Unfortunately Long Live Evil was a DNF at 20%. I really struggled with the dialogue even though it was clearly intentionally jarring. It led to me being frustrated and confused for most of it. I do think this book will work for the right person and I may revisit it at a later date but for now it’s just not for me.

This is a fun premise that is executed in a lighthearted, romantasy kind of way. I personally love reading from the villain's perspective in books although this one never feels evil.

I appreciated this one, but I will admit that I should have anticipated how cutesy the tone would be. There is a heavy emphasis on romance, but I did not find myself particularly engrossed in that aspect.

I would primarily recommend this one to readers who enjoy the emerging romantasy subgenre or are looking for a lighter palette cleanser between darker stories.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher

Long Live Evil is an adult fantasy debut novel by Sarah Rees Brennan, featuring Rae who makes a magical bargain to enter the world of her favorite fantasy series. There’s a catch though, she enters not as the heroine but as the villainess. Rae embraces her her evil role and assembles the villains of this world, all working together to change their fate. Will they succeed?

This book was entertaining and impossibly funny. But along with the fun, there’s an emotional side tied to the fact that Rae was dying of cancer prior to making the magical bargain. The novel is topped off with a host of enjoyable side characters.

Long live dislikable female main characters with this flip on traditional fantasy tropes.

I love the idea of flipping the script on fantasy tropes, where our main characters are fundamentally good or working towards good. Our main character Ray, is pretty dislikable the entire time. She is selfish, and self-absorbed. She leans into being a villain so hard that she calls her guard Key "minion" regularly.

The writing is witty, and there were a few laugh out loud moments for me, although that's not the whole vibe of the book. There are a lot of characters, and I got a little confused between them as they all have names, titles and then nicknames.

My favourite character Key, really shone through. I picked this book up specifically because of him, and he did not disappoint. When he was in a scene I was fully invested.

This book is long, and I wish it was a little shorter, or the pacing a little faster. That said, we're setting up a word for a series, so I understand needing to lay the foundation. The book really picks up for me after the 50% mark.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for this advanced reader copy.

I will definitely be keeping up with this series.

This book is best read on a throne, while wearing a crown tinge in blood.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was definitely an interesting reading experience. The writing was often cringy, cheesy, and campy, but I still had a good time?!! The first 20% was rough-going due to the confusing and rambling writing; the meandering dialogues were just a pain to get through and made it difficult for me to follow the story. The writing did became more cohesive after that 20%, and the story really picked up from there and hooked me good!

Regarding our FMC Rae, she was quite a caricature of a character. Her characterization was promising in the beginning when she was still in her own world. We got to see her as a fierce and protective big sister with a headstrong personality; we see that Rae had an understandable bitterness about her illness while dealing with her forlorn feelings of abandonment. All this depth was thrown to the wayside after she was whisked away to her fantasy world. What with her incessant winking and purring, redundant self-proclamations on every other page of her villainess status, the excessive mentions of her new boobs, and her constantly calling Key and Emer her minions, she was reduced to just a vapid version of a ditzy villain for majority of the story. Even though we finally got some character development near the end, it was still quite a letdown of an arc for an FMC. Would love to see more character growth in the next book for Rae.

What I did love was how the supporting characters really shined in this story, they were well fleshed out and definitely more compelling and interesting than Rae. I really adored them and their dynamics with each other, especially the Golden Cobra and Marius! I’m looking forward to following their story in the sequel, and seeing how they navigate their way to safety.

Despite my gripes, this really was a fun time and I will definitely be continuing with the series!

“An anti-hero was just a villain with good PR”

This was the most fun I have had in a book in awhile. I have always wondered what it would be like to jump into the world of my favorite fantasy series, and this book is gold. I laughed so much over this, both with Rae trying to fit into the character she has taken on, but also how the other characters see her. There were so many moments in this where I had to put the book down because I was laughing too hard.

Rae had my heart from the very beginning. And I loved watching her character evolve over the course of the story. And being able to see the POV of other characters was a nice bonus. Each character that was on page had a way of capturing my attention (and most of them captured my heart as well).

A tale for everyone who’s ever fallen for the villain? Excuse me? Yes. Honestly though, you already had me at axe wielding maiden.

Rae is diagnosed with cancer and is dying. After given a bargain- a second chance life, Rae is plunged into her sister’s favorite fantasy world and wakes up as the villain.. destined to die..

“The hospital had taught her a cruel truth. Pain is the place where we’re alone.”

I found myself falling for all the characters. Not just main characters, but so many side characters who have taken front stage for me. They’re all very distinct and relatable in different ways, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for them in the next book. I’m sure this is going to become a fun yearly re-read for me.

“Let me be your favourite story. Let me be the greatest story you ever heard.”

I really can’t say enough good things about this book. I absolutely loved it, what a villainous silly good time.

If you enjoyed assistant to the villain, you would probably enjoy this. It has similar vibes, if a little more serious.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the eARC of Long Live Evil in exchange for my honest review.

It took me a very long time to write this review. It also took me a very long time to read this book. I can’t figure out if that’s because of the book, or if I was in a terrible slump, or both. Overall, the story was good and a very interesting concept. I liked the characters and game of thrones meets campy vibes. I did definitely guess the plot twist but I also think that was the point? I don’t want to spoil too much but thinking back, it was probably supposed to be obvious to us, the reader, when it wasn’t obvious to Rae, who tuned out boring parts of the book she’s in. Anyway, overall 4 stars, and I will be reading book 2.

I can't continue reading a book I know I'm not enjoying, so I'm DNFing this one. I went into this excited because I like isekai-type media such as anime and manga. I love a good villainess story and thought that was what we would be getting here. Once Rae arrived in the other world, the story started to go downhill.

I wasn't a fan of the very cringe dialogue and actions from the characters. This one wasn't for me.

Though this book has quite a slow start, it’s fantastically witty as it pokes fun at common fantasy tropes in a way that initially I couldn't decide if it clever or cringe. As I read on, however, I firmly decided it was particularly clever. The concept this book explores is incredibly unique and I'm excited to see where book 2 leads us and the characters. Once you get past the slow start it proves to be a very enjoyable read,

Thank you Orbit Books and Netgalleg for an eARC of Long Live Evil.

We follow Rae, our terminally ill main character, into a fantasy story where she can fight for a second chance in life. While this premise hooked me, I knew immediately that this was not for me. I knew going into this it would feel very meta and it would be full of modern slang in a fantasy setting. That was okay for this premise. Rae as the main character was agonizing and while I had interest in some characters, they couldn't keep me engaged knowing I eventually had to jump back into Rae's head. The dialogue is cringey, and there was a huge issue with pacing. One encounter took the span of too many chapters.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for giving me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

When I read the synopsis I was interested in the book but I was definitely not ready for the rollercoaster that it was.
I loved Rae and I really loved that although that she’s inside a story we as readers never forget that she is actually dying and her motivation to be the villain is due to the bitterness she feels for the world.
I also love her character development and I honestly cannot wait to read more about her.
I honestly loved all the side characters, they were all so well written and is just amazing how you cannot help but rooting for all these villains.
There was so so much that happened after the first half and those last 100 pages were just amazing! I went from being sad, upset to shocked because I was really not expecting that ending.
I honestly don’t know how to feel right now. I have been left speechless and without book 2 already out so I can find out how Rae is going to clean her mess.

4.5 stars

Perfection. From start to finish, this story was nothing but perfection.
Even if the ending might need a stronger word.

To explain my thoughts we’ll need some context: Rae is a badass twenty-year-old who's fighting cancer and who really loves only two things, her sister and her favorite book trilogy.
One night a strange woman tells her she will live if she’ll be able to take a healing flower that blooms once every year, in her favorite book.
This is how she ends up waking up in the boy of Lady Rahela, the Beauty Dipped In Blood, the villainess of her favourite book, who's going to be executed the very next day.

But she'll live not only because she's smart, but because she reasonably thinks everything is fake. She already knows what's going to happen, she knows what's her spot in the story, and she knows how much fun she can have without changing the narrative.
Except she doesn't because, as the villainess she is, even when she got everything wrong, she believed she was right.

In what could be the feverish dream of every reader, we follow Rae and her vipers in the discovery of how - unlike the real world - villains might be like that because they hadn't a choice, and heroes are considered as such because too many time we stop at appearances.
One thing is sure: from now on, I'll look at villains with a new glare.

Thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

Truly surprised by this one.

I started the novel quite overwhelmed by the world building needed to catch us, the reader, up on the novel within this novel. Brennan does her best sprinkle this in when necessary but it still comes off as a bit much. Due to the nature of the story we are told rather than shown a lot of the world building in this novel within a novel but once I got the rhythm of the story within a story down the plot unfolded rapidly and I became enamored with many of the characters. This felt so similar to a popular theme in modern day anime called isekai where the main character is usually sent to a fantasy/different world from their own. The success of this trope relies heavily on execution and can become a bit unwieldy.

I also enjoyed how set in her ways the MC was - believing she knew how things would play out because she read the book series she now resided in - and how wring things go because of her influences.

Excited to read the other books to come in the series.

Long Live Evil is a chaotically good (evil?) time. Fast pacing, which really heightens the humor throughout. The cast of characters is both large in size and in personality; each having their own unhinged dish to bring to the table - and I ate them all up.

More time could have been spent on developing a smaller cast of characters in my opinion - especially with how character driven this novel is. But in between some of my heavier reads this month, I enjoyed the change of pace! Excited to read more from this author.



Thank you Orbit Books and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My feelings for this book can only be described as a rollercoaster. Throughout reading it I kept wavering between disdain and enjoyment. If I had not received an ARC for review, I probably would have put this down only 50 pages in and not looked back. Instead, I pushed through so I could make a proper and fair judgement.
 
My feelings come down to this: the entire concept for this book is exceedingly outdated. If this was written in 2012, I think it would come across as fresh and feminist. Instead, it’s eye roll worthy in its lack of self-awareness. This story is meant to poke fun at the archaic shallow archetypes that plague (usually male written) fantasy. It sets out to make the point that female characters can be more than virtuous vs. wicked. That the pure virgin Mary Sue might have a cunning side, and the slutty wicked stepsister might simply be a victim of purity culture. Really, in 2024 do we truly need an entire book dedicated to valiantly shaking a fist at misogyny in fantasy? We’ve been there, done that, and have thousands of brilliant female authored fantasies that have already overthrown these tropes. Not to mention how very white this book is in its deconstruction. Black authors have been subverting racial archetypes for years in way more worthy way. Brennan only manages to slightly bring attention to the ‘token black character,’ while ironically still reinforcing it. And she does it again with trying to make fun of antagonist female characters having curves and huge breasts, as Rae cannot go two seconds without mentioning her ginormous bosom. The “meta” angle of this book simply comes across as shallow in this era of publishing. There have been countless books who have tackled the ‘villain as the protagonist’ angle to question the nature of evil as well as challenge our perspectives. On top of dozens of romance fantasy novels swooning over the villain who will burn down the world for you. What does Long Live Evil bring to the table that is unique and new? I can’t say that I know.
 
My rollercoaster experience with this book mainly comes down to the first half of this novel being pure torture, and the second half offering a glimpse at a substantial novel. The specific type of humor in this book is one that I do not find enjoyable at all. It is cringy, embarrassing, and girl bossy. When I hit “I want lips as red as blood, and eyeliner black as my heart” I almost bowed out. The number of times I was forced to read the words “evil,” “wicked,” and “villain” should qualify me for reimbursement. Especially since they were all uttered by a character who does not do a single morally corrupt act the entire book. Truly the only thing that was interesting enough to let me hold on were the characters. I could see glimpses of a great fantasy novel within these pages, if only the aim had been refined. You can make me read anything with gay people in it and there are two fantastic couplings gaining shape, one mlm and one wlw. Anytime we got a glimpse of romance I was giggling and kicking my feet. Unfortunately, that is not enough to fully override the general experience of reading this. Especially since the main ship is m/f, which makes it miss the mark for qualifying as “camp” for me.
 
I do want to make note that the author herself is a cancer survivor and this book, in part, details her experience through Rea. I thought that was admirable and impactful. I am a huge fan of Brennan’s other novel In Other Lands, so I am immensely disappointed that this didn’t work out for me. Hopefully a future release will be more to my tastes.

What an INCREDIBLE book. I need book two now and book one isn’t even officially out yet?!?! God. Ok this is such a top tier execution of the premise, that a reader goes into their favorite book, and awakens as the villain. It perfectly balanced the knowledge of the world because it’s a book, the self awareness of book tropes and story telling devices and character types. You cared about their real life origin story, you understood their perception of this new world, and it was still an incredibly fun fantasy story with real stakes and amazing character and world building. This is easily a new favorite. CW the main character is dying of cancer, and it’s a dark fantasy world with several deaths and torture scenes (although not overly graphic). The author is a cancer survivor, which I think was pretty evident by the ring of real truth and understanding of being a cancer patient. If you are a villain lover. If you love the idea of a book that is the main character falling into another book, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed by this one. Rave reviews all around.

This book is funny, thoughtful, and an absolute wild ride of a plot. Rae is dying young of cancer, and one of her few joys during her hospital stay is reading and re-reading her favorite fantasy series with her sister - well, most of the series, anyway. She skipped most of the first book because her favorite character doesn't emerge until later in the story. Her lack of attention to detail may cost her more than she bargained for when a mysterious woman shows up in her hospital room and offers her magical healing if she can enter the world of her favorite book and complete a quest.

This seems easy enough to Rae, except when she steps into the story, she finds that she has arrived in the body of a villainess the day before she's to be executed, and she has to think fast if she's going to survive.

Long Live Evil is the book you pick up when you're in the mood for satire. The overall tone is casual and conversational, and the main character's reflections are very sarcastic.The book is filled with modern dialogue & references (including lines from Taylor Swift songs) which make sense given the context of the story, but it isn't the right choice if you're in the mood for escapism.

The book is well written and well structured, and the character ARCs are satisfying. People who enjoy video games, role play, twisty plots, and who don't mind a bit of physical humor will adore this book.

So this book does match what it says on the tin, its very much a campy, isekai story. If you like those plots, great. For people that like journaling while they read\marking up the books, this book would probably benefit from that since other why the plot can get hard to follow.
Just because of the writing style I recommend this to older YA readers.

I loved this book so much! It was such a fun and exciting journey! It reminds me of a terry brooks and brandon sanderson book, but in a feminine let's be evil way! It is wonderfully written and I loved it!