGalley:
The first in an all-new series by New York Times best-selling author Kendare Blake continues the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer featuring the next generation of Scoobies and Slayers who must defeat a powerful new evil.
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.

I’m not a huge Buffy fan. I liked watching the show when I caught it on TV, but I definitely watched more Angel. I have seen a Buffy movie but can’t remember much about it. I think if I had been more of a Buffy fan I think I would have enjoyed this more; however, I thought that book was okay.

3/5

BTVS will forever be one of my favorite things. So, when this book was announced and I found out the universe was expanding, it jumped the top of my highly anticipated TBR. I've never read a Kendare Blake before this but I have heard such good things.

2.5 Stars
A new slayer for a new generation...

IN EVERY GENERATION doesn't follow all of old Scoobies, but some appearances are made (Spike, Willow, Oz, Xander). It follows Willows daughter Frankie Rosenberg who is a self proclaimed Slayer-Witch. Together with her own group of scoobies she must learn to control her powers because a new big bad has arrived in Sunnydale and she needs to find out what happened to the other slayers.

As a die hard BTVS / Angel fan I wanted to love this book so much, but sadly it missed the mark for me because it felt like fan fiction. I expected so much more from it than it delivered. Despite the fact that this book definitely had some issues for me, I am going to give the next book a chance.

Things I enjoyed about IN EVERY GENERATION- I think Kendare Blake did an excellent job staying true to the original Buffy humor and writing style. Jake was my favorite new scooby.

I enjoyed the audiobook version more than the e arc and think the narrator did well.

Thank you Netgalley, Disney Audiobooks, and Disney Hyperion for allowing me access to this ALC/ EARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I heard about this book I wasn't at all sure if I wanted to read this. I'm not usually a person that reads books that are retellings of things that were my favorite. I don't want to see them messed up at all. But this time, I took a risk. And it worked out for the good!

Frankie is living her life as an environmental witch with her famous mom, Willow. But all of a sudden her life is upended by a single phone call. Spike turns up with a new girl named Hailey. She finds out that her sister has gone to a conference, and suffers through an explosion with all the other Slayers. And so, a new Slayer must be born. And as it turns out, it's Frankie. She's the first Slayer Witch, which means she has to learn all the things that come with being a Slayer. With the help of Hailey and her best friend (and also werewolf) Jake, they come together to keep the Hellmouth from opening again, how to save her Aunt Buffy, and how to kill a vampire and more.

I was worried about this for nothing. This was an amazing visit back to Sunnydale. I remember watching Buffy with my mom back in the day. It was great to see the old characters like Spike, Willow, and others from the show. It made me feel a little old though lol But it did make me think.... Do teens today know who Buffy is? Do they know the huge impact that this show made? Or was this book really for us? lol

Another reason I was worried about this was the author. I hate to say this, but I've DNF'ed a couple Blake novels before, and I wasn't sure if this would be the same way. But this was an easy read. It had all the action of the tv show and I thought that was awesome. Having it on audio was even better. I was able to picture it like a movie in my head.

As for the audio, I did enjoy it. I've never listened to this narrator, but I did enjoy it. She did all the voices and things like heavy breathing when they were fighting and all. I think I liked it most because it wasn't something I wouldn't think about doing while I was reading. (Which is why she's the professional and I'm not lol)

This was surprisingly amazing. Good enough to where I bought one for my mom. As a Buffy fan I knew she would enjoy it. And then after she finishes, we can go and have a binge watch of Buffy. Because once you finish this, that's really the only option.

**Disclaimer: I received a free early access copy of In Every Generation by Kendare Blake through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity.

In Every Generation by Kendare Blake is a young adult fantasy novel set in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a several years later sequel featuring the next generation of the Scooby gang.  It features multiple points of view, including the newest slayer and some friends she makes along the way.  It published on January 4th, 2022.  I rated it four stars on Goodreads.


Here's the summary from Goodreads:

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!
The first in an all-new series by New York Times best-selling author Kendare Blake continues the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer featuring the next generation of Scoobies and Slayers who must defeat a powerful new evil.

I was late to the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as you may know if you read my review of Slayer by Kiersten White (which can be found here).  However, I had a lot of fun watching through, and I think of the show and the world it built fondly.  Therefore it was so fun to visit this world again through the writing of Kendare Blake.  I really liked that we got to see some of the fan favourite characters from the television show, while the world also expanded into a new generation as we meet Frankie, Willow's daughter; Jake, Oz's cousin; and Hailey, whose older sister is a Slayer.

I felt the writing of this was really good.  I liked the structure of the story and felt that it really felt like a season of the television show.  There were some good rises and falls, which makes me believe that it would be really good adapted to the screen.  It made me want to keep reading in order to figure out what was going to happen next.  It had some good new elements, while also adding in those pieces of nostalgia.  

The characters were really interesting and well developed.  I liked the main group a lot.  They felt really realistic and I was intrigued by their motivations.  I wanted them to succeed and felt for them as they failed.  

I also listened to the audiobook of this through NetGalley, and I felt that the narrator did a good job.  It made the story come alive, and really helped me visualize the story as if it was a television show.

Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this story, and if you enjoy Buffy, I highly recommend that you check the novel out.

The foundation of this story is very well done. Blake developed her new generation Scooby Gang that we're able to stand on their own. The weakness of the book is the reliance on the original characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I found all the cameos and references to the original distracting. Also, the storyline around the newest villain moved slow and made the book feel longer than it was. I will probably be willing to read another book in this series, but it won't be at the top of my TBR list.

I really enjoyed this novel. I was a huge Buffy fan from the time the show first aired. I loved that I this novel seems so authentic. I can hear the original characters voices in my head, even while listening to the audio version. The author really did the personalities justice. I was impressed with the attention to detail, and I’m looking forward to more!

Side note, I feel like this is very geared toward Buffy fans and I’m not sure how it would go over with anyone who is unfamiliar with the show. I’m thrilled.

Thank you to Disney Audiobooks and NetGalley for providing a copy of the eARC for review.

The audiobook version of "In Every Generation" sounded more like a text-to-speak book rather than a true audiobook. It was bland in parts and sounded very computerized in others as if the narrator didn't actually read the book.

Review for the print book:

"In Every Generation" is a book that has promise, but seems to confuse its audience. Is it for new fans or old? Do the readers have knowledge of the Buffy-verse or not? Where Kendare Blake fails is that she attempts to accomplish both, and leaves the readers feeling like something is missing. If the reader is a diehard Buffy-verse fan, they will wonder what happened to Joss Whedon's comic seasons 8-12, the interwoven series that brought continuations of Buffy, Angel and Faith, Spike, Willow, and Giles. If the reader is a potential new fan, they will likely never read another book in the "series." It could have been a fantastic continuation that paid homage to the old, instead it attempted to recapture the magic of Buffy season 1 where a new slayer is brought to Sunnydale and a new gang is created, but it fell flat leaving the new slayer without much development and old characters missing their former growth marks.

In Every Generation is the BtVS continuation we need. Full stop. Forget season 8 & 9 comics. Shove your Angel & Faith panels aside. Leave all BtVS fanfic behind. In Every Generation is what I've always needed, but couldn't put into words. It's like falling in love with BtVS all over again. Can't recommend it highly enough. This Scooby is sold.
The audiobook flies by, because you won't be able to stop listening!

Goodreads:

Ummm any Buffy fans will eat this up!! So fun and reminiscent of the show. A few too many references to the 'scoobies' for my liking. And a great non-ending leaving things wide open for more books.

Summary: Follow the next generation of Scoobies and Slayers who must defeat a powerful new evil.

I am a big fan of Buffy so I was very interested to see what this book was about. In parts this title reads like fanfiction and I often wondered if this was canon but in the end it was fun and can introduce new people to the show. You do not need to see the show to understand any of this story but you can get a better understanding of the adult characters if you do. Frankie is Willow's daughter and the two of them have become eco conscious and Frankie practices eco-magic but isn't that great at it. She is friends with Oz's nephew Jake who is also a werewolf, his brother is the one who bit Oz. There is a slayer conference in Halifax and Willow gets word from Xander that there was an explosion and the whole area is a wreck and have no idea about the survival of any of the slayers. The next morning Frankie accidentally breaks several hair ties and rips a pair of jeans....Turns out she is a slayer now. She spends the rest of the book coming to terms with her new abilities and battling demons in Sunnydale while also trying to solve the mystery of what happened at the slayer convention.

Fantastic audiobook! I loved the narrator for this story. Their comedic timing was perfection!! Please see my full review below:

A new Slayer for a new generation...

I'll admit, like a publisher's dream, that tagline got me. As soon as I read it, I knew that I needed to pick up this book. The Buffy television series premiered when I was in college and quickly became part of my weekly routine. My best friend and I absolutely loved the show and would always watch it together. Therefore, the series holds a lot of nostalgia for us. Sarah Michelle Gellar was our Queen. Those were good times.

In Every Generation follows Willow's daughter, Frankie, who is a Sophomore at New Sunnydale High School. Willow has been slowly introducing Frankie to magic, as long as Frankie promises always to use it for good. Frankie, it seems, is all for that, being quite ecologically-minded. Willow's dark times still haunt her and she doesn't want her daughter to have to go through the nightmarish things that she did as a young adult. We all want better for our kids, Witches or not.

When Vi's younger sister Hailey shows up in Sunnydale, she comes bearing bad news. It appears the annual Slayer convention has been attacked and all the Slayers in attendance, including Buffy, Faith and Vi, may be dead. This leaves a major Slayer vacancy and therefore a new Slayer must be called. Hello, Frankie.

Frankie would be the first ever Slayer-Witch, but first she needs to learn to control her powers in order to be effective. Unfortunately for Frankie, she is a little pressed for time, what with the hellmouth threatening to be reopened. Together with a whole new group of Scoobies, Frankie must try to figure out what happened to the old Slayers, as well as defeat the forces of evil before it is too late.

Y'all, I had so much fun listening to this audiobook. I'm not going to lie, I was laughing my foolish head off while listening to this. The narrator has great comedic timing and I feel like Blake definitely nailed, or should I say staked, that classic Buffy-humor.

While I know this won't be for every Reader, for me it held just the perfect blend of old with new. It doffed its cap at the original series without going into copycat territory. Also, I feel like Blake did a great job creating new characters to care about and root for. This fulfilled my hopes for a nostalgic read, but still felt fresh and modern. I would love to read more adventures with this cast of characters.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney-Hyperion and Disney Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. In Every Generation releases on January 4th and would be a great way to kick off a new year of reading!!

Though we will not purchase the audiobook we will purchase the hardcover copy.
Basically a Buffy the Vampire slayer book. Interesting story that is the first in the series. I always enjoy Blake's character interactions and relationships. I don't really like vampire stories but this story's characters keep it interesting.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Disney Audiobooks in exchange for an honest review.

*sigh* I REALLY wanted to love this one seeing as how I grew up with Buffy and the Scoobie gang. But I feel like IN EVERY GENERATION will make little sense to any readers who don't know Buffy (which ok, the synopsis makes it clear this is in the Buffyverse so readers know what they're getting in to), and will not sit well with those who are well versed in Buffy due to some pretty big inconsistencies. This isn't going to be a pretty review.

Since Blake chose to give readers an extension of the Buffyverse we know from the late 90s/early 2000s, this would have been an excellent opportunity to right some of the wrongs that Whedon's sexism caused within the show (mainly in how he did his female characters and actors dirty throughout the run of both Buffy and Angel). But instead, Blake seems to play into the same BS that Whedon gave us (like Willow having an immaculate conception she didn't consent to with... the essence of all the Slayers? Or theoretically killing off a group of badass women like Buffy and Faith off page in an explosion - they deserve much better than that). There's a lot of name dropping of characters from the Buffyverse (some good, some bad). I did enjoy the dig as Wesley for being the worst Watcher ever. But these are not the characters we know and love, they felt flat, especially Spike. Because COME ON, Spike basically cosplaying as Giles?! That's amazing... but this Spike is a pale comparison to the one from the shows, yes even Spike with a soul on Angel was grittier than this version.

Secondly, Willow's sexuality is canon - and more importantly, early on in IN EVERY GENERATION, Blake has Willow utter "I am a lesbian". And yet.... Blake chooses to write a will-they-or-won't-they between Willow and Oz. It's a slap in the face for both characters. Sure, if Buffy was on air in 2021, Willow could have acknowledged that she is bisexual, however that is not what happened. There was even an opportunity here to have Willow re-exam her sexuality and realize that she is bi, but that doesn't happen either. It's a discredit to both Willow and Oz to force them into this tease of a potential romance between them (or to have Oz still pinning after Willow after all these years not respecting that she declared herself a lesbian).

Thirdly, WHAT is with all the menstruation humor?! Or the obsession with virgins and virginal blood. It's lazy, cliché writing. This attempt at humor is gross and unnecessary... especially when a "woman = period pain" reference is made completely ignoring that not all women get their periods or that there are men that do.

Also... choosing to give Jake (and Oz to an extent, but mostly Jake) domesticated dog traits because he's a werewolf? Frankie teasing Jake with his lacrosse stick like they're going to play fetch was just... odd. HE PLAYS WITH A SQUEAK TOY at one point for goodness sake! Like WHY?!

Having the first ever Slayer-Witch had so much potential but Frankie was my least favorite of all the new characters. Though I think part of that is due to Sarah Mollo-Christensen's audiobook performance making Frankie sound whiny.

There are a lot of plot holes and inconsistencies, and the overall narrative is jumbled. I did get some nostalgia but mostly it left me feeling disappointed that some of my favorite characters were back but didn't sound or act like themselves. I think this series has potential, but need some heavy editing - and maybe a run through with some people better acquainted with the Buffyverse to make it accurate.

Kendare Blake, known for dark paranormal and horror YA lit, takes on the campy humor of the Buffy-verse in this unique storyline that will appeal to fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Rainbow Rowell's Carry On series. With all the girl-power energy of the original TV Buffy series, Willow Rosenberg's daughter Frankie becomes the first slayer-witch as she battles the unkillable vampiric manifestation of Elizabeth Bathory with the new "Scoobie Gang". Fans of Buffy will enjoy the inclusion of the original characters like Spike and Oz, while the newly crafted characters of Frankie, Hailey, and Jake do not disappoint. Sarah Mollo-Christensen narrates and gives authentic, dynamic voices to each character. Readers will clamor for the sequel.

Oh how much I wanted to love this book. Buffy is very, very important to me. I am normally totally fine with whatever it is, if it has Buffy. The other novelizations, the comics, whatever. The boom stuff that is just OK, is still better than no Buffyverse. The problems with this book are twofold. The writer seems to think the reader has never heard of these characters, which would be OK, if she didn’t repeat herself over and over. I mean if you are going to reintroduce everyone, do it once, not once a chapter. Secondly, she breaks her own rules pretty quickly. All of Sunnydale has been destroyed, except this one random spooky place, just because. That doesn’t work. Since this book is ignoring the comics aspect of things, you can’t then also ignore the rules of the show. I am not mad, I’m just disappointed. I had high, high hopes.

Christenson really made Frankie sound far too whiny. She was very good when she did every other character except for the main character so that was distracting. She read the action scenes perfectly though. That can leave some narrators tongue tied, but not her.

The mere title of "In Every Generation" is instantly recognizable and tingle-producing for all Buffy fans and the "B" logo confirms that this is indeed an addition to the Buffyverse.

This story picks up almost two decades after the implosion of the Hellmouth and the end of the BTVS show, when Willow Rosenberg's daughter, Frankie, is now a teen and on the cusp of becoming the new slayer. Frankie's own Scooby gang evolves around her, complete with a broody, enigmatic supe who just has an eye on her from the shadows so he can show up perforce. The catalyst for the birth of a new slayer is an explosion at a slayer con, and due to the sheer destruction, it is difficult to locate or confirm there are survivors. The new gang tries to find out who caused the explosion, the fate of Buffy and the other slayers, help train Frankie in her new role, as well as build platonic and romantic relationships with each other. The assumption that the slayers are all gone has prompted the demons and vampires to start gathering again near the Hellmouth, keeping the new Scoobies busy.

I have watched every episode from BTVS at least a dozen times, and I still didn't know what all the throwback references were but hopefully, those with better memories than mine will enjoy them. Willow, Spike, and Oz are the only OG characters that have much of a role in this book, but most of the others get a mention, except Anya but not surprising since no ghosts were in the original series. The demon, vamps, and big bads as well as the story line felt very authentic to the world created by the original series.

This book ends with an implication that there will be more to follow, which I hope is the case. I would LOVE to read more in this series.

The audio narration was wonderful, although did seem to lack energy and drag a bit at times. She flat out nailed James Marsters Spike voice.

I remember a few years back, when Kiersten White wrote a YA novel that was based in the world of Buffy. That book is shadowed compared to this.

Kendare Blake brought back one of my FAVORITE fictional worlds, beloved characters, and overall mood of the franchise. Instead of feeling like a story that was written in an already-made world but felt withdrawn from the characters, Kendare brings a whole new generation of scoobies forth while keeping the heart of the original.

It also brings back old favorite ships and fully feeds on my love of Spike - giving readers Spike as a librarian. Instant heart eyes.

Thank you, Kendare, for reminding me why I love Buffy.