As soon as I read the blurb, I knew I had to get my hands on this book. I loved isekai tropes where the main character wakes up in the body of a story's villain.

In our world, Rae is dying from cancer. The only consolation she has are the stories from the books that Rae and her sister have been reading since they were young. However, Rae gets the chance to survive if she can pluck a flower from her favourite story. Easy peasy, right? Wrong. She wakes up in the body of the villainess who's supposed to die the very next die. With her wit and knowledge of the future storyline, Rae passes herself a prophet and gains a few comrades, who of course won't hesitate to betray her, to form the evil club.

However, Rae can't remember all the events from the book, and her interference changes the storyline. Now Rae needs to survive in the book as well and find the true emperor, while getting the people who are more likely to kill her one her side.

I loved everything in this book—from the storyline to the characters. Rae is witty and mean. She has lost hope in life and in people, after being betrayed. So now she proudly claims her evil side, which tends to attract quite a few quirky characters, who happen to be as evil as she is. Long live evil!

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for a digital ARC of this book.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

*insert a lot of screaming here*
The way this book got me?! The way these characters started off as empty stereo types and then so very quickly became so real?!

I love a book within a book and that’s what this is. Tl;dr, a girl is dying and gets the chance to go into a fantasy book world to maybe save her own life in the real world. So she meets all these book characters she barely remembers (because she didn’t really read the first book, only the sequels) - and they’re not real people, so she goes full villain to get what she wants.

And it’s funny! There’s a whole villain musical number! But then it’s also heartbreaking?? I won’t spoil, but Key, Marius and Cobra all have my heart.

The ending made me scream - I did see the twist coming, but in the way of: “oh god, I hope this is where it’s going because if this one character doesn’t return I will scream”.

Despite its kind of rough start, this is a 5 star read for me, give me the sequel now, thanks 🙏

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the advanced copy of this book. I was so excited to be able to read it, certainly an anticipated read for me considering how much conversation there has been about it.

And whilst I enjoyed this book, I didn't love it. I felt like it had a huge amount to live up to given its premise and it didn't quite reach those elevated heights. It fell a bit flat.

Rachel Parilla makes a magical bargain at the end of her life, and awakens in the world of her favourite fantasy series. Honestly, this premise had me so excited. The potential here was limitless. Unfortunately, a rather irritating MC that wasn't full fleshed out is what let a large part of this book down. She didn't carry the book well enough, and had slightly off opinions and actions.

The plot and pacing were rather scattered, especially in the beginning. Rachel's arrival in the magical world was rather abrupt, blink and you'll miss it, and it didn't massively improve from there. I think the writing here was also something that let the story down.

There was some decent world building, I enjoyed a few of the secondary characters, but ultimately I just felt this had so much potential and it wasn't really reached. But it was still a fun read.

Rae’s future is looking pretty bleak: hospitalised in cancer with only her younger sister to keep her company with stories from her favourite book series. When a stranger offers her a chance to journey to Eyam, the land of her book, to steal the Flower of Life and Death and either succeed and wake up or fail and die, Rae steps through the door.
Only thing is, she wakes in the body of Lady Rahela, the Beauty Dipped In Blood. The heroine's evil stepsister. And she is due to be executed the next day.

Along with her minions: volatile gutter guard, low-key manically okay with evil, Key; and her perceptive, unfriendly maid Emer; Rae must utilise all sorts of evil conniving to survive.

That's why I like bad guys. Imagine powerless pining in a tower waiting for a hero to rescue you. Then imagine being the only one who can command the monster.

This was so wacky and meta.
There was a lot of info-dumping but the story structure meant this was allowed, providing backstory and history as a plot device.
Expect musical numbers (yes actually written out dancing and singing in ballrooms), lots of modern day references, and a heck of a lot of fun.

That’s not to say this was just a fun time.
The narrative provided an excellent and profound analysis of peoples’s perception and treatment of others based on expectations. Especially surrounding the terminally sick and hopeless situations.
Framing this as a reason to do evil actually made you sympathise.

”Have you never considered art grants us the impossible? Art opens a door into someone else's imagination and lets us walk through. Art is the dreamed-of escape. Art lets the dead speak and the living laugh. Art takes you away from pain when no medicine can save you. Art is the first and last word. Art is the final consolation."

The author’s note at the end actually made me tear up. Brennan recovered from stage four cancer herself, and you can tell the poignant and emotional truths in this book.
Not to mention, her acknowledgments shouted out some of my favourite books ever. Goals.

I thought this was a standalone. Do not be fooled. Nooooo.

If you enjoyed this concept, I would recommend:
- How to become a dark lord or die trying Django Wexler
- Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
- Kill your darlings arlings by L. E. Harper

Thank you to Orbit for providing an arc in exchange for a review.

Long Live Evil is a masterpiece!! This book is an adult fantasy in which the main character Rachel Parilla is drown into the world of her favourite fantasy book series in order to find a flower for he cure. She is an oncology patient who fight for her life in this wonderfully written book. Once arrive in Eyam, as the evil stepsister of the heroine, Rae is able to encounter some important characters as The Emporor, The Last Hope, The Hero, The Golden Cobra, The damsel in distress and other characters. All of them are vividly written. The plot is original and the themes are related to to meaning of Villainesses and Heroes. Everything is perfectly planned in this book, the plot, the setting, the characters, everything.
It’s an important book in which you can find also amazing fantasy battles and also queer representation.
I’m waiting for the sequel!!

I was super excited for this but unfortunately it didn't work for me, I am quite gutted.
I found the mc irritating and possibly the most non villain villain of the book. Her treatment and opinions of everyone else were quite gross. She did nothing for me at all so enough about that.
The other characters however I really enjoyed and couldn't wait to get back to the parts where they were! Character arcs, believable and relatable reactions and purposes, all the emotions and their interactions with each other were great. I routed for and stayed for these guys and if they had their own story I'd read it in a heartbeat.
I was excited for the premise of this but if it was just the secondary fictional story with its characters I'd of had a lot more fun.
Thanks to Little Brown Book Group and Netgalley for an arc, all thoughts are my own and left voluntarily.

When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at living: a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favourite fantasy series as one of the villains.

I absolutely love the concept of the book but the execution was more meh. I had to force myself through the first 100 pages and only really enjoyed the last 100 pages.
Rae not really having read the first book was only really there for the final twist which I found to be a bit stupid on Raes side for not remembering the true identity of her favourite character, like you‘re telling me that never came up?
There was also an extreme overuse of modern words. I get it she uses these words in her world and normally talks like this, but if you‘re getting transported into another world you should try to adapt.

2,75–3⭐️

This book was written to specifically infuriate me.

What can I say? Me, a big sucker for SVSSS, finding a book about isekai-ed dying girl into the fantasy world, only to find put she is a villain? How could I say no?

And then the alerts started to arise.

Firstly, the beginning. I don't think I've ever read so messy introduction and exposition of world-building. Bad, sure, those I know, but so chaotic, to the point where it was a logical puzzle to try and grasp the surroundings – I must confess, it was the first. It stopped me from lecture for a long time. The resolution for that would be very simple – just state the plot of the original book as a first thing, and later on build on top of that. Because to this moment I am not sure what was the "canonical" event, and what was a twist. And that worsens the isekai experience.

Secondly – the characters. Be as campy as you want, there is no easier way to create surprise than use a stereotype for a twist. But gods, do create them. Besides Rae and Eric (later on Lia and Marius are added to this list) there is no character anyhow developed. There are changes, but those are said changes: They were like that before. Now, they're like this. For me, who knows those characters from only few chapters yet, this means nothing.

The plot was... interesting. The idea – great; some resolutions – really great, they surprised me and actually invested me. But what good it brings, I ask gods, if there is so much unnecessary camp thrown at me. I may survive lot, but oh, the popcultural references were like bullets to my heart. Density so tight I might cry if I see another TS quote. I know Rae is supposed to be this out of place one, that doesn't really care about the world, but pays close attention to why she's in it, yet is it that hard to make main character at least a little more into the story she's in?

But do you know why I feel bad criticising both the book and the main character? It's because Rae has cancer. And a lot of introduction, later on also her thoughts, is influenced by that.

It sounds a bit ridiculous when you try to portray her backstory – she has a cancer, and during this illness her father leaves, her boyfriend cheats on her with her best friend, and this said BFF fat shames her all the time. How much more could she suffer?
The worst part is I am not so sure how unreal this backstory is, because it was devastating for me to learn the author is a cancer survivor herself. Because after reading acknowledgements I started understanding so much more of this title than without such knowledge.

"Long Live Evil" is not a serious, poignant story. It is a convalescence, a fun little adventure that takes no borders, but brings everything that's light and warm. It goes into much darker corners the more you read, leaves you in a quarrel, yet still shines some laugh from beside the clouds.

I may have not liked it as I expected, I may have even suffered through some parts (cringe culture is dead but I have daily limits), but I also changed my opinion a lot through the lecture. At the beginning I was unsure whether I wanted to rate it, and now? After so long? I think I might even pick up Polish translation when it's released.

I was lucky enough to be sent a physical arc of this one as well as some cute pr merch.
Firstly I love the cover and it definitely draws your eye.
This book was an enjoyable and funny read with plenty of funny references, especially when some of the characters had no idea what our mc was talking about!!
The world building was fantastic and I loved all the descriptions.
This is a fantastic adult fantasy book where the main character Rae decides that being the Villain is the way to get what she needs which is a flower that will cure her and allow her to return to perfect health but in the real world. I loved how Rae embraces being Evil and that she soon starts to enjoy it but it doesn’t take long before she realises it doesn’t always run smoothly for her.
I loved discovering that there were other characters who had similar tragic stories to Rae in the book, I especially loved Cobra and felt that he really propped Rae up at points in the book.
I loved all the twists and turns that the book threw at us toward the end and some I didn’t see coming. This book had so many emotional parts too.
Overall a really great and funny read for me.
I would love to read more about other characters and how and why they ended up there too!

Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Long Live Evil
A story for anyone who's ever fallen for the villain... (Time of Iron, Book 1)
by Sarah Rees Brennan

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Romance, Sci Fi & Fantasy

I loved the idea of this. I'm one of those who adore the “bad” characters.....they have much more fun. Sadly its didn't live up to the hype for me – that's fine, others love it. Once more it shows why we need such a diverse range of stories, something for everyone.
I liked the premise, having been in Rae's place I could empathise with her. The Big C doesn't turn us into saints, we have selfish moments, nasty thoughts just like anyone else. I found it difficult though when Rae is in a world she and her sister love, but at the first book stage – the book she barely read.
I felt so many scenes were well set up and I knew what was coming, but still there were what seemed like endless explanations of how and why, and what did it mean for the book. Some characters and scenes were so stereotyped, I get its a bit tongue in cheek but I don't need to be spoon-fed every detail.
Given she knows little of book one Rae does incredibly well to stay alive, with danger at every turn, every decision she makes.
I did love the funny quirks, the snappy one liners and side humour. There were some interesting characters, but they seemed hampered by the plot.
It was an interesting premise, I was hoping it would be more like J M Frey's accidental Turn series. I loved that, similar premise in that the FMC ends up caught in a book, and has to fight her way back, but executed in a very different way.

Stars: Three, not a bad book but not one that held my interest, and I won't continue with the series.

ARC supplied by netgalley and publishers

Really enjoyed this one.
I loved the idea of a book when the main character can get to be bad.
A very exciting read, and very well written.
Can't wait for more!

I spent the first 30% of this book side-eyeing the pop culture references and struggling to remember who the characters were. And I spent the latter 70% completely feral, squeezing in chapters between work tasks because I wasn’t willing to spend more than a few hours not reading.

First 30% thoughts:

Maybe I just don’t read enough high fantasy, but that initial hill really WAS tough. Not only do you have to keep up with a brand new world, a vague magic system and the cast of characters, but most characters also have a Dramatic Literary Epithet they’re known by. Plus you’re juggling the present time with future events that Rae references. It’s a lot.

I also understand that Rae’s manner of speaking was showing that she was not part of the world! A modern gal in a medieval environment! But maaan it got old quite quick. I found it SO tiring that she didn't make any attempts to adapt her Modern Young Person speech. She’s supposed to be fairly familiar with the world, you know? She knows how she needs to talk to fit in.

Finally, I did struggle to understand Rae’s character. At first I thought she was supposed to be a standard narrator: a sarcastic bookworm, a villain fangirl, our beloved author/reader stand-in. But then further in it seemed like she was actually supposed to be a former bitchy popular cheerleader girl? But then also maybe not? I'm still kind of unclear, and I wish the author HAD leaned into the bitchy cheerleader characterisation; it would have provided a slightly better motivation for the whole villainy thing, which never really made a whole lot of sense beyond “sometimes villains are hot!” which, I mean, okay, valid.

BUT THEN

Okay I forgot literally everything I didn’t love about this book at around the 50% mark. Emer never really got as much attention as I’d’ve liked and I kind of wish Lia had a bit more going on too (though I allow that this is only book 1 in the series!), but I found every other character super compelling. The relationship between Key and Rae was soooo chewy and I could have gnawed on it for another 100 pages at least. The Cobra had a delicious development, Marius’s internal conflict was really nicely done and Octavian’s royal brattiness was so fun to see. The supporting characters were also given enough detail to be memorable and their stories felt real and satisfying to see play out. The original “plot” vs how Rae’s presence affected things was also done really nicely.

The final 15% of the book was a masterpiece. I suspected a twist was coming bc I know how SRB operates (affectionate) but even so it was gooood food. I’m lowkey regretting getting an ARC because now I have to wait even longer for the next instalment AND I can’t immediately join some kind of fan club for the series. I’ve already stared at the few bits of fanart on the author’s instagram for several hours and it is simply not enough.

V minor gripes aside, I did love the book and I’m super excited to see where the story goes. I’m SO happy to see something new out from the author and I’m rooting for her so so hard as she settles back into the writing world again. As a first book back from a very rough break, it’s a complete triumph. Welcome back, SRB. I’ve missed you so much ❤️

It's lots of fun to be entering my evil era. I really really enjoyed this one a whole lot. Highly recommend and lots of fun. Be sure to check out this one and enjoy your villain era.

Yessssss! Who does not love a villain? We have come to see that sometimes the villains are not really the bad guys, after books showing us different perspectives and stories have come to life. It was brilliant to be taking on a new perspective, especially from a girl who got to go from our life to a fantasy world, how is that not every one of our dreams. And, well,.let's be honest, she is right. The evil on a are often better dressed and full of snark.

I absolutely loved the author's writing and the way they brought this story to life. The world building was really good and the characters had a good level of detail. All of this made it really easy to become part of this realm and really enjoy this evil tale on fantasy and fun.

This was so unique and fun, the humour was perfect too! I love the concept so much I need a book 2.

I went into this a little blind and I wasnt disappointed. It had a Jumanji feel due to the FMC being thrown into the plot of a book unfolding and it had a game like feel to that. I enjoyed the FMC playing into the plot of evil and scheming her way through the story. I couldnt put it down it was brilliant! Key however was my no.1 character and he deserves more than he got!

This book had such an interesting concept and as soon as i read the blurb i knew i had to get my hands on a copy. It's something i've only seen done in anime/manga, where the main character gets Isekaied into a different realm. I hope this has a really positive impact on the romantasy genre and inspires authors to take more creative risks and have more freedom/fun with what they write instead of following trends and formulas.
Throughout reading this i was laughing, swooning, screaming and freaking out multiple times! There was always something happening to keep me interested and never a dull moment.

It was also really refreshing to see the 'villain' being played by a FMC, especially in this case where they're simultaneously the hero and protagonist of their own lives!
It was such an insanely fun plot fill of chaos, political intrigue, plot twists and madness. I genuinely couldn't predict what was going to happen around the corner and loved every single second my assumptions about the plot were proved wrong.

Every single character, especially the core few, were so freaking interesting and added something unique to the story, while at the same time not getting in the way of the main plot and our psychotic villain. I loved that the focus was almost always on her.

I finished this book almost immediately after starting it. I simply couldn't put it down and needed to know what was going to happen.
I cannot stress enough how much i enjoyed this book and how similar it felt to other books like A TEMPEST OF TEA and SHADOW & BONE, except better because the villains are technically the good guys and she ends up falling for the most morally grey of them all.

A massive thank you to the author, publisher, and netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book! It has quickly become one of my favourite reads of the whole year!

Wheee! This book was fun. And funny! It did for Romantasy what Scream did for horror films - it gently played with the genre conventions whilst still staying smack bang in the middle of the genre itself.

Rae is dying in the real world. A mysterious woman appears and gives her the chance to find the magic Flower of Life and Death which would save her life. She ends up in Eyam, inside a story that she knows very well, even if she can't remember details from the first book very well. She has to survive until the Flower of Life and Death blooms, pick the flower and go home.
She finds herself in a lovely healthy body of one of the villainesses. Some might say THE villainess of the piece. She embraces her villainy and starts making allies.

I raced through this book. The world building is intriguing, especially as Rae looks at it through the eyes of someone reading the book as well as someone living what's going on. The characters are delightful, especially the villains. I think the Cobra is my favourite.

I got an ARC from Netgalley and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I can't wait for this book to come out properly. I might even buy a print copy for the keeper shelf.

Argghhh, this book was WiLd! Fun, feisty and fast moving, I've not read a book quite like Long Live Evil. With plenty of morally grey characters and a plot packed full of mayhem and trickery, you're continuously kept on your toes, scrambling to figure out what'll happen next. Admittedly, I sometimes got a bit lost within the story, but if you embrace the chaos, I can guarantee you'll end up having a hell of a time! 💜

This book was so amazingly chaotic and unexpected; so many twists and turns - nothing turned out the way I thought it would and I loved it!

This is a book about being trapped in a book… picture an Alice in Wonderland senario but instead of smiling cats and rabbits with watches, you’ve got politics and the undead and magic and heroes and villains… with me so far? Rae is 20 and is dying of cancer in a hospital in America. The only thing that gets her through is her sister Alice reading her favourite romantasy series to her.

As she lies dying, a mysterious woman tells Rae that she can have a chance to save herself… enter the story and retrieve the flower of life and death. Rae jumps at the chance, but on entering the fictional realm, finds out she has been cast into the role of evil stepsister, beautiful seductress and general harlot, the Beauty Dipped in Blood. Who is due to be executed tomorrow… Of course Rae, furious at the world after years of illness, and angry that even in a fictional world she’s slated for death, she embraces the villainy and decides to decimate the plot to survive and thrive.

I thought the way the story turns the traditional romantasy ideas of purity and gender roles on their heads (Similar to In Other Lands!) and explores the idea of what makes a hero, or a villain. I loved Key of the Cauldron, the psychopathic assassin, and The Golden Cobra, the playboy with a world-changing secret. The whole gang (I hesitate to call them a found family as they just keep stabbing each other in the back lol) were fascinating and I loved the slow burn relationships that started to form throughout this story (we have FF and MF rep and an MM that I really hope happens in the next book!)

The only reason this doesn’t get 5 stars from me is because I just didn’t feel like I connected with all the characters? I kind of wanted more from Rae (she was the big bad villain but still relied on Key a lot) and Emer just annoyed me (so obsessed with the rules for a villain, ugh). Otherwise, an amazing book!

Read Long Live Evil for:
✨ A story that takes place in a story
✨ FF, MF and (heavily hinted) MM romance pairings
✨ Magic, mayhem, pure chaos
✨ Pokes fun at the romantasy genre
✨ Lies, plots, scheming
✨ Villian takes it all!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book 💕

I immediately wanted to read this because one, Leigh Bardugo and Holly black blurbed this, and two, I LOVE ISEKAI STORIES. I’ve only ever read them in manhwa form so reading one for the first time in a novel form was an exciting experience.

I highly recommend reading this if (like me) you like reading historical fantasy manhwas with a reincarnated/isekai plot AND the main character takes over the body of the VILLAINESS!!!!

Overall the plot and characters were so fun and I was ultimately here for the vibes. The plot unfolding always kept me intrigued and entertained while the humour was just exactly my taste because I randomly bursted out laughing so many times.

There was also a found family trope which I’m a sucker for and this book developed the found family dynamic so well. It was so heartwarming at times that I started tearing up a lot.

Speaking of tearing up, I even got emotional in some scenes. I was not expecting this book to make me even be on the verge of crying sad tears.

Most of the plot twists had me literally gasping. There were some predictable plot twists and some unpredictable ones but I loved both kinds nonetheless because I liked the directions the plot was going in!!