Review: First Kill

First Kill by Heather Brewer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Coming after the high that was Twelfth Grade Kills would be difficult to top, but as the start of darkness for Joss McMillan, the leader of the great Minion Horde delivers quite the ride in the first book of The Slayer Chronicles. It's been quite some time since I read any of the books in the Vlad Tod 'verse, and I'm starting off kind of in reverse order, reading the Slayer books first - which, incidentally, is not what I recommend if you happen to be a newcomer to the Minion Horde. Relatively standalone First Kill may be, but there are still plenty of original-series Easter eggs, especially towards the end of this book, that might leave you scratching your head if you haven't already read Eighth Grade Bites - and then, if you jump to Second Chance after reading this book, you'll wonder why the heck the narrative jumps ahead a year if you haven't already read Ninth Grade Slays.

But I digress. Long story short, if you're new to the work of Z Brewer, read The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod before tackling The Slayer Chronicles.

As for this book, though, it well and truly is the start of darkness for Joss, perhaps the most morally complex character Z ever blessed us with, and we're so lucky to have received this trilogy further delving into his psyche. Every piece of Z's bibliography gives us some powerful themes, and here, in the first Slayer book, we get a strong critique of masculinity. Especially the toxic kind that many of the Slayers espouse, and that, sadly, infects Joss's mind as the book goes on despite the tempering influence of Sirus - how could I forget Sirus? He was a fave character of mine the first time I read this book, but then again it was six years ago...

Luckily, I already have the remaining Slayer books sitting in my TBR, as is the one where it all began: Eighth Grade Bites. For the next few weeks or so, at the suggestion of my friend August, I'll be re-exploring Z's masterworks and rediscovering their secret influences on my own work.



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