Middle books in trilogies are tricky. You’ve got to carry the momentum of book one while setting up the last book, and One Girl in All the World definitely leans into that “middle book” energy. There’s progress, there’s character growth, but there’s also a sense of the story taking a deep breath before the real stuff starts.
That said, this one flows far better than In Every Generation. Where the first book sometimes stumbled under the weight of reintroducing the Buffyverse and its mythology, this one lands much cleaner. The pacing is smoother, the character dynamics feel more natural, and the banter lands with sharper confidence. It’s easier to fall into this book and just let it carry you along.
But the “middle-book syndrome” is strong. If you’re the kind of reader who needs a story to stand on its own by the time you hit the last page, this may feel unsatisfying. There’s definitely dangling threads and the feeling that you’re being left at a cliffhanger. You know it’s the setup for something bigger, but you don’t quite get the catharsis you might be craving here.
As a piece of the larger whole, it’s still very promising. Kendare Blake has carved out a Buffy continuation that respects the original while also pushing into new territory. I may be a hater about the cliffhanger, but I’m still invested enough to see where it all leads.
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