Cozy streak incoming. First up: Apprentice to the Villain.
This is definitely a part two, in that it’s still a good continuation of the story, but it focuses on developing the big problems to be resolved later. That means there is less character development, and a lot more emphasis on mutual pining, which really gets irritating. The general lack of clear communication causing misunderstandings and problems in romance is a main reason I don’t read a lot of that, because it’s so very avoidable. Do I recognize that even in fantasy (both the genre and general sense of made up) that kind of conversation is beyond awkward and difficult? Sure. It still irritates me. To Evie and Tristan’s credit (kind of), there is at least a partial talk about feelings at one point, but it’s pretty one-sided, and both sides are most definitely not being fully honest with the other one. The secondary potential romantic attachment is actually more interesting right now.
In the rest of the story, dire prophecies abound, a new ally or two shows up, and there’s the almost inevitable chosen one scenario being set up by the end. Lyssa, Evie’s little sister, gets a lot more page-time, and there’s no real reason for it, except that she causes annoying problems, like locking a pair of characters in a closet to help them fall in love (not Evie and Tristan). Really, the main saving grace in this book is Becky, who gets basically the only character development (besides Gideon, but he’s new) and some backstory.
The whole “office” setting of the Villain’s operation is mostly just a gimmick at this point. It’s there, but it feels like it’s just that, a gimmick, that has no real purpose other than the occasional intern joke, which is usually just pointless and not even that funny. It’s no longer novel, so either something needs to be done with it, or just let it be.
In spite of what it might sound like, this is a good progression of the story started in the first book, but there’s just a lot of “sophomore slump”-ishness.