tobereadbookshelf 's review for:

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

3.5

adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Whelp… the plot twist came and it was certainly twisty. Safe to say that I did not see that coming. It seems that the author really isn’t going to explain the dead bodies and severed heads. There is a strong implication that they are not the true villains in the story but the author seems dead set on claiming the title for them. Was it self defense? Were they all bad men and murderers in their own right? I need an explanation to feel good about the romance aspect of this book and unfortunately, I did not get it. The grumpy/sunshine trope is one of the most beloved in the romance genre so I am not surprised that people love this, but am I really the only one who doesn’t feel right about the murdery bits? I enjoyed this in spite of myself and will read book two in hopes of finally getting some answers. 3.5 stars rounded up. 

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Thoughts while reading: I’m sorry, but how am I meant to overlook the dead body, severed heads and stray eyeball on the floor? I’m at 68% and I’m still waiting for this to be explained in some fashion that makes him noble in some way rather than an actual grade A psycho villain. Plot… feel free to go ahead and twist because what kind of crazy person would fall for an actual murderer… We just breezed past all that to the cutesy YA style romance and I’m still not over it. 👀