A clever, tongue-in-cheek romantasy about workplace opposites attracting.
In Maehrer’s comic fantasy romance, a bubbly underling continues to rise even as she crushes on her evil boss.
Evie Sage has always been an odd fit for the role of apprentice to Trystan Maverine, who, in his role as The Villain, is responsible for causing mischief and mayhem in the kingdom of Rennedawn. Trystan is, as one might expect from a Villain, curmudgeonly and misanthropic, while Evie is as bright and cheerful as a ray of sunshine. Despite their vast differences in personality, it is becoming clear to everyone who works at Trystan’s Massacre Manor—especially Trystan’s best friend, Alexander William Kingsley (who used to be a man but has spent the last 10 years trapped in the body of a frog)—that Trystan and Evie have developed an unacknowledged romantic connection. Far from making for a productive working relationship, the tension is causing problems around the Manor, as “the two would sooner knock their heads together than confront their unspoken feelings.” The mutual crush could not come at a worse time, since the magic in Rennedawn is waning and the Villain is racing against King Benedict to fulfill a prophecy and become the “true prince” who restores magic to the kingdom. Can a Villain ever accept love and become a true prince…and can a Villain’s accomplice do her job without losing her sunny disposition? In this installment of her Assistant to the Villain series, Maehrer continues to effectively mine the fantasy setting for sendups of contemporary office culture, from uncooperative Curse Consultants to form-obsessed Human and Magical Creature Resource officers. “Trystan knew when he became The Villain that he would always be the one to make the hard decisions, even the unpopular ones,” writes Maehrer with typical wryness. “It was a job he rather enjoyed, in all honesty, but there was one standard office practice even he vowed never to adhere to. Meetings.” The busy plot may prove difficult for new readers to enter, but fans of the series will appreciate this latest episode.
A clever, tongue-in-cheek romantasy about workplace opposites attracting.Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9781649378545
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Review Posted Online: July 10, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
A book about revenge that’s more punishing than purposeful.
A woman from a matriarchal society kidnaps a prince from a neighboring kingdom, planning to force him into marriage.
Five hundred years ago, the wife of the abusive king of Amarra prayed to her goddess for mercy; in return, the goddess granted every woman in the country the ability to rule over men. Amarra’s queens have governed with vengeance ever since, creating a fiercely violent matriarchy. Now, 21-year-old Olerra Corasene, a gifted military strategist and powerful general, is competing with her cunning and devious cousin, Glenaerys, to be the next queen. Since Glen is trying to secure the throne by currying favor with the wealthy nobles, Olerra decides on a different tactic, the time-honored Amarran tradition of kidnapping a husband. Her target is a good-looking younger prince from the neighboring country of Brutus, but she accidentally and unknowingly nabs Sanos, the king’s eldest son and heir to the throne. She drags Sanos back to Amarra, where he’s treated with all the contempt for men that is normal in her society: He’s dressed as a sexual plaything, forced to shave his beard and body hair, leashed and restrained for bad behavior. Olerra can’t understand Sanos’ objections to this treatment, and the ensuing power struggle makes up most of the plot. Marketed as romantasy, Levenseller’s first adult novel falls flat as both romance and fantasy. There is little connection or chemistry between Olerra and Sanos, and since both are more caricature than character, neither experiences the kind of growth that creates challenging or interesting romantic relationships. In addition, the worldbuilding is paper thin. Amarra is a world built on reverse misogyny, but the motifs, imagery, and scenes often read more like a brainstormed list (a penis guillotine!) than a fully realized attempt to say something meaningful about women’s rage.
A book about revenge that’s more punishing than purposeful.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250379375
Page Count: 368
Publisher: FEIWEL
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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