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Pocket
Books' dragging season three out to inordinate lengths meant they
were free to use and reuse that old staple of the Buffy novels
range, the new girl at school who becomes best mates with Buffy/Willow/delete
as appropriate.
Now
that we've left Sunnydale High behind, that option isn't open to
them, but that doesn't mean the idea has had to be abandoned...
So
step forward Dawn Summers and her new friend, Arianna DuPrey.
High
School isn't easy for Dawn and Arianna. For a start, there's the
Sweater Mafia, the late season 5 equivalent of the Cordettes. Although
to be honest, I'm not sure that Dawn and Arianna should be in the
same grade since the latter turns sixteen during the course of the
novel.
Meanwhile,
Buffy has her own problems, with a late night shopping trip producing
a run in with a mysterious girl. And returning home a few days later,
she finds Dawn and the girl at home in the Summers house. Yep, you
guessed it, the mysterious girl is Arianna.
Even
for one of the YA Buffy novels, Sweet Sixteen is a
poor read. Arianna is not interesting enough for the reader to care
about what might happen to her, and since her destiny is a major
part of the storyline, this is a major drawback. Her arrival gives
Dawn the chance to join the Scoobies that she's been waiting for,
although most of them are pretty much reduced to sitting around
the table in the Magic Box.
Ciencin's
writing also displays a couple of annoying faults - a tendency to
use lines from the show (especially when the meaning twisted to
his own ends) and some major plot conveniences regarding Arianna.
Neither really helps the reader get into the novel and its characters.
For those paying attention - and I have to admit mine started to
wander at some points - there's a pretty neat in-joke amongst the
DVD titles Dawn and Arianna rent, but that's about it.
Few
of the Buffy novels are essential reading, but even so, Sweet
Sixteen must rank amongst the worst in the entire range. BACK
TO THE TOP
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