Recent Reads: Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer  

Series: Assistant to the Villian #1
Publisher:  Entangled Publishing: Red Tower Books
Publication Date:  August 29, 2023 

 

Format: Paperback
Source: Bought/Own

Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Once Upon a Time meets The Office in Hannah Maehrer’s laugh-out-loud viral TikTok series turned novel, about the sunshine assistant to an Evil Villain…and their unexpected romance.

ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem, terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits.

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer—naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat…and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain—and his entire nefarious empire—out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work…and ensure he makes them pay.

Review: 

I read this book after Bride and fully expected a weird book-hangover and that this one would not be a good next read - but it kept me reading. There were parts that were funny and others that were a bit cringe. Overall though, it was a good read.

Assistant to the Villain follows Evie a girl living in a small town of a kingdom plagued with a Villain who is always trying to best the King. One day she meets him, although she doesn't realize who it is, and he offers her a job to become his assitant.  Evie is sarcastic and blunt, and the Villain isn't used to people talking back to him, or anyone that isn't scared of him really, so Evie is refreshing. Together they work to thwart the King in a number of ways, leading to awkward encounters, and a budding romance.

This book is so confusing, it is supposed to be for adults, but does not read that way at all. It reads more Middle Grade/Young Adult than anything. It has a fair amount of violence, blood, and death, but I am not sure there are adult concepts outside of that. The romance was pretty meh on this front.

The overall plot focuses on the grumpy/sunshine romance trope. It is full of quirky dialogue and very chat-heavy but sets up a cozy world that the characters thrive in. The characters although funny and entertaining are pretty one note, there wasn't too much development of them and they feel pretty flat. Really, the dialogue kept this alive for me. The more I think about my reading experience with this book, the more I just focus on the banter and weird circumstances and I avoid thinking about the characters as a whole or the plot... so if you like some good chatty chat and a female main character that is always trying to go above and beyond for her job - this could be for you.

All that said - I did not realize this was a TikTok series at all that was made into a book... so strange, now I need to go find it.