NetGalley ARC | Slayers, Every One of Us: How One Girl in All the World Showed Us How to Hold On

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐

I will take some blame here, but only some. When I read the sub-title, I thought it meant us collectively, as fans of the show.

In reality it meant the two women writing the book, and that's not what I was expecting. Even reading the summary, I still thought it would be more general and the life lessons would be deeper and more meaningful.

I love Buffy. As in, full on OBSESSED, as a teenager. The very first episode I ever saw was "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" and I was a smitten kitten. I never missed an episode, even when it was a rerun, and own the original-awkward-menu-set-up DVDs for the entire show.

I don't want to give too much attention to the man who created the character, because he is awful, but it has to be acknowledged. I was DEVASTATED when reports started coming out about his behavior, but I could not let go of something I loved so much, for so long. When I listened to and read Sarah Michelle Gellar's statements about the show and its legacy, including: "I will always be proud of 'Buffy'...Was it an ideal working situation? Absolutely not. But it's okay to love 'Buffy' for what we created because I think it's pretty spectacular," I realized I didn't have to.

So when I saw this memoir I had to snatch it up, because Buffy IS spectacular. I don't even know how to accurately describe everything Buffy means to me. I thought this book could, and it did, but again for the two authors.

The book is described as, "A memoir reflecting on heartbreak, perseverance, and life lessons learned from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from the hosts of the hit podcast Buffering the Vampire Slayer". I've never listened to the podcast, fyi.

Their marriage starts with an ultimatum: Kristin must watch the show, which is Jenny's favorite. They started from the beginning, along the way creating the podcast, finding massive success with it, then divorcing while also determined to keep their committment to their listeners/community even when they could no longer remain committed to each other. The book focused a lot on that aspect and how Buffy basically helped them through it.

I expected it to be about how it changed our lives, how we grew as a result of Buffy. It might seem like I am exaggerating, but this show CHANGED LIVES. It was so imperfect and magical and everything. College courses were offered FOR YEARS about the show. I can't even count the number of pop history AND deeply academic books written about Buffy and Angel. I own most of them.

Yet for everything we learned from the show, the strength we gained from these imperfect characters doing their best and also failing a lot of times, that area was surprisingly lacking. These so -called lessons barely scratched the surface.

I did not find their story particularly compelling, either. Despite my deeply intense love for the show, nothing in this book made me want to go listen to the podcast. Fans of Buffering will most likely be the ones to enjoy this, but as someone who is just going in as purely a fan of the show and unfamiliar with it, it's entirely possible they will feel the same way I did when I finished the book. As in...why did I read this?

Had the marketing for this book been more accurate, we wouldn't be here. But saying fans of Buffy will love this one is misleading; this is meant for a specific group of Buffy fans, those who also like/are familiar with the podcast.

I also feel like it also traded a lot on emphasizing the power of Buffy showcasing queer characters. It was kind of marketed on the premise of Buffy's influence in that area specifically of queer empowerment, but ultimately that's not what the book is about.

I would not recommend it to fans like me who love the show so much, but have never heard of Buffering the Vampire Slayer - unless you are interested in starting that. Those who already know of it and like it will probably  enjoy this.

Quick Thoughts | Buffy Goes Dark: Essays on the Final Two Seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

 

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It took me forever to read this book because I hated season six SO MUCH.

The very first episode I ever saw was 'Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", season two. I was hooked. I was OBSESSED. My life revolved around the show. I once faked being sick to stay home and listen to a ten minute interview with David Boreanaz on one of our local morning pop radio shows. That night Mom said she knew I wasn't sick so I should have just been honest and I could have stayed home either way.

A few months before I read this book in Feb of this year, I finally gave in and let Eleanor start watching. I have to censor some things of course, but she is hooked too. We've watched the first three seasons, and the rest is on hold a bit for now.

When allthe shit with Joss started coming out earlier this year, I was DEVASTATED. How could these things be true? He created BUFFY, the most iconic hero of all time. But I believed Ray Fisher immediately, and Charisma, and everyone after that who finally could stand up and say that Joss Whedon is  terrible human being and deserves none of the respect he's been given for the last twenty+ years.

It was in this time of complete upheaval that I started this book, and finished it quickly. The majority of the essays are fantastic, something I recognize despite my deep burning hatred of season six. Buffy has always been about family, both the family chosen for you and the family you choose for yourself. That is the heart of these seven seasons of magic (no, the comics do not count. I want live-action or NOTHING!) The essays are penned by a variety of authors working from various backgrounds and do not disappoint even when I disagreed with what they were saying.

I still hate season six with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. This season also plays a lot differently now in the context of what a POS Joss is. But the season also begins to make a lot more sense. After the show ended, there were multiple reports that Sarah Michelle Gellar had major issues with how Buffy was being written, that Buffy was doing things that SMG knew Buffy would never do, and that she addressed that with Joss. It also makes sense why she decided to walk away after seven seasons.

But I have made the conscious decision to not let Whedon ruin something so seminal to my teen and young adult years. It was harder at first, and just seeing his name on the screen made me want to throw up when Eleanor and I would watch a couple episodes, but I can separate the two now. I remind myself that even though Joss may have written the words and/or directed the episodes, the insanely talented cast brought the characters to life. Credit should be given to them first and foremost for the brilliance we saw week in and week out on both Buffy and Angel, especially given what we know now of the working conditions on both shows.

This is an must-read for any fans of the show.

And Joss Whedon can fuck off into the sun.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Rating: 5 Stars

If you know me but at all, you probably have surmised at some point that I kinda dig Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not Buffy herself, because she got kind of self-righteous at times in later seasons, but the overall show itself. And yes, she is still a kick-ass heroine. And since I love the show and the world that Joss created SO MUCH, you can probably imagine my trepidation at the sight of this book. Not because it is a picture book, but that Buffy, Willow, and Xander are very obviously children. CHILDREN!

How can that be?! In canon, Buffy arrives in Sunnydale as a sophomore! She knew NO ONE! She was trying to ESCAPE HER DESTINY! (Let's set aside the movie, seeing as how Joss did that too when reworking his idea for television.)

That stuff is all true, and much like the movie, all of that will also have to be set aside too for the moment.

This book is absolutely perfect as an introduction to the world of Buffy. Given my own obsession as a teenager (and as a 30-something), I wanted a way to show my own little lady the non-scary parts of that world. Eleanor so badly wants to watch the show, though I keep telling her she has to wait until she is a little older. I don't now how much longer I will be able to hold off, but she is five, so I need to have some self-control. But...season one wouldn't be all that bad, right? RIGHT?? RIGHT!! The show is just so well-done, and she knows it is my favorite, thus increasing her interest.

Anyway. Back to the book.

In the book we meet Buffy as what can best be interpreted as a high school student, in my opinion anyway. As Buffy introduces herself, she is sitting in her room at her home, 1630 Revello Drive (The address isn't actually important to the book. I honestly just typed it without thinking. Because I still know details like that. After 20 years.) In this illustration with Buffy sitting on her bed, there are many items fans will recognize from throughout the series. Her outfit is reminiscent of what she wore to fight Faith at the end of season three. We see her weapons chest, Mr Pointy under her bed, a flyer for The Bronze. Ad on her nightstand we see Mr Gordo, and the cross Angel gave her, and the umbrella she received at Prom for being voted Class Protector. The only thing bugging me about this illustration is the lampshade. On the show Buffy had a small lamp on her nightstand and the shade was upside down. This lampshade is right-side up. It is bothering more than I care to admit.

Anyway, again.

Buffy says that she wasn't always tough, and that she used to be afraid of the dark. Instead of being transported back to L.A., Buffy becomes a young child in the same bedroom and it totally makes sense why. A) This is a picture book for kids and B) Buffy would literally be the only recognizable character if she was suddenly back in LA. The story would simply not work.

So, eight-year-old Buffy is afraid of the dark and hears weird noises coming from her closet. She invites her friends Willow and Xander to sleep over (very reminiscent of Killed By Death, what I feel is a vastly underrated episode from season 2). We even get a glimpse of Joyce peeking around the corner when Xan and Will arrive. So the friends have fun playing games, eating snacks and being kids. Until it is lights-out. We also see more nods to the series, as a Dorothy Hamill poster hangs on the wall in mini Buffy's room. And if you look closely at Buffy's mirror, you see what is meant to be the photo of Buffy, Xander, and Willow that was shown many times throughout the series - such as in season 3's Dead Man's Party, where Buffy has finally returned home and finds the picture on a shelf in the basement.

So, lights out, and the kids hear the same noises that Buffy heard the night before. They all get scared and Buffy wants to open the door, but Xan and Will are having none of it. The next day at school they talk to their librarian, Giles - who is holding the Vampyre book which he gave to Buffy the first time they meet in the series premier. Here Giles also tells Buffy she is a slayer and that would start training when she was older. he also tells her for now, Buffy just needs to act brave, open the door, and the monsters in her closet will be terrified.

Leaving their elementary school, the three decide to have another sleepover, and at this point I was wondering just what would be on the other side. Truly, I was hoping it would be a villain Buffy had faced at some point in the series. I was most pleasantly surprised to see not one, but several villains. I won't spoil which ones were there, it's a nice variety from throughout the series (I lied, spoiler alert - The Gentlemen are included and not scary at all),  but I do have to say I was glad Angelus was not among them. That would have been weird. In fact, none of the Big Bads (The Master, Angelus, Mayor Wilkins, Adam, Glory, Dark Willow, or The First) were shown and that definitely makes sense to me. Those villains are all connected to the very darkest, bleakest moments for Buffy and the Scoobies, and did not have a place in this particular story.

First, Buffy scares the monsters and they all start crying. Then she, Willow, and Xander invite the monsters to the slumber party where they watch movies, play cards (OF COURSE Clem was playing, but no kittens to be seen anywhere), and build pillow forts. There's even a child-sized werewolf playing a guitar who Willow is dancing with. (Never mind that Oz didn't actually become a werewolf until his little cousin Jordy bit his finger during season two when he was a senior in high school!)

Okay, slight digs aside, I truly did love this book and I love that Eleanor loved it too. She gets to see that it is okay to be afraid, and even when you are afraid you can still be mighty and brave. She also keeps asking to watch the show and seriously, I don't know how much longer I can keep saying no. She is five though...

Highly recommended!

Review Bomb: Buffy

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the greatest show ever. If you don't think so, we can't be friends.

 3 Stars

I always appreciate when Buffy is taken seriously as one of the greatest shows worthy of our continued interest and discussion, because it truly is one of the most simply complex shows ever. Joss is a genius. (Though, I will never forgive him for 'I Will Remember You'. It hurt TOO MUCH.)

This Buffy book (and there are TONS), looks at the show itself, the scripts, as the primary text and what we can learn from them in that way. That the show is something special can not be denied, even though I am constantly reminding people (It's been gone so long...I worry that Eleanor will grow up somehow not loving it as much as I do.) A wide variety of authors take on a number of subjects, including sisterhood, redemption, folklore, education, patriarchy, and so much more. For the most part I enjoyed the essays, though there were about a handful in particular I could not do more with than skim. And you must know, if an academic Buffy work makes ME skim...it isn't good. Not at all. BUT, I do not want my own personal opinion to color some else's so I have chosen to not share which essays they were.

The essays are divided into four different sections: Power and the Buffy Canon, Buffy Meets the Classics, Buffy, the Scoobies, and Beyond, and Buffy and the Classroom. Some sections were stronger than others, but it was still an interesting read overall. One of the things that is most important to me about Buffy is the idea of what is considered 'canon'. It frustrates me to no end that the comics are considered canon, and I refuse to read them. Once Angel went off the air, their lives have been paused and I wait hopefully that maybe just once, we could get a glimpse into their lives after it all ended.

Anyway.

I think the argument between scripts being canon, vs the actual episode that aired being canon is a really interesting argument. For me personally, I would actually consider the DVDs to be as such. Much like with Friends, there is always something more to those episodes in the unrestricted DVD format, as opposed to reruns or Netflix, where they only air the show as it was shown originally. I can see the argument for the scripts, but to a limited extent. As the show was filming throughout the week, Joss and Company saw what worked and what didn't, and revised from there. I would actually place the scripts as the lowest on the canon totem pole, with second place going to the aired version, and first place going to the DVD version.

One of my most favorite essays came from the second section about Buffy and the Classics. I really liked the essay by Elizabeth Bridges, entitled "Grimm Realities: Buffy and the Use of Folklore". This idea of folklore and fairy tales permeates the show (and one fairy tale reference often gets ignored - the line in Nightmares when the Master says, "A dream is a wish your heart makes" is totally from Cinderella and always seems to get left out. Just needed to point this out). So many people will point to Hush as one of Buffy's finest episodes of the whole series, and good Lord it is. When it first aired, I was in shock over how amazing it was. Even today, I still know the words by heart..."Can't even shout, can't even cry, the Gentlemen are coming by. Looking in windows, knocking on doors, they need to take seven and they might take yours. Can't call for mom, can't say a word, you're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard"...I still get a shudder down my spine when I hear it. This essay was just a really well-thought out response to the show's approach to using folklore throughout the series. And personally, I liked Killed By Death.


 3 Stars

When I first finished this one, I was not quite sure how I felt about it. I initially rated it four stars, but after nearly six months away from it, I feel three stars is sufficient. I disagreed quite strongly with some of the assessments, particularly where Angel was concerned (don't come at me with any Spike nonsense. Buffy and Angel belong together, period). The author approached the show from a "feminist cultural studies" stand point (taken from the book summary), and I feel like a feminist point of view is a given when talking about Buffy. But, it is not only the female characters who are feminists, but the men in their lives as well. (Not the baddies like Caleb, of course.)

One of my biggest issues with this one is that it is the first Buffy book I have ever read that did not totally have my attention for the majority of the time. I still read it all, word for word, but it was simply not like so many of the other academics works I have read. I don't know, perhaps I was not in the right frame of mind to read it and was simply a little burned out, as I received many Buffy books around the same time, and if I were to go back with fresh eyes, things might look a bit differently to me. I don't want to say boring, really truly I don't. Buffy is anything but boring. So, a new look it shall have in the near-future.

Another issue I took related directly to this idea of gender binaries, and how this looked far different on Buffy. I took a lot of issue with the author's idea of New men being fake/pretend men. For me, Buffy has always been about completely dismantling of the outdated notions that a woman must be either feminine or feminist, that males are the only ones who are strong, and that emotion is almost wholly female. Time and again Buffy represented complete gender reversals and that was one of its strengths, the whole premise that the show was built on.

As the book went on I also found that the listing of even minor-minor characters in these various gender groups grew tiresome. it became less about analyzing how each character fit into a specific role, and about how many characters the author could find to prove her point.

Even though the book says it is a primer, I don't know that a casual Buffy fan would enjoy this much at all. And as I also disagree with some assessments, I don't know that I would recommend for anyone but the most loyal and intense of fans.


 3 Stars

If physics had been taught solely like this, I might have actually taken the class in high school. But it wasn't, and I didn't, so, bummer for me.

The author uses, of course, multiple examples from Buffy and Angel to explain various scientific concepts. The only problem here is that you lean closer to the science side of things and farther from the Buffy side, the examples may not appear to make sense all the time. And vice versa if you are like me, and don't really have an interest in science, you might still struggle to understand bits and pieces. Nothing is so complex that I skipped over any parts, but a healthy balance between the two within a reader would not be terrible.

By far the section that interested me the most had to do with any apocalypse we might have approaching. It gave me a healthy fear of how terrible this will actually be when it does happen, and no amount of Big Bads that Joss can create could be scarier than the real thing.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Slayer Stats: The Complete Infographic Guide to All Things Buffy

Rating: 3 Stars

I soooooo wanted this one to be good. I was kind of disappointed, might as well be straight-up about it. I have been so spoiled by some of the other Buffy-related books that have come out over the last few months in honor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer turning twenty. This show meant EVERYTHING to me when I was in high school and college, and still does today, over a decade after it has gone off the air. I can not wait to be able to show it to my own daughter (except for very specific parts of season six, which was devastating).

This one though, left me very underwhelmed. I think part of it is because I already know so many of these facts. Maybe I don't have them organized in neat little pictures in my head, but for as OBSESSED with this show as I was (am), it would be pretty hard for me (or any Super Fan) to NOT know them. For the casual or non-fan, some of these will probably seem really picky and unimportant. But my expectations are suuuuuper high for content related to the show. There were some places that were not necessarily mistakes, but things that seemed odd or out of place. Other times there were actual mistakes that had no business in an authorized book about this show. I don't even really know the best way to do this and I was going to try to not do as many reviews for books that I did not enjoy, but this is Buffy we are talking about. These omissions and/or mistakes, I can not abide.

On page 12 there is a very basic map of Sunnydale. Angel's mansion is listed as being on Market Street. Sorry, but it was on Crawford Street. This is stated on the show. And while we are at it, the map shows Buffy's house being super close to City Hall, which is weird because it makes them look just down the block from one another. No aerial shots indicate Buffy lived near downtown, which is where one presumes City Hall would be. AND, how is The Bronze near the edge of Sunnydale when Cordelia makes the statement in the series premier about the good and bad parts of town? These are not just any old locations. With the exception of City Hall, these places play a pretty major role throughout the series. Seems like a little more thought should have gone into it.

On page 32-33 we get an infograph about Xander. It is all pretty accurate, though I think leaving Angel off of Xander's 'Hate' list is an omission I would not have made. I get that Spike was on the show much longer than Angel, but Xander definitely deeply hated Angel also. Perhaps 'Vampires with souls' would be more correct? Or simply Angel AND Spike? This is much more a personal preference than a mistake, so it doesn't REALLY count.

Page 34 and 35 give further information about Xander, in a line graph plotted to rank Xander's slightly embarrassing to very horrible 'trials and tribulations' as the subtitle calls them. Xander definitely had more than his fair share of shitty things happening to him, but there are a couple rankings in particular that trouble me. The first is 'Being dumped by Faith after losing his virginity to her.' He wasn't dumped, they didn't date. I would say the bigger embarrassment for him would have been the later conversation with Buffy and Willow, where Buffy breaks it to him as gently as possible that she doesn't really take the guys seriously that she hooks up with. And to me that would rank as both embarrassing AND terrible. Maybe this would have been better as a Venn Diagram than a line graph. On the same graph, 'Discovering Anya with Spike' is also ranked as 'slightly horrible' which makes no sense to me. For one, Xander still loved Anya even though they were no longer together, he was an adult at that point and not some high school kid, and this was a really awful thing to stumble upon. I'd easily give that a 'horrible' or at least a 'fairly horrible'.

On page 68-69 we do get an actual Venn Diagram, which displays the shows 'Saddest Moments'. Sad here is defined as: 1. feeling or showing sorrow, 2. Pathetic, uncool, or awkward (I would not equate that kind of sad with awkward, but whatevs), 3. Xander, according to Cordelia. This was the point where the Angel/Spike bias became most apparent. I appreciate that Buffy's killing of Angel was considered 'weepy', but then the authors also include Buffy telling Spike she loves him just as he's about to die on this side. I could buy that, despite my huge disdain for the Buffy/Spike debacle, had they not then put Angel being jealous of Spike's soul on the awkward side. What about that is awkward? Why would Angel NOT be upset? Yes, they were not together and had not been for a long time, but come on, soulmates, hello. (Don't come to me with info from the comics. Buffy and Spike do not belong together.)

One page 104 and 105 we get an infograph on Darla and Dru. The timeline where the two are connected is in 1880, where it says on Darla's timeline that she 'Sires Spike'. On Dru's it says for the same year 'Sires Spike (then known as William Pratt). Joss clarified the use of the word 'sire', because of when Spike was first introduced in 'School Hard'. There he referred to Angel saying, "You were my sire man, you were my Yoda." Angelus obviously did not turn Spike, Dru did. But Joss stated that 'sire' could refer to vampire lineage, which does make sense. This aspect of the timeline though, does not and actually makes it look confusing. Spike himself said to Angel, "Drusilla sired me, but you, you made me a monster." So, the referring to Angel as his sire also makes sense when used in the 'mentor/Yoda' sense. But Darla? It simply does not, except to go back to the lineage where Darla → Angelus → Drusilla → Spike. The next two pages are then a handy infograph titled 'Who Sired Whom' which shows that exact line. Still, it is not a choice I would have made.

A lot of people really seem to like this one so far, and that's good for them. Maybe I am being nit-picky, I don't know. This one just was not for me, though there were also some pretty cool infographs. I especially liked the "Big Bad Lineup", "Magical Artifacts" (including details on what the weapon did, where it was found, and what happened to it), AND "The Web" which connected a myriad of characters with the helpful color-coded key of unreciprocated interest, reciprocal interest, relationship, and kill. Might seem odd to include kill on a web about love, but I will simply refer you to Angel's voice-over from season two's episode 'Passion'. I do question the inclusion of Larry on the list as having unreciprocated interest in Xander. He talked about being out to Xander in season three's 'Earshot' when the gang were trying to figure out who Buffy had heard threatening to kill people at school. He offered to help Xander 'come out' when he thought that is what Xander was talking about but I never interpreted that as hitting on him. Perhaps my favorite infograph of all though was the one titled "I'm Only Sleeping: All The Times Giles Is Knocked Unconscious".

So, I guess I would say I would recommend this one with caution if you are like me and any of the above issues bothered you to the extent that they bothered me. If you spent this whole time saying, "Slow down, Crazy. This stuff is not a big deal", then have it!

First Line Friday: Buffy Edition II

First Line Friday is brought to you by Hoarding Books.

"It's been twenty-one years since Buffy Summers staked her first vampire on TV, and this extraordinary series is now widely regarded as one of the greatest ever made."

So true, so true.

Sort of.

The issue that I take with the above statement is that already a long time before 'now', Buffy has been considered one of the greatest shows ever made. This is not something recent. This is something already acknowledged during its final run, and has only grown more factual as time has gone on.

The other issue I have with the book in general already is a glaring error I discovered on pages 12-13, the Map of Sunnydale. it lists Angel's old mansion as being on Market Street when any Buffy fan knows that it was specifically referenced as a home on Crawford Street. I've seen every episode of this show DOZENS of times. I am not one to trifle with when it comes to knowledge of the Buffy-verse and I hold my Buffy texts to VERY high standards. When discussing other Buffy/Angel books, I have proclaimed time and again my undying love for this show. It was so beautiful and heartbreaking and reassuring and infuriating.

Did you ever watch Buffy and/or Angel?

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Happy Reading!

Sarah

First Line Friday: Buffy Edition

Happy First Line Friday, hosted by Hoarding Books.

This week the line I am sharing comes from my (tied-for-first-with-FRIENDS) favorite show of all-time.

I LOVE Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Okay, not Buffy herself because truthfully, she annoyed me a lot of the time, at least in later seasons. Or, mostly season six when I was super angry at her for most of the time when she was being ridiculous and hooking up with Spike.

I love the show, the characters, the stories that Joss wrote in this amazing and terrifying and real world he created. I stumbled upon the show about halfway through season 2. I recall very clearly the first episode I ever saw was "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", when Xander asked Amy to do a love spell on Cordelia, which of course backfired. I was hooked. I could not get enough of anything having to do with the show. This includes a time when I pretended I was sick to stay home from school so I could listen to a radio interview on KDWB with David Boreanaz, that lasted all of maybe ten minutes. Mom KNEW I was faking and let me stay home anyway. That's real love.

Anyway. I love the show and still watch it - because of course I have the series on DVD. 2017 is especially important, because this year is the 20th anniversary of the show's debut and thus, a fandom was born. I have not been able to stay away from Amazon, and now have a neat little collection of anniversary items:

 

  

My line this week, however, comes from this extra special treasure, the 20th anniversary edition Watcher's Guide. It is from the introduction titled "Life After Buffy" by Christopher Golden, who penned many books within the Buffyverse.

"It's difficult to remember with any real clarity what the pop cultural landscape was like before the arrival and the popularity of Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

Ain't that the truth.

I don't think I can ever really accurately convey what this show meant to me growing up and still means to me now as an adult. I can tell lots of stories about it and how obsessed I was/am, but that does not really do the show justice. If you have never watched the show, I implore you to give it a try. I can even give you a top ten list of the best episodes, but this one really is worthy of a series-long binge. Don't let the title fool you, and do not believe the hype about one vampire show being just like every other. Buffy is so much more than that.

Happy Reading

Sarah

Demons of the Hellmouth: A Guide for Slayers

Rating: 5 Stars

*Sigh* I really miss this show.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer consumed my high school years. I saw the show by accident one time and cursed myself for months following that I had not witnessed the greatness from the beginning. I very clearly remember the first episode I ever watched: Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered. It was life-changing. I was obsessed. I was also way behind, as season 2 was nearly over so I had to process everything before, through the season 2 finale, in a very short amount of time. And Angel being sent to hell, don't even get me started. I sobbed. Over a tv show. And a fictional character.

But they felt so real to me, and that is the beauty of Joss' creation. The Scoobies might have been battling mythic beasts and big bads, but the message was clear: they were (usually) metaphors for very real things teenagers and young adults face.

But I suppose I should be on to the book now, no?

I did not purchase this one intending to learn new information about any of the demons Buffy and her pals faced in their seven years on the Hellmouth. That is not the point, and people expecting anything more kind of missed the boat on this one. This was a nice walk down memory lane with characters I know so well. Given that it is intended as a guide for all the new slayers, it made sense for Giles to be the one to "write it", and I was also pleasantly surprised to see the introduction from Anthony Stewart Head. An addition to the text are comments in the margins from Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Faith. I am conflicted on these. The comments feel right in terms of context and in keeping with their characters' personalities, but would Giles really have allowed them to write in his guide? On the other hand, given that nothing else was typical about Buffy and her slaying, perhaps it should not be a surprise that he allowed it. I don't know. It was nice to "hear" their voices again, but I could have also done without them and not been bothered either way. The one that will seem out of place to many people is Faith, given her history with Buffy and her friends. However, people should also remember how she finally was 'rescued' herself and became the slayer they needed her to be. Still, the purist in me would have liked if it had just been the originals, Giles, Buffy, Xander, and Willow.

This book is a must for die-hard fans. Casual fans may not be as interested, but those like me who want any and every scrap of Buffy-related stuff we can find, will enjoy this comfortable chat with old friends.

Buffy and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale

Rating: 3 Stars

Review:

Firstly, I think this would have been better had it been written after the show ended. Leaving out season 7 was kind of huge. Joss made it pretty clear that 7 was the magic number, so we knew that was likely when the show would end.

As I said in a recent review of another Buffy-related book, I'm way stupid in love with this show, though it's been off the air some 10 years. It's even kind of awkward typing that sentence, but whatever. But that is why I take issue with the very last essay in this book. According to the authors of, "Feeling for Buffy", it's just another entertaining show that's pretty much just about sex.

Really?

I'm pretty sure, not.

Yes, sex and sexuality play their own roles and are themes, just like many other aspects of our daily lives. But to say that's ALL Buffy is about, and to end the book with this essay, when the couple dozen previous essays show otherwise, it's truly disrespectful to the reader and fan.

I'm not saying this opinion is invalid or wrong. It's an opinion. There are people who don't like the show after watching just one episode, or having watched none. There are people who THINK they know what it's about, "like, vampires and stuff?" who insist I will really like shows like 'Supernatural', because they know I like Buffy (I simply nod and smile at those statements). But to put together this (mostly) interesting collection of essays about one of the greatest television shows ever, and then end with that? Seriously? Ridiculous.

There are other minor issues I took note of through various essays along the way - some getting facts or quotes wrong. I just feel like if you're enough way stupid in love with this show to write essays about it, like those who would read said essays, you ought to know what you're talking about.

If I recommend this book, I might say read that essay first, the one that trashes the show and reduces it to the likes of whatever teen garbage is on TV now (I don't know, because I'm not a teenager anymore and I also only use Netflix). That way you get it done and over with. Otherwise it's just a crappy surprise at the end of an otherwise (mostly) interesting read about a show worthy of study.

Additionally:

In regards to the comment above that mentioned 'Supernatural': I didn't mean this is a terribly offensive way. I am sure it i a perfectly fine show it its own right. And Jensen Ackles is yum. But assuming one who loves Buffy would just love any random shmandom show about things that go bump in the night is kind of ridiculous. I know the people who say this are well-meaning, but they have never watched Buffy. It's far more than just demons and ghoulies. I promise. Give it a watch - and more than one episode!

What Would Buffy Do? The Vampire Slayer as a Spiritual Guide

Rating: 4 Stars

Review:

I should begin by saying I am not what you would refer to as a 'casual fan' of BtVS. I am one of THOSE; I know every episode name, can recite them in order (I have a tendency though to block out parts of season 6, forgive me), can quote the show verbatim, and - somewhat embarrassingly - in high school I stayed home 'sick' one day just to catch a radio interview of David Boreanaz on the Dave Ryan in the Morning Show on KDWB. Yes, I skipped a whole day of school for a 10-15 minutes interview. Years later, Mom admitted she knew I wasn't sick, and why I stayed home. My mom rules.

Okay, now that the craziness that is me when it comes to this show is clear...it'll be somewhat understandable why I could only rate four stars - as a stickler for correctness, some of the quotes and their context were just not quite right. That being said, the message of the book is still clear, and a valuable one. I just am very particular when it comes to a show and characters I loved so much (and who are we kidding, I STILL love Angel.)

I feel like this might be geared more toward fans similar to me, or at least those with more than a passing interest. The casual fan may not even recall some of the situations discussed, though many are obvious and the 'big ones'.

All in all, I definitely recommend this one.

Additionally:

I came across as kind of crazy, I realize, but Buffy fans ARE kind of crazy, so, there's that. I'd like to say that for those who never watched Buffy I get why we look crazy. But if you give the show a chance, you'll see how fantastic it really is, how so many of the monsters are metaphors for things we all experience in real life, and what a genius Joss Whedon is.

I forgot to mention the interview included in the end with Eliza Dushku, who played Faith. This was really interesting to read, especially because I STRONGLY DISLIKED Faith, even after her redemption, because I couldn't forgive her, even if all the characters she tried to kill could forgive her. But Eliza, as a person, I dig. The interview was a treat, but was hardly focused only on the topic of the show and its spirituality. They did discuss Eliza's own background, coming from the Mormon church previously and why she chose to leave it, and what she believes now.

Fans of the show will also appreciate the rundown at the end of the book of each season, Scoobies, and Big Bads.

Man, I miss this show. I can't wait until E is old enough to watch it.