Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

42 reviews

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

rightwhrleftme's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

erinkellyreads's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful 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

4.0

Based on the viral TikTok videos, this comic romantasy stars Evie, The Villain's assistant, along with a cast of other villainous teammates as they try to discover who is trying to kill the Villain (while continuing to try to cause problems for the king). 

This book was so cute and funny! I went into it knowing to not take it too seriously, and I'm glad I did. Going in knowing this was going to be goofy and fun allowed me to really enjoy the stock character nature of Evie and the others at the beginning, which evolved into more nuance throughout the story. The world of the book is interesting (reminding me often of a DnD cartoon), along with the creatures, and I'm curious to see what comes next in the sequel!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mj_86'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death, Torture, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

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

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.

questionable_reader's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

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

1.25

It's simple read, melodramatic, plays on troops not in a good way. Writing feels unfinished in a way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail