This book is so fun! Our FMC, Rae, is dying (stick with me here). A mysterious figure shows up and gives her an opportunity - go into a fictional book world, complete a quest, and continue your 'real' life. Luckily, Rae loves the book series. Unluckily, she never actually read the first book. What follows is a series of fully expected (but fully enjoyed) hijinks of a 21st century former cheerleader trying to fit into a medieval setting.
The good - Rae feels real. She gives enough background that you know exactly who she is, and her 'real world' thoughts come through while she's in the fictional world. And her villainous gang grows organically and operates exactly how one would expect a villainous gang to behave. And the world feels real. As Rae moves through the story she starts to realize that the characters are not as one dimensional as she originally believed, and she's forced to accept that sometimes what you want for a book series doesn't actually make sense (especially if you forgot to read one of them).
The bad - The camp occasionally gives way to second hand embarrassment. Rae is a former cheerleader, and one of her friends is a theater kid. You can guess where this is going, especially if you were also a theater kid.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I'd give it 4.5 stars, but I'll round up if only for such quotes as "An anti-hero is just a villain with good PR" and for calling someone a 'cheery goth daffodil'

Thank you to Net Galley and Orbit for the ARC. Long Live Evil was one of my most anticipated reads as I am a huge fan of the isekai genre, especially characters transmigrating into the villainess. Unfortunately, this was just an alright read. There were a few funny scenes like the musical, but otherwise it was ok.

I loved this book.

For anyone that loves manhwa about in another world villainesses this is for you! It’s just like a manhwa but turned to have a main character that actually is motivated to try and do things. It’s campy and doesn’t take itself seriously. I finished this in two days because it was just a very fun ride!

Be warned that this is the first in a series and if you want the next installment there will be a wait.

I thought I knew how I felt about this book while I was reading but after the ending, I feel more conflicted about a book than I have in such a long time.

I went in with super high expectations because so many of my favourite authors spoke so highly of this book and I couldn't wait to read it but I just don't think it was quite what I expected. I thought it would be more of a classic high fantasy epic adventure but Rae's constant use of modern lingo kept taking me out of the story. I had to put the book down for a while but when I came back to it with new expectations for a more comedic and slightly less traditional fantasy, I enjoyed it a lot more. although *minor spoiler* the musical number and the Friends reference still did throw me off there for a bit.

The ending was by far my favourite part and seeing everything finally come together was very satisfying even if it did break my heart a little to get there.

thank you to netgalley and orbit books for the e-arc!

Thank you Orbit and Netgalley for the eArc of Long Live Evil.

3/5 ⭐️

I like the overall idea of the book, where we get a villain as the main character but this book fell short for me. It felt very rushed right away and I ended up dnfing it. I just really had to force myself to read the bit I did and couldn't bring myself to continue it.

I don't really know how to feel about this book. The first 75% I really wasn't ready to give it over 3 stars, but the final quarter of the book got a lot stronger for me and I think i might pick up the next book??
Rae is 20, and dying of cancer. The only person she really has left in her life is her little sister Alice, who reads her favorite fantasy series to Rae while she's getting treatment. Rae can't really remember a lot from the first book, but she loves the other books in the series. When a mysterious stranger comes to her hospital room and offers Rae the opportunity to enter the books and steal the Flower of Life and Death from the Emperor to save her life, how can Rae refuse?
Except she gets dropped into the body of the villainess Rahela, the night before her execution. Now Rae has to use what little she can remember of the books in her favor in order to save her own life, but things get pretty off script quickly.
I think my biggest issue was with the pacing and world building, we get dropped into a world that Rae only sort of knows which leads to info dumping from her perspective, and then when we're in the other story POVs it's not always set up for us to really understand what's going on. Rae has to do some quick thinking and makes some allies with other future villains in the world, but then it comes as a surprise to her that other things in the story don't continue in the way she thought they should. Of course they don't? You prevented a character death that moves the plot of the books forward, that's going to have a pretty big effect on the world? I also found it tiresome how often Rae was dismissive of the death happening around her because 'they're just characters they don't matter.' There is a moment where she finally kills someone in an act of defense and I was hopeful that would inspire her to realize the reality of what was happening around her but it didn't? I think I just didn't really understand her character. I also got lost a bit in the sauce of what events 'should' have happened and the events that actually ended up happening. Like I was trying to read and understand the fake book while also reading the actual book. When Rae finally allows herself to face the reality of her situation and enmesh herself fully in the world is when all of the book started to click for me, but we don't get enough of it to really make the whole of it work, unfortuantely.
Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the free earc in exchange for this honest review.

Let me tell you. I wish I'd counted how many times I picked this up and then moved on to something else. I don't know WHY I couldn't get into it. When I finally did I was like ok it has picked up... and then I'd get bored again and wonder how much longer I had to go. I feel bad leaving such a review but y'all it was nearly a DNF.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"Reading a book was like meeting someone for the first time. You don't know if you will love them or hate them enough to learn every detail, or skim the surface never to know this depths."

I LOVE THIS BOOK! Oh my gosh, it was so good. I devoured it! It was so entertaining, campy, and in absolute wild ride. I am loving this Isekai trend that is happening in the book community right now and this was a great example of it.

"Being nice was nice. Being nasty got shit done."

For those who always love the villains or have thought that it would be more fun to be a villain in a story, this book is for you. It will make you laugh quite a bit and something I truly love is that even though there are several hilarious parts, the author did a fantastic job that the serious parts! Plus the romance in here was SO GOOD! The banter had me kicking my feet and giggling!

"Were side character allowed to be randomly handsome?"

I want a physical copy of Long Live Evil in my hands already so I can annotate and tab it! Highly recommend!

This book just wasn't for me. I was too confused and for too long. I understand most books like this will be a little confusing before we get really into it but I was just not feeling it.

One word to sum up this book? Satisfying.

Okay so have yall seen those tiktoks of people who “shift” realities ? Cause I have! They’re a fascinating intersection of fandom, escapism, and modernism which floats in conversation with the meta existentialism that anchors the hilarity of LONG LIVE EVIL by Sarah Rees Brennan. And while these small reflections on tropes and main versus side character value, it is also just a fun universe and good fantasy.

If you like the type of camp story that doesn’t take itself too seriously— if you like to root for the villain, then this should definitely be on your radar. Oh, and if you, like me, have ever just imagined yourself into your favorite story, then you’ll probably appreciate this.

Finished reading Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan. I received this as an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The book comes out on August 27th.
Alright, my thoughts. I liked the concept, but I didn't get into it until 60% of the way through. Honestly, if I hadn't received this as an arc I probably would have DNFd it. The beginning was a bit too chaotic and the pacing was off for me. It followed several characters and most of them were confused about what was going on and/or completely unable to figure out the others motivations. The twist at the end was predictable, but it made me really curious to see what happens next. I have a lot of questions. This is another book that my opinion of will change based on what happens next. So we'll see.

This is prob one of my new go to recommendations when people are trying to get into the fantasy genre. I was caught off guard at first with the beginning but immediately fell in love in the way that this was set up. The setting is fantastic and I loved the full immersion as soon as she was through the door. I thought the story line was extremely fresh and such a neat take. The characters were super interesting and the quirkiness of it all Is sometimes so random its spectacular. Is this high fantasy and information dumping, nope. Is it a fun ride of an adventure. Absolutely and the ending has my brain spinning. I can't wait for book 2!

“To thine own evil self be true. Didn’t expect it? That’s kind of on you.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Honestly, I don’t know what can even be said to fully express my infatuation. Hands down Long Live Evil is going to be one of my favourite books of 2024. I had an absolute blast. I enjoyed every minute I got to spend with this cast of villainous goofs. It’s so meta - it’s brilliant. I can’t wait to go back for book two…it was such a bloody good time. 😉

Rae is twenty and terminally ill when visited in the night by a mysterious stranger, who gives her a chance to live. Rae is sent to the world of her favourite fantasy book series, where she must obtain a special flower in order to return to her life completely cured. The catch? The flower only blooms one night a year. Waking in the story, Rae is in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm filled with the undead, and is on the eve of her own villainous execution. What’s a girl to do but come up with an evil scheme? 🐍

Thank you to Orbit Books, NetGalley and Sarah Rees Brennan for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review. Long Live Evil comes out on August 27th. ⚔️ 🖤 👑

This story has all the great elements of a romantasy book. Kings, war, betrayal, mystery and of course romance. This book reads as a satirical story but it dives into an amazing plot of twist and turns. I loved Rae/Lady Rahela, Key, Octavian and Lia. There was so much fun packed into this story and I was definitely along for the ride. I was chanting along with them EVIL EVIL EVIL. If you want to laugh along with your tension then this is the book for you.

The premise of this book was very original and I genuinely expected to love it. However, I could not get past the writing at times. It essentially led me to not finish this book.

*thank you netgalley and publisher for an arc*

dnf at 20%

i tried, i really did. i tried for a month. and only could do 20%. i tried to read in other lands by this same author and quit that book for the same reasons as this one.

the way this author writes is bizarre. she’ll go on side tangents that have nothing to do with the story or scene and feel like stream of consciousness but somehow with less cohesion.

the pacing of this book also was wack and made no sense. you never knew what was happening or where in the story you were. everyone being called by a trope name and saying it over and over was annoying. i get the character was in a fantasy book, but i read fantasy and none are written like that.

and lastly, it wasn’t funny. it was grating. everyone i knew that was reading early copies kept saying how hilarious this book was and the only thing i’m laughing about is how this book got published.

anyways, i think i’ve given up on this author. read at your own will.

“Which came first, being treated as unworthy or being unworthy? In the end, it didn't matter. If others believed she was evil, or beautiful, or guilty, they made that true.”

I have a lot to say, but I'm going to attempt to only hit on the most important aspects that formed my rating.

I had initial misgivings about this book, but a reviewer I trusted really loved it and made me excited for it. While I can see what would draw people to this, my reading experience did not have the same outcome. The humor in this book reads like a 2014 tumblr post collection used to shame past generations, something that only exists now for people to be confused on how they ever found that funny. Only, this is the actual humor of the book.

Many things about this novel actually seemed to be better suited to 2014 - which a lot of readers might be really happy with. But even the way feminism was discussed or the meta fandom/fantasy conversations were all so incredibly recycled that it was eye-roll inducing.

(There's also a lot of internet references, such as "You sweet cinnamon roll. Too good, too precious for this world." which is something to note if that kind of thing irritates you.)


Next, this is pitched as a book lover gets sent into her favorite world. That's not entirely the case. The fmc's sister loves the books and introduced the fmc/Rae to them. Rae skimmed the first book and didn't complete the series, but her sister was reading them to her. The books are her favorite stories and she loves the musical (more on that later), but I wouldn't pitch this as a reader gets the chance to live out her favorite book when she never even finished it.

I think the point of this was meant to communicate that there's no right way to consume a story/be a reader, which is completely true. However, in this instance, it feels a bit insincere to say that the book lover gets sent into her favorite book.


This is not beginning on the amount of references to Lady Rahela's monstrously gigantic bosom (and there were a lot) or the scene where they attend a fantasy ball and distract everyone by performing the book's musical equivalent from the real world, complete with the most... interesting lyrics I have ever seen lol.


As for the characters themselves... I didn't connect with any of them. This disappointed me, because I was hoping for the kind of story that humanized the 'evil' characters and made you connect with them - even if they remained evil. There was an attempt for that, but it never felt fully realized.

Rae was a pain to read from. Before the story starts she had been through some terrible things that both jaded her and stunted her maturity, so it makes sense that she reads like a whiny, childish ass for the majority of the book. The problem here is that knowing why she's that way didn't make it any easier to be in her brain.

The romances were very stilted and (to me) felt like nothing more than the fulfillment of tropes, with a romantic scene having one of the worst lines of dialogue I've ever read. Ever.


Here's where my thoughts get conflicted. Everything about this book was clearly purposeful. Even the "anatomically impossible" breasts were supposed to prove a point (namely, curvaceous women are not evil seductresses). However, that point feels undermined when your own story falls into the same patterns as what you're attempting to critique.
There was the discussion of agency and purity/virginity and how a woman's sexual actions shouldn't have any hold on her worth (all good discussions) but it still felt empty.

There's also the fact it really is obvious how much this story means to the author. How much fantasy as a genre means to the author. That's perhaps the thing that is keeping this from being a one star read, is that I felt the amount of heart put into this and how important it was to Brennan.

I'll even say that there was a lot of work put into the world-building of the fantasy novel. It wasn't always coherent and oftentimes meant to be satirical, but I know this must have been a pain to write and even with the confusing moments, I was impressed on how the story was formed.


Overall, this may not have worked out for me but I don't think it's a terrible book. It has a lot of flaws and cringeworthy moments, but it also had a meaning that I'm sure will touch a lot of readers.

I'm grateful for the chance to read it and I hope it finds its perfect audience.

Alright, i loved this book, so this review is about to be unhinged. Thank you thank you THANK YOU orbit and netgalley for the ARC!

Think of your favorite book.
Now imagine yourself dropped inside it and having to thrive.

Rae has been so sick for so long that she feels like giving up. Diagnosed with cancer in her late teens, she bonds with her younger sister over the Time of Iron series, a wildly popular fantasy epic that has everything- an anti hero emperor with immense magical powers, a beautiful pure princess and lancelot love side quest, AND THE BEST VILLAINS IN THE BUSINESS. During what might be her last hospitlization, rae is offered a choice- shuffle off the mortal coil or enter the world of the story and complete a quest to come home healed. Rae enters the book and inhabits the most bad as villain that ever was, and begins her work to get herself well, because what the hell- its just a book, right? Until her schemes start changing...everything.

I loved this book so much i could scream. It was SO FUNNY, even when it was gory and sad. The writing was the perfect mix of heavy handed fantasy description and quick, current language and i loved being smacked from one to the other. I can't remember the last time i highlighted so many passage while reading. The plot was what we all secretly dream of, and Rae leaned into the villain role for more freedom and more fun just did it for me- she went big. Like accidentally starting a feminist combat movement big. I loved the multiple POVs to see individual characters' growth (come through, last hope!) and how Brennan queered their stories, so they grew out from the tried/wrote damsel in distress storyline. I was glad there was always a connection to Rae's reality, but that she grew to realize that she was in a reality with consequences as well.

This book had everything. Including a sequel. Go read it, it was SO MUCH FUN.

The premise of this book was what hooked me, but I don’t feel it was executed as well as I’d hoped. The writing style feels a bit young and casual and the main character’s dialogue and thoughts seem juvenile as well and anachronistic to the setting of the fantasy portion of the story which is likely intentional but didn’t work for me.

Incredible. Sarah Rees Brennan returns with a smash hit. I will be updating this review with link closer to publication time.