Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

37 reviews

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

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.

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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

busyknitting's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Trafficking

meah_cookie's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Enjoyed this much more than I thought when I started! The narration was… definitely my least favorite part. Had to put it on 1.75x speed to get through it and it was still just off. Very stilted, almost monotoned reading experience… 

Besides that, I enjoyed the overall plot and characters. Id say this is a more plot focused book than character based, at least compared to my other recent reads. Pretty good mystery element and I did appreciate the alternating pov’s though Im not sure it was 100% needed…

Definitely going to read the next book, and am excited for it to come out soon!! 2 things I hope for the next book is: 1. Better narration for the audio 🤷‍♀️ 2. More character external dialogue and development!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

Minor: Kidnapping and Abandonment

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. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Violence, Kidnapping, Bullying, Torture, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Blood

alilbitofeveryth1ng's review

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Torture, Abandonment, Murder, and Child death

madalynn_owens's review

adventurous funny slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Child death, Confinement, and Kidnapping

joward's review

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual violence

kinsportch's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Death, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Blood, Genocide, and Grief

Minor: Cursing

lri_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Death, and Kidnapping

Minor: Torture