amusedSlayer by Kiersten White
This novel is set in the world of ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’. Nina, an emotionally abused member of a watcher family, becomes a slayer. Her dumb twin sister and vile evil bitch mother are useless and unsupportive and uncaring. There are demons, bullies, obvious baddies and ties in with the comics. Nina’s twin sister hooks up with her bully and is angry at Nina for being upset with this.
Her mother lies, excludes Nina and then throws a pity party for herself. Nina is the daughter of the Donald Sutherland watcher from the original movie. Faith gets an unnamed cameo. This is set in Ireland and it is FULL of racist errors about the country: unpaved roads, the words soda and candy used, people use pounds and not the Euro, the capital city is described as though it is still 1973, the author seems unaware that Ireland is rabies free, the Watchers live in a village called Shancoom which is so rundown that it wouldn’t have existed in 1843 and the author seems unaware Wesley is dead.
There is no gathering dread or implacable fate. The Watchers and their ideological dogma are intentionally cruel and coldly pragmatic and impenitent. Nina talks in japey fashion like an uneducated tool and this brings no grim joy. This was mundane and way too teeny bopper.
Best Lines:
“The stabby stab.”
“My mother kept choosing her.”
“She had no idea what she was or what was coming for her.”
“They’ve ignored me for years.”
“I wanted her with me, but as always, she chose to protect someone else.”
“Doesn’t deserve anything she has, anything that was sacrificed for her-”
“A sad, broken society desperately trying to hang on to the glory days that will never come again.”