Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Assistant to the Villain

!!!!!
I kept avoiding this book bc it didn’t seem like my taste. Come to find it seems like I don’t even know what I like.

A handful of humor, with a dash of sunshine x grumpy, and a helping of mystery and intrigue was exactly what I needed.

If you’re waiting to read this book, just start it. Twas a lovely read.

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hasha's review against another edition

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Notes to self: I enjoyed the story. Sometimes (a lot of the time) found myself cringing - ie. “she scrunched her nose” so many times and lots of adjectives that felt a bit too much sometimes. Very trope-y. But an enjoyable listen! And the actual story in itself was interesting.
The storyline with the blacksmith made it dark too - and made the story not as “fairytale”-like, which was good / gave some more substance(?). Idk if that’s the right word.

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therapywithjess's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious 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

4.0

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btg's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Oh this was a ride. I had so much fun reading this. What an enjoyable grumpy-and-sunshine romance with some hurt/comfort thrown in for good measure. Bonus points for the enemies to begruging ride-or-die friends arc I was not expecting to love.

Look, is the book well written? It depends on your definition of "well-written." There are noticeable issues that are probably the result of this being a debut novel. I felt bored in places, Evie's characterization in early chapters was inconsistent, and there were a lot of infodumps throughout the book that dragged the pacing. Was it extremely fun to read anyway? Oh, very much so. It follows fanfiction/emotional character beats as opposed to traditional plot structure beats, which means readers of fanfic or romance novels will likely be the target audience. Luckily that includes me. I fell in love with Evie and Trystan's dynamic, the wacky world building, and Maehrer's absolutely gut punching raw lines that come out of nowhere. Think of this book as the Fourth Wing of workplace comedy. It will not be everyone's cup of tea, but I will be back for the sequel.

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rbour26's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I truly could not get past her father betraying her in one of the worst ways. Reading that and the final scene with the king really put me off of the book and the series as a whole

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briknecht's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

0.25

I should have DNF’d but kept going in hopes it would get better. It reads like a middle-grade story, with lots of cringe and teenage angst. The main characters fell flat and tried to be funny but just…weren’t.

I switched between physical book and audio, and the narration did not do this any favors.

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