Accomplice to the Villain Paperback – 5 August 2025

When a reader ventures into this series, they presume—from their experience with book one—that this series will be a riot of laughter, humour and love. They would be right to presume that, of course, for there is nothing more prevalent in Maehrer’s writing than heart; but, the second book is what truly reveals the depth of emotion and complexities the series actually has. The third book sustains that level of complexity, even while further escalating the depth of emotion, plot and stakes.The one aspect that has been present throughout this series is the absolute heart in Maehrer’s writing. The writing in this book is quite simply one of the most heart moving aspects of it. Yes, of course it has you laughing, kicking your feet in the air and riveted to the pages; but more importantly, it has you absolutely drowning in the lives, emotions and hearts of its story and characters. It’s the warmest hug after a rough day and the most perfectly-timed joke after a good cry. There’s honestly nothing more a reader can ask for.Every reader has their own preferences and generally one of mine with regard to the narration, is that I enjoy books better when they don’t switch perspectives. However, Maehrer has truly done a fantastic job building a space for her characters in my heart, that I found that the switching perspectives bothered me not at all. I was smiling through them all, and while yes, I did have a favourite (I mean, who doesn’t?) I found I wasn’t unhappy when it shifted back and forth and quite enjoyed all the characters’ stories and voices. Additionally, the chapter headers and the third person POV greatly helps ensure you’re always aware of whose perspective the chapter reads in.The pace in this book is so wonderfully even throughout—though personally I sensed that it began to race in the last twenty percent. I would say that the writing in this book is closely tied to why it feels that way. Outside of being extremely immersive, humourous and engaging; it’s got a style to it that makes it feel rather like a dance. A dance that, even if you don’t feel like you know the steps to, the author does a fantastic job leading you through. There are no breaks or stumbles, just smooth sailing with an extremely warm and talented partner.The plot in this series has been building and building; subtly hiding beneath the more visible sub-plots—that have a way of making it hard to look away from them. I will say that with each book, the author makes the world all the more unique and the plot all the more complex. While it may have ended in a way that makes me wonder how it’s possible to solve this puzzle, I’m super curious to see how Maehrer is going to write her way into our hearts and out of the plot knots.If you’ve had the chance to read this book, or even just the blurb of it, you’d know that the world that the author has created is no where near anything a reader can call familiar. It’s brand new and filled with colours we don’t have names for, powers that we don’t have experience with and people that we don’t have a chance predicting. I would suggest to do a quick read of at least book two before starting this, because that is where the series truly expands and reveals its world and that foundation is what book three, Accomplice to the Villain builds on. Expect there to be more magic, more mayhem, more evil and more chaos!The author has come a long way from her first book and I cannot wait to see where she takes us next; both within this series and then eventually beyond it.Four and a half stars! Please do check trigger warnings as always; there are themes in this book that can be difficult for some