Do you enjoy villainy, meta humor, or the TV show Community? If so, this book might be for you!

Rae is a cancer patient who wakes up in her sister’s favorite high fantasy series. Sure, she doesn’t remember the first book all that well, but she knows her tropes! So when she finds herself in the body of a villainess (with killler curves), she leans in. It’s time to apply black eyeliner, recruit a delightful cast of evil minions, and be evil AF!

The Court thinks she’s a conniving harlot? Okay! Might as well hatch schemes with the kingdom’s most notorious playboy. She needs to steal an obvious MacGuffin to heal her body and reenter the real world? Typical! Better recruit a homicidal guard and a disloyal maid to help with the heist. And when the undead start to crawl out of the hellish ravine? She knows it’s time for the dashing heroes to save the fair maidens.

She’s flippant and brash because it’s just a book, the characters aren’t real, and duh, she’s a villainess. She knows heroes always win and villains always lose. She knows not to interfere with Main Characters™️. But despite her best efforts, the plot starts to unravel. And anyone who is well-read knows that the best stories subvert common tropes…

The anachronisms are purposeful and plentiful. There’s a horse named Google Maps. She wears sunglasses inside. She recounts the tale of King Ross and Queen Rachel and the dangers of misunderstanding the rules of fidelity. You will either find this hilarious or insufferable. As for me? I can’t wait for book 2 of the Time of Iron series.

Thank you to @orbitbooks_us and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Isn’t this book all of our dreams come true?! Falling for the morally gray/villainous MMC on the page and then becoming his nemesis just feels right. I loved this book from cover to cover.

OMG!! This was fantastically compelling. I was expecting perhaps a light romp, maybe a good time, but not much more. THIS IS SO MUCH MORE! It's meta, and irreverent, and full of questions about good and evil and their perceptions, and who is the real villain, and who makes an impact. I couldn't put it down.

I get that this book might not be for everyone. It's over the top, there is at least one cheesy as hell scene, and the characters can seem one dimensional on the surface. It's not perfect. But nothing is really as it seems. The characters play their part, but when they break out of those roles, it's so fantastic.
Rea changes her story and the story here so completely. And yes there are big flashing signs she misses, but I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I'm so bought in to this story and these characters. I'm so excited/nervous to see where we go next.

Some fav quotes:

Finding a favorite character was discovering a soul made of words that spoke to your own.

Saving him couldn't affect the story. It would only be a little change.

I wasn't talking about murder! I'm never talking about murder and you're always talking about murder!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview. All opinions are my own.

Rae is dying of cancer but gets transported into the world of her favourite fantasy series. If she can get the magical flower on the one night it blooms, then she can return to our world fully healed. If not, she's stuck in the book forever. However, she gets put into the body of a minor villain the night before her execution, and has to scheme her way to safety.

This was a super fun read and I enjoyed the isekai style of it. The fantasy plotline was well done and I loved the twists and the plot twists.

My main complaint is the constant internet references were too much for me. It was funny at times but could also be cringey (sorry I hate that word but it's the accurate).

5 stars!

I want to preface this by saying this book will definitely not be for everyone, but it was most definitely written for me. Is the humor at times a little cringy? Yes. Was there nothing super surprising? Also yes. But did I have a REALLY good time? Also, yes.

I think where this book really shined for me was the characters. I was so invested in everyone from The Golden Cobra to Rae to even Key (I'm sorry). It was so fun to jump between chapters in Rae's perspective to the book characters who were like "why is ____ acting like this???" I love meta books so that was already a win for me, and this book was also DEEPLY unserious which I love.

This book made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me stressed at times. I don't normally highlight much in my kindle and I was CONSTANTLY putting annotations and leaving fun little comments. I can't wait until I have a physical copy so I can reread and annotate it. CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SEQUEL!

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

DNF at 25%

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for the eARC.

I really really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t connect. I was wildly confused from the first chapters and not in a “it’s a fantasy you’ll get it later on” kind of way. There were just too many details thrown out at once. As you go on, it gets a little better, but honestly I was still lost. Between that and not being able to connect with the FMC and not interested in any of the side characters POVs so far, I just had to stop.

Maybe it’s me and not the book, but it wouldn’t be fair for me to continue on at this point with my mindset right now. I absolutely love the idea of this book and might try again down the road.

DNF @ 25%

I really wanted to enjoy this book because it sounded unique and I am always curious about the villains in the story. They usually don't get as much page time and I always end up wanting more, especially what drives them.

The setup for this reminded me of The Princess Bride, except he was not put into a book. She is dealing with cancer in a hospital and has her sister to bond over books. My problem with the book is the writing style and I guess should have been expected on my part. When she is transported she still tends to talk in a modern way and so the other characters are very confused. It is a parody in some ways and I guess I just wanted something more serious? I think the people who enjoyed the book Assistant to the Villain will like this.

Wow! I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! The premise sounded fun, and it seemed like most of the reviews were positive, but I’ve definitely been bitten by assuming a book would be good based on those factors. J actually read an ARC of this that I got through NetGalley and Orbit! I have the spoiler thing marked for some minor spoilers but nothing about the main plot points.

Now onto the board on details! The beginning was a bit slow as the world building was taking place, but quickly picked up after The Cobra was introduced. I loved Rae, I loved the Cobra, and I loved Key. I am incredibly interested to see where this series goes in the next book after this books cliffhanger- I’m rooting on an HEA for the series that includes Alice. The relationship building was great, and I felt like the characters had interactions and attachments that made sense, the decisions and the interactions made sense to me based on the character interactions without having to be explained with exposition (I hate when this is the case). I gave this five stars because I was attached to the characters, I’m interested in the story, and I already started to hunt for a release date for the next book- and this one isn’t even released yet! There were some typos/ mistakes but seeing as this was an ARC I assume these mistakes were corrected in the final stages of editing!

- Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for this e-ARC! -

“If I want to live that makes me a monster, if I want a man that makes me the harlot of the tower, if I want a throne that makes me an evil queen. Fine. I'll be a wonderful monster. I trust my own wickedness. I will never believe in someone else again."

How far would you go to save your own life? Rae, who is facing death in the real world, gets the opportunity to venture into the world of her favourite book to save herself. Her task seems simple: find a way to get the Flower of Life and Death in the story, come out with your life. The only catch is that she wakes as the villainess of the book who is due to be executed the very next day. By scheming and assembling a band of evildoers, Rae has to survive the story while staying true to herself and true to the original plot of the book.

This book is for anyone in their Reputation era. 🐍

Long Live Evil was an extremely unique story and a sweeping epic filled with truly enjoyable characters and a plot full of twists and turns. Found family is one of my favourite tropes and it was done very well in this book! The story itself was a solid 4 stars.

I definitely had some issues with the writing style of this book and found it challenging to follow at some points. I do wish that there was more world building because at some points it felt like plot points were being thrown at me with little to no explanation or backstory.

Overall, I would recommend this book and will pick up the next one in the series!

Book Name: long Live Evil
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan

ARC
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit

Stars: DNF (1)

- Thoughts.
- Recommended by Katee Robert on a Live Stream so I had HIGH expectations
- Unhinged Fanfiction
- Mary Sue Vibes
- Pacing Issues
- CRINGE
- Super Modern Langauge (uses of AF and Totally)



Due to the nature of this review, I will not be posting it to socials in deference to the author and publisher.

DNF at 30%

In the real world, Rae is terminally ill. She is given the chance to be transported into the world of her favorite book, where if she completes a quest, she’ll come back to the world healed.

I wanted to love this story - as someone who has recently had a loved one go through cancer treatment (and relied on humor and sarcasm to get through it) AND someone who loves a good quirky isekai anime, I thought this would be perfect for me. Unfortunately, there was a lot of choppy up-front world-building that made this a bit of a struggle for me.

The writing style wasn’t for me - think campy, sometimes even intentionally outright bad. It made it hard for me to decide if I liked Rae and her sharp, snarky tone, or if I thought it was a bit over-the-top.

I get the feeling there is an emotional sucker punch to the gut near the end of this book, and maybe I’ll revisit it down the road when I’m in the mood for a little more quirkiness and tears - even though I am not finishing this read at this time, I don’t think it’s necessarily a BAD one and would give it a solid 2.5-3 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for this review!

This kickoff to Rae’s Villaness Era was such a fun read. The premise of our story was something that piqued my interest immediately. At the beginning, after Rae takes the bargain and starts her journey, the pacing of the first part of the book dragged for me as it was more world building exposition. While the dialogue could be cringey, it does make sense for our “fish out of water” FMC. The book takes tropes and explore them from much different angles. I really enjoyed meeting The Cobra, Key and Rae. Exploring their backstories and seeing them grow in their villain ways. The last 20% of the book flew by and will definitely look forward to continuing this wild journey!

Rae is dying. The cancer is making her weaker and she knows she doesn’t have long left. Then one night a mysterious woman makes her an offer. A second chance of life in her favourite book series. At first Rae doesn’t believe her but when she wakes up as the heroine's villainous sister she knows what she has to do. This is her second chance and hey, villains have more fun. Especially when it means a chance at her favourite character, the evil Once and Forever Emperor

I feel like this book was basically an archetype of an Isekai manga. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. Sometimes it was cheesy and predictable but I had a blast reading it. I especially enjoyed the interactions between her and the Cobra. They had me laughing, especially the ball. I was a bit shocked with the little twist at the end, and it just built up anticipation for the next book. I will definitely be looking into reading the rest of this series. Can't wait.

Rating 3.5 stars
*I received a review copy from NetGalley for my voluntary and honest review

Thank you to Orbit for providing an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for a review.

As a long time fan of Sarah Rees Brennan, I was highly anticipating her adult release, Long Live Evil. Between the premise and my past lover of her novels, I was excited. And while I did primarily have fun, literally laughing out loud at some points, it was unable to surpass my love for In Other Lands or The Lynburn Legacy.
I really liked Rae as a main character, I love unreliable narrators and morally grey protagonists. The premise of being dropped into your favorite novel, as one of the villains? Wonderful. The meta commentary was great, although somewhat repetitive compared to In Other Lands, which I would say handled it with more nuance. Something I noticed that didn’t bother me but may bother other readers is that Rae was very similar (especially in tone) to Kami and Elliot, protagonists of some of her previous works. Doesn’t bother me because I love those characters but I think it is worth mentioning.
My biggest critique is where oh, where is the character sheet? I am so hoping the published version will have one because I was very lost in the beginning with all the characters. Luckily, I follow the author on social media and knew she had been posting character portraits with brief descriptions so that helped me with the major characters, but the amount of side characters was overwhelming. Get a character sheet!!
The first chapter is a bit of a drag and an info dump and preachy but it picks up from there, action packed and more nuanced.. I also think the second half is a lot stronger, once I was oriented in the story, I was more engaged with the story and the flow really picked up.
I did find myself laughing out loud at many moments but there were still a few too many memes for me. I really like Sarah Rees Brennan’s writing style, but I realize her sense of humor isn’t for everyone
The characters were really a highlight for me and even though this isn’t a 5 star read, I am invested enough to pick up the next book. Recommended to those who like meta fiction and character-driven stories.

I had to DNF around 30% in. The writing was a complete turn off and it was so campy and ridiculous. Rae was unlikable and the author really hammered in that she didn’t remember any of the details of the books even though they meant so much to her sister and supposedly to her? I can’t stand when books mix modern day slang into fantasy settings. It completely draws me out of the story hearing someone in a medieval fantasy setting say something like “you’ll be strong af”. I was expecting a darker, more intriguing story but what I got was something I feel like I’d have read back in a high school creative writing class by someone who watches only anime.
Thanks Orbit and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC for an honest review.

I usually tend to avoid books where the idea of loving books is a plot device or meta-narrative but holy hell this was a fun, quick, and awesome read. Would gladly recommend this as a summer book but given the pub date will suggest it as a labor day weekend book!

Loved this book!! Already preordered because I know I need to reread asap. It's a fun wild romp until the last couple chapters rip your heart out. Please let there be more!!!

This book was so different from every other book I have read. It was so much fun, and scary, and wild all at the same time. What more is there to say, go read it.

2.5 ★

If you're looking for a fun read, then I'd definitely recommend this. I didn't really feel much for any of the characters, and probably 30-40% of this could be cut because of repetitiveness. I found the way Brennan writes conversations to be kind of meandering which made it really hard to follow whatever the hell the characters were talking about.

This book did not go *at all*, like I thought it was going to. I've read a few villain books recently that are supposed to be humorous or whatever, and they've just been... dreadful.

I've wanted to read this book the second I found out about it because I've been looking for *the one*.

It had everything -
*The dry humor, the nuanced humor, the subtle humor...
*Murder with weapons
*Murder with words
*Backstabbing with weapons and words, sometimes at the same time
*A few twists and turns, a couple I didn't even see coming
*(I'm sorry to say) even some emotional bits
*Key

I felt immersed in the world. I never found myself put off by pacing. I am typically a fast reader. However, I wanted to languish in the story, so I slowed it down.

Any romance was a very sub-sub plot. I had an inkling a little bit before Rae about the Emperor, and now I'm not so sure how villain-y this is gonna get, but I'm down for some real evil in the next book.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit for the ARC!