Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - Assistant to the Villain

I did enjoy Assistant To The Villain more than I expected to, which is always a pleasant surprise. It was another one of those reads that hovers uncertainly between YA and adult fantasy. There's literally no spice but that's fine, I get the sense that as this is a trilogy the spice may well develop to a mild level as the series continues. By contrast, there's a decent amount of profanity and descriptions of death and injury so I can see the confusion as to where this lies in terms of target audience. Personally, I think a lot of fantasy romance readers (or at least those new to the genre) have been introduced via series like ACOTAR and are therefore coming into new reads with an expectation of at least some fairy porn. I've even seen some reviews on Goodreads claiming that this author is a Christian and this has pigeonholed her into 'clean' writing. As mentioned, the number of 'fuck's and decapitated heads in this book would suggest that that's not an issue for Maehrer and I think she's just dedicating time to developing the relationships in her book.

My issues with the book instead revolve around the length and pace. It probably could have taken some cuts as I definitely felt it dragging from pretty early on. I appreciate that the author wrote this book based on a series of skits she imagined up for TikTok so she probably wanted to keep some of those in the written text as an inside joke for her followers and a fun throwback for herself but we spend an awful lot of time with Evie and the Villain daydreaming about each other, scolding themselves for daydreaming about each other, getting into sometimes funny, sometimes less funny workplace conundrums and in Evie's case, falling over. Seriously, she falls over all the time. I docked .25 stars for that alone.

The book really picks up towards the end and a lot of the relationships and character development take off in the final third which is what saved it for me and gives me hope for the series and the resolve to read on. Evie grew on me massively in the closing chapters and Maehrer introduced enough points of intrigue

including but not limited to; is Kinsgley, as suspected, a prince? Are we due a reunion between Evie and her magical missing mother,l? And who is the mysterious knight who saves Evie at the close of the book?

that we have some great material for the next installment. I just wish that maybe we had gotten into all of this action a little quicker and cut maybe 10-15 chapters of filler.

Content Warnings

condls27's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious 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

5.0

I knew 100 pages in this was going to be a 5 star read for me. The banter was adorable, the slow burn was immaculate and it managed to make me laugh and cry. I love this world and I’m so excited there are more books to come!

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natashaleighton_'s review

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

A fast paced and thoroughly entertaining debut, that reads like the fabulously chaotic love child of Beauty and The Beast and The Office(US). You know, if the Beast was a brooding, byronic Villain who hated everyone—except his sunshiny (and overly optimistic) cinnamon-roll of an assistant.

We follow protagonist Evie Sage, who, whilst searching for a job to provide for her ailing father and little sister, stumbles upon the Kingdom’s most feared criminal—known only as The Villain. And after saving her (and himself) from certain death, makes Evie’s dream come true… by offering her a job as his assistant.

Evie thrives in her new role and thanks to her savvy organisational skills and optimistic outlook on life has things running smoother than ever (with ALOT less beheadings and a far more productive workforce.) But with plots going awry far too often, Evie suspects sabotage and it looks increasingly likely to be an inside job.

Now Evie must help her boss (whilst navigating her new found feelings for him) find the perpetrator trying to take down their operation…and make them pay.

I genuinely loved this! It’s humorous, heartfelt and full of soo many quirky characters I couldn’t help but get attached too. I’m also an absolute sucker for the grumpy x sunshine and found family tropes so pretty much devoured this. Though I should warn it is a slow-burn kind of romance and doesn’t have any spice (so if that’s a must, then you may not find much enjoyment in this.)

The writing was really enjoyable, but felt more like YA than adult romantasy. Though, I thought it worked perfectly for the satirical and lighthearted, fairytale-esque tone. As someone who spent a good portion of my childhood obsessed with fairytales, this is the book I didn’t realise I needed in my life until I now and I know there’ll be plenty of rereads in my future. It gave off such cosy vibes and reminded me soo much of The 10th Kingdom (which was one of my all time fave shows as a kid) and its delightfully charming and eccentric cast of characters.

I loved Evie, our main protagonist (and walking ball of sunshine) whose wit and endearing optimism (in-spite of all the tragedy she’s endured) had me rooting for her from the very first page. Watching her inadvertently melt the Villain’s tough exterior (with her honesty and compassion) was wonderfully heartwarming and really gave us a chance us to explore The Villain’s complex (and equally tragic) backstory in more depth—bringing dimension to his character that will have you rooting for him in no time.

Though, I must admit it was Kingsley, the sign holding (and crown wearing) magical frog who stole my heart and the top spot as my fave character with his quiet judgement and hilariously spot on, one word observations.

I can’t really say much else for fear of spoiling the plot or deliciously plot twisty ending (the traitor reveal was fantastic, I couldn’t guess their identity AT ALL.) But I will say, if you love fun and light-heartedly entertaining fairytale-style stories, Shrek or Once Upon A Time —then you simply must check this out.

Also, a huge thank you to Emma Fairey and Penguin UK for the finished copy.

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bergha1998's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

OMG, it was so cute. I love me an office romance, but with fantasy and hijinks! I adored both the main characters. It’s not spicy, but wow so fun. The banter and chemistry between Evie and the Villain was 10/10. Very emotional near the end, though.

Fantasy, Romance, Office Romance

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cover2covertx's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

After following the author's assistant to the villain TikTok series, I kept my eyes opened for this book release hoping it would be a fun read. What the book actually delivered for me was even more than I expected.

First off, this is a book that DOES NOT take itself seriously and I LOVE it! It's entirely quirky, delightful and filled with almost spoof like humor. It's a high fantasy romantic comedy and it gives me all the vibes of Once Upon a Time meets Dungeons & Dragons with a touch of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's an adult book but the writing is incredibly accessible for being high fantasy which is a genre that is usually filled with a lot of dense description and flowery details and world building. So I was really excited to see a fantasy book that was a little different with a fast pace and slapstick humor.

Although the story is built on the premise of a sunshiny assistant and the will-they-or-won't-they tension between her and her morally grey villain boss, you could really take the romantic elements out of the story and still have a great time! :)

The story follows Evie, the glass is half full assistant who finds herself in desperate need of a job to care for her family so she takes one offered to her by a man known to the village for his growingly horrendous Wanted posters and the simple moniker of The Villain. Throughout her employ, she's having to avoid decapitated heads in the entryway, dragon training in the courtyard & of course the hunky brooding visits from The Villain himself. The story is fast paced, has a decent mystery to solve throughout getting to know the characters and world and has some amazing twists and a fantastic badass cliffhanger ending! :)

This book will definitely become a new favorite comfort read & I can not wait for the sequel!

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savanah's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

Really like the description of Once Upon a Time-like and thought it was accurate. I also somewhat got Howl’s Moving Castle vibes reading it as well (in a very good way).
This book is part of a series, which I was not aware of and was confused as I reached the end. Overall a very fun and entertaining read, it was cute and funny, while still featuring some heavy topics. I loved the swap between their perspectives which was very convincing and set the vibe for the tone. The occasional break of the fourth wall was a touch jarring (the narrator occasionally refers to a “you”). Good amount of back story and information so it was never info-dumping, but still provided enough information at the right times to build the world.

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nice_and_cosy's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Amazing, this book made me laugh, squeal, cry, throw my phone across the room. Grumpy sunshine with a slow burn where he falls hard, and I am forever obsessed

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bzliz's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

Edit: This book was so mediocre it put me in a 2 month long reading slump. It is ideal for people who don’t love reading.

—
Original review:

Evie needs a job so it’s a happy coincidence that she comes across an injured man in the forest who happens to be The Villain, notorious across the kingdom for his dastardly capers, and he just so happens to be in search of an assistant. She quickly becomes indispensable to the operation of his manor office and she’s the only one he trusts when they discover there’s a spy among them passing plans to the king.

As soon as I opened the book and saw the map, I knew I needed to adjust my expectations. I thought there would be more grit, gore, and higher stakes but no, it’s very cartoony. It has the same vibes as Ella Enchanted (movie, not book) of modern mixed with light fantasy. There’s next to no world building or character development and it’s heavy on dialogue, light on description. The characters voices are pretty similar so much of the banter, though fun, felt similar to every other conversation. The “big” moments feel like the TikToks so I started to feel like we were in a compilation very loosely held together by interim scenes that had little significance overall.

My favorite character was Kingsley, which is kind of a bad sign and no, I’m not sorry for that pun. Evie was very forgettable and blah. Her main personality traits are nice and clumsy and her biggest “flaws” are her honesty and naïveté. The Villain was also pretty non-villainous the whole time. He grumbled a lot about murder and made little quips about violence but he rarely acted on any of it that we got to see. We didn’t get to learn about his traumatic origin story until waaaay too late so I had a hard time believing in his mission.

All that said, I did read it in one sitting and I was entertained. The twist of the traitor got me (because we didn’t get the chance to play along with the clues. Evie did is all in her head). I appreciate the content warnings page up top and I think more books should do this. If there is a follow up, I probably will read it and hope the author has grown to give the world and characters more depth.

Content warnings:
Blood, violence, death (on page):

This book is about the “bad guy’s” side of the story. They are explicitly on page but feel pretty cartoony in my opinion.

Body horror (on page):

Severed heads hanging in the foyer, people having their skin melted off by a magical combination that spits acid. Scenes are pretty brief.

Chronic illness (on page):

a plague called Mystic Illness is going around the kingdom and either kills people quickly or they live with the effects for years and years.

Abandonment (off page):

The Villain’s father was away a lot until after he’d grown too much to develop a relationship. He harbors negative feelings about this because he feels his father left his children behind in favor of everyone else.

Child death (off page):

Evie’s brother is killed by an outburst of their mother’s magic. This is mentioned once or twice but doesn’t impact the story much at all.

Sexual assault (off page):

Evie’s previous boss propositioned her and when she refused his advances, he attempts to assault her and stabs her in the shoulder with a magical blade. She feels shame about the incident and never told anyone what happened. We find out at the end of the book that her father was going to accept money from her boss in exchange for her “company,” akin to sex trafficking.

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