Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer — Review: Is It Worth the Hype?

So, let’s talk about Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer. Because this book has been hyped as morally grey, villain romance… and that is not quite what it is…

If you expected grit, bite, and genuine menace in the bedroom, you may feel mildly betrayed.

If you expected a whimsical villain in a fantasy office romcom with slow burn tension you’ll probably have a really good time.

On this page, you will find a quick overview, and get a great understanding of whether this book is for you. Anything with major spoilers has been hidden behind a dropdown so you can choose if you want to know.

Should I read Assistant to the Villain?

The tone? Whimsy first, danger second

This is where expectations matter.

Some of the marketing leans heavily on “morally grey villain.” It depends on where you got your rec. With that said, some readers expected Damon Torrance’s energy. Or something genuinely dangerous.

Instead, the Villain feels more like a moody executive with trauma than a ruthless tyrant. Sure, he murders someone for hurting a duck, but it’s wrapped in humor that removes the dark, evil feel of him. If you want to be slightly afraid of your MMC…I’m not sure this is the book. 

The themes and plot points explored are gripping. Things that need true representation. I think the author will explore them in the coming books, and she may drop the whimsy a bit as it has to go deeper into the dark underbelly Hannah has created. 

Where did Assistant to the Villain actually come from?

Before it was a novel, it was a TikTok series.

Hannah Nicole Maehrer built the story as serialized content on TikTok with short, punchy, comedic scenes that gathered a following before a publisher came knocking…entangled then picked it up, and the book version landed in August 2023. This matters because it explains a lot about the tone. It really does feel… piecemeal… funny, in a light-hearted, watered-down, for social media way.

When you wonder why the worldbuilding feels a little thin, or why the pacing leans into banter over stakes, that’s the Tik Tok. 

The audience that followed it on TikTok got exactly what they signed up for. Readers arriving from the fantasy romance shelf with different expectations may feel confused. Neither experience is wrong. They’re just reading two very different versions of what this book promised them.

What is Evie Like?

Evie works.

And I mean that literally too.

One of the genuinely refreshing things about this book is that she is good at her job. She organizes. She solves problems. She stabilizes everyone around her (so you get to see some great character arcs that she genuinely connects with). She seems how you would imagine a mature young adult might handle people around them if they were parentified. 

In romantasy, we often get chosen ones, assassins, and queens in exile. Here? We get admin excellence with a dash of mothering. That’s actually cool because it’s a little different. 

She can lean naive because of the way the author handles her voice. Her voice is bright. Slightly whimsical. So, of course, that will divide readers. Some find it endearing. Others find it juvenile.

For me, she lands as charming but not especially layered in book one. I wonder if the author will take this into something a little darker later to balance out the themes, or stick to the fun, romcom, vibes. 

What is The Villain Like?

If you expected true menace, evil, brooding, this is where you reconsider this read.

He is a little sulky.

He is traumatised.

He is violent.

He yearns.

He is not terrifying.

The “villain” branding oversells his darkness. He doesn’t scream fractured monster. Think rogue, dark prince, or bard energy. That works for some, obviously, but if you love Damon from The Vampire Diaries, you are getting more of a Stefan. 

The chemistry? It’s slow burn. Very slow. But oh, the yearning.

The dual POV: does it work?

Yes. I actually loved it for this story. It was a good structural choice. 

You get both Evie’s first-person voice and Trystan’s POV, and they read differently enough that the shift doesn’t feel like the same person wearing two hats. That takes skill to do, so for a debut novel, color me impressed.

Evie’s chapters are bright, slightly chaotic, mothering-the-whole-office energy. Trystan’s are quieter. Slower. You see him noticing things he’s absolutely not going to say out loud, which works really well to create that slow-burn, “you know they want to” energy.

The dual POV also does something useful, as it closes the information gap that makes slow burns frustrating. You’re not sitting there screaming,’ Why won’t he just say something? ‘because you already know why. You’ve been inside his head and get all the answers. It still has a little bit of miscommunication going on, which will be very frustrating for readers sick of that trope. 

Plot and worldbuilding

The world is a fairly standard fantasy kingdom backdrop. It exists to support the workplace dynamic, not to rival epic fantasy. This isn’t a world where the author spent years weaving pieces together, but it is fun, which is the exact right word for this story. 

The side characters? Some of them have stuck in my mind for ages after; they’re fun, feel real, feel like the right sort of pick for this story.  Some feel lightly sketched, but there’s room to explore. 

If you want intricate political fantasy, this will not satisfy you.

Why are reactions so divided?

Is it actually good?

Here’s the honest answer. It’s not profound. That’s ok, not every book needs to be, and I can see what the author was going for. 

I imagine this was planned as a cheerful, fun, quirky, almost Disney-like story, but add a touch of gore.

As an entry point into romantasy for readers who don’t want heavy spice or gross levels of violence, it’s actually a smart gateway book. 

Evie’s backstory and her father

Evie’s mother is dead, like most cliche main characters in fantasy stories, it works for a reason, but is also one of those tropes that a lot of readers quickly get sick of. 

Her father is sick, too. But if you’re looking for a book with a good representation of chronic illness, you won’t find it here.

I found the ableism here a little…eesh. As someone with a severe chronic illness and children, there were moments I felt the inner monologue wasn’t kind enough, or made Evie a martyr to his illness. It’s great to have representation of the devastation of chronic illness, but at the cost of making the sick look like manipulators, and willing to use their children, it’s a little much. I can’t quote you the exact lines, but I remember the feeling. If you have experience with chronic or progressive illness, go in aware that some of the framing around his limitations may make you wish for better representation, and realize there’s not much. 

Because of his illness, money is tight. That’s what pushes Evie into applying for the Villain’s assistant position in the first place.

SPOILER

As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that her father is not just flawed. He is deeply corrupt and involved in trafficking and exploitation. He essentially offered Evie up as leverage. Yey for dead mother evil father trope.

This is where the book unexpectedly sharpens. For all the whimsy and office banter, Evie’s family trauma is dark. It just sits under a bright narrative voice.

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