Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

37 reviews

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

tym_flies's review

adventurous funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

Slay (the king). 

Fuck that cliffhanger tho

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Kidnapping, Blood, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, and War

annamay1021's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

nutmeg313's review

adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Blood and Gore

protestmyboredom's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

5.0

Ahhh this book is so good! Light and clever with so much personality. Original but also nostalgic and a cute romance with serious issues but it doesn’t feel heavy. I love Evie and The Villain and I was so excited to have his point of view too- I squealed to myself the first time. I can wait to read more and I’m sure I’ll read this again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Abandonment, Medical trauma, Death, Child death, Chronic illness, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, and Gaslighting

michaelahoover's review

funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, and Violence

torrentsofhayl's review

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Confinement, Alcohol, Gore, and Misogyny

Moderate: Kidnapping and Cursing

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

bones_jackson'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? No

5.0

Nossa, muito fofo e engraçado, amei muito, e mal posso esperar pelo próximo livro, eu quero muito ver ela fazer o circo pegar fogo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Confinement, Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Torture, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Vomit

dogoodwithbooks's review

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

After encountering Rennedawn's most infamous Villain, Evie Sage winds up being hired as his new personal assistant. While she gets used to the office culture and working for a Villain, Evie and the Villain have to work together to find out who is betraying the Villain to the king while fighting growing feelings for each other. 

If there's a fantasy rom-com that you need to read this year, Hannah Nicole Maehrer's Assistant to the Villain is the one I would wholeheartedly recommend.

Maehrer is able to grab your attention from the very first page as you get sucked into the world of Rennedawn and form an immediate connection with the characters. I loved how Maehrer is able to create such vivid imagery to describe the story as it plays out as well as the deep metaphors about what it means to be a villain and the multi-faceted aspects of the morally gray. Obviously, this book touches on some darker topics and themes and I would encourage you to check out my content warnings before deciding if this is a book that you would want to read.

I also loved how Maehrer fully develops each character to give them not only their own moment to shine but also to explore their backgrounds and how that interacts with the plot, especially for the side characters (Blade, Becky & Tatianna). Of course, the Villain and Evie are great MCs and I can only say that Evie is one of my most favorite MCs that I have had the pleasure of reading. 

Now, can we talk about the romance between Evie and the Villain? Talk about a slow burn fan's delight! You get all the pining, you get all the banter, and the swoon moments when the Villain describes his feelings for Evie. I can't wait for the sequel to come out next year so we can get more of those dynamics between Evie and the Villain.

Overall, I absolutely love this book and I cannot recommend this enough! Assistant to the Villain will make you feel so many things and I look forward to experience it again in Maehrer's future works. If you are looking for an ultimate slow burn romance with so many tropes (grumpy x sunshine, opposites attract, etc.), you need to read Assistant to the Villain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Blood, Gore, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Sexual harassment, Confinement, and Sexual assault

Minor: Abandonment