toreadistovoyage's profile picture

toreadistovoyage 's review for:

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
2.0
lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No

This was...not for me.

I bought this after seeing it all over bookstagram. Premise sounded good, romantasy, humorous - what's not to like? Apparently a lot.

Here's what didn't work for me:

Everything was vague (motivations, what happens at The Villain's office; world building);
The 'humor' was not what I would call funny;
Evie acted like a teenager, despite being in her 20s and acting as head of household;
The story felt disjointed (which makes sense as this was a "viral TikTok series turned novel");
There wasn't any real character development;
There really wasn't any romance, just some characters who were into each other but never act on it;
The Villain is 'evil' but is definitely NOT evil; and
I could not take The Villain seriously after I learned his name is Trystan.