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katenovah's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Child death and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, and Alcohol
tori_borialis's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death
jadehusdanhicks's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I was suprised by how much I genuinely enjoyed this book. It’s unique perspectives of the villain. And his assistant Evie were funny, refreshing and riddled with each’s impulsive thoughts.
The focus on the villains and not a hero archetype was very refreshing and and something I look forward to continue reading in its expected sequel.
Atop of its unique perspectives, this book was truly unpredictable and I never saw many of the betrayals coming. Arguably though, this just kept me infinitely more engaged.
The focus on the villains and not a hero archetype was very refreshing and and something I look forward to continue reading in its expected sequel.
Atop of its unique perspectives, this book was truly unpredictable and I never saw many of the betrayals coming. Arguably though, this just kept me infinitely more engaged.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
callidoralblack's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Violence, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol
dinahquinn's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I actually didn’t guess the twist until close to it happening which a nice change up. There’s definitely hints before, but not the “hints” that are really a brightly lit billboard.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Death, Sexism, Torture, and Kidnapping
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.
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
toastyghosty13's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
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? It's complicated
3.5
This book was very lighthearted, emphasis on lighthearted. I picked this up after seeing it on social media about being a cute book where a woman goes to work for the villain of the story and starts to fall in love with him. It's exactly as described.
Something that slightly bothered me about this book is that a majority of it reads like it is for middle grade/YA. It was giving me flashbacks to reading the Septimus Heap series, except the characters were all in their mid-twenties instead of being 12 and in Assistant to the Villain there are minor mentions of sex (very minor, I almost wonder why it was even included considering how the book is written). I think it would have been better if the author had either leaned into just keeping it middle grade or leaned into making it for an adult audience rather than a strange mix of both.
Despite that dislike, I did find this to be a cute story and I like the main character Evie. She is a klutz and trips on everything, but it is kind of endearing and she doesn't try to change that about her. She still gets things done and it fully shows within the story that she is the central cog in which the Villain's machine functions around. At the base of it, the Villain is just a man that grew up quite lonely and was spited by others around him. I enjoy that Evie becomes that sunlight for him without pinning her to the manic-pixie-dream-girl trope, since he very much thinks he doesn't deserve someone as amazing as her.
There are some mysteries to solve and character backgrounds to unfold, but it isn't super deep. I liked the 2 main characters and want to see more of them. Some of the plot twists were a bit predictable but it was still fun to read and a nice change from what I normally read.
This book ends on a cliffhanger, and the sequel does not come out until later this year. I will definitely be reading the sequel since I am sold on the story.
Edit after 2nd read: I picked up on some things that I forgot happened in my first read. While I still maintain a similar sentiment of some dislikes with this book (like how technically it isn’t written super well, but honestly who cares with a fun story that is clearly the authors passion), I still found it immensely enjoyable to read and it was absolutely a silly little goofy time. Evie and the villain are so cute together and I am excited for the 2nd book now that it is released!!
Something that slightly bothered me about this book is that a majority of it reads like it is for middle grade/YA. It was giving me flashbacks to reading the Septimus Heap series, except the characters were all in their mid-twenties instead of being 12 and in Assistant to the Villain there are minor mentions of sex (very minor, I almost wonder why it was even included considering how the book is written). I think it would have been better if the author had either leaned into just keeping it middle grade or leaned into making it for an adult audience rather than a strange mix of both.
Despite that dislike, I did find this to be a cute story and I like the main character Evie. She is a klutz and trips on everything, but it is kind of endearing and she doesn't try to change that about her. She still gets things done and it fully shows within the story that she is the central cog in which the Villain's machine functions around. At the base of it, the Villain is just a man that grew up quite lonely and was spited by others around him. I enjoy that Evie becomes that sunlight for him without pinning her to the manic-pixie-dream-girl trope, since he very much thinks he doesn't deserve someone as amazing as her.
There are some mysteries to solve and character backgrounds to unfold, but it isn't super deep. I liked the 2 main characters and want to see more of them. Some of the plot twists were a bit predictable but it was still fun to read and a nice change from what I normally read.
This book ends on a cliffhanger, and the sequel does not come out until later this year. I will definitely be reading the sequel since I am sold on the story.
Edit after 2nd read: I picked up on some things that I forgot happened in my first read. While I still maintain a similar sentiment of some dislikes with this book (like how technically it isn’t written super well, but honestly who cares with a fun story that is clearly the authors passion), I still found it immensely enjoyable to read and it was absolutely a silly little goofy time. Evie and the villain are so cute together and I am excited for the 2nd book now that it is released!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, and Alcohol
wickeddelights's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-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
2.75
This book suffered from a lot of editorial drawbacks. There were inconsistencies that started from the get-go and moments where little things like the severity of ailments or a characters stance on whether or not they would reveal something would change in the space of 1-2 pages.
Some of the names of characters felt very out of place in a fantasy environment. And the characters could act downright cartoonish at times (ie, waving their arms wildly around, or quite literally rolling on the floor laughing)
I don't think it is meant to be taken too seriously, but there were so many instances where it felt like there should be a Disney sitcom laugh track playing in the background.
It just wasn't for me.
Some of the names of characters felt very out of place in a fantasy environment. And the characters could act downright cartoonish at times (ie, waving their arms wildly around, or quite literally rolling on the floor laughing)
I don't think it is meant to be taken too seriously, but there were so many instances where it felt like there should be a Disney sitcom laugh track playing in the background.
It just wasn't for me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
colorwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Torture, and Alcohol
readera's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This ends on a cliffhanger but the ending is still satisfying. I can't wait for the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol