Apprentice to The Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
SYNOPSIS
Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome (shhh, bad for his brand) evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat… er, out-of-evil-office.
Bu Rennedawn is in grave trouble, and all signs - Kingsley’s included - point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom’s magic, and it’s made the The Villain’s manor vulnerable to their enemies… including their nemesis, the king.
Now it’s time for Evie to face her greatest challenge: protecting The Villain’s lair, all of his nefarious works, and maybe (provided no one finds out) the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie.
It’s time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It’s all so…so…delightfully fun.
But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?
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Evie and The Villain keep me hooked every second that they share the page. This sequel to Assistant to The Villain lived up to my expectations and was an extremely fun adventure to get lost in as my last read of August. I think we can all say we feel at least a little bit connected to Evie and her proclivities towards the morally grey… except we’re smart and keep that fixation purely fictional and Evie….. well, I won’t spoil anything ;). I did find some instances quite a bit more cheesy than I expected (ie the sudden “badassary” of Evie at the start of the book) but I really loved how Evie’s character grew into her self-assurance AND proved time and again her skill and knowledge. Girl definitely deserved that promotion! I’m not a huge fan of miscommunication tropes but somehow, Evie and The Villain and their incessant second-guesssing was…. cute? I actually giggled and ENJOYED miscommunication? Wild. The book did meander quite a bit on the way to the point and, as much as I enjoyed each chapter, there were many scenes that didn’t really move the plot forward that could have been cut to make this book a little faster-paced. It felt like an editing issue to me. Overall though, I had a blast reading this sequel.
We start off this story almost exactly where the first one left off, with Trystan in prison, and Evie on the way to rescue him. We get action right from the start in this book with a coup against the king, a dashing escape, and a prophecy that must be brought to fruition or all magic will disappear. We follow Evie and The Villains points of view for the most part but we get some side chapters from Becky’s point of view which was a pleasant surprise. In book 1, all we really got of Becky was that she was a hardcore stickler for rules, and she hated Evie. In this book we get to explore more of a journey of girlhood and the complicated relationships between women from enemies to, dare I say it, friends? I loved that this book reflects a lot of present day social norms in that, as you grow into yourself and into womanhood you realize that other girls are your allies, not your competition.
Alongside the growth we got from Becky and Evie, other side characters got to take centre-stage a bit more as well which turned this series from a fantasy romance between Evie and The Villain into an adventurous series about found family… with a sprinkling of romance. And, as much as we all got into this book due to the promise of romance between a sunshine assistant and her grumpy boss, this book didn’t make the romance the main focus and I think that was a great way to build up the slow burn between these two main characters while allowing us to explore the world outside the romance further.
I highly enjoyed getting to explore more of the world and magic system of Rennedawn in this book as our characters travelled from forests to villages to ancient secret castles and back again. I feel like we got more of a “lay-of-the-land” that is usually needed to feel connected to the world the story takes place so that when the inevitable battle happens, we care about more than just our main characters. This book did the job of getting us invested in the common folk and the land itself. The whimsical madness and mysterious prophecies were highly reminiscent to me of Once Upon a Broken Heart.
The plot itself was a great way to keep the reader hooked from the start. It had ebbs and flows, moments of peace between moments of action and danger. Throughout the book our characters went on various quests to find answers and each quest had friendly bickering, humorous faux-pas, and breathtaking danger for our characters that lent to great bonding moments. My one holdback on this was that, as fun as it was to have mini side quests, slowly building in intensity until the final climax, there were a lot of small in-between scenes that weren’t needed. Now I won’t complain about them as I love the small moments between Trystan and Evie and their respective families but, as great as those moments are, there were a few too many included that didn’t move the plot forward and weren’t unique enough on their own to merit being kept in the final manuscript. This is an issue I’ve seen a few times now with books published by Red Tower Books and I just hope that they get a little better at leaving some unnecessary chapters on the cutting room floor.
Overall I really liked this book and I find Maehrer’s way of writing a breath of fresh air. I did rate this one 3.75 stars just because of the meandering. It shouldn’t have taken me over a week to get through this book and it definitely could have been 200 pages instead of 350. However, I do think it avoided that “second book syndrome” that sequels usually have by still being exciting enough on it’s own that it didn’t feel too much like a filler even though it sort of was. If you liked the first book, you’ll love this one, and it’s definitely for all those readers who love the whimsical and weird as well as those of us who can’t resist the morally grey villain. Hope you enjoy!