The part with Kenny was rough, how he'd rather be with his dead ex than Faith, and how she realizes there's no point, that he's gone. Ugh.
Parts I liked: The tanto that the Sensei gives her helps her defeat Kakistos, even though we know he doesn't really die. Her Boston vamps church story origin, and it's just that, a story, her fantasy! Faith gets some vengeance on bad foster Mr. Jones and mom's pimp Gable. I assume she didn't kill Gable but seems like she does realize she went too far. (Or did she? If I'm being honest I say he deserves whatever he got.)
Blair: But I feel that her reaction about Kakitos in Buffy makes sense... Faith went through so much more than just facing him- the reocurring nightmares and knowing what he does with his victims. Anyone would want to run away.
Yes it does explain how shook Faith is when she hears about and then sees Kakistos in S3.
Buffy Summers: And I still think they should have developed her relationship with her watcher more. So that you really see why Faith cares about her. And why she is so upset about what happened to her on the show.
I agree with this, it would have been better if she and Watcher Diana got a little bit closer, even if it was just Faith sharing more about her life pre-Calling, them shooting the shit, or Faith sharing about her dreams.
Buffy Summers: I feel like Faith went too dark too quickly towards the end. She still needs to have her journey after this when she gets to Sunnydale. It shouldn’t be complete before she even gets there. At the begininng of her time on the show, she isn’t already thinking she’s evil. To her she’s still one of the good guys fighting the bad guys.
If I'm in "make it canon compliant" mode - then I think she may have mellowed a bit over the summer, from NYC to Sunnydale. Maybe she even beat up some bad guys (not as bad as Mr. Jones or Gable) and gotten thanks for it, and that would help her go back to thinking she's one of the good guys. We can all dream that maybe she had a decent time, hell maybe she even had fun! Maybe the end of the book was setting it up for a sequel, covering from the end of this to canon TV Faith. But then it never got written.
TATTOO THOUGHTS
Blair: Didn't like the part about her tattoo and where it originates from. If this was cannon, it'd make more sense for Faith to get it covered up as soon as she can.
Bop: That's what I thought after I read the book, I used to think that Faith's tattoo was cool but if you know the meaning behind it, it's sort of like the mark of a branded cow.
Blair: I agree. Unless if she decided to keep it to remind her where she came from.
Last Watcher: I still think that although the tattoo came from a dark moment in her life she would keep it as a reminder of what she came up against, & although it took a bit of help from Buffy to face up to it, what she overcame. Like a battle-scar maybe.
These quotes are basically my whole thought process. First I thought Faith would get it covered up. But after more thought, I do think it makes sense for her to keep it. Money is tight for her and tattoo removal / cover / alter into a new tattoo isn't cheap. (And back then SO many people had those tribal tattoos, like that style.) To people not-in-the-know (about vamps / Slayers) she'll just pass it off as a cool tattoo.
To people who do know she is NEVER going to admit she was possessed by a past Slayer. (Maybe to Buffy at some point, but we never see that in canon TV. And even then I have trouble imagining Faith being that vulnerable, even in S7.) I think Faith would never admit she wasn't in control of her own body, of her own actions. So she'll twist the story again, and pass it off as a reminder of the great evil Kakistos who she defeated. If anyone asks for details (you had that before you got to Sunnydale!) she'll say she got the tattoo after what he did to Watcher Diana. And to herself it is that tie to how she got called, and Alice/Alex and how she DID single-handedly hurt Kakistos pretty bad back in Boston.
OVERALL
Overall I liked this, maybe I'm just a sucker for Faith. It is pretty negative, but then again Faith's function on canon TV is to be the foil to Buffy, and even from her few comments there we can infer her pre-Sunnydale life was bad bordering on tragic. And while yeah her life is crappy, I didn't find it to be overly unrealistic. I would recommend it to people who are big Faith fans, but I can understand why some don't like it.
(I've never read any other Buffy books. I don't think I will, unless a new Faith one comes out, haha. I don't read the comics either, even though I know several include / feature Faith. Of course all that goes out the window if the comics ever feature Buffy and Faith getting together. LOL)
