Review: Slayed

Slayed by Amanda Marrone

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I would love to know if Amanda Marrone's books take place within the same world. So far, there have been no cross-over characters that I can find, but each of the books seems to live in the same world with similar rules.

Daphne Van Helsing is much like the other heroine's in Marrone's works. She is an older teenager with parents that simply cannot hear her. Unlike Marrone's other characters, Daphne has not turned to drugs or sex in despair; she understands that she needs to stay sharp for her job. Like her parents--and generations of her family before them--she's a vampire slayer. She has no magical powers, but she does know how to wield a stake and slay a vamp. She should--she's been doing it since she was 12.

In this story, the government and policing community knows all about vampires. Whenever a town is infested, they call in slayers to take care of the problem. Witnesses are bought off; they either sign a non-disclosure statement and take the money, or they disappear. Slayers, we quickly learn, are given great leeway when it comes to raising their kids--Daphne had been homeschooled until she achieved her GED. After that point, her parents stopped caring about education and brought her in as a full slayer, even though she was still a minor.

Very quickly, they learn that things in South Bristol, Maine, are worse than they appear. Something is attacking infants, draining their life force. And there are lots and lots of vampires--far more than a small town like this one should ever see. Worse, the government has also called in another slayer family--the Harkers. Far from welcoming the extra help, Daphne's parents are furious. Her mother hates Mr. Harker, for reasons that she refuses to explain to Daphne. But that in itself is not that unusual--Mrs. Van Helsing never explains anything to her daughter and refuses to discuss the past.

To make matters still worse, in her first night on the job in South Bristol, Daphne slays a vamp in front of a witness--Kiki Crusher, daughter of the famous kiddie rock duo known as the Disco Unicorns. Kiki wants to join in the action--she's been searching for a life with meaning every since her parents kicked her out of the family band when she was five.

Nothing is normal in this town, and Daphne and Kiki will need each other to find the answers and set it right.

Amanda Marrone is one of the few authors on my must-buy list. She writes amazing teenagers. These characters are flawed and real. They struggle with who they want to be in this life that they have not chosen. They struggle to find a path without parental support. And they try to support each other as they become responsible for their own lives.

As with Marrone's other books, Slayed is a wonderful exploration of teenage life. Her books remind me of the fabulous Joss Whedon series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While Buffy had extraordinary powers, her greatest problems were always centered in how to compromise between her destiny and her need for companionship. Marrone's books walk a similarly fine line: the monsters are real, but so is each character's struggle to make decisions.

I cannot recommend these books highly enough. They're not for young teens--the drugs and sexual references may upset some parents--but they're still some of the best YA fantasy being written today.



View all my reviews