Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

19 reviews

hjb_128's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Terminal illness and Sexual violence

thereadinghammock's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

The banter, A+. The sarcasm, exquisite. The pining, chef's kiss. I loved the sleuthing mystery of trying to find the mole in The Villain's operation. As you may know, I'm terrible at predictions, so I was throwing out theories left and right to my book club group and I gasped at all the big reveals, like a picture perfect audience. I was literally sputtering on the couch power reading the last 100 pages!

I can't believe that CLIFFHANGER! That's a lie, I 100% can believe that's the cliffhanger and it's perfect for the pacing of the overall book and goes to show just how perfect Evie and Trystan are for each other.
 
Now I need to get on the hold list for the the sequel ASAP at my library before it's 6 months long!! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Grief, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture, Confinement, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

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.

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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

dinahquinn's review

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.25

I actually didn’t guess the twist until close to it happening which a nice change up. There’s definitely hints before, but not the “hints” that are really a brightly lit billboard.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Blood, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexism, Kidnapping, Death, Child death, and Torture

jeynonymous's review

This was pretty awful in my opinion. More disappointing because I had actually enjoyed it for awhile (then kept reading cause I hate myself) and then characters were doing things totally divorced from logic and, in general, I may be female but when there are stupid comment like ‘ugh, men’ in books that’s an automatic strike for me unless the character is saying something stupid and sexist as a joke or just to annoy someone while not really meaning it. And of course that line happened really quick after I briefly tried to give this another chance after months. I seriously could not get over that ridiculous party or how anyone even thought it was a good idea to go… if you don’t know how it went after reading the set up I have a bridge to sell you. As you probably have as much common sense as any character in this book. Why not just call this ‘cause the author wills it’ the book. Who needs good reasons for stuff to happen?!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Minor: Sexism

permanme's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment and Torture

kwthor's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Torture, Sexual assault, Murder, Violence, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

alliallialli's review

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Death, and Sexual assault

Minor: Torture and Murder

wickedgrumpy's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad slow-paced

2.5

It had promise but ended up lacking.  The pacing felt awkward, the pining was uninspired, the world building was confusing..  I could go on, but it wasn't a bad book.  Doubt I will continue the series.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Gore, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

wonderingintothevoid's review against another edition

adventurous funny

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Chronic illness

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Rape, and Sexual assault