Why I gave ASSISTANT TO THE VILLAIN 1 star

[@ReadswithRachel]

The first 500 people to use my link will get a 1-month free trial of Skillshare! skl.sh/readswithrachel05241

[@KakiOlsenCreative]

Got signed up with this!

[@ReadswithRachel]

@@KakiOlsenCreative I'm so happy tohear this!!

[@McCammalot]

Good Lord. It's like they demonize post partum women on expletive purpose in this country.

[@heyheysheashea12]

I cannot stop picturing the Villan as Dr Doofenshmirtz. I have to keep reminding myself that this isn't set in the Tri State Area

[@ReadswithRachel]

NOOOOOO

[@asteridshydrangea-jt2hf]

I was about to say that sounds like fun but then I realized I was picturing an extremely different female lead.

[@rossellaaurora5412]

fr this book feels like a Dr. Doofenshmirtz x Isabella Medieval AU fic😭

[@Victoria-_]

😂😂😂

[@sunnydered5545]

I wish this villain was as fun as Dr. Doof... it would be fun! He's a divorced dad! He has a platypus for a nemesis! He's ambitious but not too ambitious. Somebody love this man!

[@Queencereal]

No because this would have actually been a really good book if the FMC was a 10 year old boy who keeps trying to do “villainous” things as the assistant, but keeps messing up and doing “good” I.e. he’s sent to remove someone from a village and then accidentally helps the person deliver their bakery goods when their truck breaks down.

[@ReadswithRachel]

OH MY GOD PLEASE SOMEONE WRITE THIS

[@bananatos8929]

Could you please write this?? I'd throw my money at you in a heartbeat, I swear

[@PosiWritesStories]

Pretty good idea for a short story. As an aspiring author I might consider it!

[@CelticGuardian7]

This is a great idea and I'm tempted to steal it. XP

[@aname4399]

this is an episode of the marvelous misadventures of flapjack . which was also more fun to watch than this book was to read

[@toffeeandcreme7047]

I feel like the reason the whole p*rn without plot thing works at least passably in fanfic is that the source media did the legwork for character building. You come into the fanfic with a whole picture of the characters and world built in your head so the story can get away with skipping to the “focal point”. Maybe someone has already said this but it just occurred to me that that’s why all of the “fanfic style novels” just don’t hit for me at all.

[@Helcaloth]

I've been thinking about this a lot! And it's odd to me how little publishers seem to be considering this fact?

[@Ashbrash1998]

​@@HelcalothThey aren't imo, it's all about checking boxes to what is popular and will sell well. They don't care if it's well written just if it's marketable.

[@PlaceholderName-b4d]

Yeah, in fanfic we excuse the bad writing and plot because we just want to picture specific scenes in our heads, and reading some words helps form that image better. For a book creating a character from scratch that doesn't work.

[@ceinwenchandler4716]

Yeah. Speaking as an author who also writes a lot of fanfic, writing fanfic is always easier because you can assume the reader is already familiar with and cares about the characters and setting. Fanfic requires no setup. Using the same approach to write an original novel is a terrible idea.

[@hajlesilezja]

it's why i automatically don't trust anything that's tagged as grumpy-sunshine, somehow the sunshine is always just the smallest cutest girl you've ever met, have you seen her hands, they're frickin tiny it's like holding hands with a raccoon! and she's so silly and clumsy and innocent bonus points if she's a "virgin" like is it really such an unfathomable concept for the sunshine to be a woman who's always trying to be positive and see the good in everything and everyone and loves cute shit but is also a smart, reasonable adult, why does the sunshine always gotta mean 'infantilised to hell' i'm so tired

[@katgreer6113]

Infatalised? Because the female leads are usually tiny?

[@arkkon2740]

​@@katgreer6113 no, because she has the mind of a 3rd grader. Remember when she said, out loud, "Oh, I trust you like my dog. So I thought your name is lucky, which is the name of my dog! :D" I could legit hear that in a child's voice and I hate it

[@noPotatoesAtAll]

this is why i never read grumpy/sunshines unless a. theyre not romantic or b. the girl is the grumpy (the sunshine can be boy or girl)(or theyre both boys)

[@thedeliveryboy1123]

you know I have been writing and rewriting a story for years and I've been lamenting the fact that the romantic couple stopped being the "grumpy/sunshine" dynamic but when you put it like THAT it makes me really happy about how far I've gone LMAO 😭

[@hydralily1646]

@@katgreer6113 woman can be small without being tiny.

[@emmettjoyce3100]

“he’s too pretty to be evil, evil people should be grotesque looking” oh wow along with the cartoonish humor we also get the cartoonish ableism! because looking different automatically makes you bad!

[@strangeaelurus]

The moment I heard that I couldn't believe it… how in the year 2024 are people still believing this :/

[@strangeaelurus]

The moment I heard that I couldn't believe it… how in the year 2024 are people still believing this :/

[@JadeReloaded]

​@@strangeaelurusisn't this the entire foundation of tiktok?

[@spacecat_scribbles]

yeah when I first heard this I was sure it was rachel paraphrasing for dramatic effect the fact that it's actually in there is *vile*

[@KakiOlsenCreative]

@@strangeaelurusbecause it’s an outgrowth of “the villain is always fat and perverted.”

[@operaismyreligion]

the villain only hurting men but not women is more sexist than it's desperately trying not to be

[@joelleblanc8670]

This is a perfect example of the current state of publishing. You don't have to write a good book. You have to write a MARKETABLE book and also have a social media following. By the time people realize the book is poorly written... the publisher will already have sold lots of copies.

[@emolawolf]

Believe me, it's nothing new. It have been happening for at least 20 years, but most likely a lot longer. There're literally authors that for years sold thousands of copies of awful books just because they wrote few good ones or the first book in the series was a hit and their name turned into a brand. Nowadays it's just more visible because X years ago you had... MySpace? Forums? And other than that all the talk happened in person.

[@TheNumnutRandomness]

@@emolawolf Example: James Patterson's "output" the past 20+ years. Yet apparently publishing is shutting out talent like his in favor of _diversity_ 🙄Just what will we do without his flavor of ghostwritten NYT-bestselling dreck?

[@dr_not_sam]

@@emolawolf Oh, it's something that's been going on for hundreds of years. It's not like people didn't want to make money in the past. Celebrities published books just because they would sell. People published all sorts of absolute drivel and unhinged nonsense. A lot of it has been lost to time because it wasn't good. But some have made it. For example, Charlotte Temple by Susanna Rowson. This was published in America in 1797 and was the number one bestseller in the country until Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852. The plot is girl gets seduced by a man, gets pregnant, dies because having sex unmarried is the worst thing anyone can do. It's super predictable, basic, and very much designed to just make money, particularly the half-baked sequel which was 100% just a moneygrab. There's basically nothing different between that book and the 10,000 identical YA fantasies. The book is even explicitly for teenage girls and features a teenage protagonist. Humans have literally never had an original thought lol

[@Unstableo]

No because you’re so on point!! Sadly so… Makes me even more scared of ever even trying to publish my book that I have spent years working on with 90% of that time only on characters and relationships that feel real, plot, arc and backstory, making maps, timelines and alllll that because for what? I could just write a braindead shitty wattpad romance and become a millionaire or what?? Ugh :(

[@LadyDesire-mu1zp]

What I’m struggling with now! I have great paranormal romance ideas (I love angels demons that sort of concept). But I’m worried about marketing because I’m trying to get out of debt. So the thought of sales are what’s killing me

[@DreameEater]

'fun little animal companion that holds up funny signs' is a concept that was played out better in horrible histories. rattus rattus, i thank you for your service

[@mst3kharris]

I find myself weirdly disappointed the frog isn’t a Michigan J. Frog homage.

[@thefatherlord5574]

my immediate thought was of Elizabeth from Gintama lol

[@ingridsouzalimaesilvacaixe560]

Maaaaaan horrible histories was my JAM

[@vainpiers]

Visual gags work better when they're visual

[@mst3kharris]

@@vainpiers obviously it couldn’t be a straight ripoff, because as yoi say, it’s a visual gag. But a top hat isn’t too much to ask, I think?

[@nonbinarychaoticstupid6678]

nimona (both the graphic novel AND the film) does a lot better with this core concept *and* features a father/daughter / mentor/mentee relationship. plus it's actually charming and funny

[@ruleofthree99]

thank you i was just thinking this is like awful cishet nimona EDIT: and ofc rachel just held nimona up, lol...

[@equinoxcrow]

The major problem with these types of books is that they really don't understand the characters they are writing about. Villains are the heroes of their own stories. MegaMind is the best example of a villain romantic comedy. It understands that he is evil and does evil shit because he can and he falls for a girl while still being evil. None of these authors seem to understand that or how how heroes work. The Boys is another good example of how to make the heroes the villain and the bad hero.

[@saintxendahlia]

I AM *ALWAYS* HERE FOR MEGAMIND AS A SOURCE OF GOOD WRITING AND MEDIA

[@equinoxcrow]

@@saintxendahlia it's the villain romance I judge all by.

[@stephennootens916]

I am not sure that is what it is going for. 35 minutes and these like weird bad spoof every dark romance that somehow got popular. I have seen enough reviews of those books to know so far this book is checked off almost every so called plot points that are in those books. The only difference os no sex.

[@queenmarshmallow8013]

I am going to have to disagree with you on the whole, Megamind is evil thing. He's a villain bc he was judged to be evil, and no one gave him a chance to be good. When he got the chance to be the hero, he took to it like a duck to water, after some encouragement. Everything else is a 100 percent.

[@gliscorpropagandaaccount1764]

@@queenmarshmallow8013 nevermind that Metroman left in part because Megamind wouldn't do anything too bad, just have his fun

[@Virgo117]

Moral of the story, read Nimona instead

[@nyrakyle7159]

@@Virgo117 why does it feel like this book was meant to be Nimona but straight 💀

[@Artbyhurricanyounot]

Of all the things I hate about this book, the worst is the fact that the villain has the same name as my ex

[@edithblackwood9691]

It's worse for me because the villain has the same name as my brother.

[@DestinysPookie]

is it also Trystan with a y? haha

[@stardustdemon8273]

@@edithblackwood9691 oh that def sucks 😭

[@Artbyhurricanyounot]

@@DestinysPookieno not with a Y lol thank goodness

[@edithblackwood9691]

@@DestinysPookie also not with a " y" bits still GROSS

[@asteridshydrangea-jt2hf]

Also such a shame. When I heard about it I kind of assumed/hoped it was the trope of the hyper competent unimpressed assistant who takes the job of VILLAIN’s assistant in stride because she’s resourceful and intelligent and isn’t impressed by her ominous terrifying boss, more of a Nightmare Before Christmas style tone with humor over some genuinely alarming actions. ETA: LIKE IMAGINE if the original meet cute was actually a result of villain issues and in the process of grudgingly patching him up she gives him a bunch of dry local tips about the trap he walked into, and the melodramatic villain is like ‘you WILL come work for me’ then after she’s like ‘that sounds like way too much trouble’ he triples the salary or something and she instantly does an about face and deadpan goes ‘looking forward to working with you starting immediately’

[@asteridshydrangea-jt2hf]

If I was writing it with a deadpan heroine the ex would have been like, too similar. They dated because they vibed but then they vibed TOO much, they both have the exact same reserved deadpan hyper-efficient personality and rather than chemistry, they ended up with perfect symmetry better suited to a friend/coworker dynamic. Then you can have awkward jealousy in the LI because it feels weird to see the woman you have a crush on practically be moving and speaking in sync with an ex

[@asteridshydrangea-jt2hf]

ALSO if they want a little bit of an airhead/less than academically proficient heroine why not just give her very different but realized interests? She was apprenticed in gardening or beekeeping or whatever and is just kind of a cheerful hippy that’s bad at filing but is unexpectedly great at employee management. (The gardening or whatever makes her more practical about necessity than expected. I think that could also be a fun archetype! And could fit in with the type of humor that would actually work. A hippy type who believes in crystals considered a little bit overblown in their power but then it turns out she will actually cheerfully lightning strike people if need be. (So she’s sunshine, but could be villainous sunshine.)

[@rebeccawight2599]

Sounds like you want to read Hench!

[@asteridshydrangea-jt2hf]

@@rebeccawight2599I’ll put it on the list, thanks!

[@mewho8057]

@@rebeccawight2599 I read through the comments looking for other people mentioning this one!

[@rinwhittney5039]

we need to take fanfic tropes out of books. I don't think people under srtand that the enemies to lovers and the sunshine x grumpy work because there's already a character there to build off of. They aren't ust enemies to lovers or sunshine x grumpy, they're characters and THEN they're enemies to lovers and sunshine x grumpy

[@izzyeis5752]

pride and prejudice ??

[@tonichan89]

You're riggt, these characters are trope first, character second... or character never.

[@isaacnewton9021]

So freaking true. As a longtime fanfic reader it makes me wanna eat linoleum in sheer frustration to see people lapping up stories structured like fanfic that don't have source material! Fanfic is structured completely different to its source material, because it doesn't have to repeat itself. The source material is where fanfics do all their worldbuilding, characterization and established character relationships. So if you 'file the serial numbers off' without doing a major rewrite... you suddenly don't have any characterization or established relationships, and your story blows :/

[@BelBelle468]

Those tropes were created as a response to a common thing that occurred in fiction, not just fan fic. Basically it can be done, but requires good execution. Which obviously this author couldn’t pull off

[@insertcheesypunhere]

i feel like this should've been an established romance where she has the villain superpowers and is still a goofy ditz, while he handles the logistics of the villainy, acts as the fake villain, and does the equivalent of reeling her in and letting her go.

[@rain2986]

I'd kill to read this one and now you've made me sad it doesn't exist 😭

[@dulcimerthefairy4793]

That is so much better

[@alexisruthmaymiranda8247]

Tbh this book should've been like a slice of life webtoon like each episode would be about their goofy shenanigans and maybe they can have the occasional plot progressing special episode. This could have translated better on a more visual format.

[@zarina98]

But he's not a villain...he's a hero. Not even an anti-hero because killing in medieval-era stories is pretty normalized. Nimona did the same thing but that's a kid's movie intent to show people get villanized for just existing i.e. what it is to be LGBTQIA. This was for adults but it has the "actually the villain is the real hero and has a heart of gold" storyline for kids. There was no fucking villain. Dufensmirts at least tried more than this BS and his daughter IS MORE OF AN ADULT THAN THE MC.

[@emory5533]

I think Pascal and Maximus are the best princess animal sidekicks because of how much they're involved in the story and they don't even talk lol

[@ReadswithRachel]

I love them

[@tonichan89]

Maximus is still tired to me cus of the whole "this creature isn't a dog but it acts like a dog LOL" that's been done to death and it's not cute or funny anymore 😩 Still love Tangled though, one of my faves. Tangled > Frozen Yes I said it. Frozen disappointed me and I'll never like it byyyye ❤ Edited for typoes cus I'm spazzing, can you tell

[@emory5533]

@@tonichan89 yeah, I would have preferred Max acting more like a horse than a dog. But Pascal's eyes aren't accurate at all for a chameleon either so lol

[@iclynnx]

​@@tonichan89Ah yeah, my only problem with Tangled. Horses are actually very misunderstood animals, their body language is not always known even by equestrians, so I def think this "horse acts like dog" trope has had harmful consequences. Almost nobody knows how a happy horse acts. All we see of actual horse behaviour in most media is spooking, rearing and bucking. Maybe flehming their lips. We need more happy horses. Due to how we have traditionally kept and trained horses for so long, horse welfare has been low and that's why horses have a reputation for being spooky, dangerous big animals. When they actually have their needs met, and are trained with consent and positive reinforcement, horses learn to handle scary stuff better and are less likely to cause harm to others and themselves.

[@Man-ej6uv]

if evie was the tough menace and the guy was a villain but actually super meek and ditzy i think that could be interesting

[@galaxygato9642]

Kinda sounds like Nimona!

[@izzyeis5752]

sheego and dr drakken? 😅

[@EviePontecorvo]

I'm just excited that there's a booktok book that isn't secret Reylo fanfic... the bar is in hell.

[@mirimariana]

What is Reylo, PLEASE. I keep seeing it everywhere in Booktube and Booktok and I have no idea what it is 😭

[@rain2986]

@@mirimariana It's a Star Wars ship between the characters Rey and Kylo Ren from the newest trilogy

[@ek0dev]

​@@mirimariana Kylo Ren and Rey from Star Wars(the newer versions) i think

[@rebecca537]

Why has it happened to me twice 😭

[@rebecca537]

Do yoy know which books? I just want to see how many there are

[@Evelyn_Okay]

For Rachel, I'm manifesting a frog companion that has a magic portal stomach and gulps down your belongings so it can carry them around for you. It's name is Turg and they prefer to sleep at the bottom of used teacups.

[@melissaaalbertsberg4344]

this is so wholesome, I started crying over breakfast. thank you for the mental image of Turg, I'm giving them a lil crown, because they are the best

[@strigiformthunderstorm]

Also a member of the Turg fan club

[@noPotatoesAtAll]

Turg is my new favorite person ever

[@ps1hagridoufofcharacter]

i love Turg. coincidentally, this is the second Turg i know

[@tonichan89]

I'm thinking of Turg from CallMeKevin's channel; also a wholesome, hilarious creature. His nose is on his forehead and he just likes to be included.

[@legendaryfrog4880]

He's too hot to be evil? She's spunky and lovable? You can't fool me. This is an anime book!

[@xstarrycity3627]

.....huh? Anime is a medium, not a genre?

[@amara560]

​​@@xstarrycity3627 Exactly. More like fantasy shoujo. Also an 'anime book' is called a manga (for OP).

[@xstarrycity3627]

@@amara560 Or even maybe a light novel. A hell of a lot of light novels get anime adaptations. (Sword Art Online is one of the most famous examples of that)

[@amara560]

@@xstarrycity3627 I definitely feel LN adaptation are on the rise! I always chuckle when I see titles that are waaaay too long. It was probably a LN first xD

[@doriangreg1601]

@@xstarrycity3627yea more than anime I’d probably compare it to some manwha or webnovels out there

[@jojol.2630]

I like how “East marigold” is clearly a fake name but “griffin sage” is not

[@Mystick77721]

Challenge: Try to write a comedy romance with a female lead and not infantilize, dumb her down, or hyper sexualize her. Because apparently that’s what makes women funny Just listening to this gave me the ick. I remember watching Arrow with my brother when I was in middle school and he was in high school. Even 6th grade me (I’m 22 now) found Felicity and Oliver’s dynamic off putting. He and I just stopped watching when the romance happened

[@julias.6658]

See, I have the opposite problem where all my female leads are snarky ungroomed misanthropes. Having a dumbass protagonist might be a refreshing change of pace for me lol.

[@ovgem]

i'm watching the arrow rn, oliver's relationships are comically disastrous... like how are you gonna come back and date the woman you cheated on, and then date the woman you cheated on with HER

[@tonichan89]

Doing that challenge, every single person will write a deadpan sarcastic girl, guaranteed. She'll also be played by that girl from Parks and Rec in the storys film adaptation, the one that dates Chris Pratt.

[@Mystick77721]

@@tonichan89 Accurate 😂😭

[@nerdypenguin9164]

I want to combine Rachel's first want for Kingsley being a magical creature companion thing, with my own idea that he was the king in disguise. He was spying and biding his time for the perfect strike. He could have manipulated Evie that way. And i wanted little Kingsleys on random pages giving cryptic hints to his true identity.

[@asteridshydrangea-jt2hf]

Omfg lmao that would have been amazing

[@nerdypenguin9164]

@@asteridshydrangea-jt2hf much better story than whatever that was. And more imaginative. Now I want to write this story. And keep it funny. Already have so many ideas

[@BlackReshiram]

mmmm girliepop filming this the same day u filmed the gothikana video?? wish i had ur power level LMAO

[@ReadswithRachel]

Lmao i got too ambitious that day

[@BlackReshiram]

@@ReadswithRachel one can only hope ur braincells recovered from dealing withese bad stories xP

[@artistangeli]

I'd like to think that we've moved past infantilizing women and making childlike qualities romantically attractive to fully-grown adults, but many, MANY booktok romances continue to prove me wrong (unfortunately) 😭

[@sciencefantastic]

🎉well I’m working on a genderflipped Beauty and the Beast story that’s actively rejecting all of that 👍

[@sciencefantastic]

And I also have a story with a female werewolf as the hero that doesn't involve gross A/B/O mating junk and is more of a monster movie/romance.

[@ZoduTekai]

@@sciencefantastic I'm making a mlm Beauty and the Beast story that deconstructs childlike qualities as a coping mechanism for grief!

[@fareehashaheen605]

what's worse is that most of these are written by women 😭

[@AC-dk4fp]

Basic issue is that not having to be a grown up is the only form of escapism left in a world where all debut authors are lonely rich girls who grew up getting all there social interactions from the pornography dispenser machine.

[@seraphonica]

"I think I'll disguise myself. better put on that mask with the sigil of the person I'm trying to hide that I'm here under the orders of" said no well-written decently intelligent character ever

[@tiberiusfemur374]

As someone who doesn't use TikTok and is a lover of (actual) villain-based media, I almost bought this based on the title, but didn't after looking at the back. Thanks for letting me know I was right.

[@someonewho]

Yeah…I went through the same feeling. I love villain media but I read the blurb and couldn’t even bother to try it out

[@simphiwethwala8158]

I've never read this book but it was recommended and I do plan on reading it. So try out Hench I hope I didn't traumatize you ( I hope it doesn't 😭but I think you'll like it)

[@nicolelouise7295]

I swear I was so onboard of this until I read "drooling all over him", that description alone told me instalust and a smutty mess. When I imagined a cartoony duo who are unabashedly evil but also comedic Or just generally the tried and true troupe of the competent and tired, even overshadowed assistant who isn't paid enough for this but still stays bc they care, they both care for one another in their own way

[@belovedwinter]

"It gets real convoluted, REAL fast." Implying this wasn't convoluted like 20 minutes ago, oh my god, what even IS this plot??? This is under 400 pages, what... is happening? Sad because the concept is so good but this execution is... woof. 😬

[@AlishaHerbiederbie]

"Once upon a time meets The Office" sounds like something I'd really enjoy, and I am furious already. Let's go

[@AlishaHerbiederbie]

Born sexy yesterday trope? Oh no. No, no, noo. Where is my spray bottle. EDIT Ralph x Vanellope??? Jesus tapdancing christ on bland toast I need brain bleach.

[@AlishaHerbiederbie]

So generic brand DreamWorks animated secondary villain Prince Charming and a DisneyJr princess having a Meet-Cute in that prologue. What is this? I'm not even reading this and my brain hurts.

[@AlishaHerbiederbie]

What kind of Phineas and Ferb world does this lady live in? How does she survive in the real world? Someone call Perry the Platypus. No wait, don't, don't give this author a reason to make that kinky

[@AlishaHerbiederbie]

Death blow magic. Wut.

[@AlishaHerbiederbie]

MASSACRE MANOR???

[@mikankitsune0440]

This book is why developmental editors are so important. A good one would have fixed that sheer af plot. 😮‍💨 unfortunately, it seems dev editors are a dying breed or are being completely ignored.

[@morganmcinroy4211]

Why would they? People still read their terrible books and then they don't have to pay anyone! It's a pretty bad system right now 😔...

[@bumbabees]

@@morganmcinroy4211 peoples standards for entertainment are in hell right now, its insane. consistently surprises me just how little people are willing to settle for.

[@ixeliema]

Cannot believe the sheer amount of disclaimers reviewers have to do to avoid being fucking harassed for disliking something. Humanity was not made to agree on everything, if we did, we'd be entirely the same. The only shit I argue should be universal in human opinion and philosophy is respect for people regardless of whether they're different to you. Ffs

[@KuroIrezumi]

"Tristan with a Y" Me: Tristyn

[@mst3kharris]

Trystyn?

[@astrothsknot]

youtube wants to translate that to English.

[@valerielevasseur8674]

​@@astrothsknotAnd in English, it's................Tristyn.

[@emmettjoyce3100]

i saw a mom on tiktok with a kid named huntyr so you’re not too far off

[@theflyingspaget]

Trystan is a pretty normal name tbh but I would end up reading it as try stan

[@ellys106]

Romantasy books have completely killed any shred of attraction I may have once felt to large, muscled men. Give me a short king, give me a wiry scholar, give me lean and dashing...totally over He's Soooooooo Big and Animalistic just because people think....okay gonna stop ranting lol

[@mercury4885]

that's what i'm SAYING give me milo thatch. or better yet a fat love interest

[@IrisGacha]

the reason i write my male characters the way i do is out of anger for this exact trope lol

[@mst3kharris]

I still watch the scene where Ollie brings Felicity a syringe and claims that it’s a new energy drink a friend wants him to try. The way she asks, almost against her will, “Why is it in a syringe?” and his answer, “I ran out of sports bottles,” complete with his disgusted bodyguard striding off makes me laugh every time. (It’s not lost on me that this scene is from season one, well before they become an item.)

[@ReadswithRachel]

That part of the scene is so funny and would be a 10/10 if not for the "i notice what you put in your body oopsie jk"

[@mst3kharris]

@@ReadswithRachel yeah, the writers constantly harping on how thirsty Felicity was for Ollie was really tiresome. It’s a credit to Emily Bett Rickards that it wasn’t an instant turn off.

[@MarcelleLeiturasPreguicosas]

I never watched arrow because they mishandled oliver so much, and don't even mention what thy did with dinah dying. I think the actress wasn't a good choice for the cast too, she had zero chemistry with everyone else

[@emackenzie]

I'd like this book a lot more if it wasn't a romance and it was just the villain bringing in his young nepobaby daughter to learn how to villain as his assistant

[@orionsbelt25]

I will say I was really miffed that the full legal government name reveal for the Villain happened so early. If you have a character like that that goes by a title or something and no one knows their real name, that's meant to be a big important reveal!!! It's a show of trust! He should've told Evie maybe somewhere past the halfway point in some dramatic tense scene or a scene with a lot of romantic tension happening. Not like we hop into his head and he goes "Ah yes my full name is Jim Smith McEvil" I was so annoyed

[@Pharm2be]

“Like lightning and metal” I’m over here doing calculations to figure out what that meant bc context implies she hates running but metal is intensely conductive/attracts the lightning which would imply she loves running

[@Emdez]

A lot of these authors should just write fanfiction. I feel like shitty fanfiction is better than a shitty book. You don’t have to worry about paying for the fanfic and not liking it, and having wasted your money.

[@vaelia1203]

17:21 The author was too greedy, she wanted the assisstant to be a nice person but somehow she doesn't give a f*ck about murder as long as the murderer is good-looking? You can't give someone morals/be a good person on one page and then throw it out the window on the other side of that same page. Just the prologue and the characters are already butchered.

[@standdownrobots_ihaveoldglory]

Im so tired, I read "why i gave my assistant a villain," and im sorry but my first thought was "yay she got an assistant" 😂

[@kartik3719]

😂😂

[@miapopova2315]

I think this would have worked so well if they paired the author with a really good illustrator and just leaned into the episodic short-form nature of the original web series by making it into a comic strip series.

[@ReadswithRachel]

Agreed

[@Ashbrash1998]

I was thinking this too, especially after learning how this started with skits. Like starting with that and making it into a novel is VERY difficult because the mediums are too different and info/story is handled differently.

[@P0rk_Sinigang]

"What did happen in this book? Ollicity." Oh. OH NO.

[@Goalysgirl]

It seems to be a weird trend in romance to write a very young sounding heroine, and then to show that they are “of age” makes then either super sexual or show they have a sexual past. I agree it’s crazy jarring, like a young adult sounding book and characters with hyper sexualization that comes on super abruptly. Weird

[@name-gu8ml]

I think it's a shame the author didn't commit to the premise and made another "he's accualy just misunderstood" sad boy. It would be way funnier if he was accualy evil, terrorizing the innocent and eatinjg souls of orphans and the main character was a dead pun biznes woman completely unfazed by all the evil murders going on

[@qwinlyn]

21:55 Fun fact! There is a kind of theater where they specifically try to remind you that you're watching a play by doing stuff to break your immersion. I can never remember the name, but the movie Rubber is a great example of a film that uses it. Not that I think this book is an example of it, just like sharing facts!

[@lil-lionryan]

Are you thinking of Bertolt Brecht and his Epic Theatre? He wrote things like The Threepenny Opera and Mother Courage and Her Children. Very weird stuff, super interesting to watch!

[@CSRaeburn]

@@lil-lionryan **definitely not rehearsing for an amateur production of Mother Courage**

[@bmlgordon]

From many years ago taking German Lit in Translation - Bertolt Brecht and Verfremdungstechnik (sp?) or Alienation technique?

[@tfordham13]

From the title alone it sounds like a mid 2000s comdey book you'd see at the book fair and would kinda want but you wont get

[@E_Does_YT]

IM SORRY, IM ONLY EIGHT MINUTES IN, BUT HOW DID I NOT KNOW YOU LIKE YOUNG JUSTICE?? THATS LITERALLY MY FAVORITE SHOW ASHSISNEVXJDBE

[@ReadswithRachel]

I named my kid after one of the characters!

[@alyss27]

clare as the villain with her healer ex-girlfriend really does sound like a better story. kinda daredevil x the nurse vibes but messier

[@courtnsession_]

I could name about 3 different anime/manga that does a ‘look into the life of this villain and it’s comedic and emotionally cathartic at the same time’ so if nothing else, this book gave me motivation to go rewatch those. thank you rachel for your service today

[@erisollsprite3157]

Recommend me some plz

[@janarankova8300]

Ah, this was the only DNF book I had in last year. Out of 30 books. The suffering was real and I was waiting for the moment it gets better. It had never came.

[@mst3kharris]

Is this supposed to be a screwball comedy? Because I’m getting sort of classic comedy Katharine Hepburn in _Bringing Up Baby_ vibes only it’s written by somebody who doesn’t understand how screwball comedy works. In fact, that’s how I would fix this book: have her be hyper-intelligent and no-nonsense, while he’s struggling to make a name for himself in the crowded field of villainy. She takes over as his office manager, and before he knows it, his dungeons are full, his torture racks are booked out for the next four months, and there’s a rumor going around he might be asked to present at the next Nefarious Spellcasting Conclave, known affectionately to its members as the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boom.

[@KateLeibfried]

The parental figure as a love interest trope is so vile to me. This was my main problem with Uprooted (which EVERYONE seemed to love). The wizard is many hundreds of years old and the girl was involuntarily taken by him to his castle, where she is under his tutelage and often acts like the immature teen she is. And somehow, despite his initial kidnapping, they have a spark and yadda yadda. Nope. Not my kind of yum

[@literary_reading_corner2820]

I'm a firm believer of that this book should've stayed as skits

[@onceuponabook7838]

By the time the father finished evil monolog, I would've already stolen the evidence, shown to villain and planned counterattack, stopped by mideavel drive-through, and gotten back to the house to offer fries. Also, this makes me want to reread Satan's Secretary. It's only one manga and does what this book wishes it could.

[@xLiLlyx98]

So, between the "oh my gawd, this terrible guy is so hot!", all the stumbling and the immediate job offer... This is also 50 shades of grey fanfiction? 😀

[@lizard_the_queen]

"Tristan with a Y" - me trying to remember where the heck the y was, even though I read the book: "Trystyn(y)?" (the last one is silent)

[@eincryptid]

Trystan seems like an attempt to replicate Howl's reputation from Howl's Moving Castle but without any of the nuance...or intrigue. Even the whole segment about him having been the apprentice of the king or whatever feels straight out of the Ghibli adaptation. Honestly might as well just read Howl's Moving Castle, Calcifer is the only non human sidekick you need lol

[@Ashbrash1998]

I actually read that recently and I can see it

[@sorem6410]

I thought this book would be like a fanfic of Megamind, the villain would have the personality of Megamind and the main character would be something like Roxanne, you know a girl who is not going to agree with all the actions the villain do, but still helping with their plans anyways because she really needs the job. Imagine my deception when this stupid villain has a fuckboy personality.

[@dwilson9546]

Ok, second comment on your channel. Thank you for being real about your postpartum. I should have had social services called, I couldn't pick my son out of the nursery. They sent me home and I was so disassociated that my first born (my dog) was attacked and I didn't react. Years later I realized I had postpartum psychosis. This needs to be talked about more because it is so taboo, but so common that if you didn't experience it, your gf did!

[@kbird6208]

Irrelevant Amphibian should be the name of a string band

[@CarterAvalon]

By the way I always was curious does anyone actually like those introductions when MC, no mater the circumstance, immediately describes the dude as super duper hot. It's not even instalove or lust, she may hate the guy but still will wax poetically about his jaw and height. For me it just feels like they know they can't write a solid character and they can't just cast conventionally attractive actor, so they try to convince me that he is hot, definitely hot, and I should really like him because he is in fact hot (just imagine it's harry styles). Even beauty and the beast retellings do that. I'm just so tired of it, I immediately close the book after I stop laughing at phrases like "his jaw was so massive I pity the guy who would punch him because he will definitely brake his arm" and she was thinking that while he was living her to die.

[@asteridshydrangea-jt2hf]

Imo it’s also kind of a failure of craft on the writer’s part! You should be able to describe a character in such a way that the outsider can guess they’re conventionally attractive but have the meat and potatoes of the description’s prose be colored by the POV’s disdain, wariness etc.

[@DarwinRoger893]

Both of these suggestions are so important. Authors need to describe characters without waxing poetics on their beauty.

[@angelsartandgaming]

I love how whenever you say the Evie's name, the captions say Eevee, as in the Pokemon. Sorry that was amusing to me.

[@jenny5272]

I think it'd be a lot more interesting if Evie was highly competant and mature. A bit like Lex Luthor's assistant/bodyguard Mercy Graves.

[@Riverr5]

I could have sworn that she got beat up by Lois Lane on more than one occasion.

[@buffyfool3007]

As a fan of the TikTok skits (and an Olicity shipper, lol) I had to DNF the book. I think this specific concept she's using works very well as a visual medium and could probably do well as like a half-hour fantasy workplace sitcom and with the right kind of writing team it could have charm in maybe a similar vibe to The Nanny. But as book it just draaaaags on.

[@phoenixfritzinger9185]

Yeah definitely ended up in the wrong medium I’ve seen a lot of people suggesting that this should have been a comic Don’t even care if it’s a comic book, webcomic, or comic strip. Being a book book did it no favors

[@emmas.m]

The best way i can think of to describe this novel is that it sounds like a collaborative Tumblr post

[@tsifirakiehl4250]

I’ve seen a lot of collaborative Tumblr posts with much better writing than this book.

[@dulcimerthefairy4793]

Can something be both flat and lifeless AND a glimmer? And can you be buried AND drowning in the currents of the ocean? Omg this writing.

[@bearieee]

19:39 near the beginning of the vid i thought "man, this is the type of book to go 'he's right behind me, isnt he 🤓❓'" and i hate that i was right 😭

[@stephennootens916]

Less than eight minutes in and I am more interested in the Winter keep book she raves about than whatever book the video is about.

[@stephennootens916]

This is beging to sound like a bad spoof of every dark romance novel ever.

[@PosiWritesStories]

The title of the book makes it sound like something Michael Scott would write about Dwight Schrute, perhaps a sequel to his Michael Scarn story, in which Dwight goes evil and defects. That would probably be funnier than this, though.

[@vainpiers]

My issue with a lot of romance coming out atm is that there is no worldbuilding. Like great these people have an unhealthy relationship and want to have sex. Why should i care about these people or this world?

[@bottompercy]

I want to see a book with the danny phantom exe villain/assistant and hero/assistant dynamic. The villain has a goofy, innocent assistant that he treats like a son who is best friends (and maybe in love with) the hero's assistant, and the hero and the villain are in love but pretend to fight each other and they're all just a cute funny family.

[@Ashbrash1998]

There's an actual KZbin who does this! He has the villan and hero be in love, and idk if the assistants are but they are aware of their bosses relationship.

[@bottompercy]

@@Ashbrash1998 i'm pretty sure that's danny.phantom.exe yeah

[@ingridsouzalimaesilvacaixe560]

A sunshine/grumpy dynamic that I love is Janine and Gregory in Abbott Elementary.

[@palamedes4740]

There was no need to call me out on that unfinished manuscript Rachel 😭Setting down with my snacks and catching a stray like that.

[@KakiOlsenCreative]

20:40 I’ve had acute dyspraxia since I was crawling and the “bae is so klutzy, teehee!” of so many books drives me frigging NUTS. Infantilizing? Yup, I’m still treated like an incompetent baby and told that because there’s something wrong with me, I’ll never be loved. At 43. Screw the klutzy babies.

[@mewho8057]

snl did a great skit about an actual klutzy romcom heroine kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHi0e5Kunb9-jtU

[@shzdd]

Your idea of the "villain" as a group of people (or siblings lol) is very similar to the one in the show "Moriarty the Patriot". I think you would love how it was portrayed there, since it is like a bloodier version of Robin Hood and I absolutely LOVED it!!

[@eleanorpridmore8413]

Nimona is great for a villain/assistant dynamic that’s unique and funny and not gross

[@HuckleberryCyn]

If you want a Robin Hood retelling that had a socioeconomical slate and a group of people coming together under a moniker, then you’ll love the Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwell. It’s one of my favorite Robin Hood Retellings!

[@chronicallykat4920]

The hug line gives me the ick. My book in progress has a child that says "You don't give hugs right." She then teaches the POV character for that scene how to hug. This is a scene both to make sure she's seen as a child because she's a child but also highlights some of the consequences of the protagonist's upbringing. The child later tried to get an older kid who gives good hugs to teach the protagonist hugging via hugging lessons. It's a relief from darkness plot and a way to help the reader to get attached to the kid before I put them in terrible danger and make the reader suffer. I also write horror so... That's just me using psychology. This book seems to have skipped all sorts of things that I consider basics of writing and an understanding of how behavior influences how the reader sees the character

[@jojobookish9529]

Example of a skit that works wonderfully as a book: Jill Bearup's 'Just Stab Me Now'. Delightfully meta and celebratory of the romance genre while also interrogating common tropes.

[@sevenratsinaburlapsack]

55:55 "Running and her went together like lightning and metal" so... she's drawn to it?? wtf kind of simile is that

[@raychelreed5565]

Good version of this similar idea for magic learner and fantasy is "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik. OR the author of Punderworld also has a webtoon called "Blood Stain" that also has the lab assistant role to a grumpy dude and very slice of life

[@jo_aspen]

Dude Blood Stain is *so* good and absolutely along these sameish lines. Great call out

[@paighpage]

when you said all he thinks about is that she smells like vanilla it gave me flashbacks to the witcher and how many times you need to be reminded of what yennefer smells like in case you forgot

[@Ashbrash1998]

At least in that one Geralt had a mutated sense of smell lol

[@paighpage]

@@Ashbrash1998 YEAAH but it really was getting unbearable

[@crouchingidiot]

Evelyn and Waymond from EEAAO continue to be the best grumpy x sunshine pairing I’ve ever seen

[@Sadfilmguy]

Based on the title alone I had hoped this was gonna be a story in the vein of Megamind or that kind of satire. I'm sure you can imagine my disappointment. Fantastic review though and you've sold me on my next skillshare course.

[@haemocyte2224]

I can't help thinking that Trystan sounds like a designated villain of the kingdom to, I dunno, give the heroes something to do.

[@haemocyte2224]

And now I finish the video and learn that's what it was.

[@Mushroomelixir]

Moral of the story: Never trust a book with sprayed egdes

[@rain2986]

Unfortunately it seems like *every* remotely popular book is getting a sprayed edge upgrade now, even ones that released ages ago!

[@Mushroomelixir]

@@burnt-croissants Ive actually never read that Ill look into it :3

[@lagggoat7170]

Book is called "Assistant to the villain" Me: "Oh, so is it a Nimona like thing with the villain and sidekick ending up in a family dynamic? Or something with the Sidekick taking charge because Boss is out of comission?" Rachel: "The main character immediatly has the hots for [villain]" Me: "Oh for FUCKS sake!" Btw I can highly recommend Nimona (in any form). The comic might be a bit rough around the edges but is charming and the movie is a masterpiece

[@lagggoat7170]

Also ngl nowadays if I see a book marketed as "Tiktok"-something it makes me LESS likely to read it.

[@morganmcinroy4211]

More people need to watch nimona! Just waiting for my daughter to be a touch older (she's 4 and a lot of movies still scare her)

[@joelleblanc8670]

Nimona is so good.

[@user-mr1qw2bl6w]

I love Nimona! Also, I hardcore feel you on the "TikTok-" making you less likely to read something. There's a book I was super interested in that I recently found out got popular on TikTok, and now I'm reconsidering things.

[@Ceruleansquid-lo3iv]

​@@user-mr1qw2bl6wWhich book, because there are a few books I like that somehow got popular (Six of Crows), so some of the stuff is fine especially stuff that got popular earlier. If it's marketed as a tiktok book, id stay away, but if it's just popular there, I might read it.

[@EmRose.r]

As someone who one a fan of these sketches before the book came out, I was extremely disappointed in what the book turned out to be because of everything you pointed out. And the sketches were more of a slow burn than the actual book too! I also just prefer him being referred to as "the villain" instead of having an actual name because to me, that would add more to the comedy

[@Ashbrash1998]

Imagine if his name was actually Villan or he just took it because it sounded much better

[@Kazelita]

I know bad books are always compared to fanfiction, but this one REALLY reads as one specific and common type of fic: a bunch of fantasies between the MC and her (powerful and potentially dangerous) husbando, tied together by a concept for a setting and plot. Logical faults, contradictions and a lack of a deeper plot aren't a big deal to the reader/author, as those elements exist only for the purpose to lead to the romantic fantasies the reader/author wants. This works for fanfiction, as the reader knows the characters and the MC is themselves. If they wanted to read a well developed plot, they would search for that and drop this kind of fic. I get the feeling that the author is very familiar with this type of fanfiction and maybe, kinda(? tried to set her book apart from that formula, but it wasn't enough and that just makes the story worse.

[@ShyShy_999]

Damn, this Lore Olympus Sitcom AU is wiiiiiild

[@The_LadyAJ]

Your book reviews really make me feel more confident in my own writing.

[@spacedout1549]

I dislike grumpy/sunshine romances in general, but one of the few that I do like actually /is/ from wreck-it ralph, between fix-it felix jr. and sergeant calhoun

[@ReadswithRachel]

I LOVE THEM!!!!!

[@legendaryfrog4880]

I think these boss/assistant romances will always have an uneasy power imbalance. It's baked into the premise. That's part of what makes it 'spicy', but you can't ever get away from that power dynamic. The only time it ever really worked was in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, but then the beast wasn't really a boss, just an asshole.

[@toastysweaters5692]

Also the fact that Belle never allowed the Beast to control her, always putting her foot down when he crosses the line

[@sciencefantastic]

And what’s more, the Beast knew he was a jerk and had a bad temper cause he already hated himself. He was capable of other emotions besides “roaring jerk”

[@francisnopantses1108]

Your description of the prologue reminded me of "The Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know" which is a send up of bad fantasy tropes and features a naive heroine who meets a real devil but thinks he's a good guy and agrees to be his disciple. You can find it online because a fan translated it into English.

[@Samthewise92]

Am I the only person on the planet that ONLY watches reviews on books they know they won’t like or read. 😂 like I’m never going to watch people review my fav authors but I’ll watch you hate read books I knew were going to be bad ( to me) anyday. 😂

[@dulcimerthefairy4793]

It’s so satisfying for some reason

[@user-i9z]

I do this but only because I'll get butthurt if people criticise books I like, so I just don't watch those videos lmfao

[@cassi6528]

The concept of being a villain assistant could be so goofy if it played off as more of and Yzma and Cronk dynamic and not tiny petite uwu girl thinks her boss is hot

[@cassi6528]

Alternatively, make the boss more Cronk-esque and the assistant more like Yzma and it would've been perfect to me

[@nicolelouise7295]

​​@@cassi6528literally same impression of when I saw the title and cover, I wish this happened

[@dr_not_sam]

I remember a video where you got Sabriel by Garth Nix. That one has an absolutely delightful magic animal companion (a cat). If you continue the series, we also get a magic dog companion. Also, our main girls are necromancers who use music magic to control the dead. I read them as a teenager (they are YA) and am re-reading them right now, and they totally hold up.

[@ReadswithRachel]

When I tell you I just KNOW in my SOUL that books gonna be a five star read