Slayer by: Kiersten White

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy
Published: January 8, 2019 by: Simon Pulse
Pages: 404
Rating: 4/5 stars

Nina has constantly lived in the shadow of her twin sister Artemis. Growing up in the Watcher's Academy, the girls are taught to be guides for vampire Slayers. However, Nina has never been interested in the craft like her sister is. Instead, she stays in the background, and uses her caring nature to be a healer. That is, until everything changes. Suddenly, Nina discovers that she is the Chosen One, the last Slayer. With her watcher-in-training Leo, she will be forced to battle demons and all forces of darkness, all while dealing with the Watcher's Academy's resentment for Slayers, especially the most famous one: Buffy

When I heard that there was gonna be a YA Buffy the Vampire Slayer story from Kiersten White, I was very excited. That show remains in my top three favourite tv shows of all time, and I just knew I had to give this book a go. It did live up to my expectations (though my reading slump made me take forever to get through it). Still, I thought it did the tv series justice.

I really liked the setting of this novel. The prestigious boarding school of the Watcher's Academy had a very regal feel to it, and I enjoyed reading about all the different characters who live in it. I thought Nina was a great protagonist. I could relate to her in a lot of ways, and I found her to be resilient, but also very humorous. The book has a lot of sarcastic quips in it which I enjoyed.

I liked that this book had some Buffy easter eggs in it to keep me entertained. It more focuses on the history of the Watcher's, and goes a bit into the family tree of some notable ones, such as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and of course, Rupert Giles. That being said, I think I would have liked a bit more info on the main notable characters from Buffy. Besides expressing multiple times the Watcher's distaste for Buffy, I wanted to know what these characters thought of Faith, Willow, and other important characters. My favourite character of all-time from the series is Spike, and a bit from him in there would have been awesome!

Overall, I was expecting this book to have more recognizable stuff from the Buffy world, but at the end of the day, this is not a re-telling. It is simply placed in the same world as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I think that it did satisfy my love for the series, through some great character development and an awesome setting. I think that this book is perfect for the Fall time, as it has enough supernatural elements to keep an interesting plot and a creepy atmosphere. However if you are a big fan of the series, don't expect it to be crawling with your favourite characters.

Have you read Slayer? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess