Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

29 reviews

roadesntoades's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.25

It be easy to say this is enemies to lovers or sunshine/moody or call it a coworker romance but it really isn’t. The romance is there sure but reading this(while I SO wanted to see them together) I also wanted to see how they interacted with everyone else and see how they realize their feelings. It was more like a romcom where the main characters are more afraid of their feelings than they are oblivious. Over the story was great, awesome fantasy elements, cute humor and all and all a solid read. Sometimes it felt like big reveals weren’t explained enough but that is also a bit of a personal preference. I am also now truly a victim of the book as I torturously wait for the sequel in August.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Toxic relationship and Stalking

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This is a hard book to rate. I really enjoy the concept and a lot of the plot points. An grumpy evil villain with a sunshine down on her luck assistant? Amazing! I think the issue is execution. The book is incredibly slow and any story advancement is basically in the last 50ish pages. The characters are also relatively flat and boring. Like Evie got a blip of development past the box she was shoved in during the last 5 pages. Becky and Blake are the worst examples of this because they're exclusively office suck up and the goofy guy. I tried to give this book grace because its part of a series but a lot of content could have been added to create context for a lot of things we're just like asked to believe. Like the Villian being a village terror (

he basically only beheads people who work for him, people trying to kill him, or anyone who disrespects people he cares about

), King Benedict being a "hero" in literally anyones eye??, or the lack of world building (where are they, how far away is the palace, is it like a fairytale kingdom or am I supposed to be imagined King's Landing from GOT?) This just needed more world building content, more contextual characterization, and a story restructuring for me.

Also when the Villian is like I love Evie! I literally closed my book and rolled my eyes. WDYM? This is a slow burn bro you aren't supposed to know that yet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

merylas's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

rehtaehwashere's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.0

 

• What I liked: The story concept, the addition of magical creatures (really wasn't expecting that at all), family dynamics, a realistic feeling sibling relationship (even if it was minimal). The slow burn romance and will-they-won't-they, and the thirsting wasn't excessive at all
• What I disliked: the twist where
  the villain isn't actually the villain (that's what SOLD me on the book)
  , that the character was an obvious author insert plus the cringey quirkiness (typical romance-fantasy style) and inserting outfits randomly everywhere. Plus the
  <'dating her boss' /spoiler>  trope was kinda eh
• Overall thoughts: really cool story and I love the concept! Much better writing than fourth wing even if the characters are still the author-insert quirky girl thing which was less bothersome here because the story was interesting and was advertised PURELY as a romance so it is almost expected. Crabby male characters will always win me over because it's funny. The
  fake-trustworthiness of the 'good' people being pretty convincing 
    was good too.
• Recommend to a friend? Y

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

jess_thefacts's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

The beginning of this was choppy. I struggled to relate to the characters. By the end however, I was invested. There were some things that irked me and I know shouldn't like the word "robotic" in a world that seemed to be tech free save the "bomb". I liked the premise and have high hopes for the second installment

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Gore, Torture, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad slow-paced

2.5

It had promise but ended up lacking.  The pacing felt awkward, the pining was uninspired, the world building was confusing..  I could go on, but it wasn't a bad book.  Doubt I will continue the series.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

steen19's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, and Blood

Minor: Abandonment

kbairbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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? No

5.0

That was SO. MUCH. FUN. I FLEW through this book! I thought the characters were really well fleshed out and had such fun and engaging personalities, I thought the romance felt very real and organic, I thought the plot was fun and interesting, and freaking Kingsley?! Love him. What an absolute joy to read. I cannot WAIT for book two.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Blood

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

katipheria's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

(Reviewed 5.0 1st read October 2023)

This is such a cute book. The world building feels like a combination of fantasy and modern (there's

an accounting office within the "bad guy's" massive, castle-esque manor that's hidden by magic

) in a way that actually blends well, if a bit goofy. It doesn't take itself too seriously in that regard, but it also doesn't come across as sloppy or poorly designed.

While the overall story is quite light-hearted and even silly, there are a few heavier plot points

such as the death of a child and an attempted rape

but they are written rather tastefully and aren't dragged out or made unnecessarily explicit.

The book does set itself up to be a series at the end by leaving a bit of a cliffhanger and plenty of loose ends. From my understanding, there will be two more books and I will definitely be picking them up when they're released.

(Reviewed 4.25 2nd read October 2024)

I reread this book for a refresh to prepare for the recently released Apprentice to the Villain, and while I do still find the overall story quite charming, this time around I found myself a bit agitated with MC Evie's childishness.

I know it's for the plot, but sometimes the way Evie speaks to the Villain (the love interest/her BOSS!) leaves me dumbfounded. Don't use blatant innuendos with your boss, Evie!

However, I still found the rest of the cast absolutely endearing and enjoyed the book the 2nd time around regardless. Perhaps I'm simply feeling much more critical this time, but overall I would still recommend this to someone looking for something unserious and fun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death and Cursing

theespressoedition's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent