Review: First Kill

First Kill (The Slayer Chronicles #1) by Heather Brewer
Release Date ~ September 20, 2011
Penguin ~ Dutton Juvenile
ISBN13: 9780803737419
Received from: won in Goodreads giveaway from Penguin Canada

Goodreads Synopsis:

Heather Brewer's five volume Chronicles of Vladimir Tod tracked its vampire hero through five school years of biting and other acts of mayhem. Now Vlad's cousin Joss Mcmillan, who appeared in the series, takes center stage in an offshoot epic that promises to attract readers not afraid to listen to a different paranormal drummer. Joss is a Slayer with uncommon, indeed unique powers, but he will need every talent in his arsenal to survive a recent infestation of vampires. Chronicles with claws.

I just discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer not too long ago, and I've been HOOKED on it since! So, that may have had something to do with my decision to finally read First Kill, the new spin-off series from Heather Brewer.

Needless to say, I've found another vampire slayer to worm their place into my heart. I haven't read the previous Vladimir Tod books, but I found it easy enough to understand this great new series without the prior knowledge. But I'm sure fans of Vladimir Tod will find lots more to discover in Slayer Chronicles.

1. Male protaganist:
   I really liked reading about Joss as a character, and I'm hoping to see even greater development from him in future books. And I think it's great when there are new series which focus on male characters, to sort of balance out the female ones. Joss is such an interesting character himself, and is a part of an interesting story that can easily be enjoyed by fans of paranormal YA (male AND female readers).
2. Good twists:
   I love nothing more than good plot twists. And First Kill sets you up nicely so that most of them are rather unexpected and surprising. I like books that keep me guessing, and there are plenty of questions in First Kill, and just enough are answered to keep you interested and satisfied, and enough left unaswered to keep you guessing.
3. Vampire slaying for a younger generation:
   Vampire slayers aren't a new idea, and like I said, I picked this one up while in the middle of a Buffy kick. But I think it's an idea that hasn't been used as much recently, even with all of the fixation surrounding vampires. Even for those who are sick of vampires, I think the storyline following vampire slayers is one that most will find captivating and engaging for its unique perspective (similar to the alchemist perspective in Richelle Mead's Bloodlines).

First Kill made for rather light reading, and while it was enjoyable I still would have liked to see a bit more happen and a story that would engage me more as a reader. It felt rather light for a book that dealt with more serious topics like death and grief, and I wish that had been implemented more overall but perhaps it is something that will be brought up in later books.

For a book I wasn't expecting very much from, I was incredibly impressed by how muc I enjoyed this one and can now see why people have been enjoying Heather's past books as well. I'm not sure how much this series will tie in to the Vladimir Tod books, but I can't wait to see where the next books go!