*3.5 stars rounded up*

Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for the opportunity to review Sign of the Slayer. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sign of the Slayer is perfect for Buffy the Vampire fans. When Raven's marching band is attacked after a football game, her life is changed forever. Not only has she lost her friends, but she also learns that she is a slayer. Her job is now to protect humankind from Vampires and other monsters that go bump in the night. When she is moved to the American Society of Slayers (AKA: ASS) she must navigate her new world and the rage that resides in herself. When a scientist and previous alchemist is murdered, the investigation sets of a chain of events that may change the history of humankind and slayers forever. Can Raven figure out who is behind this before it is too late? Can she survive partnering up with the future vampire king?

I enjoyed this book. The beginning was a little slow but once it picked up, I was hooked. I enjoyed finding out about Raven's powers and learning more about the American Society of Slayers. This book definitely had comedic moments that had me laughing and some references that Buffy the Vampire fans will enjoy. The chemistry between Raven and Khamari had me invested in their relationship even though they were fighting on opposite sides. I hope to see more of their interactions in the sequel. The ending left me with so many questions and was surprised to see that this will be a series (not exactly sure why I thought this would be a standalone). I am excited to see what will happen next and will be keeping an eye out for the sequel.

sign of the slayer is a YA novel about vampires, being a teenager, and which are the hardest to deal with at the moment. when raven’s friends are attacked by a vampire, her slayer powers activate. she becomes a vampire-killing machine (aka slayer). she is then taken to the american slayer society’s school (hahaha ASS is their acronym).

i think this book was really interesting, but at the same time kind of hard to follow. the mythology and the lore behind the origins of vampires, the alchemists, all that stuff was incredible! but there was SO much of it that i got lost. the dialogue was absolutely hilarious, though. a couple of my favorite quotes: “of course the chosen one is a mediocre white man”, and my personal favorite, “you’re not sticking your dream peen inside of me.”

while this book wasn’t my favorite, i think the concept and writing were enough to make it a book i would recommend to anyone who loves YA fantasy with a bit of love and a lot of vampires sprinkled in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for sending me this arc.

I'm going to rate this book a 2.5 I love the slayer idea. I love a good brooding male love interest as well. Definitely had some buffy vibes but I couldn't get into a lot of it. Lots of pop culture involved. I don't want to compare it to Vampire Academy because that is my favorite YA series and this one fell short of being compared to that particular series.

What would you do if you found out monsters were real and that you were a slayer?

That is exactly the world Raven is plunged into after being violently ripped out of her normal life as a high schooler in marching band. A darkness follows her, a hot vampire prince keeps appearing, and there are a whole host of rules and magic in this new world. As much as Raven sometimes struggles to adapt to how much her world has changed, she clearly belongs as a slayer.

Sign of the Slayer starts a fast-paced, Young adult paranormal fantasy series. Great for those who like vampire romances, feminine rage, training academies, and a secret underground world of monsters.

Although there are strengths in the story and some parts I really enjoyed, there were also weaknesses in the world-building. The different types of vampires and slayers and powers were sometimes unclear, and the world of slayers needed clearer development. There were so many plot lines, and side points that it over-complicated and sometimes confused the story. Despite there being some weaknesses in development, Sign of the Slayer is a fun YA vampire book perfect for those who wished Buffy the Vampire Slayer never ended.

Sign of the Slayer- Sharina Willis

I want to thank @hearourvoices, @netgalley, and @sharinawrites for the ARC copy for an honest review!!

First of all let me give a disclaimer. I am not a paranormal/fantasy reader. Everytime I have tried to read it, I get bored and uninterested and I DNF those books. So I wanted to give this a chance to see if I could overcome that uninterest.

I read the synopsis of this story and thought about he movie “The Underworld”. I actually enjoyed that and Cate Beckinsale’s character and this great vampire slayer. So this story was not that far from what I could get into. As soon as I started reading this story- I WAS HOOKED!!!

Y’all, let me tell you- I LOVED this story. It started out with some action and some crazy events happened. With these events happening early on, I was able to get invested in this story and try to piece together what the hell was going on with these vampires. This was definitely the best course of action for me because many fantasy type books take too long to world build or my liking. With this, you got the events and the historical facts that go along with the world as you uncover other things. This was a huge plus for me.

I never understood how humans fall in love with vampires but honey, Khamari aka Pretty Boy helped me understand. His description and characteristics had me believing that he was indeed fine. Standing at 6ft 3in was all I needed. But not only that, I am glad that we were able to get his background as well so that we can understand why the decisions he made too place.

I had a love hate relationship with Raven, aka Texas. She seemed to be unwilling to listen and follow directions most times and very defiant. She acted like she knew more than the ones who were trying to help her and that got on my nerves completely.

There were some plot twists that had me like whoa..what?? I enjoyed those surprises. I thought that the references of Egyptian gods and other known figures gave depth to this story and I thoroughly enjoyed this. The ending I was not too happy with as I had so many questions left unanswered. I sure hope there is a part 2 coming with this. I give this a 4.25/5.

I received an ARC for this book but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I don't usually read vampire themed books but I really enjoyed reading this book from the beginning! Raven was easy to relate too as I was also a band-geek in high school. Her internal dialogue was witty and kept me entertained. This story had many plot twists and I could not wait to get to the ending. However the ending left many questions for me and I really hope that there will be a 2nd book soon! However, I felt the book moved fast at times and was a little slow at others, thus I have rated it 4 stars.

🦇 Sign of the Slayer Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐

❓ #QOTD Vampires, werewolves, or witches? ❓

🦇 Life has always been a little weird for Raven, but after her bus is attacked by a vampire, she accepts that it's about to get weirder. She's whisked away to a Slayer training academy, where she learned how to battle beasts that go bump in the night. It's not until weeks after she loses her friends that she realizes the man who saved her is a vampire prince—and that they have to work together to take down an even bigger threat. Can Raven play nice, or will her new powers, bloodlust, and need for revenge get in the way?

💜 The total Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes this book was giving off totally snagged me. From the get-go, Raven's narration is very much like Faith's; all sassy, bittersweet snark. While that makes her a fun, engaging MC, it's a voice that can either get annoying fast or takes half a book to get used to. The concept of a vampire slayer academy seemed badass and entertaining, but the story doesn't focus much on the academy. Pretty quickly, Raven gets her first field mission, and though that should help the pacing, the story lags due to a mixed bag of concepts that aren't fleshed out well enough to matter.

🦇 The heavy world-building and mythology feel like too much. By the time readers get a grasp on one concept, they're forced to adjust to another. It might have helped if we stuck with Raven's POV, but introducing Khamari's POV as well forces readers to navigate vampire politics, too. Raven harbors so much animosity that she becomes a chaotic, pouty, annoying MC to follow. It's hard to relate to her (yes, I know it's fantasy fiction, but we should still relate to her grief, at the LEAST). It's also difficult to fall for Khamari, who comes off as another typical, broody vampire harboring a secret. The insta-love between them lacks any tension or appeal as well. With so many fragmented plot points and underdeveloped ideas, the story becomes difficult to follow very quickly. Names and information are repeated often enough to become annoying, too.

✨ The Vibes ✨
🩸 Buffy Meets Vampire Academy
🩸 Snarky Faith-esque MC
🩸 BIPOC Author
🩸 Broody Vampire Love Interest
🩸 Dual POV

🦇 Major thanks to the author and publisher @entangled_publishing / @entangledteen for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I read Sign of a the Slayer as part of book tour for Hear Our Voices. This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for sending me this arc.


I always wanted to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer but I still haven't watch this, but it sounded amazing so I wanted to read this book. The idea for this book is something I really loved (even though I didn't understand all pop culture references).

But I never got really invested/interested in this book. That is also the reason why I didn't finish reading this. I could see other people like this.

This book is a very complicated mixture of Buffy verse, the vampire academy and shadow hunters. And you know what? I liked it so much. Yes, the beginning is confusing, there are a lot of events, characters, but you get used to it. Slayer Society is an amazing idea, because that’s what I wanted after the Buffy final. Those girls should have something like this! I love the school vibes. The main character, Raven, is very angry, but it’s okay, she lost everything, it’s relatable. Alexandr the great is a vampire. Such a cool move! But I really hope that the second book will give more answers, because I really like world building, but the main characters are still just going around. To sum up, it was such a great experience. I will be waiting for the second book, because I love the way the author brings slayers back to life.

I am so happy this turned out to be just as great as I hoped! I absolutely loved this fastpaced, Supernatural romance.

It was a perfect read for Buffy fans and those who enjoyed fast-pacing adventure like Maximum Ride series.
I enjoyed it a lot! Love how Raven/Texas is strong and stoneheaded lol her personality is something else. Khamari was amazing too (honestly I just love his name so much) and all the supporting characters! Little thing I would change was maybe lessening the pop references and more backstory/world building. But it was a nice ride!

I have read and reviewed this book voluntarily and honestly. Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Teen!

When I first saw this book, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer-style description got me excited right away. Academia, vampires, curses – it sounded promising!

The concept of slayers, supernatural beings, magic, and pop culture references was super fun, but unfortunately, I had difficulty getting into the story. The beginning felt so chaotic, making it challenging to follow the unfolding events. From the bus crash to the awkward initial interaction between Raven and Khamari, the story wasn't making much sense to me.

When we meet Khamari my initial reaction was that the author was going for that brooding, good-looking, mysterious male character like Angel from Buffy, who would eventually become the love interest. However, their romance felt like instant love without much substance, which bothered me personally – but that's just a matter of my preference, not the author's fault.

Additionally, the story presented fragmented ideas that never fully developed, making it hard to connect with the characters and their decisions. It felt like every scene just jumped to the next.. it was all very choppy for me.

In the end, I had to DNF this book. Despite having high hopes, it turned out to be a struggle to get through. I pushed myself, hoping it would improve, but unfortunately, the writing and characters didn't resonate with me as I had hoped.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Vampire Academy.

Sign of the Slayer is a YA paranormal romance book by Sharina Harris. Sharina’s story is very immersive and you WILL be drawn into the world she has created.

The story is written from the point of view of Raven. Raven is a high school student who has her world turned upside down when she discovers that the things that go bump in the night are very real. Raven is sent to a slayer training academy to learn to fight and survive the monsters. Raven is hell bent on revenge and the destruction of all vampires; until she meets Kharmari-a vampire prince.

This was a very fast paced story, but it was an enjoyable read filled with pop culture references. The author included bits of Raven’s internal dialogue and she’s snarky as well as funny. Kharmari has a tragic backstory and I feel that draws him to Raven more than just their chemistry, but it also makes him complicated and real. It is a YA story, so the spicy level is very low, but this doesn’t detract from the story at all if you’re a spice lover.

I am looking forward to book two being developed and released!!

Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t my cup of tea. I always love a good YA fantasy, but this read a little younger than YA based on the main character’s personality, not her actual age. I also don’t enjoy when a book that falls into the fantasy genre references current pop culture - just a pet peeve of mine. I LOVED the diversity of the characters and the initial premise of the book. Nothing ever really grabbed my attention and I had times where I struggled to read it. I think this would be great for a reader that enjoys a vampy, urban fantasy with diverse younger characters, is preferably a former band kid, and doesn’t mind the heaps of pop culture references.

I loved it! A lot of twist and turns but in a good way. This took me back in high school I would look high and low for books like this and this author delivered! I cannot wait for book 2 😊

After tragedy hits her marching band, Raven finds out she is a vampire slayer and makes it her life’s mission to kill all vampires.
The problem? She can’t stop thinking about Khamari, a vampire royal.
As Raven attends slayer academy to learn about her new powers, the school is having problems of it own. Fortunately, Raven is committed to being the best slayer in her class and gains the favor of the Commander.
Together they work to protect slayer and vampire secrets even when they might not be able to trust everyone.

This was a fun read! It was fast-paced and did a great job world building. Raven has an amusing internal dialogue and Khamari’s backstory keeps the story interesting. Even the side characters have depth!

While several vampire series already exist, this one feels fresh and new.

Oh how I love me a good vampire slayer. I thought this was a Buffy-verse book just judging by the cover but no such luck. That being said, the book was still good.
Some of the book tended to drag and some was way over the top predictable. Other parts left questions unanswered to the point I think they got forgotten.
Definitely left on a cliffhanger I didn't enjoy but I'll read the next if I get a chance. I can see this author going far.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
2.5 stars
While I loved the southern vibe of Raven and I think the idea was great, the execution was lacking slightly. The lack of world descriptions had me at a loss when trying to imagine what was going on. I also felt like there were lots of plot holes, why and what things were is what was missing. Also, wasn’t a fan of the love interest. It felt rushed and lusty too soon and with a lack of character development it had me begging for more.

Lots of potential. I would read another book by this offer in hopes that the writing and world building would tighten up.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book! This is a series that I’m excited to see where it goes. Honestly it’s about time we had another good ole vampire / human love story. This was a fun and witty book, and I found myself snickering at times from the sarcastic but blunt nature of the Mc, Raven. While the book did rely on some tried and true tropes, there were a few moments where I was pleasantly surprised by where the plot / characters were going. A few things that I was kinda “ehhh” on in the beginning made sense by the end of the book (no spoilers here). I also enjoyed the world building and getting introduced to this world of alchemist vampire slayers. Not to mention I’m from Atlanta, where the majority of the book takes place, so I was tickled by that. All in all very excited to see where this series goes.