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    Slayer
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    Slayer
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    Slayer
    Ebook409 pages6 hours

    Slayer

    By Kiersten White

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “Will get Buffy fans up in their feels.” —Entertainment Weekly

    A New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller

    From bestselling author Kiersten White comes the first novel in a series set in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that introduces a new Slayer as she grapples with the responsibility of managing her incredible powers that she’s just beginning to understand.

    Into every generation a Slayer is born…

    Nina and her twin sister, Artemis, are far from normal. It’s hard to be when you grow up at the Watcher’s Academy, which is a bit different from your average boarding school. Here teens are trained as guides for Slayers—girls gifted with supernatural strength to fight the forces of darkness. But while Nina’s mother is a prominent member of the Watcher’s Council, Nina has never embraced the violent Watcher lifestyle. Instead she follows her instincts to heal, carving out a place for herself as the school medic.

    Until the day Nina’s life changes forever.

    Thanks to Buffy, the famous (and infamous) Slayer that Nina’s father died protecting, Nina is not only the newest Chosen One—she’s the last Slayer, ever. Period.

    As Nina hones her skills with her Watcher-in-training, Leo, there’s plenty to keep her occupied: a monster fighting ring, a demon who eats happiness, a shadowy figure that keeps popping up in Nina’s dreams…

    But it’s not until bodies start turning up that Nina’s new powers will truly be tested—because someone she loves might be next.

    One thing is clear: Being Chosen is easy. Making choices is hard.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon Pulse
    Release dateJan 8, 2019
    ISBN9781534404977
    Unavailable
    Slayer
    Author

    Kiersten White

    Kiersten White is the New York Times bestselling author of the Paranormalcy trilogy, The Chaos of Stars, and the psychological thrillers Mind Games and Perfect Lies. She has neither magic nor a pet bird, but wants both. Kiersten lives with her family in San Diego, California.

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    Reviews for Slayer

    3.5/5

    87 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This story extends the story told in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series by focusing on what is left after Buffy ends magic on Earth. Nina and her twin sister Artemis are in training at the Watcher Academy - what is left of it. Most of the Watchers died in the last battle.Nina has been training as a medic since her Watcher mother doesn't want her to be anything else and, in fact, almost ignores her. Her sister Artemis failed the test that would let her become a Watcher and is being trained as support for the remaining Watchers. But things change when Nina, who had been content with the idea of being a healer, learns that as a result of that last battle she is actually a Slayer. Since she became a Slayer at that exact time, she is the last Slayer that will ever be.Nina has very mixed feeling about becoming a Slayer. She blames Buffy for the death of her father, the distance of her mother, and all the problems currently besetting the Watchers. The idea of being like her is very troubling to her. Nina has no choice but to embrace the fact that she is a Slayer when she discovers hellhounds focusing in on the Watcher Academy and some sort of demon killing Watchers and Slayers and almost killing an ordinary friend of hers.She doesn't know who to trust. Her sister has changed toward her since she became a Slayer. Now, Nina doesn't need her sister to protect her. She can't go to her mother. Her new Watcher is the boy she had a major crush on when she was younger and is the source of her most embarrassing moment. This was an entertaining story for people who wonder what came after the television show ended. I found Nina to be a little whiny in the beginning of the story but came to like her better as the story progressed. It has lots of great detail for fans of the television series.
    • 5/5
      “Into every generation a Slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a Chosen One. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer.”When browsing for a book to serve as a nod to Halloween (which isn’t really a ‘thing’ here) I quickly zeroed in on Slayer by Kiersten White. I haven’t been interested in the graphic novels that picked up where the ‘original’ left off, but I am a huge fan of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series, it’s the only box set I own, and I binge watch it at least once a year.Comparisons between Slayer and the ‘original’ are inevitable for fans, and honestly, my expectations here were quite low, so I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed this.Slayer is set after the end of the television series, and (so I’ve been lead to believe) fits with the canon developed in the graphic novels. If you are a fan, you may remember that the Watcher’s Council was all but eliminated during an explosion orchestrated by Caleb, the creepy Preacher. In Slayer, the few Watcher’s who remained have gone to ground in Ireland, and have essentially been in hiding ever since. Athena ‘Nina’ and her twin sister, Artemis, are the sixteen year old daughter’s of Council member Helen Jamison-Smythe, and the late Merrick Jamison-Smythe who was Buffy’s first watcher, and died protecting her. The story unfolds from Nina’s perspective when, after a lifetime of being sidelined by her mother and overshadowed by her sister, she is imbued with the power of the Slayer. Nina is horrified given that she holds Buffy responsible for almost every wrong in her life, and is further devastated when both her mother and Artemis make it clear that they think it’s a power that Nina isn’t capable of wielding. Nina herself might have her doubts, but she’s determined to prove them wrong.“Being chosen is easy. Making choices will break your heart.”Though a touch angsty for my taste, Nina is a typical teen in that she is somewhat self centered, insecure, and short sighted. Her relationship with her mother is very complicated, and while she has a close relationship with Artemis, it’s not as equal as she likes to think. Denied the opportunity to apply for a position as a Watcher, Nina has carved out a niche for herself as a medic for what’s left of the Academy, but being Chosen changes everything.I enjoyed the storyline which is fast paced with plenty of action that begins when Nina kills a hellhound on the trail of a runaway demon. Doug, the aforementioned horned demon who secrets a substance that gives humans a high, alerts Nina and her friends to the presence of a monster fight club in nearby Dublin, and inadvertently exposes a traitor, or three, in their midst.“How evil can something wearing a Coldplay shirt be?”One of the major elements of Buffy’s appeal is its humour, often sarcastic occasionally slapstick, there are very few episodes that don’t raise a snigger. There are lines in Slayer that raised a smile, and one or two that made me chuckle, but it didn’t quite have effortless wit or banter I was hoping for.Of course I loved the references to familiar characters and events from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from a dig at Buffy’s relationships with Angel and Spike, to the betrayal by Gwendolyn Post, and even a cameo by Faith. Buffy even makes an appearance or two in Nina’s dreams.For me, Slayer was a easy, fun read which pays appropriate homage to the Buffyverse while also forging a new direction for White to exploit further. I'm looking forward to reading more in Chosen, due to be published in Feb 2020.
    • 4/5
      I received this book free from Netgalley in return for an honest review. I really enjoyed being back in the Buffyverse.  I love that this book is canon, and has a few of our favourite characters with cameos.  Artemis and Nina are twins, daughters of Watchers.  When Buffy closed off all contact with the demon realms, all magic disappeared.  The Watchers that remain after a cataclysmic event are hidden away in the outskirts of a tiny town in Scotland.  Hellhounds and demons start to appear, and one of the twins discovers skills she didn't know she had.  She is the Last Slayer.   Adventures and danger ensue.  The story is wellpaced, the action well-written.   Lots of fun to read.  I was sad to see my page count remaining dwindling.  I certainly hope there are more books in this world.  
    • 4/5
      This was a tough book for me to rate. I enjoyed it, but I also had some big issues with it. The book is (mostly) stand-alone, though basic familiarity with the Buffy TVS universe is helpful to follow the story. The author weaves some background into the narrative; in the continuing Buffy comics, she destroyed the Seed of Wonder, which was the source of magic on Earth. Slayers and vampires still have their powers, but no more can be called/made. This is key because the protagonist became the “Last Slayer” called before that happened.I enjoyed the book mainly because I liked the world-building, and the idea behind the main character. What happens if a healer, someone who wants to help others, becomes a Slayer? Nina believes whole-hardheartedly in the mission of the Watchers – an organization practically destroyed by Buffy. She has issues with Buffy and Slayers in general, so when she becomes one, it creates an internal conflict. She struggles with the violence her Slayer powers engender: stake first, ask questions later. Her instinct is to kill any and all demons, and she has to fight that when she comes across a wounded demon. One who doesn’t harm humans and is part of a greater conspiracy that could threaten everyone she cares about. Some readers were annoyed by the fact that Buffy doesn’t take part in the story but is referenced often (usually in Slayer dreams) as a target of anger. That didn’t bother me because it made sense to me that her actions throughout the years would make her a polarizing, even vilified, figure. She did destroy the Watchers and surely some Slayers would not be happy to have that power, and the life-threatening danger that comes with it. What nearly ruined the book for me was the overwhelming amount of angst. Much more than I’ve encountered in the many other YA novels I’ve read. Nina’s constant self-doubt, and intermittent whining, made it difficult to root for her at times. And, I hated the fact that the characters become conveniently stupid to help propel the plot. Nina immediately puts her trust in people she barely knows because they "believe in her" are happy she’s now a Slayer. The actual bad guys are telegraphed so strongly they may as well have had blinking neon signs “Do Not Trust Me.” And, other characters know she is a Slayer, but dismiss her dreams out of hand even though Slayer Dreams are a critical part of the mythology and Nina has proven at least once that she has them.Naturally, Nina and her sister are part of a prophecy, and have a still hidden enemy within their ranks, so this is meant to be the first of a likely (YA standard) trilogy. And, I enjoyed the book enough that I would read a sequel. I just hope the author tones down the angst.
    • 4/5
      I didn't know what to expect out of this book. On one hand I was really excited that it was from the world of Buffy, but on the other hand it's been quite a few years since the show ended and I didn't want too much of it to get lost in translation when adapting it to a teen novel in 2019. I was disappointed at first that it didn't feature Buffy as the main character, but later I was glad for it. The novel centers on Athena, affectionately called Nina, and her twin sister Artemis. They are training to be Watchers in an isolated castle in Ireland. Their father had been Buffy's first watcher (before Giles) and had died young. Their mother wants to keep the Watcher tradition alive, but with only one of her daughters it would appear. Artemis is cunning, active, and fearless; Nina on the other hand has never been allowed to train so she studies to become a medic. She's everything her sister isn't; shy, weak, and defenseless. Even her mother has always preferred Artemis over her. One day, something happens that will change everything, she becomes the chosen one, the last slayer ever. Fun and unique, I can't wait to see where this story goes, it looks as if it will be a series.
    • 4/5
      This novel was definitely written for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - it includes a number of references to both the TV series and the story's continuation in comic books and the author does her best to evoke the language and humor the series was known for. The narrator Nina is the daughter of Buffy's first Watcher (the one before Giles) and she carries a lot of anger towards Buffy for her father's death. Nina and her twin sister Artemis are raised among the Watcher and at the novel's opening they are at a castle in Ireland, where the last of the Watchers are watching and studying a world suddenly devoid of magic (which is Buffy's fault, of course). Things get interesting when the castle is attacked by a hellhound, which the typically nonviolent Nina kills and then Nina is reveled to be a Slayer. As one might imagine, this causes all kinds of internal angst and external stress on existing relationships, especially with her twin sister. Nina also is determined to find a way to both be a Slayer and save lives, even demon lives. As the novel progresses, it follows a path that could have a season on the old TV show and I enjoyed returning to this world. Nina definitely carried an almost irrational amount of anger over her father's death, and she was slow to let go of her anger. She was also blind to a number of events and people as danger encircled her, leading to encounters and confrontations later in the novel. Overall, I enjoyed returning to the Buffyverse and I'll look forward to reading more of Nina's adventures, although I'll admit I wasn't in such a thrall to this novel that I can't wait for the next installment.
    • 3/5
      I wanted to love this so much and there were things about it I enjoyed quite a bit, but sweet baby jeebus I got tired of the random insertion of random Buffyverse trivia. It felt like White was trying to show off how much of a fan she was because most of the factoids had no bearing on the book's plot. There was also a lot of re-hashing of Buffy plot—including the comics—was too much for someone who's a fan of the Buffyverse, but I don't know if it would be enough for a newbie to really get all the context. It was enjoyable enough, and I'll likely read the rest of the series, but it wasn't as amazing as I was hoping (and that I had been told it would be).
    • 3/5
      teen fiction (Buffy spin-off, portal to demon world/preventing apocalypse. Series.)
      enjoyable adventure with LGB supporting characters. You don't really have to know Buffy to enjoy this, but if you are a Buffy fan, should be extra fun.
    • 4/5
      Fun story set in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, after the destruction of magic in the end of season 8 of the comics. Nina, the protagonist, is a compelling new character with family ties to the main BtVS continuity. The portrayal of the Watchers, from their viewpoint, is nicely consistent with the TV series. While being a YA novel, it doesn't fall prey to the worst romance tropes of some of the genre, despite having a significant romance.I'm looking forward to reading the next book.

      1 person found this helpful