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mlottermoser's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
5.0
Slow burn, morally gray characters, twists, magic and villain with a heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Chronic illness and Confinement
Minor: Death of parent and Child death
Attempted sexual assault and ptsd from that attemptroadesntoades's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Violence, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Confinement, and Cursing
Minor: Toxic relationship and Stalking
kierasreadingjournal's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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? No
5.0
✨5 STARS!!!✨
“You are chaos.”
Okay, most of you probably know that I DON’T hand out 5 star reviews easily! 4 stars? Yes, all the time. But 5 stars are reserved for the books that really hit me. That struck a chord in me. That mean something to me!
And I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t actually expecting to pick up another 5 star read this year! I’ve already read one, and I thought that was going to be the end.
I WAS WRONG!!!
Obviously, or we wouldn’t have a huge 5 STARS!!! at the beginning of this. 😆
But Ms. Maehrer’s writing is GENIUS!!!
It’s SOOO QUIRKY!!!! And I absolutely adored the style! The plot twists struck me out of NOWHERE!!! Like, I could not have guessed them from a mile away! And yet, at the same time, I was hitting myself (figuratively) for not figuring it out sooner!
The characters!! Ugh. The CHARACTERS!!! 😍😍😍 I love them all SO MUCH!!! Evie and Trystan and Becky and Blade and Tatianna and EVERYBODY!!!
Not to mention the CHEMISTRY between characters!! The TENSION!! I was rocking giggles and butterflies and even stamping my feet a couple of times. It was just TOO GOOD!!!!
It’s family now! This book has become family to me. 🥹💖 And I cannot WAIT for book two!! 🎉🥳
“You are chaos.”
Okay, most of you probably know that I DON’T hand out 5 star reviews easily! 4 stars? Yes, all the time. But 5 stars are reserved for the books that really hit me. That struck a chord in me. That mean something to me!
And I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t actually expecting to pick up another 5 star read this year! I’ve already read one, and I thought that was going to be the end.
I WAS WRONG!!!
Obviously, or we wouldn’t have a huge 5 STARS!!! at the beginning of this. 😆
But Ms. Maehrer’s writing is GENIUS!!!
It’s SOOO QUIRKY!!!! And I absolutely adored the style! The plot twists struck me out of NOWHERE!!! Like, I could not have guessed them from a mile away! And yet, at the same time, I was hitting myself (figuratively) for not figuring it out sooner!
The characters!! Ugh. The CHARACTERS!!! 😍😍😍 I love them all SO MUCH!!! Evie and Trystan and Becky and Blade and Tatianna and EVERYBODY!!!
Not to mention the CHEMISTRY between characters!! The TENSION!! I was rocking giggles and butterflies and even stamping my feet a couple of times. It was just TOO GOOD!!!!
It’s family now! This book has become family to me. 🥹💖 And I cannot WAIT for book two!! 🎉🥳
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Violence
Moderate: Police brutality, Violence, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Chronic illness, Death, and Murder
Minor: Child death, Confinement, Sexual assault, and Torture
garnethalo's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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? Yes
4.75
I would like to be an assistant. Not an intern though...
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Violence
Minor: Chronic illness, Sexual assault, and Torture
automatic_rae's review
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, Murder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual harassment, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, and Gaslighting
Generalised mentions and vague descriptions of all tags. Frequent mentions of violence but nothing graphic.simmonsj's review
adventurous
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? Yes
3.25
A middle-of-the-road fantasy romance with a fun twist - the side of the Villain. Evie Sage needs a job to support her sister and I'll father. Serendipity lands her a job as The Villian's assistant, hired to help manage his nefarious plots to damage the King.
It was fun to see how the author made gore, torture, and murder light hearted, but that's really how it read. I actually liked those parts, that this is just the daily life of a Villain and it's all a little hum drum. I liked Evie Sage, she doubts and debases herself at times but does grow through the novel and has moments of fun feminist bad@$$ery. She stands up to people just fine and can disarm through her supposed innocence. She's also learning that she really doesn't mind the torture and villainy like she knows she's supposed to.
The plot is fine, it leans more towards romantasy than anything else. The romance is very, very slow burn but kind of cute. Many of the thoughts of the two characters got repetitive though. The backend plot is finding a traitor - without the relationship/romance/Evie growth pieces, this plot would have been drawn out way too much and been disappointing. The ending was good as far as learning the identity of the traitor, which was a surprise for me, but it also leaves several unanswered questions, wide open for the sequel coming in August.
The writing lets the book down some. I lost track of how many heads "whipped back" and how our Villain had muscular thighs, a strong chest, and eyes to fall into. We get it, he's lovely, move on. The last quarter of the book picked up speed and had less repetitions.
Overall it was a fun little foray into the world of Villainy and a little romance. Nothing too striking but an easy read and a little getaway book. While one should note there is torture, gore, and murder in this book (and talk of it. A lot), it is treated rather lightheartedly. Oddly, it reminds me of something Mel Brooks would write a movie of - quirky murder in a fantasy village and with a love story tied in.
It was fun to see how the author made gore, torture, and murder light hearted, but that's really how it read. I actually liked those parts, that this is just the daily life of a Villain and it's all a little hum drum. I liked Evie Sage, she doubts and debases herself at times but does grow through the novel and has moments of fun feminist bad@$$ery. She stands up to people just fine and can disarm through her supposed innocence. She's also learning that she really doesn't mind the torture and villainy like she knows she's supposed to.
The plot is fine, it leans more towards romantasy than anything else. The romance is very, very slow burn but kind of cute. Many of the thoughts of the two characters got repetitive though. The backend plot is finding a traitor - without the relationship/romance/Evie growth pieces, this plot would have been drawn out way too much and been disappointing. The ending was good as far as learning the identity of the traitor, which was a surprise for me, but it also leaves several unanswered questions, wide open for the sequel coming in August.
The writing lets the book down some. I lost track of how many heads "whipped back" and how our Villain had muscular thighs, a strong chest, and eyes to fall into. We get it, he's lovely, move on. The last quarter of the book picked up speed and had less repetitions.
Overall it was a fun little foray into the world of Villainy and a little romance. Nothing too striking but an easy read and a little getaway book. While one should note there is torture, gore, and murder in this book (and talk of it. A lot), it is treated rather lightheartedly. Oddly, it reminds me of something Mel Brooks would write a movie of - quirky murder in a fantasy village and with a love story tied in.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Misogyny, Blood, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death, Grief, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Confinement and Chronic illness
milesofkiles's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Chronic illness, and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Violence
abicaro17's review
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: Gore, Classism, Kidnapping, Body horror, Gaslighting, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Blood, Confinement, and Grief
wickeddelights's review
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: Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Violence, Kidnapping, Bullying, Torture, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Blood
flohbeutel's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment and Death
Moderate: Abandonment and Chronic illness