Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Asistente del villano by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

48 reviews

ellawatwat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

baileynoel's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

avacyn731's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

espurrr's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book started out pretty silly, but then it gets so good. The characters are better developed than I expected. The plot is also surprising and fun.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

tayreads10's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am not a fan of fantasy books, but this one had me captivated with the wit, humor, flirty romance and mystery. I look forward to reading the second book to continue from the cliff hanger ending!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

elcanaldevenecia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

arlaubscher's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror and Alcohol

indieandajean's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Assistant to the Villain is an adorable fantasy rom-com with more emphasis on the "com". The slow burn in this book will be of no surprise to anyone who enjoyed watching the tiktok series it was based on, and it makes for a lot of exasperation from a reader's perspective when you read many chapters of pining and them "almost" getting to the point. This is a feature, not a bug.

The characters are lovable, the plot moves along at a decent pace, and it has just the right amount of tropes that one would expect from a slow-burn, mutual pining, workplace rom-com. It also has a dragon, which is always a positive. 

My only complaint is that at times the book was a little too slow. There were unnecessary scenes that did little to move the plot forward or deepen the reader's understanding of the characters.  I understand that the author was given a three book deal and that where there is a three book deal about a single romance, there is going to have to be some filler. That said, the story never dragged, even through these filler moments, and it was always fun to pick back up to read. 

My review is probably somewhat biased as I fell in love with Evie Sage played by Hannah Nicole Maehrer in her Tiktok videos that were the catalyst for the books, but I challenge anyone who loves a good underdog to watch the videos or read this book and not also love the character. She, the Villain, Blade, Tatiana, and yes, even Becky, are great characters and it was fun to see them more fully fleshed out in this book. 

I am very much looking forward to book two which is coming out this fall, particularly because of the cliffhanger ending!

I recommend this one for anyone who enjoys a bit of humor in their romances, morally grey fantasy villains, dragons, and strong female characters who overcome obstacles and earn the respect of people around them. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

stories's review against another edition

dark lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Good fun. Definitely for adults - some swears, quite a bit of lusting. Dual POV: Assistant & Villain. Mutual pining. 

Lots of mysterious backstories. 

Some fun characters, with solid side character development. Bonus points for at-odds lesbians. 

Some fun playing with traditional fairytale and fantasy tropes, alongside office workplace dramas. 

Working for a villain is all well and good, but when there’s a mole in the office, it’s not the *safest* workplace ever. 

Mildly cliffhanger ending, which was not my favourite. (Not least bc my library doesn’t recognise the existence of book 2 & 3 :c )

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Alcohol

Villainous deeds (murder, torture etc) occur, but off screen and typically presented in a tongue-in-cheek fashion.

culzean's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail