A review by grumpyreading
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

🐸 Assistant To The Villain by Hannah Nicole Marhrer 🐸

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Evie Sage is deeply committed to her job - it allows her to provide for her sick father and her younger sister. As the assistant to Rennedawn’s Villain, she has to keep the details of her job a secret. She isn’t the only one with secrets though, and her and the Villain suspect someone on the inside is a traitor, and is giving their secrets to the King. They need to work together to figure out who it could be… and neither of them seem to mind all the time they have to spend together to figure it out. 

I loveddddd this. I read most of the book in one sitting because I fell in love with the characters. I am not a huge fantasy reader, and I liked that this one was fantasy and had fantasy elements (like the Villain, the pixies, dragons, etc.), but didn’t require a lot of world building or understanding. It felt more contemporary than strong fantasy, but still had high stakes and fun elements. 
The characters in this one were great! I loved them and could feel the chemistry and tension between the two main characters, and felt that we got to know them and their backstories throughout the book. 
The romance was very light and was mostly tension, so I’m excited to see where this series goes! 
I had so much fun reading this and can’t wait to read the next one. 

Read this if you like: 
  • nicknames
  • murder but like mostly ethical 
  • t e n s i o n 
  • books that make you laugh 
  • touch her and d i e 
  • fantasy but not a lot of world building - like fantasy lite 

Vibes: 🐸🌪️🗡️🫟🐉🧚🏼🖊️ 

Full review including content warnings on my StoryGraph. 
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