Laurens.Little.Library's Reviews > Assistant to the Villain

I’m liking the book so far - I do find the narration a bit choppy and feeling very YA, maybe that’s the writing? Thanks for the honest review - I will continue on and make my own decisions as we all should, just nice to see ppl who don’t like something be fresh about it and allow others the space to like it or not on their own.

The narrator was awful! Though I did end up enjoying the book.

I didn't go with the audiobook, I tried the ebook and I dint think I even made it to 30% before I DNFd it. I think I'd be even more unhappy with the audiobook, from what so many have said! It had promise, but I just didn't deliver for me.

I read vs listened to it so maybe that made a difference. It did track as YA but it was cute. Not literary brilliance but fun banter. It needed editing but honestly the twist ending has me sucked into reading book 2 when it comes out.

No gonna lie. You pretty much captured my thoughts.

It might be entry level fantasy for some tho so I’d say it has worth. It’s was just really far too simplified for my liking. And yes. I almost died by cringe narration.

ohhhh boy. Ava, reviews are for readers, not authors. there’s been a recent uptick in authors acting out in incredibly disturbing ways over negative reviews. it is a valid concern to have. and the whole “if you don’t do the thing, you can’t critique the thing” narrative is very tired. she should be able to post a negative review of a book she didn’t like without someone telling her she’s not equipped to review it properly because she doesn’t write books herself. that misses the point of reviewing.

i also hate the whole “if you didn’t like it, don’t post a review” thing. like, negative reviews are incredibly important to other readers, especially reviews that are as well-written and well-explained as this. a negative review will help someone decide whether the book is for them or not. some negative reviews have listed elements of the book they didn’t like, but i enjoy the elements they dislike. so i ended up picking up the books and enjoying them. in the long run, they have helped me make an informed decision on whether or not to read the book.

people can review books however they want to. its no one’s place to tell another reviewer how they can or can’t review a book unless the review is racist, transphobic, sexist, or just in general bigoted and hateful beyond just not enjoying the work. negative reviews are necessary, and unless the reviewer gives explicit permission for the author to read it, review spaces are for reviewers only.

I am only 10% in and I hate the narrator too! I may have to try the kindle version before I pass judgement.

I’m at 13% and the narrator is killing meeeee

sometimes i read book reviews and wonder why the reviewers (reviewees?) arent the ones writing the books. i wish i wouldve been drinking coffee while i read your review so i could say that i spit my coffee laughing, but i wasnt, so i didnt. but i wouldve. who needs books when you have reviews to read.

I’m 6 minutes in and I might DNF because of the narrator. It sounds like bad AI.

THANK GOD IM NOT THE ONLY ONE

I’m trudging to get through the book. I’ve resorted to the audiobook to see if I can finish it. But, I might dnf this in the next 10 mins.

This review is word for word what I was thinking. I got to 11% and I cannot go any further.

Yep, me too - I genuinely thought I’d picked up a YA book. Will persevere a bit more, but at least I now know I’m not the only one who is underwhelmed by it!

There are such fabulous narrators out there, I just don’t understand. I’ve also been wondering whether anyone edited this book. The idea had promise. Not sure I’ll finish it.

2% in, and I will not continue with this horrible narrator. Can’t imagine how much better it could be with a good narrator, to be honest. Glad I am across this review and everyone else’s reactions before trying to force myself to continue!

I thought this was just me! I can’t figure out why (or how) the narrator was chosen as they are a major distraction! They needed Rebecca Solare! Honestly the PR team sold this book because it honest reads like a Middle school book

The narrator is awful

I’m enjoying it but it definitely reads like a YA & the narrator 100% sucks. She makes it even more YA.

It took me three weeks to finish this book. A book that hooks me? I can read in days... what was the deal with the frog? What was the point of him?

I agree with everything you said. I had to double my audio speed towards the end just so I could finish it and write a fair review

Well, personally, I loved this book. I actually finished it. It got better with time. Maybe if you read more than 30% you would have liked it more. I don’t think a book needs that much criticism. If you read what it was about and it didn’t seem like something you would enjoy, then why read it? Anyway, it was a 5 star read for me. Thanks to the author, Hannah!

I Hated this book as well. No hate to the author or those who love it. Just my personal taste. I tried so hard to finish it and couldn’t do it.

So far I am enjoying the book, but the narrator... Why must every sentence end like the sound of a bouncing spring?? Up-down-up. Anyway, am considering buying the Kindle-edition, so I can enjoy the book better.
It's just a cute time-waste, and currently, that is what I am in need of. :)

Idy wrote: "sometimes i read book reviews and wonder why the reviewers (reviewees?) arent the ones writing the books. i wish i wouldve been drinking coffee while i read your review so i could say that i spit m..."

LMAO this actually made me laugh out loud. Thank you 😂

Agreed. I started and stopped this book so many times. I almost DNF’ed it but I made a goal to limit how many times in a year. Plus, I had pre-ordered and paid full price for it. I tried to like this book (I even finished it to give it a fair shot), but it felt confusing and all over the place. Also, the re-summarizing of a line/description still felt to similar to a line from a movie that it felt like plagiarism (in my opinion, not throwing accusations). I tried to like this book; I really did.

I had such high hopes for this one, started reading the actual book, but had to find the audible because I just can't get into it. the audible might be worse but at least I can do other things while listening . 40 percent and not digging it at all. BORED.

The narrator is so bad I looked her up to make sure I don't listen to any of her other titles.

So it wasn’t just me. DNF due to the exaggerated cadence of the narration.

This review was really helpful in me trying to figure out what about this book just isn't clicking. Well I've never been on tiktok in my life so maybe that's where I've gone wrong with this one. Just wasn't what I had hoped for

you just saved me $13 thanks babe

DNF at 26% - everything you said held true

I'm pretty sure the prerequisite for liking this book was having followed along with alllll her TikToks because this is reading like a big in-joke. Pretty sure my friends and I wrote similar quality stories, passing notebooks back and forth.

I DNFed at the same point. I could not STAND this narrator and the amount of upspeak she did. It was so grating.

Why don’t you let a narrator ruin a good book for you instead of, I don’t know, reading it? It was sweet and funny. No it didn’t rely on sex to carry the story, but if you’d stuck with the story you may have liked the quirky characters. I guess it’s just not everyone’s cup of tea, but I thought it was like an unorthodox fairy tale.

Booo

Wait— this is suppose to be adult? I had no idea I rated it high since I went into it thinking it was YA And enjoying it as such! I felt a bit differently but maybe because I listened to the audiobook.

This should have definitely been marketed as YA.

100% agree with every word you said. Was not even slightly funny. The narrator was terrible, the story - boring. The only things I liked were the title and the premise. From there, it was all a let-down.

Lol dnf at 8%… saw your review and knew it wasn’t going to get better so I stopped

DNF at 16 pages in. I completely agree with your review and I also could not get a past the “super clumsy” main character trope. I think this book had a lot of potential and I would be open to reading other books by this author .

I am glad I'm not alone. I have tried twice to read this book. You nailed it when you said it reads like middle school. It jumps around, and I just couldn't get through it.

DNF either. I have a high tolerance and celebrate the wide diversity among narrators. This was simply terrible. As for comments about why not read it anyway? Well, I have a TBR pile that extends beyond my life time. If I have to work that hard to try to like a book instead of picking up another work I’ll enjoy, it’s wasting my time.

I too felt like the narrator’s delivery was weird, but I sped it up to 1.3x and it made everything much better.

I dnf’d the audio so hard. The print version is much better - I am only 6% in though…

“Tastes and slaps” ( this is a hungarian Proverbs and means, everybody has his own taste of something) Haha! I loved the book. 🫶🏻

Totally agree about the narrator. Almost stopped listening because of how she read, but hung on until the end.

Could not agree with you more

Narrator was just awful. Sped it up and it was better. I did finish but just not that great. Def read like YA.

Currently listening to it... I had to put it up to 2x speed for the narrator to be slightly bearable. Trying to finish it out since I have no other audios atm.

30% and finally giving up. I just don’t like it.