Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

47 reviews

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

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

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

evatheruler's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.75

Not YA, an easy read that doesn't require any critical thinking. It's hysterical and I read the entire book in about 5 hours. I would probably put this in the romcom catergory, with dark themes but the overall ton is rather lighthearted. There isn't a ton of world building and the setting is rather low fantasy but the world feels appropriate to the level of knowledge that (sheltered) Evil has. Overall this is a very well written book can't wait for the next one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, and Gaslighting

Minor: Abandonment

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

novabean's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Sexual harassment

blackcatl'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

3.75

The book starts quite slow in my opinion, and Evies character needs way more depth. In the second half, however, everything comes together and you can see way more of Evies development which I like - and missed in the beginning. Also, way more romance is needed in the first half imo. But, because of the second half, I am thrilled to read the second book and its still almost 4 stars.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Blood

Minor: Torture, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

teawiththefates's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.0

I’m not sure I can get on board with quite this level of villainy - like, he’s supposed to be both “I enjoy torturing people” evil but also adorable when he starts to smile around Evie. But he only tortures people who “deserve” it so I guess that’s supposed to make it palatable?? Because he’s secretly a softie. A softie who uses the decapitated rotting heads of his enemies as decor.

I get that the King is the real villain, just like another trusted person in Evie’s life turned out to be a villain (and I assume that will be followed up on more in the second book) but I can’t get on board with the level of behaviour Trystan was willing to stoop to. Like, even if he only tortured the guards who came to try and assassinate him, why have “Scatter Day” and needlessly torment the interns who are on his side?? I think it was supposed to be funny??? I think I identified the most with Clare, and her consistent distaste and disapproval of her brother’s choices. And notably all the torture and really awful bits are off screen so we don’t have to dwell too much on how dark Trystan actually gets.

I want to specify, there were things I did really like: all the side characters, especially Kingsley, are so fun. And I know for some people this was an issue, but I actually really enjoy a vaguely anachronistic fantasy world. I think that’s why I was so disappointed, because I couldn’t just enjoy the book whole heartedly.

I don’t know, I just really don’t think this book was for me. The worst part is, while there are many moments in this book I was disturbed that the reader is apparently supposed to be okay with, the main plot is interesting and I still want to know how the story ends. I may end up  hate-reading the sequel just to satisfy my need to find out, but if I do I won’t bother rating it as I don’t see any reason to penalize the author for my choosing to read a second book I know I’m going to have problems with.

I honestly wish I could have enjoyed this more but as it is I feel very conflicted, hence the 2 stars (a rating I use for books I find too problematic to recommend to others).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Trafficking, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

threadpanda's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Death of parent

automatic_rae'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

4.5

A really fun read! A few laugh-out-loud moments, fantasy elements that remind me of a D&D campaign, and a cliffhanger ending that left me pining for the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Generalised mentions and vague descriptions of all tags. Frequent mentions of violence but nothing graphic.