I rarely DNF (Do/Did Not Finish) a book, and when I do, it's usually for content reasons such as excessive violence/gore (e.g. The Wolf and the Watchman, by Niklas Natt Och Dag), excessive language (e.g. The City We Became, by N.K. Jemisin–and in this case, excessive strangeness as well), or explicit sexual content (e.g. Looking for Alaska, by John Green; this one might not be as bad as I remember, since I read it in my early to mid teens and was a little more sensitive in this area).
I came awfully close to DNFing Assistant to the Villain, but not for any of these reasons.
In this slightly chaotic review, I would like to look at four elements of the book: the writing, the plot, the characters, and the magic system.
But first, a quick blurb (from Goodreads): "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."
Okay, let's get to it!
The Writing
Do you ever read a book and think, "I could have written this better"? That was me with this book. The whole time I was reading it, I was rewriting almost every sentence in my head. At one point, I even caught myself writing the rejection letter I would send if I was a literary agent and this manuscript crossed my desk. The dialogue was stilted, there were too many adverbs, and the book felt like it was trying too hard to be funny. The title is a case in point: wouldn't it be stronger writing to say The Villain's Assistant? All I can say is, the whole book was written like "assistant to the villain". Does that make sense?
But the more I read, a strange thing began to happen. The writing was still bad, but it didn't bother me as much as it had at the beginning. And here's where we come to ...
The Plot
*SPOILERS START HERE*
I'm bad at plotting. I never make things get horrible enough for my characters. So I really appreciate good plotting when I find it. And I wouldn't say this book's plot was mind-blowing or anything, but it was solid. Solid enough to keep me from permanently putting the book down!
The one minor critique I have about the plot is that I wish East Marigold had been mentioned at the beginning of the book to set up the big twist at the end. (Maybe he/it was, and I just don't remember it.)
Another thing that kept me reading was ...
The Characters
Specifically, the incredibly slow burn romance between Evie and The Villain (Trystan is a perfect name for him, by the way). That was a lot of fun.
I liked how all of the major players had a tragic backstory (well, I guess Blade's backstory might not count as tragic, exactly, but he had one), which made the characters more believable and raised the stakes of the story. Even Tatianna had a reason for wearing pink all the time.
Oh, and can we talk about Kingsley? I'm hoping his backstory gets more page time in the sequel, because you can't just casually toss off the fact that he was a prince and Trystan's friend before he became a frog. Was he King Benedict's son? Is that part of the reason King Benedict has this vendetta against The Villain?
And speaking of magically altered characters, let's talk about ...
The Magic System
I'm not quite sure how the magic system in this book works. I mean, it's clear that magic is activated for individuals when they experience a traumatic event. But like, do all people have potential for magic? What are the limits of the magic system? What other kinds of magic can people have besides starlight (super vague) and seeing your enemies' weaknesses? Can two people have the same type of magic? I want answers!
*END OF SPOILERS*
Final thoughts: Cute story, so-so writing. It was the story, not the writing, that kept me invested. If you like romantasy and can push through the writing (or if you just don't care as much about good writing as I do), I recommend that you give this book a try! I'll probably read the sequel, Apprentice to the Villain, which is expected to come out on August 6, 2024.
Have you read Assistant to the Villain? If so, what did you think? Are you planning on reading the sequel? What other romantasy books should I read?
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