It has been interesting seeing the pretty mixed reviews of this book and I suspect some of the lower ratings might be a result of the way the book is being marketed as epic adult fantasy.

It’s very quickly apparent that this book is parody and satire, firmly tongue in cheek, and with a lot of affection for the genre.

Taken as such, it’s a very entertaining and amusing read. The main characters are all really enjoyable and Rae’s journey as she comes to care for the other characters despite herself is well done.

The twist at the end is pretty well telegraphed so shouldn’t come as a big surprise if you’re paying attention, but is incredibly poignant despite that.

Overall this was a really fun, fresh read that I would recommend to fantasy fans on the understanding that this book is more satire than epic adult fantasy.

#teamkey

I enjoyed this. I liked the character of Key best. I found Rae/Rahela a bit annoying but I think I'd probably be annoying if I was thrown into a fantasy world on my own. I liked the world. I liked that Rae wasn't the only one somehow in the book world too. I very much liked the ending when you found out who the Emperor actually is.

Long live evil is a fun book to read if you read it as a tongue in cheek tale, that uses one-liners, and draws on typical dnd adventure aspects. I do wonder if the author is a dnd player as I can see character classes in the various characters -for example a playboy spymaster bard, a barbarian axe-wielding maid etc. It was a fun book to follow, but read less as an epic fantasy that it is depicted as, and more an entertaining read.

I unfortuantely found the start quite slow, as we wait for the main character to fall into the fantasy series, but I appreciate that it was important to develop the relationship between the sisters.

I think if you go into this book expecting a laugh, and less of a typical fantasy big-world building read, then you'll enjoy it. Sadly, it's style wasn't for me, but i can appreciate that others may enjoy it.

Thank you for the advance read copy, I really appreciate trying new things!

This was one of my most anticipated reads, epic adult fantasy, yes please!
Unfortunately, it has become one of my only DNF books.
Instead of an epic fantasy, I felt like this book turned into purely satire, the over whelming info dump at the start was really off putting, clunky and definitely didn't flow well for me personally, it became very repetitive and some of the language and phrases that were used just dampened the entire 'epic' plot, again this is just my opinion, but it could have been glorious.
I tried 4 times to get back into the story, it just wasn't for me.

Its sad that the writing style really suffered because of the concept. I get it, but it was a pain to get through. It reads more like a satire or parody than an actual full novel, sadly.

This is such a fun read! Some things are predictable, but I don't mind that at all, other times there are some twists I didn't expect. I'm planning on releasing a reading vlog on my YouTube channel closer to publication date.

With thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group for the ARC! This is my honest review.

Firstly, I want to say that I went into this knowing it was going to be meta and camp and over the top. In fact, I was exited for that! However, this book fell short of my expectations and therefore this was a DNF after 10 chapters.

The excessive mention of the main character’s breasts really started to irritate me after, oh, I don’t know, the tenth time? I understand the commentary and angle the author was going for, including painting Rae as this evil seductive villain, but this was excessive and got on my nerves.

Then there’s the description of things. It’s so repetitive. Constantly saying things that mean the same things! Over and over. Again, I understand what the author was going for. I understand it’s a commentary but this was not a good way to make this work. I wanted to throw my phone at the wall!

In my opinion this book also seems to suffer from “make the character be in her early twenties so I can use adult language and make sexual references” syndrome without actually considering that the character comes across as a late teenager. Again, I acknowledge this is potentially commentary but. I’m TIRED of books like this!

I can see where the author was coming from. I can see the vision. Unfortunately, this book was painful to get through. I tried to love it, but after ten chapters, if you have me feeling wildly apathetic towards all the characters, then I’m afraid I cannot reading. This is a huge shame because I was so eagerly anticipating this book.

At publisher’s request this review will not be posted until two weeks before publication date.

A funny, chaotic, irreverent, good-time of a novel. I loved the originality of this one, and the obvious affection it had for the genre it was parodying. While I did see the final twist coming, there was so much of this book that kept me guessing because of the playful and clever way it used various fantasy tropes and stock characters. I loved Rae so much, was moved to tears several times by her descriptions of her illness, and laughed out loud at her razor sharp one-liners. A villain I was truly rooting for. Can’t wait for the next book!

Rae is dying. But then a woman appears in her hospital room, and tells her that she still has a chance at life … if only she can enter into the world of Eyam, and steal the Flower of Life and Death. And so Rae steps into the world of fiction, and wakes up in the body of Lady Rahela, the Beauty Dipped in Blood, the heroine’s evil stepsister … the day before her execution.

I don’t normally read a lot of fantasy, but I couldn’t resist a book called Long Live Evil. I loved the metaliterary twist to this book, where the protagonist is a real-life character who has stepped into a world of fiction. This not only helped me to get my own bearings on the story’s complex mythologies, and provided me with plenty of entertainment, but it also led to some thought-provoking musings on the way in which books are written and read. I loved living vicariously through Rae’s choice to embrace her life as a villain, as much as I loved the way this book paints its characters and their morals in many shades of grey. I especially loved how Sarah Rees Brennan portrays and attacks the sexist rules that govern the world of Eyam, and how Rae endeavours to tear them apart.

I will admit that it took me a little while to find my feet amidst all the different, and confusingly-named, characters and lores, but once I did, I was well and truly hooked. Long Live Evil reminded me why I don’t regularly read fantasy, but it also made me glad that I decided to make an exception. I loved the romance plots that tease and thrill the reader, and I appreciated that Long Live Evil gave the reader some closure, while also promising great things to come in future books. I might have felt a little out of my comfort zone at times with this one, but I wouldn’t have chosen to be anywhere else.

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

This book is a love letter to all things villainous and dark. I was hooked from the start, when 20 year old Rae is in hospital dying of cancer listening to her little sister Alice reading a fictional high fantasy Game of Thrones like book series to her called 'Time of Iron'. All too soon, Rae finds herself magically teleported into the world of Eyam, in the body of the wickedly cool femme fatale character Beauty Dipped In Blood.

At first I did feel overwhelmed with the info dump, since we're learning about the fictional world and plot of the fictional book within a book. Confusing? A little. Worth it? Absolutely. Whilst there's some pacing issues, the mastermind plot, political intrigue and intricately woven schemes make it a fun and addictive story to delve into.

The characters are all fleshed out so well, I adored the interactions particularly between the main character Rae (Rahela) and her evil minions; mysterious main Emer and grousomely gorgeous guard Key. The dialogue was so funny, albeit cheesy and overdone at times, it reminded me of the book Assistant to the Villain with the collective cunning plans and upcoming betrayals.

There's a lot of small romances in this book, for those who are eager for some kind of undying devotions and angst. There's multiple characters with different sexualities but my main ship was Rae and Key. They're both delightfully deadly though it's not the relationship you'd imagine.

The ending has an awesome epic battle and some shocking plot twists which I personally expected but I wasn't mad about it. I'm so glad it went the way I wanted it to, and the book does leave on one hell of a cliffhanger, which is just the definition of villainous!

4/5 🌟

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for this ARC.

I am usually conflicted about buying a book that I already read, but in this case, I am sure to buy any and all editions that hit the shelves!

The plot revolves around Rae, a terminally ill young woman who is invited to complete a mission in her sister's favorite fantasy book, in exchange for her to heal from cancer. She takes the opportunity, but her confidence quickly diminishes as she realizes how spotty her memories about the book are. She is thrust into the skin of a character that is due to be executed, so she has to change the plot, but the more she changes, the further the story deviates from the original book.

Some of the characters in this fantasy world are real people, just like Rae, while some are NPCs, but there is no way to tell who is who, unless they tell on themselves. I loved that the author left us hints about some of them, so we could guess, while all the fictional characters had round enough personalities to be indistinguishable.

I particularly enjoyed Rae's inner commentary on how character- and world-building works. Her witty remarks made me snicker constantly. I wished she treated others better in the first half of the book when she thought of fictional characters as expendable, but she clearly realized her mistake as we were nearing the end of the book.

I DID NOT SEE THAT PLOT TWIST COMING. I had to read the page where it was revealed THREE TIMES to make sure that YES. This really happened. HAH. Collect your jaw from the floor! And then suddenly, the book was over, sayonara, THE END.

The only negative I can point out about this book is that my constant chuckling was embarrassing when on public transport, so choose your reading space wisely!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Book group for an arc in exchange for an honest review. I'm sorry to say that this was a DNF for me, at around 25%. I was so thrilled to receive what was one of my highly anticipated reads. The premise sounds unique and exciting (I LOVE the villains) and that cover?! Stunning.

Initially, it did not disappoint. We're introduced to our FMC, Rae, in hospital as she battles cancer. Dying, she strikes a magical bargain that transports her into the world of her favourite fantasy book series as the villainess. The ultimate escapism! So far, so excellent! I adored Rae. She's sassy, pragmatic and irreverent despite her pain and struggles. Her relationship with her sister was portrayed beautifully - so protective and loving. I couldn't wait to see our bitter, wounded, snarky, modern-day FMC with her heart of gold become the villain of an epic high fantasy world.

Once we made that transition though, the wheels started to come off (for me). This is marketed as an "adult epic fantasy" but it felt more like a parody. Consistent dialogue such as "seriously, you will be powerful A.F" / "I'm a heartless monster with a strong character and stronger eyeliner game" and "i'm totally evil, and I want you to be my evil minions." was just not landing with me the way I think it intended. It completely diluted all of the depth and stakes established in the beginning. Rae and the secondary characters began to feel like caricatures who I wasn't supposed to take seriously anymore and I lost that sense of connection to her. I kept putting it down and coming back to it at a later time/date in the hopes it would start to click with me again, but unfortunately, despite revisiting it on multiple occasions, it just wasn't working for me.

Ingenious, funny, and devastating Long Live Evil is outstanding.

Taking on and twisting every villain trope, every morally grey love interest, every assumption about heroes, romance and heteronormativity, and shattering stupid conventions about damsels in distress, (how much the distress is just massaging male ego to survive?), this portal fantasy is only the first instalment and I cannot wait to see where this goes. Literally thrown into the world of her favourite book after making a deal where if she can retrieve the magic flower of life and death she an return and live instead of dying of the terminal cancer that has destroyed her life, Rae is cast into the body of villainess destined to die at dawn. Surrounding herself with the story’s villains, and picking up more unexpected allies along the way, Rae finds herself shattering the narrative she thought she knew and Rees Brennan springs some marvellous twists on the Viperess and her brood and us, the unsuspecting readers.

Chock full of silly fantasy names, brilliantly knowing winks, and some genuinely delightful disaster bits, Long Live has great world building, and manages the balance of satire, comedy and a genuinely gripping story perfectly.

Watching the angry and apathetic Rae genuinely come to care for the fictional characters she now lives with beyond her idolisation of her favourite character is so engaging and it only took me so long to read because I was reading it at work on my iPad in my breaks xD

I can’t wait for the next book, my grateful thanks to @orbitbooks_uk for the eARC on @netgalley - it has not affected my opinion.

I really, really wanted to like this book. The premise of it sounded like a lot of fun, who wouldn't want to jump into their favourite book?

There were far too many names thrown around at once with zero context as to who they were and there were too many nicknames for characters that we were unfamiliar with

The main character contradicts herself saying she doesn't remember half the book then once she's in the universe, she remembers practically everything

Unfortunately I had to dnf this book

This book was absolutely ridiculous and campy. It really takes all the Y/N fanfic tropes and turns them on their heads.
I fell in love with these characters and am already really looking forward to book 2. I will say that this was a bit too long and there were a lot of scenes in the middle that were not really needed and just dragged on a bit. Also it was a little bit too over the top quirky for me at times, but overall I was very entertained. I would read it again for the musical scene alone.

When I read that Sarah Rees Brennan had written an adult fantasy book, I was pretty excited because I enjoyed her Lyburn Legacy a lot, and I expected an entertaining read.
I’m very happy I got approved for an eARC, so thank you Orbit and NetGalley! All opinions are my own.
My review is also going to be published on goodreads one week before the book’s release date.
~*~
The premise of Long Live Evil sounded interesting – how can it not when you’re suddenly a character in your favourite fantasy series? – although I admittedly didn’t care that much for the villains. Oh, how the tables have turned!
The beginning was a bit hard to get into because sometimes the characters, especially the FMC, were quite silly, and things were a bit chaotic. It also didn’t help that many characters had additional names to remember them by.
The conversations once Rae was in the fictional world were a bit over the top, but similar to what I knew from having met Sarah at book events and her other books. This was one of the reasons why I ‘powered’ through, and it indeed got much better! The other was a friend of mine who’d already read and loved Long Live Evil. The second half of the book was really strong, and you could definitely see the characters’ growth, especially Rae’s.
Talking about the characters: there were a lot of them, and we had more than one POV, which I didn’t mind at all. It was actually rather cool to find out the thoughts of the characters that were only fictional to Rae. My favourites were the Golden Cobra and Key. Key was a really mysterious character – for a very good reason – and the Cobra was downright cool. I would love to be friends with him because he was such a fun guy! He also did have a softer and tragic side and I was close to tearing up when we found out his backstory.
The Last Hope was a surprise because I didn’t expect to end up liking up, but I did and I’m now hoping for a bromance between the Cobra and the Last Hope.
The female characters (Rae, Lia, Emer) were all likeable and I enjoyed the story arcs they all went through.
There was a mild yet pretty great romance between Rae and other character. Alas, I cannot say more because it would be a huge spoiler. I was certainly a fan of Rae’s love interest and what they did for her.
I’m hoping for more romance and steamier scenes in the second book, although there already was one line in Long Live Evil that made me fan myself and squeal about it to SRB herself.
Another thing I was a fan of were the LGBTQ* characters. I loved that being queer seemed rather normal in this world!
The pop culture references were fun, especially the Taylor Swift one. Although this one was already a bit older, I thought it aged well and wouldn’t date the book.
The backstory about the fantasy world was really interesting and I hope we are going to find out more about the actual book series Rae and her little sister were such fans of. Right now even the author is completely unknown!
Slight spoiler: The book did end on a plot twist and a cliffhanger. Both were deliciously evil, although there were certainly hints if you were paying close attention whilst reading.
Overall, I thought there was a good balance between light-hearted and serious moments. What obviously grounded the book was Rae’s cancer. To read what this young woman had been going/suffering through for so long was hard to read because I know that Sarah had had cancer herself. I remember her Instagram posts during chemo and was so relieved when she kicked cancer’s behind. Long Live Evil is her first book after her illness and all that’s left for me to say is: Welcome back, Sarah! I’m already looking forward to the sequel (and I have so many questions)!

CW: Animal death.

Rae is dying, so when she is given the opportunity to live inside her favourite fantasy book, she readily agrees. But she's not the hero of this story - she's a villain.

I had such high hopes for this book, but was disappointed by it. The plot was difficult to follow and the twist at the end completely baffled me. I think the vibe was supposed to be tongue in cheek, but I didn't find it funny and instead spent chunks of the book cringing. Maybe I'm just not the right audience, but I was very disappointed.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I am so disappointed that I am DNFing it, the plot itself is so confusing that I'm just so lost I cannot even start to love the characters I thought I would

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book for an honest opinion.

This book was stunning!

From the twists and turns you get from chapter one onwards it keeps you gripped.

I genuinely laughed so hard are some of the banter between characters!

I would say did you like ready player one? Alice in wonderland? Never ending story
Well this is the chance to get a whole new evil spin on the genre!

You’ll enjoy Key and Rae’s tension!

Why not be the villain they do have a lot of fun!

📚 review 📚

this book was pure chaos - seriously there is a riverdale esque musical number in the middle, its like that one episode of angel where they are all puppets with no explanation at all. it’s a meme in book form. does that make it bad? no. does it make it good? again, no. but it does make it hugely entertaining.

long live evil is super fun and hugely meta, it doesn’t take itself seriously at all and pokes fun at all those fantasy tropes that we know so well.

here’s the basics: rae is dying and one of the only things keeping her sane is her sister reading her their favourite game of thrones esque epic fantasy series. unlike her sister, rae loves the baddies, so when a mysterious woman turns up in her hospital room offering her a way to live, rae is about as surprised as we are to find herself waking up in that fantasy story and as one of the villains no less. from there on rae is fully embracing the villainy, creating her own little band of evil minions and trying to get the one thing that will keep her alive in the real world as well as this fantasy one.

long live evil isn’t going to be winning any literary awards, it’s campy, it’s meta but it is a riot. while some parts are a bit cringe, it is on the whole funny - rae’s excitement at being in the story, her amazement at having a body that works and her pure joy at getting to do the evil are funny. but this book isn’t just playing for laughs, at times, it is poignant - mixing laughing at the tropes we love so much and being a campy villain with very real, raw depictions of chronic pain and cancer treatments, something the author knows all too well.

tldr, long live evil is chaotic and not like anything else you’ve come across this year. if you’re into fantasy or fun, give this one a try.

thank you @netgalley for the early copy, long live evil is out in july.
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