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A review by ellianamaselli
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
5.0
This book is like candy.
Really good, sugary, refreshing, rich candy.
Is it intellectually stimulating? No.
Is it a work of literary genius? No.
Is the world-building, character-work, or mystery revolutionary? Hell nah.
But is it freaking fun?
Absolutely.
(^^me reading this book)
As a theology student, I've read a lot of books that are "edifying" this year—everything from actual textbooks to intellectual non-fiction and high-quality fantasies by the who's-who of high fantasy. But even academic, Jesus-freak students need to indulge every once in a while. (No matter how much you might like vegetables and fruits, sometimes you just want a Snickers bar—and there's nothing wrong with that.)
I had So. Much. Fun. reading this story. From our witty, stereotypical, firecracker of an Assistant to the super-hot, brooding, totally-not-as-evil-as-he-wants-to-be Villain, this grumpy/sunshine romance was everything I didn't know I needed to get me out of a four-month-long reading slump.
While this book didn't do everything perfectly, Miss Maehrer knows how to write a good, page-turning romance. I found myself looking forward to my time off when I could read this book, and even neglecting some of my homework in the process.
This book also had excellent pacing. I was never bored, which is rare for me in stories like these. Usually, authors of multi-book romance series' wait so long to get the characters together that I get irritated with the pacing and remove a star. While Evie and The Villain (whose name I won't disclose because spoilers) did take their own sweet time to have any actual romantic development (and it was still only a minor payoff), Maehrer gave us so much along the way that I almost didn't mind it. Watching these characters pine for each other was seriously such a treat. I'm not even mad that she ended the book with a cliffhanger ...not mad at all.
I cannot wait to read book two as soon as it's released next week, as I have a feeling that these two in are going to be the most fun, evil, power couple I've read about in a long time.
Really good, sugary, refreshing, rich candy.
Is it intellectually stimulating? No.
Is it a work of literary genius? No.
Is the world-building, character-work, or mystery revolutionary? Hell nah.
But is it freaking fun?
Absolutely.
(^^me reading this book)As a theology student, I've read a lot of books that are "edifying" this year—everything from actual textbooks to intellectual non-fiction and high-quality fantasies by the who's-who of high fantasy. But even academic, Jesus-freak students need to indulge every once in a while. (No matter how much you might like vegetables and fruits, sometimes you just want a Snickers bar—and there's nothing wrong with that.)
I had So. Much. Fun. reading this story. From our witty, stereotypical, firecracker of an Assistant to the super-hot, brooding, totally-not-as-evil-as-he-wants-to-be Villain, this grumpy/sunshine romance was everything I didn't know I needed to get me out of a four-month-long reading slump.
While this book didn't do everything perfectly, Miss Maehrer knows how to write a good, page-turning romance. I found myself looking forward to my time off when I could read this book, and even neglecting some of my homework in the process.
This book also had excellent pacing. I was never bored, which is rare for me in stories like these. Usually, authors of multi-book romance series' wait so long to get the characters together that I get irritated with the pacing and remove a star. While Evie and The Villain (whose name I won't disclose because spoilers) did take their own sweet time to have any actual romantic development (and it was still only a minor payoff), Maehrer gave us so much along the way that I almost didn't mind it. Watching these characters pine for each other was seriously such a treat. I'm not even mad that she ended the book with a cliffhanger
Spoiler
involving one of my least favorite tropes... (mostly because I have high hopes that it will result in the coolest villain-origin story.)I cannot wait to read book two as soon as it's released next week, as I have a feeling that these two in are going to be the most fun, evil, power couple I've read about in a long time.