{"id":172705,"date":"2023-09-12T16:13:27","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T06:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=172705"},"modified":"2023-10-20T10:57:11","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T00:57:11","slug":"review-assistant-to-the-villain-by-hannah-nicole-maehrer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2023\/09\/12\/review-assistant-to-the-villain-by-hannah-nicole-maehrer\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I picked up Assistant to the Villain<\/em> on a sudden impulse, drawn in by the catchy title and the unique concept. The fun cover with a tiny frog holding a sign was all I needed to commit to whatever strange and wonderful world awaited me. (Yes, I do judge books by their covers.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What I discovered was a fun, camp fantasy romp of a novel. Assistant to the Villain<\/em> is what I\u2019ve decided to call a \u201cDopamine Read\u201d. Similar to Dopamine Dressing or Dopamine Decorating, this book is a mood booster. All it asks is that you suspend your disbelief (and I mean all of it!) and, yes, ignore some of the anachronistic elements. Just come along for a wild ride, because sometimes we just need a book that will make us happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on a viral TikTok series (which I had somehow never seen, but definitely didn\u2019t need to in order to enjoy the book), Evie Sage becomes the assistant of Rennedawn\u2019s most infamous villain to support her family. While nursing a crush on her boss (The Villain!) Evie is on the case of what she suspects is a traitor in the Villain\u2019s midst, someone who is foiling The Villain\u2019s plans against the King. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book moves quickly, especially after the first quarter or so. I was drawn in by the characters and the mystery plot as Evie tries to uncover the mole in the Villain\u2019s operation. I was kept guessing along the way and the final reveal took me by surprise, which is all I ask for in a mystery. The romance in this ‘Romantasy’ is a little light, but seems to be setting up the series for a very satisfying pay off in the coming books! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was intriguing to see Evie\u2019s character develop as the plot darkened and I can\u2019t wait to see how she continues her journey into villainy\u2026 Despite her sunny outward character, she seems to have a hidden ruthlessness. After reading the ending all I can say is – sign me up for Book 2! <\/p>\n\n\n\nhttps:\/\/www.omnycontent.com\/d\/playlist\/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5\/413a2746-13c6-4f80-bf5a-afbf006ca6dd\/68234428-1962-44c9-9f41-afbf006ca703\/podcast.rss<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I picked up Assistant to the Villain on a sudden impulse, drawn in by the catchy title and the unique concept. The fun cover with a tiny frog holding a sign was all I needed to commit to whatever strange and wonderful world awaited me. (Yes, I do judge books by their covers.)  What I discovered was a fun, camp fantasy romp of a novel. Assistant to the Villain is what I\u2019ve decided to call a \u201cDopamine Read\u201d. Similar to Dopamine Dressing or Dopamine Decorating, this book is a mood booster. All it asks is that you suspend your disbelief (and I mean all of it!) and, yes, ignore some of the anachronistic elements. Just come along for a wild ride, because sometimes we just need a book that will make us happy. Based on a viral TikTok series (which I had somehow never seen, but definitely didn\u2019t need to in order to enjoy the book), Evie Sage becomes the assistant of Rennedawn\u2019s most infamous villain to support her family. While nursing a crush on her boss (The Villain!) Evie is on the case of what she suspects is a traitor in the Villain\u2019s midst, someone who is foiling The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":172709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[6678],"tags":[986,987,15655,6799,14394,15498,15654,4482,4577,4584],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Villain-748.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172705"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172705"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173218,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172705\/revisions\/173218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}