Review: Slayer by Kiersten White

Series: Slayer #1
Publication Date: January 8th, 2019
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Genre: YA, Fantasy 
Amazon ~ Goodreads 

Synopsis: 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.

My Rating

4/5 stars

My Review

Perfect for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Athena (Nina) and Artemis are twin sisters that grew up in the Watcher Academy after their father was killed while protecting Buffy. Right before all magic was destroyed on Earth, Nina risked her life to protect her twin sister and activated her Slayer powers, becoming the last Slayer on Earth. Nina is a healer and is viewed as the weaker of the twins since her mother pushed her to be a medic rather than train to fight to protect future slayers. Now that Nina is a Slayer, her odds have turned. With incredible new strength and senses, her friends and family now have to see Nina in a different way, where she becomes their leader and takes on vampires and demons to protect the academy and the rest of the world safe from evil forces.

I'm a huge fan of Kiersten White, so even though I've never watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I knew I had to get my hands on this book. I sincerely enjoyed the story, the world and the plot, but unfortunately there were some characters and the relationships they had with Nina that I didn't quite enjoy.

Nina goes through an incredible self discovery and gains confidence throughout this book. She goes from the shy and weak girl who believes that she's the least favourite twin, to a strong woman that follows her instincts and isn't afraid to do what is right. I loved Nina as the main character, and I absolutely loved her character building. As for the rest of Nina's family, I'm not exactly happy with them. Artemis is very selfish and choses to take her anger out on Nina multiple times throughout the story. There were moments where the twins were fighting and Nina realizes that she's also to blame for the things she did wrong and choses to apologize, all while Artemis continues to be grumpy and blame Nina for everything that happens, while continuously doubting her even though her newfound senses have proven to be right. I would have been okay with this if the sisters left off on a good note and learned how to work together by the end of the book, but sadly I was a bit disappointed. Nina's mother is a whole different story, but I wont be expanding on why I dislike her story due to spoilers. The rest of Nina's friend group I actually quite enjoyed. They were diverse and different and I found all of them quite entertaining.

The plot was very well written. There was action at the beginning of the book and it continued throughout the story to keep the reader well entertained and wanting to read more. While it was a tad predictable, there were moments where I was pleasantly surprised and not expecting them at all. The book was engaging and story was entertaining, the only thing I would add is a little bit more surprises.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and will definitely keep reading in the series. I'm excited to see what happens next to Nina.