Lauren's Boookshelf

Saturday, November 11, 2023

Book Review: "Assistant to the Villain" by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Title: Assistant to the Villain

Author: Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Series: "Assistant to the Villain" #1

Genre: New Adult Fantasy Romance

Page Length: 352 pages

Publication Date: September 5, 2023

Rating: 4 // 5 stars

Goodreads

I'm sure if you've been on BookTok this year that you've seen this book floating around. It's the next big release from Red Tower Books (yes the Fourth Wing guys) and debuted on the NYT bestseller list. And it was one of my most anticipated releases for this year.

I first heard of this book just by following the author with her TikTok skit series about what it would be like as an assistant to a villain. It was such a fun series and everyone loved it. When it was announced it would be published this year, I was beyond excited to see how it finally came to life.

I had so much fun with this book. It gave comedy fairytale vibes as opposed to gritty serious fantasy vibes, and sometimes I just like the silly goofy time. But if you go into this expecting a serious fantasy with deep world-building and a complex plot, you're not going to get that.

I liked our main characters and a lot of the side characters wormed their way into my heart. It was a great mix of personalities and I'm definitely getting found-family vibes from it all. I think the interactions between all the characters are what drive this book the most.

The plot was engaging and fun, though nothing overly special. I like the slow-burn element of it all and I was definitely not expecting the cliffhanger at the end. I didn't realize this was a series when it was first announced but now I'm incredibly intrigued by where this is all going to go in future books.

My only critique of this book is the editing. It felt very much like a first draft with surface level editing. It wasn't a small issue, either. Most of the book's sentence structures, grammar, pacing, etc could have been greatly improved with another couple rounds of editing. I definitely think that if not for the editing, I would have rating this book 5 stars. It's a fun book and the characters are equally fun, but the actual writing and editing needed work.

Overall, I really enjoyed it and am going to continue with the rest of the series. It's a silly, goofy time and I love books that bring that lightness to me. My hope, though, is that the editing will get better in future books with a longer publication schedule as I think the main issue with the book is that. If you can overlook the editing, I think this is definitely a book worth reading.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Monday, November 6, 2023

October 2023 Book Haul

Another month, another book haul. I got 10 books this month using a combination of preorders from ages ago, gift cards, and some questionable financial decisions. This is one of the biggest hauls I've had this year and I'm really excited about all of them, so let's go ahead and dive in!

Up first, I have My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine. I've heard such great things about this one and when I saw it for super cheap I decided to go ahead and get it. I love a good paranormal book and a good romcom, so the two of them combined sound right up my alley. A few bookish friends have raged about it so it's got me very excited to read it, hopefully soon.

Then I got my preorder of the Fairyloot edition of Foxglove by Adalyn Grace. This is the sequel to Belladonna, which I got last year when it first came out. It really is a stunning edition, so I knew I wanted to get the matching sequel. So far, I've not yet read the first book but it is on my rather soon-ish tbr and I've heard great things. I've read the author's debut book and I really loved it so I'm hopeful that this one will be just as good.

Then, I had a gift card I found in my wallet that I'd forgotten about so I decided to treat myself to some books. I got three from Waterstones that I'm excited about. Up first is Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. I read this a few months ago on Kindle Unlimited and absolutely loved it but was holding off on getting a physical copy until my end of the year spree. But when I found the gift card I knew I wanted to pick up a copy sooner for my shelves.

The next one I got with my gift card was The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore. Now, right after I bought it with my gift card it showed up in my local Works for £2.50 so I kinda wish I'd waited just a week and gotten it for lower and had used my gift card for something else. But either way, I'm excited about this one. I've heard it's like a Hallmark movie in book form for autumn and I'm all about those vibes. Plus, a lot of people seem to be enjoying it.

The last book I got with my gift card with A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley. This is another paranormal romcom and the perfect vibes for the October/Halloween time. I love a fake-dating scenario as well so this sounds great. I've seen some of my bookish friends read and enjoy this one so I'm hopeful that I'll enjoy it as well.

Then I grabbed up Plier by Jane Washington. I absolutely love this book and everything I've read by Jane. I first read Plier in July I think and I loved it. The third book comes out at the end of November and I'm really looking forward to rereading this one and continuing with the series. Of course, I needed a copy of the book in order to do that...so here we are. I'm just excited to add more Jane Washington books to my shelf.

I'm subscribed to Fairyloot's Adult box and this month was The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon. This edition is absolutely beautiful with fancy edges, a new cover, and plenty of artwork. I believe there's also bonus content, which is really exciting. This was one of my more anticipated releases of the back half of the year so I'm really happy that it was in a Fairyloot box. I'm very much looking forward to reading it, hopefully soon!

Then I impulse-bought The Stars are Dying by Chloe C. Peñaranda. I've read one book by this author and enjoyed it but this is the first in a completely different series. I've seen a lot of hype for it and it just got picked up for publication by a traditional publisher. It was on my TBR on Kindle Unlimited but when it was announced, it was pulled off and I knew I wanted to grab a copy to read it when I wanted. So here we are...

Then I finally got my preorder of the Fairyloot edition of Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. I love this book and I was so excited that I managed to get a signed copy in the original sale. And it's finally arrived! It's got a reversible dust jacket, stenciled edges, and embossing. It's in great condition, though the dust jacket has some nicks in it. However, they're already sending out replacement dust jackets so I'm not too worried about it either way. I also snagged a matching copy of the Iron Flame in the sale recently so I'm quite excited about that.

The last book I got was Powerless by Lauren Roberts. I'd seen this around on TikTok a lot and the hype is real. It sounds quite interesting and like it'd go well since I love a good fantasy romance. I saw it for cheap at The Works when I was doing some early Christmas shopping so I went ahead and snagged a copy. I'm not quite sure when I'll read it as the sequel is still a ways away but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Friday, November 3, 2023

October 2023 Wrap-Up

October was a wild month. Personal life wise, it was rather rough. In terms of reading, I read a lot of books (though most of them are not new favorites). In total, I read 14 books and two complete series. My favorite was definitely my reread of the Bonds that Tie series, continuing J. Bree's hold on my reading year. But I also really enjoyed Daughter of the Drowned Empire and have already continued on with the series. I'm also going to continue with the sequel to An Heir Comes to Rise soon.

I'm hoping that November will be a good reading month in terms of both quantity and quality. There's some new releases I'm looking forward to and some books on my TBR that I'm quite excited about. But, for now, let's get into my October wrap up!