Genre: Romance, YA Fiction, Comedy, Fantasy Fiction
Key Stage: Year 8+
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (2023)
Plot: Assistant to the Villain is a trilogy that follows after Evangelina Sage and how she came under the employment of The Villain. After just having gotten used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an eyeball beneath her heal, Evie suspects that there is a huge rat in this dungeon – and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the Kingdom of Rennedawn and someone wants to take down The Villain and his entire nefarious empire. 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.
Likes and dislikes: This story is one that I really enjoyed. The humour overtakes the romance in here and there is little to no spice throughout the whole story. What I had loved the most was that the more that you read, you will notice how The Villain opens up more and more to Evie and you can tell how they become closer with everything that they go through.
Who I would recommend this to and what to read next: This is a story that is perfect for those who like romance with little to no spice and for those who love a bit of comedy and laughter. This story had quite a lot of tropes (Opposites Attract, Grumpy/Sunshine, Office Romance, etc) and if you like these then this is a book perfect for you. I think this book is suitable for many readers from Year 7+t. If you are stuck on what to read next after this book, then you should read Everything Everything (only if you are an older reader), Powerless, The Agency for a Scandal and Sea of Lost Love. These books are also within the romance genre but also have a few others like murder mystery and fantasy fiction.
Reviewer: Yaminah, Year 9