Reviews with content warning for Child death - Assistant to the Villain

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

143 reviews

tchoupie42's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious 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

3.5

3.5 but close to a 4.
What happened when a clumsy young and nice woman meet the Villain that terrorised the country? She obviously start working for him (she was looking for a job after all...)
I really loved the different characters (special mention to Kingsley) and the despite a few scenes being very far-fetched, they were still funny. The overall intrigue kept me on my toes and I'm looking for the volume 2.

Can we say that the villain is a morally gray character? Maybe not. He is a very proud villain after all (he would hate hearing someone saying that he is "gray". He is the darkest Dark !).

cliffhanger at the end

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ashleyj_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

5.0

This book absolutely destroyed me. I need more of Evie and The Villian, now.

I wish I could go back in time and tell myself not to take so long getting into this book! Once I got past the exposition (it was slow for me, but that could’ve been the mood reader problem), I was HOOKED and couldn’t put the book down!

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kris_tea516's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Evie Sage is the only source of income for her family. Her brother died, her mother left, her dad has a terminal illness, & her sister is very young. So they all rely on her. She looses her job and isn’t sure what she will do when she literally runs into The Villain. After saving her life, The Villain offers her a job as his assistant. Evie is constantly disarming The Villain with her irreverance & cheerful attitude.

Review: I usually do not like these types of books but this one is very well-written and doesn’t take the fantasy genre too seriously. I enjoyed the dual perspective and the lack of smutty scenes. This book is a bit “dark & brooding evil villain” meets “The Office.” It’s modern day corporate office with payroll, fire suppression installations, and file systems set in a medieval castle with dragons and magic.

I’ll warn you that you will immediately want to grab the next book in the series. Unfortunately, I have to read another book first for book club but then I’ll probably jump into “Apprentice to the Villain.”

Content warnings: gore, violence, magic, death of a sibling, attempted rape, abandonment of a parent, talk of torture, some crude language,

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browniel14's review

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adventurous emotional funny relaxing 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

4.0

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aryelee's review against another edition

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funny tense medium-paced

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

2.75

For once, a Booktok work was not the bane of my existence lol. I usually have terrible luck finding books that I enjoy that have blown up online, but this is one of them! It's decently written, I adore the way the dialogue flows and the different relationships between all the characters, and the mix between work and personal that propels the plot forward.

This isn't a stand out novel, but it's a fun and engaging read. I'll be honest, when I saw the premise was 'sunshine character ends up working for the villain' I was expecting more.... comic book superheroes and villains, not fantasy. And I feel like this would have worked better in a more modern setting (though I am biased as a comic book fan); the mix between medieval fantasy world and modern company structure (including mentions of HR) felt jarring. Other than that, I enjoyed the world that was created and the little details we learned of the wider world while we stayed with Evie in her village or at her workplace.

Some aspects of the romance felt very repetitive -- 'little tornado', constant thoughts from Evie about how attractive the Villain is, the Villain's constant thought of 'I can't fall in love/admit I have feelings' -- but the banter between them was so fun. Evie is sooo funny when talking to the Villain, and I love how baffled he is by her, because she does say the strangest, most out of pocket things.

The side characters also got plenty of love, which I adore! I'm very happy that this novel didn't ignore the other characters to focus entirely on the blossoming romance between Evie and the Villain. Becky is fascinating and I've love to learn more about her, Bane is such a fun guy, and Lyssa is a fun sweetheart of a little sister. The family and sibling conflicts in this novel are deeply interesting too; I loved sinking my teeth into them and seeing the complicated dynamics happening on page. Rant about the main antagonist for this novel:

I truly despise Evie's father. Like the working for the king and spying on her thing is bad, yes, as is placing a bomb in her workplace knowing it could kill her. But as a father, the fact that he 1) faked a magical illness that has hurt so many people, 2) played up being sick to make it convincing and stressed out his two living children, 3) made Evie parent Lyssa and be the breadwinner when he HAD SO MUCH MONEY FROM THE CROWN THAT HE COULD HAVE EASILY MADE UP AN EXCUSE ABOUT FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM HIS DAYS WORKING AS A KNIGHT AND SPARED HIS TWO DAUGHTERS THE STRESS OF WONDERING IF THEY'LL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO EAT DINNER??? 4) and agreed to pimp out/sell his daughter to the blacksmith -- all of that made him so much worse and I actually got so mad at him. Let that POS choke forever please <3

Anyways. This was a decently fun book that exceeded my expectations because I had set them so low, but I'm intrigued enough by all the characters that I'm going to pick up the sequel and see how that goes. This is definitely a novel that will be enjoyed by someone who loves simple fantasy, mystery, lots of banter between the FL and ML, and slow burn romance.

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loverbot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Pertencer era um conceito tão estranho para Evie, algo que ela desejava silenciosamente, mas que nunca descobrira como conseguir, mas aqui estava. O seu momento, as suas pessoas. A espera tinha valido a pena.

(…) A guivre não tardaria a perceber que a única forma de se juntar ao companheiro era deixar-se prender lá dentro com ele.
Quando se trata da coisa que mais amamos, pensou Trystan antes de correr para a grade, com Sage a protestar, aos gritos atrás de si, é sempre melhor estarmos presos juntos do que livres e separados.

Se insistir em continuar a aparecer atrás de mim desta maneira, vou obrigá-lo a usar um guizo.

A ponte gemeu e balançou sob o seu peso, e a escuridão que se estendia para lá dela ameaçava engoli-lo, mas a lua voltou a brilhar nas pedras preciosas do cabelo de Sage. Trystan manteve o seu olhar nelas, sabendo que seguiria aquela luz para onde quer que ela fosse.

Sinto que a vida está condenada a simplesmente acontecer, e não a ser vivida por mim.

Havia sempre alguém que precisava mais dele, e isso fazia-me sentir… sem importância.

Então a destruição é a solução dele? - Evie revirou os olhos, afastando o cabelo solto do rosto. - Homens - bufou.

Tu fizeste-lhe mal a ela - cuspiu Trystan, com o poder a surgir ao seu redor. - E isso é o suficiente para mim.

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katsudon's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

I read this as if it was a fanfic, so I was able to get thru it even if it wasn’t as quickly as I hoped. I’m not a fan of the writing, but the villain concept is always fun. I will likely attempt the next book in the series.

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