Actual rating - 2.5/5

This story, for me, lacked punch. Things felt a little to superficial, Raven wasn't a developed enough main character, she sailed through everything too easily and the story progression wasn't paced in a way that was engaging. Khamari felt more real but even he should of been explored more deeply. And frankly the romance felt unnatural, purely because Khamari felt like the only one actually making any effort.. shame..

This was an entertaining story. However, it did take a few chapters to get into the story. I enjoyed the dual POVs. It was really nice to get both perspectives.

Raven and Khamari were good main characters. I think I enjoyed Khamari, a little more than Raven. At times, she was a bit much for me.

The magic system was interesting and well done. It seemed like the magical system should have been complex, but it was explained in a way that made it easy to understand. The story was fast-paced, and almost every page was practically a page-turner. I also enjoyed the pop culture references. Those were fun and cool.

Finding out what Raven was capable of made me proud of her. Her chemistry with Khamari was well-written, and I hope to see more of them and their relationship grow. Personally, I thought the book was too long for a cliffhanger; however, I’m excited to see what happens in book 2.

The book started off great and then it fizzled out for me. There were some good comedic moments in there but what didn’t work for me was the pacing of the story and there were some holes in the plot. I also thought the characters lacked depth.

Thank you to @entangledpublishing and @netgalley for providing this book for an honest review. If you’re a fan of academia and the supernatural then this book is right up your alley. I had no clue what to expect but enjoyed a different take on what a vampire slayer is. Raven is a great FMC who is strong but also is quite vulnerable when it comes to those she loves. Khamari also has that same vulnerability but has lots of secrets that come out through the duration of the book. The second half of the book caught me in a chokehold and threw a couple twists at me I was not expecting. I cannot wait to see what happens next! The only opportunity I found with the book was how the writing transitioned to different events happening, I feel like I wasn’t completely along for the ride. Overall, this book was a solid, fun read. Y’all need to check this one out!

This book provided an exhilarating journey that gripped me from the start. The protagonist, Raven, with her witty humor and unwavering determination, made for a compelling character. The introduction of alchemical magic to combat vampires added depth to the story, and the pacing kept me engaged. Multiple plot twists heightened the excitement, making it a page-turner. This story offered a thrilling, action-packed adventure with humor and is a must-read for fans of dark academia, vampires, and the supernatural. I eagerly anticipate the sequel to see where Raven's journey leads.

I have a love/hate relationship with cliffhangers - mostly I hate them. Especially when I have been completely absorbed into a book, like Sign of the Slayer, and I’m just left with…with…with…the book version of “tune in next week for the exciting conclusion.”

Sign of the Slayer is being described as Full Metal Alchemist meets Vampire Diaries, but as someone who spent their teen years watching Buffy and crushing on Angel, this was the perfect vampire/slayer story.

With fantastic fight scenes, enemies-to-loves vampire romance, and a lot of badass women running the Slayer Society, this is a young adult fantasy that’s an absolute fun read. This one was unputdownable for me, for sure. I will definitely be looking forward to the sequel.

Thank you to Entangled Teen for the review copy!

I am a HUGE Buffy fan so this way right up my alley! I loved all the little intricacies that were created as I read more and more of the story. Little things were connected and came full circle. Texas is a strong female character, but she has vulnerability as well as a tough exterior. The twists were good, and the relationships built were deep and meaningful. I can't wait to see if there is another book and where it will take these characters.....will there be a love triangle in the future? Similar to the Angel/Spike debate?? I'm a diehard Spike fan BTW.

This isn’t usually the type of book I request but I saw a bunch of people talking about it and decided to give it a shot. I’m really happy I did because this book has action right from the start. The MC, Raven, is funny and the story moves at a good pace. I liked the voice of the MC and that is what kept me reading. I also liked how the side characters were well fleshed out and the story kept me in intrigued. It does start to slow down towards the end but I’m looking forward to what’s in store for the next book. I would say this book is a must read if you like action and romance. It was cute, action packed and pretty funny.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the arc.


CW: death

Vampires, slayer school, and secret societies. What else could a person ask for as we enter the Fall and spooky season.

On the worst night of Raven's life, she's ushered into the world of vampires and slayers. As she beings to learn about vampire families and works to plot an escape from a legacy she's tripped and fallen into, Raven begins to learn that she's not like the other Slayer students and regardless of the hate she feels for vampires and what they took from her, they may not be all they appear to be.

Thank you to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

Sign of the Slayer is a brand new book focused on a high schooler who becomes a vampire slayer. Raven doesn't know who to trust and loses all ties with her friends and family, as she goes to the school for slayers.

Some of my favorite parts were the awareness of how this book fits within vampire and superhero pop culture. There were tons of Buffy references along with references to the X-Men. I also really enjoyed the chapter titles.

Additionally, I liked seeing the nod to more accurate histories with critiques of colonization and recognition of Egyptian culture and science.

However, the book dragged for me. After a great beginning, it felt quite slow in the middle and too long by about 100 pages. When I reached the ending, it picked up again with some great and surprising twists and turns.

#NetGalleySRC Not my favorite take on Buffy/Teen vampires, but not the worst I’ve ever read. I think I’d enjoy it more if I was a teen today who had no idea about Buffy and other teen vampire series but it was for sure a fun read.

I had very high hopes for Sign of the Slayer... when you tell me it's a cross between full metal alchemist and the vampire diaries I instantly will be hooked, so long as it delivers and unfortunately this did not. The writing style just isn't for me, and feels like it's very childish, even too much so for it's intended audience. This book relies on pop culture references to keep people hooked and they're shoehorned in to a degree that makes them come off very cheesy. If I believed in DNFing books, this would have been one of them.

Sharina Harris's Sign of the Slayer held a lot of potential. Vampires, slayers, the supernatural, and a forbidden romance... As a Buffy fan, I couldn't wait to dive into this story! Unfortunely, this book didn't live up to it's promise and it was a struggle for me from the onset.

Raven's life has never been what one would consider normal, but it's her life and she owns it. That is, until her high school marching band's bus is attacked by vampires and all of her friends are murdered. After being whisked away by a handsome stranger with supernatural powers, Raven's life is turned upside-down and nothing will ever be the same again... Sent to an academy of Slayers and Alchemists, Raven must navigate this new life she was thrust into and her new powers that are somehow stronger than anyone can explain. When a powerful Slayer object goes missing, Raven must work alongside the creatures she hates in order to find answers. Cans she put aside her prejudices in order to complete her mission, or will her anger and resentment doom them all?

Sign of the Slayer was an arduous read for me and I honestly should have DNF'd it when it took me five days just to get to 20%. At the beginning I was intrigued by the Buffy-esque vibes and academia setting. The storyline was a bit all over the place though making it difficult to follow from the start. It felt like the author had a lot of ideas that were never fully developed. I was interested in the academia setting itself, a cool concept of slayers and the scientists behind them, and wished the author had spent more time on world-building there so that we could have delved deeper into it's fundamentals. Readers receive substantial surface level information regarding the sciences behind the Slayer and Alchemist marks and weapons, but when the concepts came into play they didn't stick and made little sense.

The story is told in dual POV's. So while readers are learning all of the intricacies of the Slayers through Raven's eye, their history, and the tenuous truce between them and Vampires, you're thrown into the middle of vampire politics with Khamari's POV. It was a lot to keep track of, especially since all of these plot points were fragmented and not fleshed out. The budding relationship between Raven and Khamari is what ultimately kept me reading despite the insta-love feel to it all; angry FMC meets broody vampire MMC...heck yeah! However the actuality felt forced and I was unable to relate to either of these characters in the end. While Raven began as an entertaining MC with a snarky, take no sh*t attitude, it quickly became redundant and her character lacked any true depth beyond that snark. Her emotions were volatile, which while understandable under the circumstances, caused her to mouth off and make brash decisions. Id didn't see any real growth in her character and I was never certain of her true feelings. She was a walking contradiction for a majority of the story.

Then, there were a number of inconsistencies that took me out of the story often. For instance; the killing of a Royal (Which I believe was a born vampire?) was forbidden on one page, but on the next it was okay if done by the Maximus. Another instance was when the Slayers didn't want the Vampires in the know, but on the next page it was suddenly okay for an entire faction and the Prince to be aware. I had to keep going back to check what I had read. Bottom line, I was unable to connect with the writing and characters in Sign of the Slayer like I had hoped to and I won't be continuing with this series. Which is a shame, because I really wanted to love this book!

✔️ Buffy the Vampire Slayer
✔️ Vampires, Slayers, and the Supernatural
✔️ Young Adult
✔️ Academia
✔️ BIPOC Author
✔️ POC MC's
✔️ Dual POV
✔️ Intsa-Love
✔️ Royal Politics
✔️ Secrets and Scheming

I am so grateful to have received an ARC for this book from NetGalley and Entangled Teen. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as i thought I would. I DNFed this book 35% through, the first ever book I'ved DNFed. The FMC's writing felt like an adult trying to fit in with a group of teenagers. It felt forced and wasn't realistic to what teenagers actually sound and act like. However, I did enjoy the plot and I think this book likely has a lot of potential. It had an interesting plot line that I wish I could've seen through. I believe my problems with it can be boiled down to personal preference. Again, a huge thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions in this review are mine and mine alone.

“Can I… Can I take a shower?”
“You just took one,” Rich whines.
I gesture at my blood-covered arm. “That was before I ripped out someone’s heart.”
He snorts. “Next time, stab them with silver.”

Actual Rating - ⭐⭐⭐.25/5.

Thank you so much Netgalley, Entangled Teen Publishing and Sharina for the review copy!

Requesting the book was a no-brainer because I love vampires. I am absolutely, positively, 100% obsessed with them. Meaning -> my expectations were high. While I'm quite a fan of 1) the plot, 2) the interactions between Raven and Khamari, 3) the dual points of view and 4) some of the fun, thrilling moments, the execution was average. It gets better after a while but the introduction really sucked for me. So much I almost dnfed it. Glad I didn't though. There are plenty of areas for improvement but as a debut novel, it's a yes from me. The writing can and will improve and I'm excited to read what Sharina writes next!

Favourite quotes :

1. "He sounds genuine, like he honestly wants to save the world. But he can’t. How can a monster save the world?"

2. People die. Always in my arms. I’m too late. Always, too late.

3. Last night, he’d tried to convince me to give him blood after I told him how tired and woozy I’d been after he’d walked my dreams the other night. After five minutes of hearing his pleas, I snapped and told him I wasn’t the American Red Cross.

I had to DNF this book. The writing is very one dimensional, and came across cringey. Things happened so fast, with no build up, no established world, all of a sudden a bus of children were murdered, her best friend is dead, oh vampires are real get with that real fast, and we just have to go with it?

It came across, to me, not so much as a book but as a tv show.

I wanted to be able to get into this one, because the overall story does sound interesting, and others have seemed to find it very entertaining and worth the read so I might be in the minority. For that, im glad!

Raven is a leader in their high school marching band
They've been at a game, things didn't go as planned.
Instead of travelling home safely, their bus came under attack-
Now none of the band will ever be coming back.

For Raven, this is the start of new views
As it seems she has secrets that to even her are news.
She's taken to a slayer academy to learn new skills
Ones that'll help her ensure every vampire she meets she kills.

But then she meets Kharmari who she had met before
He's a vampire prince who helped her she is sure.
Can she trust him, that she doubts
There's so much more she needs to find out.

Get ready for adventure, battles and mystery,
Entwined skilfully with different folks from history.
A new explanation for how vampires came to be
And how some aren't so bad, if you only wait to see.

After a slow start, the pace picks up and revelations flow
Making this a great read with so much to get to know.
It is the first in a new series and now I'm sad to have to wait
As I need the next book now to discover what's their fate!

This is not just for teens, it is such a great read,
I hope you agree it is one you also need.
For my complementary copy of this book, I say thank you,
As I share with you this, my honest review.

hank you to Entangled Teen for the ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Not your typical vampire / slayer story, but if you were or are still a Buffy fan, I think you’ll likely enjoy this one!

Lots of action throughout, and plot twists galore. I also love a sassy FMC, and our girl Raven is very much that and then some.

I’ll be interested to see where book two takes these characters.

Sign of the Slayer is an urban fantasy for those who are very nostalgic for the era of their success. A super fun book, with a very special protagonist, she has a very great charisma that carries the book, I didn't like the male protagonist that much, but I wasn't offended either. Unfortunately, from 70% onwards the book lost a bit of pace with me and I ended up losing a little interest, but it's still a pretty cool book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book was such a wild card for me. I didn't know what I was going into, but it absolutely blew me away. I love the idea of a teenage vampire slayer. This trope has been done so many times before and its easy to fall into that predictable trope. I think this book was so unique in its portrayal. There were points where it felt slow and draggy, which made me take it down a star, but this book was still an easy read and very enjoyable. It was fast and fun and easy to follow along with. I will be reading more from this author as it comes.