what an absolute delight to be back in the BuffyVerse, but with a twist! The mayor has opened a portal to hell, Sunnydale is now Demondale, and its permanently night. We all know what that means!! Vampires everywhere!! We get to see many of our faves, some fondly recalled locations (The Bronze!), and even Glory!
The three nerdy amigos are still in town, inventing, trying to get in on things, trying to ascend into a snake demon, as you do. Anya is on the job at a creepy juicery, and gets involved with the boys when they try to use her Wish Demon powers. But here comes (a) Buffy, cleaning up all these nasty portal worlds, kicking butts and taking names.
SUCH FUN!!

When I found out about this book, I absolutely couldn’t wait to read it. I’ve read a number of other Buffy-verse novels recently, but this was the first one I’d come across that was advertised as more adult than teen and I was excited to see how it would be different.

“Big Bad” is set in an alternate universe where the Mayor put a sun shade up over Sunnydale, making it a haven for vampires and demons, and the town was renamed Demondale. This was a really fun concept for the book and it was great to see so many characters reimagined in this new world.

This book was definitely written for Buffy fans. Someone new to the series might enjoy it as well, but there are so many fun character cameos that just wouldn’t land the same way if you’re not already familiar with them. But as a die-hard Buffy fan, I was in love!! Anderson does such a great job of nailing the tone and characters from the show throughout the book. Anya especially is FANTASTIC! She was definitely one of my favourite characters in the show and to have her as a main character in this book was delightful.

Anderson took some of the best characters and character moments from across the series and brought them together to happen in this book. We even get some references to the Buffy movie and the spin-off Angel.There were a few characters who didn’t make an appearance that I would’ve loved to see, but you can only pack so much into one book.

There was so much to love about “Big Bad”, and I would definitely recommend it!

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. Ignoring the problematic views of the original creator, the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a rich and diverse one. The Big Bads of the series have always been nuanced and really fun to engage with. This was a fun twist with a big focus on Anya which I did not expect, Lily Anderson did a wonderful job of ensuring the characters still acted like themselves and made logical choices. I was also a-ok with Xander not being included but Willow still being her vampire self. This was a great dip back into the world of BtVS.

Being a massive fan of Lily Anderson’s books, I don’t even have the words to explain how excited I was to read this.

Anderson did NOT disappoint. She basically celebrated the beloved series while simultaneously making it her own.

Having Anderson write more Buffyverse novels is much needed. She did such a fantastic job here, I didn’t want this book to end, and now I need more.

This is the perfect book for Buffy fans. I could definitely tell that Lily Anderson is a huge fan of the series. This was such a fun read.

This was such a fun book! Big Bad by Lily Anderson follows two humans, Jonathan and Andrew, and their unlikely friend, a vengeance demon named Anya. They all live in Demondale, which is basically Sunnydale from Buffy if the "bad" won. In this story, Buffy is the Big Bad coming to ruin Demondale. It was so fun to read about some of our favorite characters from Buffy and explore this alternate town. Lily Anderson writes a very strong tribute to Buffy and puts her own spin on it. Overall this is a fun read, especially for Buffy fans. I think this book can be enjoyed by Buffy "newbies" as well.

Buffy and the gang are back to fight evil the old school way. This book is fantastic. I am really into the retro plot. The action was really good. I really enjoy most things retro and this one really caught my attention. I read through it in an afternoon. I would recommend this one to ya readers and any fan of Buffy the vamp slayer.

An excellent read with lots of world-building that had me craving to read more! I especially loved the inside jokes and nods towards the original Buffy, definitely recommend to anyone who loves vampires, action and adventure, and good storytelling!

I confess that I've only seen a handful of Buffy episodes, but I know who most of the main characters are. There have been a few books about the vampire slayer recently, but this one is my favorite so far. I liked that it focused more on the residents of Demondale, a place for vampires and demons to freely exist. It was fun rooting for the dark side, though I still enjoyed watching Buffy kick some butt.

Jonathan and Andrew are some of the only humans left in Demondale and they're just trying to survive. They form an unlikely friendship with a vengeance demon named Anya and I loved the relationship. It was odd, but so sweet at times and made me root for them to stop their apocalypse.

We got to see familiar faces like Angel, Spike, and Willow, though without Buffy in their lives they're more evil. The story was a fun flip of the show and easy to jump into.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of this book!

4.5 rounded up. This is such a fun read for any Buffy fan! The author managed to capture the essence of most of the characters and give us more storylines for some of the beloved characters that didn't get as much screen time as we would have liked (I will always love Andrew and Clem dearly!). The author was also smart enough to know that there was one "Big Bad" that was beyond any redemption spin and that we wouldn't want to read about (IYKYK). If you're looking for a fun, quick read, I would highly recommend.

Set in an alternate universe than the Buffy we know, we enter Demondale. Where the sun never shines and all humanity and evil are equally welcome.

The story is mostly told from Jonathan and Anya’s perspectives, but we do get bits from Buffy as well.

Buffy got booted from her Sunnydale and is now on a mission to get home by destroying all the little evil dimensions along the way, just hoping she gets thrown back into her world along the journey.

Jonathan and Andrew are working with Warren to try to finish Warren’s Ascension so they can all finally become the super-villains they’ve always wanted to be.

Anya is just your regular Vengeance Demon trying to live a normal human life on earth…and make lots of money.

This was a fun read for sure! Most of your favorite characters were mentioned, but not totally involved in the story. That disappointed me quite a bit as I’d have loved to hear more from them and less from Jonathan and Andrew, who I never really liked even in the show. That being said, I do understand that the author was trying to be creative, and I think it will work for most people.

I enjoyed seeing a companionship between Angelus and Spike and that we got a peak into the Villain Origin stories for Drusilla and Darla.

All of the different dimensions Buffy visited were parts of Buffy’s episodes so it was a good time trying to think back on which ones they were and then see how the scenes were craftily adjusted.

Those silent floaters “The Gentlemen” STILL freak me out to this day!

While Buffy’s ultimate goal was to destroy the “Black Flame Flag” in Demondale to get home, it was the others’ (Angel, Spike, Anya, Jonathan, and Andrew) home and they wanted to make sure it stayed that way. It was fun reading between the mission to destroy and the mission to save Demondale.

This book was a wonderful idea for the Buffyverse and will bring pleasant nostalgia to its fans.

It was a quick read but I really do with there were more fan-favorite involved like Xander, Cordelia, Dawn and the real Willow and Giles. Although, I laughed quite heartedly throughout!

The best part for me was that you could tell the author was a true fan of Buffy. She 100% nailed everyone’s personalities but especially had Buffy and Anya’s witty banter down pat!

EXAMPLE- Buffy and Gloria Scene:

BUFFY: “Sorry, whatever you are. I can see you’re trying real hard to get under my skin, but I don’t have a sister. I mean, look at yourself. Could you look any less like me? Brown hair? Blue eyes? And you’re at least three inches taller than me.”

GLORIA: “You really think you’re pulling off natural blonde? Give me a break. I’m your sister. Dawn. Dawnie? Little bit? I steal your clothes and read your diary and follow you around when you do Slayer stuff. You rescued me from a gang of dancing demon bears? And an evil ventriloquist dummy? Come on, Buffy! You know me!

BUFFY: “I really don’t. The dummy rings a bell, but you? Not so much. Maybe this dimension’s Slayer has a sister, but that’s so not my backstory. I’m an only child. Practically prototypical. Spoiled rotten, custody battle, trouble with authority. You’ve got me all wrong.”

BIG BAD, LILY ANDERSON
EXAMPLE- Anya

“In the dark, Anya’s imagination taunted her with visions of what could be lurking beyond her perception. Quicksand. A giant swinging blade that sliced and diced anyone the Master found annoying. Disgusting fluffy bunnies with their razor-sharp teeth and long flopsy ears, just waiting to spring at her with their all too powerful back legs…”

BIG BAD, LILY ANDERSON
We also even got a snippet of Willow’s, “Bored Now….” which stuck in my head for days!

A nice blast from the past and I think truly think all Buffy lovers should read this…talking to YOU mom!

Special thanks to NetGalley, Lily Anderson, and Disney/Hyperion for sharing this digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest opinion. Being this was an ARC, this review is based on uncorrected text which did not sway my thoughts either way.

Lily Anderson’s Big Bad is an absolute love letter to the Buffyverse. Mostly taking place in an alternate reality where the mayor’s sun-shade has brought about permanent night and transformed Sunnydale into Demondale where the big bad in this story is…Buffy, and it’s demon Anya and Jonathan and Andrew (two thirds of the nerd herd) who are cast in the role of ‘heroes’ who are trying to stop her from destroying their universe. The story is so much fun it’s ridiculous. It’s clear Anderson knows the Buffyverse inside and out. Not only does she totally nail the feel of most of the characters, she pulls in an incredible number of them from both Buffy and Angel including Angel, Spike, Dru, Darla, The First, Glory, and even the Smile Time puppets, just to name a few. Not only that she also includes an insane number obscure references. As I said, Big Bad is a love letter to longtime fans. Spike would claim it was effulgent! Thanks so much to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an eARC of Big Bad.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1SEH17EIRT2A1/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-bad-lily-anderson/1140863675?ean=9781368075695&bvnotificationId=8d6b4651-3e8a-11ed-96d2-1249afe6878f&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/218351903

I, for one, welcome the release of a fresh crop of novels related to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The television series first appeared when I was a teenager. I sought sanctuary in Buffy's supernatural world because of school bullying and issues at home. As soon as the original Pocket Books tie-ins were out, I devoured them, never being able to get enough of Buffy and the Scoobies.

Big Bad by Lily Anderson (published by Hyperion Avenue) is a dark adventure in which all of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's villains band together to fight the blonde slayer. What? Doesn't Buffy always manage to beat the "big bad" at the conclusion of each season? Yes, but Sunnydale isn't the setting for Big Bad. Instead, it takes place in Demondale, California, in 1999, a parallel world where there are no slayers and evildoers are free to roam.

In my opinion, this book is a "niche" read for "die-hard" Buffy fans. Newcomers will be perplexed by who the villains are and why Buffy doesn't realize "The First" resembles her sister Dawn. The narrative takes place when Buffy Summers is sixteen and still in her early junior year of high school. She isn't the primary character. At some point, Buffy went through a portal that sent her to the evil realm of Demondale. To return home, she needed to get a few magical materials, some of which she had to find in Demondale and others in other evil dimensions.

Jonathan Levinson, believe it or not, is the protagonist of this narrative. He isn't the Sunnydale nerd, but in Demondale, he is almost the same. Jonathan and his buddies Warren and Andrew are free to do anything they want since the Mayor brought chaos to Demondale, including continuing their hobby of building female robots. The trio decides to give themselves supernatural abilities by employing mystical jargon since they are concerned that they will become prey to vampires and other demons. But they didn't anticipate coming across a slayer, which led to Warren's demise. Without any other options, Jonathan and Andrew go in search of Anya, a vengeance demon. Unfortunately, all vengeance demons have unexpectedly lost their capacity to grant wishes. Angelus, Spike, Drusilla, Darla, Ripper (the evil Giles), evil Willow, and Ethan Rayne join forces with Jonathan and Anya to aid them in capturing and killing the slayer.

By literary standards, Big Bad is by no means an excellent book, but I had a great time reading it for my nostalgic side. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series premiered roughly simultaneously with a very trying period in my adolescence when I had no friends and started skipping class to avoid bullies. It became so awful that I made a suicide attempt. One of the few things that got me through that dreadful period was watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel). Being a bookworm, I naturally read every new Buffy novel in the late 1990s. When I attended school, I always carried a paperback by Stephen King, John Saul, and Anne Rice or a Buffy tie-in in my back pocket so I could escape into fiction when things became too difficult.

Overall, if you like Buffy, you'll enjoy Big Bad. The nastiest (and greatest) "big bads" from the series are all present in this entertaining nostalgia trip.╌★★★★✰

✨BOOK REVIEW✨
Big Bad
By Lily Anderson

Ugh where do I begin with this review?

Big Bad is set in a world where Sunnydale has become Demondale and the Mayor has ascended and managed to block out the sun.

Our heroine, is forced to travel continuously through multiple dimensions trying to rid the world of evil, after a wish gone wrong.

As a HUGE Buffy fan, I’m loving that we are seeing so many new titles from publishers and authors lately, but with that being said, it’s such an Iconic show, that it’s hard to match.

I did enjoy being back in a new addition to the “Buffyverse” so to speak, and honestly reading this book felt like an overdue family reunion.
I believe that anyone who is a true Buffy fan, will enjoy the quotes, quips, and characters from episodes past, but this may become an issue for those who haven’t watched or don’t remember the television series!
What I disliked about this book, is that the storyline was a little all over the place ( guess that happens when you are travelling dimensions)! There are definitely some issues and errors that true Buffy fans will pick up on like I did.

I felt sometimes the book got corny…. the way that some of the characters responded in this book, was not the way I would see them responding in the original. I also didn’t like that there are major characters only briefly mentioned in this book, or were non existent,it just felt wrong.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Overall I did enjoy this, and as a Buffy geek, I’m always happy with every opportunity to return to the world of Sunnydale. There is a great message within this story. I think Anderson had a great idea with this one, I just hold the original so close to my ❤️

Thanks to @netgalley for the advanced e arc in exchange for my honest review!

This one is out today, so go grab it! Check it out for yourself, and let me know your thoughts!

QOTD: Do you like reading new stories about characters you love?
#bigbad #hyperionave #netgalley #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreview #bookinfluencer #buffy #buffythevampireslayer #bookstagram #bookrecommendations #bookreviewersofinstagram #buffyverse #grrarrgh #bookrating #readthis #bookrecs #addtotbr #buffysummers #buffyfan

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

So, this was fun, but it was clearly for a niche audience of Buffy fans. Though, this is an alternate verse it's pulled so much from the a Buffy source material (fan fab characters, episodes, and quotes). I loved that and found it endearing. It was nice to visit with some old friends.

That behind said, someone not familiar with Buffy may have been a little lost.

I grew up watching Buffy and I still love the show to this day, camp and all. This book was really enjoyable, I had the opportunity to revisit favorite characters in a different way due to the alternate reality.

This was a great dose of nostalgia and I really loved reading it.

Buffy in the multiverse! As someone who is a huge Buffy fan myself, it was such a delight to revisit this world...and so many others as well! This was like a grand tour of so many of my favorite episodes and characters, including the Trio. And having Anya narrate a major portion of the story was an unexpected boon; in a lot of ways, she was always my favorite character. Great job by Anderson, she managed to add a whole new twist to things and I'd love to read more!

Big Bad
by Lily Anderson
YA Fantasy Paranormal Fan Fiction
NetGalley ARC

An alternate reality where, in Sunnydale, now named Demondale, California, the sun is blocked by a shade and is a safe haven for all 'hell spawned' creatures, vampires, demons, etc.

There was an accident when a slayer, “Buffy”, portals in, interrupting the ritual three humans were performing. After, two of those humans went to track down a vengeance demon for a wish...

In this book, the Buffy fans get to meet their beloved Buffy characters with different personalities, and there are a lot of references to the 90s that the target audience, YA, may not get. I did because I grew up in the 90s. Yes, I watched the movie a few times, no I didn't watch the series or anything else to do with it. Maybe if I had, I would've enjoyed the book.

It was boring. That previous sentence was pretty much how the book was written. Straight, to the point without any real descriptions. The plot/blurb was interesting and it got my curiosity going, but the characters were flat; they were all whiny teenagers, including the monsters, and I didn't really care for a single one of them. There were a few attempts at blood baths, but there was only minor dripping or splattering of blood. Any other kinds of goo would've added to the event.

I probably skimmed fifty percent of this book because there was nothing of substance. I pushed through it, hoping for some kind of action, or a shock would jar me, but no. But I can say that there were some one-liners that made me snicker.

1 Star

Disclaimers- I am a huge Buffy fan, and I have read a book by this author that I didn’t like much. So, mixed feelings going into it. It turns out, I like this author writing about Buffy! Fans of the show will see a ton of characters we are familiar with but in different settings and contexts ( Drusilla singing! Giles as Ripper! Angelus owning the Bronze! There’s more but I’ll keep it to that for now.) The mayor has rejected a permanent sunshade and now Sunnydale os Demondale, a literal hell on earth. Buffy has to fix it, but she is from another dimension ( fans of the show will note the superstar quote in the beginning about different worlds) , so there is a lot of chaos!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I would read more if there is more! I don’t know how well a person not familiar with Buffy would take to the book, but it is perfect for fans.

OK…what to do here….This was so cheesy and it brought me back to the fun of Buffy. Not enough Buffy as I liked Buffy, or anyone else really. I loved returning to this world, but I may have been away from it for too long. I enjoyed it for the nostalgia it was but found small things bugging me. Don’t take it too seriously. Enjoy the cute little story of alternate realities.