Assistant to the Villain is the debut novel by (very funny) TikTok star Hannah Nicole Maehrer. In a tale as old as time, and as inevitable as a happy ending, Maehrer’s now written a book exploring and expanding on one of her best shticks: the romantasy pairing of a grumpy Dark Lord and their sunshiny assistant.
Evie is struggling. Her dad is ill and out of work. Her mom is long gone. This leaves Evie to take care of her family and her precocious younger sister. Her job at the smithy wasn’t awful, but she wasn’t willing to do (cough) ‘overtime’ with the blacksmith, and was unceremoniously fired (and stabbed). While pondering her future, Evie wanders into the forest you should wander into, and stumbles right into the path of a violent chase. When the dust settles, she’s somehow in the arms—and employ—of the titular The Villain, her kingdom’s very own brooding and chiselled Dark Lord.
Evie, to everyone’s surprise, makes a fine, if colourful, addition to the Dark Side. She organises his schedule, ensures he gets his coffee (or now-obligatory equivalent thereof), and helps the whole evil organisation run more smoothly, and with fewer beheadings. The Villain is, of course, brooding with a purpose, but, as time goes by, starts thinking that maybe he should enjoy a few of life’s little pleasures (like his hot PA) instead of relentlessly pursuing apocalyptic revenge.
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Assistant to the Villain
If you’ve read any romance, much less any romantasy, you probably know how this is going to play out. This isn’t exactly an enemies-to-lovers scenario, as much as an opposites instantly attract one—a sizzling will-they-won’t-they that continuously builds, with the full force of narrative inescapability behind it. While our leads agonise over their inevitable work up to smooshing, the real heroes are in the everyday. Team Villain are a hoot. The staff of Evil includes a goofy animal trainer, a pink-obsessed staff doctor, an ogre chef, and the obligatory office Mean Girl. There’s even a scene-stealing frog: a hostage, transformed prince. The dynamic between this group of oddballs is charming: a found family who have made their home on the furthest outskirts of society. The quirky office dynamic is a joy—think Parks & Recreation, plus a romantic subplot, involving an even hotter (somehow) Nick Offerman.
This winning combination is almost enough, and perhaps more than enough, to distract from the book’s fairly ramshackle plot. Assistant to the Villain reads more like a fix-up than a holistic novel. There’s a central story of sorts, but each episode seems to have been composed in isolation. Each individual chapter introduces a twist, with some Plan, Secret, or other Revelation hurtling in from left-field. The final chapters attempt to stuff all these goodies into a single basket and struggle to do so. The book’s ultimate moments are undermined by frantic infodumping. The Big Bad has to lend the reader a hand by gluing everything together with a lengthy monologue.
Maehrer’s got a wicked sense of humour and great comic timing, so when the book is trying to be funny, it is, indeed, very funny. However, Assistant to the Villain occasionally shuffles towards the serious, which isn’t to the book’s advantage. Our beloved Villain is a bad guy. It is sweet that he’s sweet on Evie, it is nice that he protects his friends, and it is great that he’s smolderingly hot. As Voldemorts go, he could be worse. When the book hits its comedic strides, the constant references to murder and mayhem are part of the shtick. That’s literally the joke: he’s Hot Sauron! But when the book takes a deep breath and tries to explain to the reader that ‘he’s not that bad!’, well, you start to feel a bit queasy, because… well, he is. Evie leaves no flower unsniffed and no puppy uncuddled, yet is perfectly blithe about the continuous screaming from the torture chambers. It is very sweet that the Villain once baked a birthday cake, but does that really offset all the murdering? Like most comedies, the premise doesn’t (and shouldn’t) invite close scrutiny.
Honestly though, it doesn’t really matter. If you’re reading Assistant to the Villain for the plot, or for philosophical insight, you’ve set out on the wrong path to begin with. This is a binge-read of the highest order.
“Page-turner” is an overused term, but Assistant to the Villain is a genuinely fast, light and enjoyable book. It has two sweet oddballs as leads, a host of darling side characters, and a whole bundle of laugh-out-loud shenanigans. You’re better off not thinking too much about it, but Evie and her hot hunk of evil are such a delightful distraction that it is easy to go with the flow.
Assistant to the Villain is published by Red Tower Books.
Jared Shurin is the editor of The Big Book of Cyberpunk, The Djinn Falls in Love, The Outcast Hours, The Best of British Fantasy series, and many others. He writes irregularly at Raptor Velocity.
