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The Willow Files #1
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Willow Files, Vol. 1
"I like you. You're nice, and you're funny and you don't smoke, and okay, werewolf, but that's not all the time. I mean, three days out of the month I'm not much fun to he around, either." -- Willow When Buffy the Vampire Slayer arrived in Sunnydale, she befriended a bookish, insecure girl named Willow. As a Slayerette, Will uses her computer prowess for good, hacking into electronic government files and researching obscure rituals on the Web. But Willow's love life is severely lacking, consisting of an unfulfilled crush on her friend Xander and a short-lived fling with a deadly demon she met over the Internet. Through her often life-threatening experiences with the Slayer, Willow gains the confidence to just be herself in the peer pressure-filled world of high school. And when her first real boyfriend, Oz, turns out to be a bit...unusual...in his own right, Willow is just the girl to prove that love really is blind...and a little scary.
208 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1999
4 people are currently reading
483 people want to read
About the author
Yvonne Navarro
127 books173 followersYvonne Navarro is the author of Concrete Savior, Highborn, AfterAge, deadrush, Final Impact, Mirror Me and a bunch of other books, plus Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels and tie-in novels for Hellboy, Elektra, and others."
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 27, 2022
This is the first of two books that adapt Willow-centric early episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer into prose stories. Navarro, who also wrote the Wicked Willow original trilogy, had a great grasp of the character. The episodes in this book are I, Robot... You, Jane from the teleplay by Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden, Phases by Rob DesHotel and Dean Batali, and Dead Man's Party by Marti Noxon. Phases is the best of the trio by far, as Willow learns about Oz and love conquers all. We already knew people you meet on the internet are rarely what they seem, and the final story isn't so much a Willow story as most... it's a Buffy comes back, and yeah, zombies are popular. Navarro did add some background and framing devices that worked well.
April 13, 2018
5 🌟
Liked having the first collection of Willow stories. Sad that her first boyfriend was a robot demon. Happy that she found Oz. Glad Buffy came back. The episode with the demon mask was creepy.
Liked having the first collection of Willow stories. Sad that her first boyfriend was a robot demon. Happy that she found Oz. Glad Buffy came back. The episode with the demon mask was creepy.
June 5, 2018
Ahh Buffy books, junk food for the brain. Like being wrapped in a warm blanket!
Basically this is a retelling of three episodes from Seasons 1 - 3, the demon in the internet from 1, Oz is a werewolf from 2 and the zombie mask/Buffy's back from season 3. Did it add anything? Ehhh bits here and there. Was it worth reading? HECK YEAH!
Read entirely while wearing jammies.
Basically this is a retelling of three episodes from Seasons 1 - 3, the demon in the internet from 1, Oz is a werewolf from 2 and the zombie mask/Buffy's back from season 3. Did it add anything? Ehhh bits here and there. Was it worth reading? HECK YEAH!
Read entirely while wearing jammies.
November 16, 2023
Not my favorite Buffy novelization, but may have been a case of mismatched expectations. The others I’ve read have been new stories, whereas this was a collection of three episodes condensed into short stories. They’re meant to be from Willow’s perspective, but not much more is added, and we still follow Buffy in some scenes where key action is happening away from Willow. There’s a new scene here and there, but generally, I didn’t get much out of this. The writing was good and I felt like the characters and their voices were fairly spot on.
October 13, 2010
I have a soft spot in my heart for Willow and wasn't disappointed with the way author Navarro brought her to life. And look at that cover of cuties Willow and Oz. Even though I had already seen the three episodes the book was based upon I still found myself smiling at all of the accurate "Buffy" wit and happily became entranced with the stories again.
June 21, 2016
I watched the tv show and I didn't feel like reading the book but here is a review on partially the tv series
January 21, 2019
The Willow Files Vol. 1 continue the series of early novelizations based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer tv series. Each one picks out three episodes where the title character is prominently figured, then add a few framing devices before, between and after the episode novelizations. Willow was never one of my favorite members of the Scooby gang, so it's not a huge shock that this wasn't one of the better books in the series.
The three episodes revisited here are "I, Robot... You, Jane," "Phases," and "Dead Man's Party." Like most of the episodes of the first season, "I Robot... You Jane" (Season 1, Episode 8) is not very good. Willow falls for a guy online who ends up being a Demon that has been trapped in the internet after one of Giles books was scanned at the library. More than any other episode in the series, this one feels really dated, especially when the characters are discussing sending "e-letters" to each other. It was also part of a run of episodes where one of the main supporting characters fell for a demon, none of them standing out from each other.
The best episode for this book was "Phases," (Season 2, Episode 15) which made sense for a Willow centered story unless Oz was also getting his own book. Here, Willow's trying to figure out why Oz hasn't made a move on her while Oz is trying to figure out if he's a werewolf. Season 2 is one of the high points in the series, as all of the supporting characters were getting story arcs much more independent of Buffy. While the twist in this episode was pretty easy to see coming, it featured a great Angel villain moment that more than made up for it.
The last episode of the book is "Dead Man's Party" (Season 3, Episode 2) which is a very good episode of the show but doesn't particularly fit in as a Willow story. Taking place immediately after Buffy returns from a summer long absence, everybody but Buffy is hold some resentment at the slayer for leaving Sunnydale. Willow gets a little moment at the end reaffirming her place as Buffy's best friend, but otherwise this is very much a Buffy-centered story.
One of the problems these books can face is when they jump around so much in the series is that so much happens in between episodes that there's no real way to summarize it in two pages of filler between episodes. The jump from the middle of season one to the beginning of season three pretty much overlooks Angel's whole character arc in the Willow Files interludes. These are done as journal entries in a type writer like font where Willow writes in the first person about keeping a journal again. The whole device doesn't work because of how much is skipped over or not mentioned, although the episodes themselves do feature some nice call backs to each other over the course of the book.
I'm looking forward to reading the second installment of Willow as each of the episodes comes from the 3rd season, so they'll hopefully fit together better as one read.
The three episodes revisited here are "I, Robot... You, Jane," "Phases," and "Dead Man's Party." Like most of the episodes of the first season, "I Robot... You Jane" (Season 1, Episode 8) is not very good. Willow falls for a guy online who ends up being a Demon that has been trapped in the internet after one of Giles books was scanned at the library. More than any other episode in the series, this one feels really dated, especially when the characters are discussing sending "e-letters" to each other. It was also part of a run of episodes where one of the main supporting characters fell for a demon, none of them standing out from each other.
The best episode for this book was "Phases," (Season 2, Episode 15) which made sense for a Willow centered story unless Oz was also getting his own book. Here, Willow's trying to figure out why Oz hasn't made a move on her while Oz is trying to figure out if he's a werewolf. Season 2 is one of the high points in the series, as all of the supporting characters were getting story arcs much more independent of Buffy. While the twist in this episode was pretty easy to see coming, it featured a great Angel villain moment that more than made up for it.
The last episode of the book is "Dead Man's Party" (Season 3, Episode 2) which is a very good episode of the show but doesn't particularly fit in as a Willow story. Taking place immediately after Buffy returns from a summer long absence, everybody but Buffy is hold some resentment at the slayer for leaving Sunnydale. Willow gets a little moment at the end reaffirming her place as Buffy's best friend, but otherwise this is very much a Buffy-centered story.
One of the problems these books can face is when they jump around so much in the series is that so much happens in between episodes that there's no real way to summarize it in two pages of filler between episodes. The jump from the middle of season one to the beginning of season three pretty much overlooks Angel's whole character arc in the Willow Files interludes. These are done as journal entries in a type writer like font where Willow writes in the first person about keeping a journal again. The whole device doesn't work because of how much is skipped over or not mentioned, although the episodes themselves do feature some nice call backs to each other over the course of the book.
I'm looking forward to reading the second installment of Willow as each of the episodes comes from the 3rd season, so they'll hopefully fit together better as one read.
December 11, 2025
So, that rewatch of Buffy, TVS, that had me re-reading all of my Buffy books along with? That didnt last long, at all. I don't think I made it to s3 before it trailed off, in 2020. SAY WHAT? These books were on my currently reading for 5 years? Thats embarrassing..
Willow, in all forms, was a favorite during the show's run and its been nice to revisit some early years, when she was still sweet and innocent.
This was a collection of novelizations on a few key episodes, that they decided to cover from Willow's POV. I was all in but I can see where these books aren't for the normal reader., the non fan reader. Would be like me jumping into a Dr. WHO novelization, it just wouldn't feel like a story.
This isn't where you want to start if a Buffy throwback is what you want, especially if uou are new the fandom. Go watch the show, grab a couple of the bigger books that has original stories and then maybe, if you are still obsessed, come back to these.
Willow, in all forms, was a favorite during the show's run and its been nice to revisit some early years, when she was still sweet and innocent.
This was a collection of novelizations on a few key episodes, that they decided to cover from Willow's POV. I was all in but I can see where these books aren't for the normal reader., the non fan reader. Would be like me jumping into a Dr. WHO novelization, it just wouldn't feel like a story.
This isn't where you want to start if a Buffy throwback is what you want, especially if uou are new the fandom. Go watch the show, grab a couple of the bigger books that has original stories and then maybe, if you are still obsessed, come back to these.
November 5, 2020
Good write ups of some decent episodes from the first three seasons. The interludes from Willow's computer diary between each episode are well done and give a good structure to connect the stories. There's even some added dialogue in the episodes to make a read worthwhile for fans who've memorized every frame of the episode through numerous rewatches.
Only negatives: very little emotion or unspoken thoughts described. And I never really saw Dead Man's Party as a Willow-centric episode.
Only negatives: very little emotion or unspoken thoughts described. And I never really saw Dead Man's Party as a Willow-centric episode.
December 29, 2021
Loads of fun, although had a favourite in the Moloch episode, which made the book seem to go slightly downhill as that was the first part. Also wasn’t a huge fan of the last story being so Buffy-centric as was under the impression this was mainly about Willow, but still enjoyed none-the-less.
June 30, 2023
This was a fun little read - I actually quite enjoyed the "files" between each story that actually helped to bridge the gaps a little, and of course it helps that they are three great episodes being covered.
March 10, 2024
Same as the other episode recap books. I do like them as they refresh my memory on previous episodes, but I already know the outcome so it’s not like ‘and that happened?!’ But with this one I liked Willows’s diary entries, that added a nice little recap.
September 13, 2013
I've built up a bit of a passion about these short books, each containing the novelisation of three classic Buffy episodes. This one featured on three Willow episodes:
"I Robert...You, Jane" where she meets someone on the internet who turns out to be a demon accidentally scanned into the computer ... what else!!
"Phases" - one of my favourite episodes, where Oz turns into a werewolf - the best line ever is Willow's comment right near the end of the episode - always makes me smile when I see or read it!!
"Dead Man's Party" where she is trying to cope with Buffy's return to Sunnydale, but homecoming is cut short by a horde of zombies. Just another day on the Hellmouth!!
I read this during one day - made me late for work as I was determined to finish off one episode!! Now that there are no more new Buffy episodes, revisting them this way is great.
"I Robert...You, Jane" where she meets someone on the internet who turns out to be a demon accidentally scanned into the computer ... what else!!
"Phases" - one of my favourite episodes, where Oz turns into a werewolf - the best line ever is Willow's comment right near the end of the episode - always makes me smile when I see or read it!!
"Dead Man's Party" where she is trying to cope with Buffy's return to Sunnydale, but homecoming is cut short by a horde of zombies. Just another day on the Hellmouth!!
I read this during one day - made me late for work as I was determined to finish off one episode!! Now that there are no more new Buffy episodes, revisting them this way is great.
January 28, 2016
A novelization of 3 episodes from the TV Series.
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
October 18, 2009
The writing style was phenomenal, and the plot satisfactory. All the same, more voice would be a welcome change......
March 18, 2012
I read this so long ago I can't do a true review but I do remember enjoying it.
February 25, 2019
Willow novelizations
June 1, 2016
Incredible book!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews