A review by rehtaehwashere
Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

adventurous funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 I really wanted to love this book as much as I loved the first, but I just didn't. It was still cute and funny and adventurous with some really nice underlying themes, but I felt it fell short of the first book in quite a few ways, most of which are related to the book leaning into too many common fantasy and romance tropes, which I feel like the first book managed to avoid beautifully. To clarify, there is NOTHING wrong with using tropes, but there are some that have been over done, especially lately, and those were the ones that were primarily used in this sequel, which was unfortunate. 
  • I liked that Evie is becoming
    more of a villain
      and that there's a bigger plot that's been introduced. I enjoyed the character growth from a lot of the characters, especially Becky, and the overall theme that chosen family is just as important as family by blood. 
  • I disliked the constant 'will they won't they' because I enjoy the fantasy and humor more than the romance aspect of these books. I disliked the constant thirsting from MULTIPLE characters this time, and the M
    'not actually dead' family member
    trope - its overdone and old. Also the back and forth going in circles chase to find
    her mother
    got annoying after the first time. I also dislike the constant 'she's so SMALL AND PRETTY AND CAN'T HANDLE HERSELF' crap, which the author tried so hard to turn around and show that the character CAN handle herself, but it doesn't change the fact that she kept writing it AND proving that Evie 'needs' the man to get her out of scrapes. Also a lot of Evie's one-liners in this book weren't funny like they were in the first - they were just cringey.  Also the sentries? Look, actions, even the name are directly out of Hogwart's Legacy. Come on. 
  • Overall thoughts: Genuinely a fun book, I loved the
    cave made of a piece of sky and that Fluffy found his fire
    and chosen family coming together. I love that Evie's
    heart darkening
    is a huge plot line in this book and that 
    Trystan blames himself for it even though it's not his fault, at all
    . I really enjoy the fantasy setting, and that the actual villain
    is the king who is supposed to be the 'good guy' but is actually horrible
    , and that some people will always be horrible and that will never change. I know it's a romance but romance can exist without constant horny thirsting - that gets old SO fast and genuinely started to annoy me. Plus the will they won't they, oh they did, but now they're pretending they didn't think was irritating as well. I genuinely do not care if they ever date in this book, in fact I hope they DON'T, but either make it an actual slow burn or make a decision. 
  • Recommend to a friend? N - I loved the first and would always recommend it but based on the second, I truly think its just going to go downhill from here. 

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