October 28, 2025sarahylockwood

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Rate: 4/5

Medium: Audiobook

Overview (No Spoilers):

After the Assistant to the Villain’s cliffhanger left me reeling, I couldn’t wait to pick up the sequel to find out how Evie and Trystan could possibly untangle themselves from this impossible mess. 

The Apprentice to the Villain thankfully gives us needed breaks from Trystan and Evie’s seemingly endless denials of obvious. Instead, this sequel focuses more on developing the supporting staff. Specifically, Becky’s backstory added infinite depth and could be a book all by itself. Becky turned out to be more fascinating than I had expected and significantly expanded this literary world as a whole. Additionally, Gideon’s full story was finally dragged out of him with consequences for Evie and Lyssa. While humor is sprinkled throughout this series, Lyssa ‘fixing’ everyone and causing uncomfortable chaos in the process is incredibly amusing and sweet.

While the rest of the cast grew in depth, Trystan and Evie’s awkward attraction that is cute in the first book grew so very tiresome here. Every time Evie and Trystan are in the same room they both suffer from tunnel vision. The following example contains spoilers so be forewarned, but it highlights the tone of their scenes. In this ridiculous sequence, Trystan wakes after days of being asleep due to a near death experience and finds Evie being ‘trained’  in combat by Becky’s brothers. Immediately assuming they are attacking her, he goes all macho. Everyone else leaves, and instead of addressing Trystan’s overreaction or even the fact he is awake, the two of them start to train, which leads into sexual tension that of course is interrupted by being attacked by Valiant Guards. Everything is so rushed as each piece of that tangled whiplash deserved its own time to develop, leaving the reader struggling to catch up. Much of this book has the same rushed feel with all of the characters suffering from various degrees of refusing to be open, transparent, or addressing the obvious.

The story has a feel of convenience, despite the overwhelming odds facing Evie and Trystan. The group stumbles into the next clues or gets out of jams fairly easily. This keeps the story light but also limits opportunity for growth. 

Overall, as often happens when moving up in job titles, Apprentice to the Villain does not hold the same charm as its predecessor, with the office drama proving too much, despite coworkers picking up much of the slack.

Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):

  • What is the full meaning behind all that the Hand of Destiny said?
  • I found Evie’s promotion to be underwhelming as she only moved to the status of apprentice through an error in a wanted poster.
  • Trystan needed to be saved constantly in this second installment. His rescue from the King was far-fetched but ultimately successful but then there was also the basement, the Hand of Destiny, and the Valiant Guards. He was a bit helpless as a villain in this story.
  • I loved that Becky came from a warrior family with magical plants. I loved seeing where she grew up and seeing some of the mystery fall away from her. How heartbreaking her mom betrayed her again, regardless of the intent. Not to mention she betrayed her best friend from childhood! When will Blade and Becky finally be an item? I like their chemistry more than Evie and Trystan.
  • How can Kingsley be fixed?
  • Trystan was such an ass to Evie about going back to her home. 
  • Nura returned! How will she help their cause? Where did the dad go and when will he pop up again?
  • Is Evie the villain from the prophesy?
  • Is the Sentry really gone?

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