Mar 31, 2022

Review--In Every Generation by Kendare Blake

 

Return to Sunnydale in a brand-new series by New York Times best-selling author Kendare Blake, set in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Frankie Rosenberg wasn't yet alive when her mom, Willow, her aunt Buffy, and the original Scooby Gang destroyed the Hellmouth and saved the world from the First Evil. These days, life in New Sunnydale is blissfully quiet. Frankie is just trying to survive her sophomore year at the rebuilt high school and use her budding magical powers to make the world a better place.

But that world is suddenly plunged into danger when the slayer community is the target of a deadly attack, leaving the future of the line uncertain. Then Frankie discovers she's sort of freakishly strong. Oh, and there's something Willow never told her about her true identity.

Cue the opening credits.

Quicker than she can carve a stake, Frankie discovers there's more to saving the world than witty one-liners and stupid hot demons. now everyone looks to her for answers, but speaking up has never been her strong suit. And it's hard to be taken seriously when your mom is such a powerful witch she almost ended the world once, while your greatest magic trick is recycling.

Despite the many challenges standing in her way, Frankie must assemble her own bumbling Scooby Gang, get dressed up in Buffy's (vintage '90s) clothes, and become a new slayer for a new generation―before whatever came for the rest of the slayers comes for her next.


Kendare Blake explores new territory with her newest release, In Every Generation! Every Buffy fan will want to read this one and any Buffy newbie will still find plenty to love with this fresh new vampire read! Set some years after the events of the TV series, this book follows Frankie, daughter of Willow, and the world's first slayer-witch, or witch-slayer, if you will.

When tragedy strikes at a slayer gathering, everyone believes all the slayers are gone. The world is without a protector until Frankie starts exhibiting strange new abilities, ones that are very slayer-like. I bet Buffy fans are first wondering how Frankie came to be Willow's daughter. It does get explained in a believable way, I mean the comparison example is pretty apt. I won't get into the details, but never free, this gets squared away pretty quickly. Frankie is now sort of forced to be the new slayer in New Sunnydale.

Yes, Sunnydale still stands...well kinda. Apparently people thought it was a good idea to rebuild the town over the still standing but locked up Hellmouth! Everything is pretty humble in town, until word spreads that the slayers are all gone and every vampire in the area decides to come to the Hellmouth and reigned havoc!

Meanwhile, Frankie has to go through a pretty intense training regime with her new Watcher...Spike! Yes friends, Spike is back and he's in Watcher mode! Honestly, seeing all the greats back was just amazing! This is where being a Buffy fan really comes into play! While newbies are still fine to read along, there are just familiar faces and past events that get brought up that will be hard to know about when it just gets mentioned. But yes, this was a blast from the past for sure! We get word from Xander, Oz is in town raising his cousin/nephew--they're family but it's a rather twisted connection.

But the danger really starts to amp up when a very Bid Bad comes to town as well. I don't want to spoil this villain's reveal but I have to say, Blake really hits all the right vampire notes with this one! I know a bit of my vampire history and how it literally plays into our world today and I was all for this! There's also another entity in town who is looking for a slayer's heart, they're quite the delicacy...which basically means a lot of things in New Sunnydale are looking to take Frankie down.

This story was a delight to read! I loved seeing Frankie come into her new powers and the training...it was all very reminiscent of Buffy days! I loved seeing Spike as her Watcher though, his character really has grown since the series ended...and his time on Angel too. Sadly, no word was said on Angel in this one, but hey, it's only book 1!

Frankie has her own set of Scoobies as well, because what's a slayer without her Scoobies? There's Jake, Oz's relation that he has taken to raising, and yes, he's a werewolf too! Then newcomer Hailey is in town, her older sister was a slayer who is MIA with the others and Spike, who was her sister's Watcher, brought her to New Sunnydale for her protection. Then we get another newbie to town who joins the gang as well.

I love how these original Buffy characters still felt so very true to their character so many years later! I positively adored Willow and Oz reconnecting. Things do still seem rather tense between the two of them since we last saw them together when he learned about Tara. He has gained full control of his wolf though and he does seem to still care for Willow, whereas her feelings aren't quite the same, but a memory of them are still there. It's definitely what one would call complicated. I found myself so highly invested in the adults of this story just as much as I was invested in their kids. 

Since I usually touch on romance with my reviews, I will say that there are hints of possible romances left and right in this one! There's not a whole lot of it, but we kind of went down that path with the first season of Buffy too. So this book pretty much plays it the right way when you think of it.

The ending to this one was pretty exciting too! While things get mostly resolved, there is still plenty left unsaid. Questions popped up near the end that don't get answered and I cannot wait to see what Blake will do with this series! It's bound to be a stellar series from start to finish! In Every Generation is the book Buffy fans worldwide have been waiting for and it's a book every vampire loving reader will need to read as well! It takes a fresh new take on the slayer/vampire story but still has enough hints of the classic to appeal to all readers!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars






Random Thursday

 

We're getting close to finishing up the sports chapter from True Facts That Sound Like Bull$#*t by Shane Carley! Next we'll be moving into History and Politics...which I don't mind some history, but I am definitely not a politics person, so this chapter might be interesting or might bore me to tears. Lol. Time will tell!


(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

The oldest player in MLB history is Satchel Paige who appeared in a regular season at the age of 59.



(image borrowed from Insider)

Did you know that in 1996 JFK's golf clubs sold for over $1.1 million at auction?



(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

As of 2017, no one has created a perfect bracket for March Madness (that's been recorded or official). It's so statistically impossible that it might never be done.



(image borrowed from Sports Logo.Net News)

Bill Veeck once had a promotion with his Chicago White Sox where the players wore shorts as their uniform. It was a one-time thing.



(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

The Gordie Howe Hat Trick is in hockey and refers to scoring a goal, recording an assist, and getting into a fight.






Mar 30, 2022

Can't Wait Wednesday

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

 

The First Daughter is for the Throne
The Second Daughter is for the Wolf...

Red and the Wolf have finally contained the threat of the Old Kings but at a steep cost. Red's beloved sister Neve, the First Daughter is lost in the Shadowlands, an inverted kingdom where the vicious gods of legend have been trapped for centuries and the Old Kings have slowly been gaining control. But Neve has an ally--though it's one she'd rather never have to speak to again--the rogue king Solmir.

Solmir wants to bring an end to the Shadowlands and he believes helping Neve may be the key to its destruction. But to do that, they will both have to journey across a dangerous landscape in order to find a mysterious Heart Tree, and finally to claim the gods' dark, twisted powers for themselves.

 

 

 

I still need to read For the Wolf, but I'm having high expectations and loving it! A Little Red-Riding Hood/The Beauty and the Beast combo!


TITLE: For the Throne
AUTHOR: Hannah Whitten

PUBLISHER: Orbit
GENRE: Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: June 7, 2022






Mar 29, 2022

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker



Here are the rules:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc.

 

"'Oh my god, I'm going to be killed by Kiefer Sutherland,' she whispered.

'Hey, you noticed,' the vampire holding her said. He turned. 'I told you someone would get the reference.'" p 52


 

 

 

 

 

 

TITLE: In Every Generation
AUTHOR: Kendare Blake

PUBLISHER: Disney-Hyperion
GENRE: YA Paranormal
RELEASE DATE: January 4, 2022

 


Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

 

This week's topic is: 21st Century Books I Consider Think Will Become Classics (submitted by Lisa of Hopewell

 

*in no particular order

**I altered the topic slightly because even if certain books become "classics," if they weren't my favorite then I'm likely not to notice them becoming said classic. Does that make sense? So basically I chose favorite books of mine that when I say "it's a classic!" it refers to my lifetime/favorites/genre! Lol.


10. DEAD WITCH WALKING by Kim Harrison--I can still remember discovering her book at Target one day...only to realize after 15-20 pages that I was reading a book 2! Lol. An immediate trip to Borders was made!
9. HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE by Jeaniene Frost--a delightful discovery made at Borders when I was looking for a nice vampire read that was epic. Needless to say I found it!
8. BITTEN by Kelley Armstrong--before Urban Fantasy was big, there was Urban Fantasy! Lol. It took awhile for the genre to take off but man I enjoyed finding the greats before they were great!



7. BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE by Annette Curtis Klause--Although it's not technically 21st century, but that is when I read it and it's only 3 years off. Lol. If it helps, this particular edition was from September '99, so that's practically '00!
6. VAMPIRE ACADEMY by Richelle Mead--the ultimate classic in YA Paranormal! It's also the book that brought my back to YA because authors were FINALLY writing Paranormal books for teens!
5. KINGDOM OF THE WICKED by Kerri Maniscalco--I see this one being classic potential! It's one of those great upper YA books that can be a nice bridge to adult books. Plus, it was FREAKIN AWESOME!




4. OBSIDIAN by Jennifer L. Armentrout--what blogger wasn't obsessed with this book? I loved the fact that an author totally got book bloggers and the love for reading and added in some paranormal/sci-fi-y characters that were totally lovable and hate-able!
3. CRAVE by Tracy Wolff--I ADORE this series so much! It's like a better version of Harry Potter since everyone is a paranormal being! Yes, there are witches, but there is so much MORE!
2. DEMON IN MY VIEW by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes--of course the one that started it all is a steadfast classic on my shelf! True, to today's standard's this book would not hold up with many readers. It's under 200 pages, but at it's time it was pure freaking gold! Had more been added to the story I would've ate it up just as much!




Bet you all know what's coming at #1....

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1. CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber--Stephanie's entire world she created with this series is beyond epic and amazing and breath-taking. It's going to be the ultimate classic on my shelf!