Romantasy has become a genre of epic proportions over the last couple years, and I’m not mad about it. As someone who has a hard time staying interested in the more traditional fantasy books, the strong romance plots have helped me enjoy this genre.
One of the big ones that popped off in 2023 was Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer. It was EVERYWHERE right off the bat, thanks to those awesome boxes sent to influencers (which I’m still high key jealous of those who got one…).
Assistant to the Villain [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] started out as a skit series on TikTok and Hannah turned them into a novel. We follow Evie as she accidentally learns the identity of the town’s villain and her options are die or go work for him. She picks the latter, obviously. This is a classic grumpy x sunshine story with a morally grey villain as the lead, and brace yourself, because it is a slooooow burn.
But once Evie is settled in at the job, she realizes something doesn’t add up. Someone inside the office is leaking information about the villain’s plans to the king and it’s causing problems. She takes it upon herself to investigate and try not to fall too in love with the villain.
Oh, and there’s a frog that talks via signs that basically steals all the scenes. Kingsley for President!
This is a lighthearted and fun slow burn story, but does have some weaknesses. Some characters are a little flat or underdeveloped, so I kept mixing them up. The big twist is entirely predictable, which is always a bummer for me when I figure it out too fast. But, I still enjoyed this overall. It’s just a cozy, good time. If you go into it with all the hype in mind, like I did, you will probably feel a bit disappointed. This isn’t a book that takes itself too seriously, so if you go into it just to have fun, you will be delighted.
I am eager to get my hands on book two, Apprentice to the Villain [Buy Bookshop Amazon] as soon as possible.
Literary HypeWoman 