Thank you MacMillan audio and St Martins Press for the review copies of Slayers, every one of us. I am a long term, watched the show when it was originally on. Buffy fan so this was a big treat for me! I will say it might have resonated more if I was familiar with the podcast, so readers consider your level of buffy familiarity and/or podcast engagement, but once I got into the Buffy focus this was really fun and reminded me why this show is an enduring favorite, and why it matters to many. I pause now to go rewatch the show AGAIN for at least a fifth or sixth time. :)

SLAYERS, EVERY ONE OF US was a fantastic audiobook and I loved getting to know more about Kristin and Jenny, their relationship, and all things Buffy. I can't give enough kudos to Kristin and Jenny for sharing their story with the world. My husband kept popping in to listen with me and asking questions about what was happening, haha. "They got divorced?! And they still hosted the podcast together?! Whaaaa?" I have had BUFFERING songs stuck in my head for days and am not mad about it.

4 out of 5 Stars

A great nonfiction listen for fans of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe. Ten out of ten would recommend.

I have watched Buffy since the last century. And I have listened to the Buffering Podcast since the beginning. While I was not an active part of the community that Kristin and Jenny "accidentally" created, it still took me through good and bad times.
And Buffy, let's be honest, is a show I will never stop watching.
This audiobook, narrated by the authors/hosts themselves, is a deep insight into their lives since the first thought of doing a podcast about this show. And while Buffy fought, won, lost, died and came back, so did they (kinda, they not literally died of course) .
Kristin and Jenny don't hold back telling us about their life, from standing in the sun to the abyss of the Hellmouth itself.
It really moved me, and I found myself uncontrollably sobbing at one point (the part with the phrase that gave the book its name).
Thank you for always fighting and not crumbling in the face of demons.

4/5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio and @bufferingcast for the eARC!

#SlayersEveryOneOfUs #Buffy #Netgalley #Bookstagram

Slayers Every one of Us by Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs
Audio Version
Overall Grade: A-
Information: A-
Writing/Organization: B+
Narration: AB+
Best Aspect: Equal parts memoir of the authors and conversations on Buffy the Vampire Slayer were enjoyed.
Worst Aspect: I could have used more Buffy and I had never heard their podcast so I couldn’t relate to it when mentioned.
Recommend: Yes.

I chose to read this mostly because I’m watching Buffy for the first time (I didn’t watch much tv when I was a kid!). I didn’t listen to the podcast, but I want to even though it’s over.

This book was just wonderful. I loved how she tied Buffy in with the ways life takes us, the great, the bad, the ugly. I felt so connected with the author, and just had sooo many feelings.

Even if you’ve never watched Buffy or listened to the pod, I’m sure you’ll love this book.

PS - love the mention of Lagusta’s Luscious chocolate as a New Paltzer… it is indeed the best chocolate. :)

Entertaining and engaging. A recommended purchase for collections where pop culture and memoir are popular.

When I first seen the cover and the title Slayers I had to know what this was about. I was fortunate enough to get an ebook and audiobook arc for this. I really enjoyed this memoir. I had never heard of this podcast before and I absolutely will be checking it out after this. I liked that they were able to connect episodes of Buffy to their life events. Also, in the narration they included their original songs and the production were fantastic. Def check it out if you're a fan of memoirs.

Thank you @macmillan.audio @netgalley @stmartinspress for the gifted arcs.-Ash

Although I've known about this podcast, Buffering, I hadn't listened to it yet. After reading this book I have moved it up way up on my to-be-listened list.

I came into the Buffy fandom in my early twenties once it was streaming on Netflix and I was immediately hooked -- like I dressed up as Buffy for Halloween that year.

I loved revisiting Buffy through the lens of Jenny and Kristin and learning about their personal lives. You two had NO right making me tear up so many times. And because I hadn't listened to the podcast before, I didn't know there were songs. Buffy themed songs!!! They are incredible and I instantly added it to my Spotify list.

If you have the chance of listening to the audio it is for sure the way to go. It's narrated by Jenny and Kristin and some of the songs are included.
The physical copy has some super cute doodle and chord sheets (which I believe is also available as a pdf with the audio)

Buffering the Vampire Slayer, the podcast that this book surrounds, has been one of my favorite podcasts for the past six years. I can remember specific moments so vividly via listening to it: the author's divorce? I was laying in the bed at my apartment in disbelief, the first time I heard Prophecy Girl? At my old job trying very hard not to cry. They are still in my ears with their new podcast adventure the eX-Files. Yet, despite loving this podcasting duo, I wouldn't say I'm a die hard fan, I don't subscribe to the Patreon, go to live events, or even follow them on socials. Hell, I don't listen to any of Youngs's other music outside what she writes for the podcast. Despite all this, and much to my surprise, I loved this. I mean I knew I would like it, but I didn't expect to be sobbing while listening to it. Not only did it tug on my heart strings, but it was incredibly well written. I saw a few reviews that rated it low due to it not focusing enough on Buffy proper, but I thought it was fairly evident that this was a recounting of what the show meant to these women through the context of their podcast; So I thought that was a pretty unfair critic. This is a love letter to their community, and I for one felt the love.
The audiobook format is the superior way to experience this book due to them being podcasters, and I loved all the song elements that were included. It’s a fun way to make the audiobook experience special and different from the physical book experience.

What a love letter to fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to a marriage that once was, to art and creativity and honesty, to Scoobies every one of us. While it is true that this book may not be for everyone (it is a memoir borne on the wings of a podcast, after all), the target audience will laugh and weep and hope along with the author-narrators. This is not a book about Buffy (there are plenty of those) so much as it is a story of how Buffy helped two people move through the very reality of life. What a gift to have music from Jenny Owen Youngs as part of the audiobook. On the surface, she may not seem /quite/ as forthcoming as her co-author but pay attention, it’s all right there in the music. As for Kristin Russo, her raw feelings come through her gorgeous prose and candid delivery thereof. At one particularly emotional moment, I found myself saying aloud, “These two are so good at words!”

Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook and reader copy of Slayers, Every One of Us by Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs in exchange for an honest review. My listening to this audiobook coincided with another rewatch of Buffy. I have been watching this show and the spin-off, Angel, since they first aired, which was my last year in highschool. I remember always finding a way to watch these shows no matter what was happening, moving out while still in highschool, break ups with boyfriends, moving all over the Bay Area and being kicked out of my Aunt's house two weeks before Christmas. Buffy was always there for me and still is as I'm realizing I'm like Willow and that is why I have always had a crush on her. Jenny and Kristin shared their lives and how Buffy helped them get through their hard moments. I enjoyed this book so much, I found the podcast that inspired it and am now following it. Read and/or listen to this book. Buffy has lessons for everyone and I hope they'll do a new podcast with the reboot/sequel of Buffy coming out.

I came to Buffy late, when it was already done as a series, and it quickly became my favorite show. There's just so much about it to love, on so many different levels. I was attracted to this book because it's like sharing my love for the show with strangers.
I haven't listened to the podcast -- I've listened to very few podcasts -- but it's easy to like the ladies who do this one. Listening to the audiobook was great because it was really them, and they talk about a lot of personal things that went on in their lives throughout the history of their podcast.
Buffy can be for anyone who wants to save the world, or who even just wants to support the people saving the world. It's such a positive experience.

I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer yet I did not listen to the authors' podcast in real time. This book is a great highlight of the podcast WITH the memoir of the authors. It highlights the evolution of the BTVS series with their lives, joys and struggles. I loved the music aspect in the audiobook version (Thanks MacMillan Audio for the ARC!) but was unable to see the graphics or other supplemental materials. I imagine a physical copy of the book would be better for that purpose, but then you'd only read the lyrics for the songs. So, it's a toss up about which version I'd recommend. But, overall, I really enjoyed it and would recommend it for any fan of the series, podcast and/or authors.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, Netgalley, and the author for the complimentary copy of SLAYERS EVERY ONE OF US by Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs.

Publication Date: 4/8/2025
Rating: 5/ 5

SLAYERS EVERY ONE OF US is the authors' memoir of their life together and apart, and the time they spent centered around the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show. The pair were married when they started their popular podcast, Buffering the Vampire Slayer which followed the show episode by episode. In the span of their podcast they went through a lot, including the end of their marriage, but still Buffy kept them working together, figuring out how to make a relationship still work between them.

This book opens with trigger warnings. Over the course of the book, the pair go from married to divorced, they deal with fertility issues and pregnancy loss so do use care going into this one if any of this might be triggering material. The authors do delve into their feelings and it really pulls at the heart.

I really think they did a fantastic job of relating so much back to the TV show that brought them into the limelight with regular podcasts, live appearances, and events centered around the show. I consumed a lot of this via audio and you get clips of the songs that were written for their podcast about the Buffy show, while the print copy includes some song lyrics along with the musical chords to go with them and other additional materials.

I wasn't familiar with the podcast going into this book, I was just drawn to request a copy by the Buffy reference, but I thought that this book was exceptionally well done!

This book was part memoir, part cultural analysis and poignant and timely release, considering that nearly the entire first chapter is devoted to their feelings around the 2016 election. The fact that this book is getting released so soon after the re-election of the administration feels like too much of a coincidence. There are a lot of people out there who will need the messages shared in that opening chapter.

Anytime you love a show like Buffy, people can easily dismiss it as frivolous. This book explains why people have such strong attachments to these shows and how they can help people as they go through hard times. I felt for the authors as they described they way Buffy carried them through their losses.

I also recommend anyone who wants to read this book goes for the audiobook. It is read by both of the authors, and having their voices added to their respective perspectives on different scenarios personalized the whole thing. Also, this book is dotted with songs from the podcast, and listening to a recorded version has a stronger impact than just reading printed lyrics.

This one was a DNF for me, which I hardly ever do. I went into this thinking that there would actually be substantial talk about my favorite show. Whether that be commentary on the show itself, fan theories, or talk about the actors themselves. The first forty minutes of this was just them covering politics, which gives me major ick no matter what side you choose to vote on. A whole forty minutes spent on talking and comparing a presidential election to Buffy fighting the Master. Which is such a far fetched comparison. I'm not political at all, though I do vote on the left side of things, and I hate when books are so watered down with that topic. That was the absolute wrong way to start off a book on such a prolific and beloved show. The next little bit was their personal lives and finding more far fetched ways to compare a teacher seducing and eating teen boys to their own personal struggles. The random interludes of singing was also a little off putting. I'm sure for fans of their podcast that this is going to have some great reviews. But it just wasn't for me. I wanted talk on the show itself and a different perspective. If I would have realized that it was basically just a memoir of two divorcees using the Buffy the Vampire Slayer name to entice people into buying/reading this, I never would have requested it.

I have absolutely no idea how Slayers, Every One of Us will play for people who don't listen to Buffering and haven't spent years getting to know Kristin and Jenny via audio, but I had a great time with it. I kept getting teary and having all these sad small cries that were over in like five seconds*. I started keeping track of them and had about six by the end of the book. As of fan of their podcast from literally day one (I have no memory where I heard about it; probably someone on gay Twitter), this was both like stepping back in time as they relived the early days, and seeing behind the curtain.

*I mostly cried at the way they talked about Buffy and what stories can mean in everyday life, but there were certain real life moments for Kristin and Jenny that made get choked up, too.

An important warning: Absolutely do not read this book unless you don't care about being spoiled for the entire plot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (it's beyond me why you would want to read this book with no interest in Buffy, but hey, you do you). The whole point of the book is that their podcast journey through the TV show eerily mirrored Buffy's journey, so they talk about it all.

I think if you like audio, the audiobook is the way to go, because a good part of this book is spent on talking about the songs Kristin and Jenny wrote for the podcast, in various contexts, and clips from the songs (and sometimes the entire song) are included in the audiobook. A lot more fun than reading lyrics in a book. Kristin and Jenny read the audio themselves, in an almost duet fashion, and I actually listened to an audiobook on 1.0x speed for the first time in forever because I'm used to hearing them speak at a certain speed and it was really throwing me off to have them at 1.25x or 1.5x. Presumably this won't be a problem other people have. Even listening on a slower speed, I managed to listen to this whole thing in one day.

I do have a hard copy of this book coming, which I'm glad for, because I think they included exclusive content in each format, and I want to look at the pictueres.

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for an early audiobook copy of Slayers, Every One of Us! 💖
This book was really interesting! it had a combination of pop culture from Buffy the Vampire Slayer mixed with political issues, relationship changes (romantic to friends), and music.
Although, I will say, this book was not what I expected... This book was 100% memoir. While it had some aspects of Buffy, it was more about the narrators/creators of the Buffering the Vampire Slayer podcast who were the authors and narrators of this book. BUT I did think it was really cool that the musical aspect from the podcast was included in the audiobook! (buttttt this was also a pro and a con because if you listen to the audiobook at any speed other than 1X, the audio gets really distorted and lets just say, it sounds pretty funny)! Also, there's a lot of references to an included PDF that kind of stops the story but they do a pretty good job of making the story work and flow even without that information!
This book was good and would be great for those who wanted this memoir and not necessarily a "what we learned from Buffy" style book! This was a very interesting insight into a podcasting duo and their story!

Though I got the audio and the ebook from NetGalley, the audio is the only version I did. Music by Jenny Owen Young’s was included which really added to the overall feel of the audiobook. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook.

I was familiar with Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Young’s as I listened to the 5 years later updated podcast of Kristin’s (with Joanna Robinson), The Boiler Room. KR and JOY’s Buffering podcast was referenced so I was aware it existed and who the hosts are. I hadn’t listened though so I didn’t know some details. Being a Buffy fan, though not a diehard like my sister, I was familiar with many of the references and enjoyed learning about Kristin and Jenny’s relationship.

This book is definitely not for you if you don’t know Buffy. I’m also on the fence about recommending if it you truly don’t care to learn about Kristin and Jenny. If you don’t know them but are a Buffy fan, I think you’d enjoy it.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ALC for review.