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A review by heliea
Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
2.0
Okay. So, this book would have been so so much better if it weren't for the fact that the editing is lacking in many ways.
It's so disorganised! The very beginning reads like the end of the first book. It should have been that way - instead of that tedious and unnecessary cliffhanger, we should have gotten the resolution of the plot we get in the first part of this book. Imagine Evie and the crew flying back to the manor... And the book ends. And then we get a whole new book, with new pacing and the villain coming to grips with everything Evie did while she was "dead". Then we get Evie developing further feelings for the Villain, managing her expectations when it comes to his hot and cold attitude... Which is the second part of the problem. Not only does the book struggle with too many disorganised plots (at times not I nor the characters seem to remember what their endgoal or their main motivation was) and messy mini adventures that add too little to the main plot, Evie and Tristan's relationship went from delight to annoying. The miscommunication trope MUST DIE. It's even worse than that - she mixed it with the Edward Cullen approach of "you're better off without me but I won't tell you that and instead let you misinterpret all my longing"??!!! NO! He's supposed to be whipped (even if it's in secret) and let it seep into his actions! She's supposed to be his guiding light! Under any other circumstances I'd love to see how she becomes morally ambiguous and struggles with her kindness but it just feels wrong somehow, I don't know if it's the writing or the narrative but the nuance hits wrong.
Arg I so wanted to love this book. Even the prophecy at the end seems obvious and trite.
I sure hope things change for the better in the next book because I am too invested in these characters.
It's so disorganised! The very beginning reads like the end of the first book. It should have been that way - instead of that tedious and unnecessary cliffhanger, we should have gotten the resolution of the plot we get in the first part of this book. Imagine Evie and the crew flying back to the manor... And the book ends. And then we get a whole new book, with new pacing and the villain coming to grips with everything Evie did while she was "dead". Then we get Evie developing further feelings for the Villain, managing her expectations when it comes to his hot and cold attitude... Which is the second part of the problem. Not only does the book struggle with too many disorganised plots (at times not I nor the characters seem to remember what their endgoal or their main motivation was) and messy mini adventures that add too little to the main plot, Evie and Tristan's relationship went from delight to annoying. The miscommunication trope MUST DIE. It's even worse than that - she mixed it with the Edward Cullen approach of "you're better off without me but I won't tell you that and instead let you misinterpret all my longing"??!!! NO! He's supposed to be whipped (even if it's in secret) and let it seep into his actions! She's supposed to be his guiding light! Under any other circumstances I'd love to see how she becomes morally ambiguous and struggles with her kindness but it just feels wrong somehow, I don't know if it's the writing or the narrative but the nuance hits wrong.
Arg I so wanted to love this book. Even the prophecy at the end seems obvious and trite.
I sure hope things change for the better in the next book because I am too invested in these characters.