Thank you to Disney-Hyperion for the advance copy of In Every Generation for review!

Frankie Rosenberg is an average teen in a world with new Slayers and a rebuilt Sunnydale. Sure, her mom Willow is the most powerful witch in Sunnydale history, and her best friend is a werewolf, but Frankie wants to live a quiet life.

However, that seems impossible when the annual Slayer convention is attacked, and all the Slayers — including Buffy — are killed. It’s time for the next generation of Slayers.

While learning to control her powers, Frankie must prevent the Hellmouth from opening again, take on a new Big Bad and figure out exactly what happened to Buffy and the other Slayers.

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I was so conflicted about this book. On the one hand, I’m a lifelong Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan and will jump on anything Slayer-related. On the other, In Every Generation falls into the “published fanfiction” territory. This isn’t necessarily a problem; some fanfiction is excellent!

Author Kendare Blake is a big fan, and anything that continues the show’s narrative is one of multiple post-season seven continuities. This one isn’t quite what I imagined.

All said and done, In Every Generation is a lot of fun. Frankie Rosenberg and her new team of Scoobies are adorable together; I especially enjoyed Jake, a werewolf-neighbor with a big heart. I felt like he’d fit right in with the OG Buffy gang. There are plenty of appearances from old Scoobies, too; Willow aside, Spike and Oz also play huge roles.

Ultimately, I appreciated the old-school Buffy vibe this book had, and In Every Generation is worth checking out if you’re a Buffy fan. Just go in knowing that while it switches up the canon in a way that won’t be for everyone, it’s still an entertaining story.

In Every Generation comes out on January 4 and is available for preorder now from your local independent bookstore or Bookshop.org.

TW: bombing, murder, violence

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Alex Faccibene
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