You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
niamhstorme's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Terminal illness, Torture, and Alcohol
lackyducks's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
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? Yes
3.5
A fun story, filled with humour and memorable characters — as long as you don't look too much deeper.
The set up for the story established the tone well. A bit on the sillier side, whilst still making the stakes clear. As the story develops, the intrigue grows and creates a compelling mystery plot.
The reoccurring characters were all memorable in their own ways, and it was a delight when they were around. Each one was distinct and I enjoyed watching the relationships develop. The relationship between the main character and the villain felt a bit rushed/forced, but this is a common complaint I have with this kind of story. I think I'm just picky about my romances and prefer more of a slow burn.
Unfortunately, I found the story fell a little at the final hurdle. The twist didn't feel executed well — maybe I missed hints but it came out of nowhere for me. I happily looked past it as the confrontation was very rewarding. But then I was hit with the very final scene, and felt a bit cheated.
The final scene of the book didn't make sense. It only existed to set up the next book in the series, and I dislike that. It felt like the ending the characters fought for was pulled out from beneath them, and it felt like that for me as well. Plus, the confusion around it. How was the king there? It hadn't been that long since her confrontation, so how was he already there and knew where they'd be going? I hated the entire thing, and personally choose to leave the story with them both heading back to the manor and pretending those final pages don't exist.
The set up for the story established the tone well. A bit on the sillier side, whilst still making the stakes clear. As the story develops, the intrigue grows and creates a compelling mystery plot.
The reoccurring characters were all memorable in their own ways, and it was a delight when they were around. Each one was distinct and I enjoyed watching the relationships develop. The relationship between the main character and the villain felt a bit rushed/forced, but this is a common complaint I have with this kind of story. I think I'm just picky about my romances and prefer more of a slow burn.
Unfortunately, I found the story fell a little at the final hurdle. The twist didn't feel executed well — maybe I missed hints but it came out of nowhere for me. I happily looked past it as the confrontation was very rewarding. But then I was hit with the very final scene, and felt a bit cheated.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
clothildev's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The heroine gets the morally grey villain and also goes out for revenge, I say good for her
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
chai_latte_auroras's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I don’t know if I can put in words how much I sincerely loved this book. The characters are funny and Love-able. The GrumpyXSunshine relationship between The Villain and his assistant was very cute and at times made me feel like I was going to melt into a puddle.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, and Murder
Minor: Cursing, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
businesswife's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-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
4.5
This is a really fun book. It is not serious and you need to like the type of humor that it has to like this book. Evie the main character is a goofball. She is naive and says that outright, trusting, and also kinda clumsy. But she is also the sweetest.
Plotwise: Evie's forced to grow up really fast when her mom by accident kills her big brother when her magic shows up unexpectedly. After three incident her mom runs away. Her father used to own a butchers shop until he got the mystical illness that's going around and now can't work. Evie now works full time to support her family of 3 (young sister) and dropped out of school early to make this happen. Before the book starts she just left a super shitty job and is looking for one but no one is really hiring. When she runs into The Villian (capitals) in the woods it seems like her luck may finally be turning around. But, oh no he's super hot. Also there is a big mystery plot background plot which is super fun.
Other notes: their banter is super cute and very funny. You know they will be together eventually but they are trying to keep it professional at least for now. They Both have trauma to work through. They are grumpy sunshine. He would burn the world for her. Also the supporting cast has big found family!
Spoiler and trigger warning info: Big trigger warning if you need the specifics for SA/ SHEvie's former employer wanted to marry her and if she didn't want that he wanted to just 'have her for a couple nights' and when she refused he attacks her and she does have a lasting injury for most of this book. It is dealt with and talked about but she has lasting ptsd like symptoms from it.
Plotwise: Evie's forced to grow up really fast when her mom by accident kills her big brother when her magic shows up unexpectedly. After three incident her mom runs away. Her father used to own a butchers shop until he got the mystical illness that's going around and now can't work. Evie now works full time to support her family of 3 (young sister) and dropped out of school early to make this happen. Before the book starts she just left a super shitty job and is looking for one but no one is really hiring. When she runs into The Villian (capitals) in the woods it seems like her luck may finally be turning around. But, oh no he's super hot. Also there is a big mystery plot background plot which is super fun.
Other notes: their banter is super cute and very funny. You know they will be together eventually but they are trying to keep it professional at least for now. They Both have trauma to work through. They are grumpy sunshine. He would burn the world for her. Also the supporting cast has big found family!
Spoiler and trigger warning info: Big trigger warning if you need the specifics for SA/ SH
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Vomit and Injury/Injury detail
Big trigger warning if you need the specifics for SAkayceeisbookish's review
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
cover2covertx's review
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault and Torture
Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Classism