Angela Oliver's Reviews > Assistant to the Villain

The fact this book took me three weeks to read is testament to how put-down-able it was. The story was engaging enough that i did finish it, however.

The setting was an awkward juxtaposition. Evil villain living in a mansion with an unpleasant name, manned by loyal staff who seem to spend a lot of time joking around. It felt like someone had taken a modern office and dropped it into a mediaeval kingdom and just kind of rolled with it. We were never really told what Evie did specifically, all we knew was things would fall apart without her. Apart from the occasional severed head, Trystan wasnt particularly villainious. He felt more Robin Hood than anything. We were constantly told how much he admired Evie but there didn't seem anything particularly admirable about her. She felt very much a blank slate/reader insert with the "quirky" flaw of being clumsy.

Ugh, why do amateur authors think clumsiness is endearing? Is it so the hero can rescue them? Probably...

Evie does show some spine though. When she rage-quits, for example, and later in the story dueing the climax. The twist was actually pretty decent, although possibly not foreshadowed well. Probably would've worked better if the author had set up more red herrings.

Also, there was virtually no romance. The slowburn basically fizzled put in favor of setting up a hook for book two.

Overall, it reads like the sort of fun story anyone who wasn't internet established already would be forced to independently publish. Not terrible, but not especially good either. Could have probably done with a few rewrites, edits and polishes, instead of probably just being grammar checked and sent to market to cash in on the tiktokkers fame.

Disclaimer: i havent seen the tiktok, maybe she's amazing in person.

If you want a far more compelling cozy fantasy mystery (with no romance), i recommend Kura Jane Carpenter.