About the Book
Slayers: Friends and Traitors (Slayers #2)
-
Author:
- C.J. Hill
- Genres:
- Contemporary
- Fantasy
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
- Straight
- White (Non-Specified)
Cover Story: Oh, Snap vs. Yeah, We Got This
BFF Charm: Roger Murtaugh
Talky Talk: Feels Familiar
Bonus Factors: Dragons, Superpowers
Anti-bonus Factor: Love Triangle
Relationship Status: Let’s Make Indefinite Future Plans
Cover Story: Oh, Snap vs. Yeah, We Got This
Slayers: Oh, Snap
Watch out, frightened prom-goer! There’s a dragon about to eat you!
Slayers: Friends and Traitors: Yeah, We Got This
If that’s the same girl from the first cover, she’s obviously found some inner strength, because that’s dragon’s nothing but a skeleton. Perhaps one of the two dudes beside her (or both) have helped?
The Deal:
Tori Hampton has been obsessed with dragons for as long as she can remember. She studies them, she dreams about them and she fears them, as though they were real creatures. For years she’s wanted to dive into this obsession at Dragon Camp, a summer camp for kids interested in learning more about the mythology of dragons, but as she’s the daughter of a senator—and Dragon Camp isn’t really “proper” for a person of her status—she isn’t allowed to attend until she’s 16 and the camp begins to offer college credit.
When Tori finally arrives at camp, she’s whisked away to separate part of the camp where she learns, much to her shock, that she’s a Slayer, a person with a genetic disposition toward battling dragons, which are real and as dangerous as one would imagine. The few living dragons in the world are currently under the control of Brant Overdrake, a Dragon Lord whose genetics are exact opposites of the Slayers and whose goal in life is to use the dragons to create a new world order.
Tori and her fellow slayers spend the entire summer training in preparation for the day when Overdrake makes his move. But will a handful of teenagers with intermittent superpowers be able to save the world?
BFF Charm: Roger Murtaugh
Tori began the series as a spoiled rich girl. She’s not a horrible person—she’s actually quite nice—but she’s not really someone that I’d connect with, even with her interest in something as nerdy as dragons. When she gets to camp, she quickly learns that the world is nothing like she imagined and therefore is forced to get a little less naive. Still, the Slayer thing doesn’t make her entirely interesting. (Plus, she’s nothing like that other Slayer we all know and love.)
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
Upon arriving at camp, Tori is immediately interested in both Slayer team captains: Dirk, an all-American, quarterback of the football team-looking type guy, and Jesse, his more mysterious and serious, yet equally good looking counterpart. Both of the guys are typical love interests for a pretty rich girl looking for a summer fling, but, thankfully, there’s more to them than meets the eye.
Talky Talk: Feels Familiar
There’s something awfully familiar about Slayers, and the story of a group of kids who attend a summer camp to train to fight evil. But this series lacks a lot of the magic of that other series, and the life-threatening evil seems more Dr. Evil than Big Bad (i.e., a lot of speechifying and being overbearing rather than actually being evil). I do have to hand it to her; C.J. Hill has created an interesting world with the idea that some people have dormant superhero genes, but there’s just something lacking in the execution.
Bonus Factor: Dragons
The Dragons in Slayers and Slayers: Friends and Traitors are brutal creatures. They’re controllable by Dragon Lords, who can enter their minds and influence their decisions, but they’re still vicious animals. And yet, they’re awesome.
Bonus Factor: Superpowers
While the Slayers’ mothers were pregnant, the women came into contact with signals dragons give off while in their eggs. These signals “woke up” dormant genes in the fetuses and gave the babies superpowers including increased strength, speed, sight, etc. When the Slayers come into contact with a dragon’s signal, their powers are increased even more, and each gain specific additional abilities such as flight, shield throwing (i.e., creating a force field), flame quenching, fireball throwing, etc. Pretty badass powers, for sure.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Love Triangle
Tori is caught between Dirk and Jesse, and it’s not until the end of the second book that the triangle is resolved. Kind of. What happens in future books might throw that resolution out the window.
Relationship Status: Let’s Make Indefinite Future Plans
I like the idea of you, Book, but you didn’t suck me in to your story as much as I would have wanted. I like your secondary characters more than your main, and I still, even after two meetings, haven’t connected with your protagonist. I’d like to see what happens next, however, so I hope we can get together again. My schedule is pretty full right now, though, so we’ll just have to play it by ear.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received copies of these books from Feiwel & Friends, but got neither a private dance party with Tom Hiddleston nor money in exchange for this review. Slayers and Slayers: Friends and Traitors are available now.
