Many Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing the digital review copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
I honestly haven’t loved a book as much in ages, so much so that I instantly bought it when it came on release. Yes it has a few problems, the character development wasn’t that great, and I would have loved to have seen more action from the side characters like Lia and Emer, but Key was just altogether amazing, and the plot twist was chefs kiss.
I will 100% be keeping an eye on anything from Sarah Rees Brennan in the future.

BOOK REVIEW: Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

A huge thank you to @orbitbooks_uk and @littlebrownbookgroup_uk for giving me an E-ARC through @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one is dedicated to all of us who have ever fallen for a villain.

When @misterkristoff said this was one of the best books he had read this year, best believe I smashed the hell out of that request button - and he wasn’t bloody wrong!

When Rae’s illness slowly consumes her and her days are spent in a hospital bed, she gets given the opportunity to do the one thing all us book lovers dream of - enter her favourite fictional world!

This was such a character driven, campy book which had me turning the pages ridiculously quickly. I had so much fun reading this book and genuinely had fun with our FMC whilst also relishing in her complexities and quirks.

For a first book in a trilogy I am seriously impressed and cannot wait to follow Rae and her antics!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Such a brilliant concept, with characters I found genuinely funny. The plot was perhaps a tad complex, with a lot of different threads/stories going on at the same time - but, for people who like fantasy board games, I feel like this book would be absolutely perfect! A great twist on the heroine/villain/hero dynamic too.

I seen a tagline that went something along the lines of 'for anyone who has fallen in love with the villian' and I was sold

Here we follow Rae who is terminally ill and in hospital. She is approached by a strange woman who offers her the chance to dive in her her favourite book series, to hunt a fabled flower which will also save her in the real world. But if she fails she won't be back.

Rae is transported into a character in the book that doesn't have much time left, so she needs to buy some time with the King to give her a chance at finding the flower when it blooms... can Rae help herself without sacrificing the story and the characters she knows and loves....

I really enjoyed this book, I was giggling at bits at pieces early on and I really loved the 'villians' and 'heroes' of the stories and what it means to be either

I love self aware media, like a horror movie that knows the rules, and I had a niggling thought in my brain right through reading that this reminded me of something I loved but I couldn't put my finger on it.... until I got to the acknowledgements.... Pleasantville.... Completely different vibes but the idea of jumping into a story has always stuck with me, and considering Narnia is a favourite of mine since childhood and Labyrinth as well (who wouldn't choose the 'villian' there) I had high hopes and wasn't disappointed

Great read and I stare in anticipation at any news for books two!

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit books for the review copy, all opinions my own. Out now!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for providing an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

'I love you as a knife loves a throat,' he murmured as the dead overwhelmed her. 'I crawled out of hell to fall at your feet.'

At it's heart, Long Live Evil is a story about lost futures and missed opportunities, about writing new stories and rewriting old ones with better endings. This was such a complicated reading experience for me but I did have a fun and I think a lot of readers will connect with this one.

This is going to be a longer review as I really want to cover both sides of my experience with this book, if you are just looking for whether or not I recommend giving it a try: the answer is yes!

Lets start with the things that didn't work well for me:
- The biggest obstacle for my investment in the story was with the character development. I would have preferred more showing and less telling, especially with the secondary cast. I felt there weren't that many clues put down for me to pick up on my own, and instead moments of growth and change were handed to me only when it was time for them to have a large-scale impact on the plot. This was definitely created the most issues with Octavian's narrative arc, and with Lia and Marius. I just never really felt these characters escaped being plot devices and gained any presence of their own.

- The dialogue sometimes felt forced. The mix of contemporary slang and pop-culture references didn't land well with the medieval backdrop. In moderation it was fun, in excess it killed some scenes for me.

-The pacing was quite jarring. There's lots of POV shifts, jumps from overlong conversations to condensed action scenes. Even within a single chapter it could be difficult to follow what was happening. I did find that it mattered less to me as the story progressed and I got a feel for Brennan's playfulness. This is not a read you can take too seriously, it is written like a movie trailer, all theatrics and very little gravity.

A note on the prose:
-The writing was really bizarre. A hot mess. Sometimes a brilliant mess. Lots of nonsense that sometimes irritated me and sometimes came together in such beautiful ways that I wanted to reread passages just to enjoy their impact again. Brennan's writing has moments where it just lands so well, poetic but playful, vicious and extremely satisfying. She just needed to be a bit more ruthless with editing. Half of the poetry needs to be cut so the other half can shine.

'The glow from the ravine painted the room. The graceful arc of Key's leap was a single dark comma across a scene red as blood and white as snow.'

- There's a lot of commentary about beauty standards, female character stereotypes, women's virtues, and femininity. Much of it is lacking nuance. This is less of a criticism and more of a warning to readers that if they don't enjoy the way this topic is being navigated in the first half, they may find it more enjoyable in the second. There is a slight shift away from female character study towards an examination of the male gaze, and I personally found it fit Brennans narrative better.

What I loved:
- Key. This man was everything. If you're a fan of villains that would burn the world down for the people they love, Key has that vibe in spades. Brennan put a delightful golden retriever spin on him that I just adore. I fell in love with this murderous puppy very quickly and I hope others will too. He is vicious, he is doting, he is definitely in need of some psychiatric therapy, and he is perfect.

- Emer doesn't get as much time to shine as Key does, but she's an interesting character that reminded me a lot of Marial from The Great, to the point where I don't think I could be easily convinced she isn't at least inspired by her. Her motivations and loyalties are complicated and I enjoyed never really knowing where she stood with our heroine. To be honest I am still not entirely sure what her motivations are and I think that works well for her.

- This book was also delightfully queer towards the end. I don't want to spoil any of the pairings but I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity in both the romantic and platonic relationships represented. I maybe wanted a little bit more from a certain partnership, which I am currently interpreting as a platonic bond (but that could change in book 2).

-Longing for Revenge and Starving for Blood were such fitting sword names for this world and I have to at least mention them. The world-building isn't the most deep or original, but it has a charming touch of whimsy that I am always craving.

Overall, I had fun despite the rocky start. I think there were a few moments where I found myself wishing I was reading a different narrative with the same components; there is a lot of wasted potential here with the plot. But it was enjoyable escapism and I think I would pick up a continuation. If you are looking for something playful and dramatic, this could be your kind of adventure.

CW: animal death
This book does end with a plot twist and cliff-hanger.

------------------------------------
My rating system:
✧✧✧✧✧ - loved it, no complaints
✧✧✧✧ - loved it, some technical flaws
✧✧✧ - liked it
✧✧ - disappointing
✧ - unenjoyable

I could not get into this book and ended up dnfing the book at around 50%. I wanted to like this book so badly as the concept sounded amazing. However, I didn't like the writing style and felt this made it hard for me to enjoy.

First of all thankyou to sarah and little brown books for having me review such a great fantasy read .

I have read the chilling adventures of Sabrina by Sarah few years back now and loved them very much so when I had the chance to review this book I was over the moon .

Sarah writing I thought was epic she definitely makes you think and twists your mind so that you will be thinking about this story in your own dreams ,she left me always wanting more with each and ever plot twist ,she has you falling very much in love with the fun parts of the book then yet she will also be pulling on your heart strings, a brilliant balance if you ask me .

I loved the plot to this book it was alot of fun , Rae the main character Enters her favourite fantasy world . But we all know it comes at a cost , and man it dose get dark which I love , I loved how she makes you see the Villains in the story become so morally grey in our minds. Key has got be one of my favourite characters. You know saying be careful for what you wish for well, yep.Desperate will have you thinking that alot !!!

I'm already. Excited for what is to come next?There's so many questions still in my head.That I feel needs answering.

I'm giving the book a deliciously wicked five stars

Another witty, pacy, intricately plotted novel from Sarah Rees Brennan, the world building is gorgeous and she handles the darker subject matter with relish and flair, but also respect for the complexity of being a human and the stories we tell and are told. I gobbled it up and was very disappointed to not have the sequel in my hands instantly.

This was a fun, casual romp; I loved the characters (especially Key), the isekai part wasn't overly annoying (as I thought it would be), but the writing still needs a lot of work.

If you're looking for something easy to read and casually fun, I definitely recommend this!

I have no idea how to write this without getting mad
If i see one more time the words vile, villain, villainous, i’m goint to go insane
This books was not for me at all, i had such high hopes for this one, but it turned out worse.
The writing, it was like reading messages and not a narration, i couldn’t get over that. The main character is so annoying, we get this picture that she s going to be a great villain but she never lives to her expectations ( and also ours??))

Im so disappointed of how this turned out I can’t believe this was bad

Really grateful for this ARC!

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me, I loved the concept but I just couldn't get into it personally. I found some scenes quite cringey and I felt quite lost sometimes.

The plot was fun and I did find it quite humorous. I wasn't a fan of the dialogue and the constant pop culture references. I was really excited for this book as the idea was really interesting for me, but this book just wasn't my cup of tea which is a shame.

Long Live Evil explores in an entertaining way the dream of visiting the world of your favourite book series. It was a really quick and fun read. We just need to remember not to treat this book too seriously and let go of any expectations of high fantasy or overwhelming romance. It’s a story of a dying girl, who enters the world of her favourite book series to steal a flower that could grant her health. She finds herself in a body of the wicked sister and decides to embrace evil and become a villain. She has nothing to loose and plans to spend her time having fun. Rae takes nothing seriously and treats everyone she encounters as fictional characters, which leads to many hilarious situations. I think my favourite part was watching how the original book’s plot changes and unravels because of Rae’s influence. Also, the ending made me excited for the second book in the series.

Sarah Rees Brennan did it again. Somehow made something so intricate of something that sounds like it would be a joke. The rollercoaster of emotion I felt while reading this, the amount of times I’ve laughed, cried, despaired or got frustrated…

I loved every single one of the characters and they were so incredibly well written that I liked the ones I was supposed to dislike just because she wrote them so well. Key was my absolute favorite and I definitely definitely need more of him in the next book. Actually scratch that I want everyone back.

The story is both goofy and heart wrenching at the same time. Sarah Rees Brennan managed to make a plot I would have been pretty disinterested in based only on the summary into one of my favorite reads of the year. I loved everything I’d normally dislike, and adored everything I’d just like.

I really really tried to not finish it, because If I finish it, it’s done and I’d have to endure probably over a year without my evil plotting favorites .

I absolutely can’t wait for the next one!

I LOVED THIS ARC!
What it's about: A terminally-ill young woman gets isekai'd into the first book of her favourite fantasy series (not Game of Thrones, it just happens to be a grimdark medieval fantasy with ice barbarians and zombies).
Pros: even if you see the plot twist coming, it still hits emotionally; really liked the romance subplots; cool characters & worldbuilding
Cons: the humour might not land with everyone; I really didn't get the musical chapter
Part of a series? Yes, book one
This book was unapologetically fun and meta. The villain love interest is problematic, this is acknowledged and moved on from in chapter 1. The protagonist is believable in her motivations and feelings and her life-threatening illness is OwnVoices so it was handled well. The protagonist's two main friends/minions and her Love Interest, who all get POVs, were varied and interesting and really fleshed out the different bits of the fantasy world, and I ended up rooting not only for the main couple but also for their side pairings. Chapter 33 has my heart. Also, I found the jokes hilarious, but that can be kind of hit-or-miss (Google Maps, iykyk).
I need book two!!!

I've had to sit for a couple of days and think about this book whereas I normally fire off a review as soon as my eyes leave the last page but this book is WEIRD!! At the start of the book, we're in hospital with Rae a teenager who has a terminal disease whose sister visits and they read a series of books together then by some magical occurrence, a doorway into those books appears! Should she stay in the real world where she is stuck in a hospital bed waiting to die or try and earn her life back in a fantasy world? Well of course she steps through and is thrown into book one of the series (the book she remembers the least about) and takes over the role of a villainess (a very sexy one) who is just about to be executed (not great timing) then must try and manipulate the storyline from within the book to save herself and the characters she comes to care about. This as a premise is GREAT, no notes. However, there are a few parts where I was left scratching my head wondering why it was in the book at all (song time at the pub was a specific highlight-or not) and it was confusing at times having the actual book being quoted at the beginning of each chapter, sandwiched in between different storylines occurring due to her very presence in the book. There was a lot of High Fantasy cliches being flipped on their head and getting increasingly meta as the book went on. The references to modern day pop culture were good (the ones that registered with me at least). So yeah, it was a strange book to review! I am glad there will be more to come in this world and I'll definitely be continuing, I very much suspect that this is a book that improves vastly on a repeat reading when the overarching themes are known and you can catch more of the details. It won't be for everybody but I had a good time reading.

This is certainly a book to get you thinking. There's so much to love; the title, the cover, the premise is quite literally everything I've wanted in a book. You find yourself as the villain in your favourite book series with all those characters you love. Rae is at deaths door and suddenly finds herself on a quest in a famous book series that will end her illness in the real world.
Things I loved about this book:
I love the idea of a villainess in charge and taking over a book series.
I loved the characters and their ability to cause chaos and havoc
I really enjoyed seeing the tropes of fantasy being held up to the spotlight
Things that didn't work so well:
TBF this book was a hot, hot mess.
The humour,. It just didn't work for me and I found the MC to be rather irritating and annoying
Some scenes were just so damn cringey
I have a feeling this is going to be one of those marmite books.
I don't think this book was quite what I was expecting and some scenes weren't explained clearly so at times I genuinely had no idea what was going on and despite reading back, I still couldn't work out what was going on.
Having said that, I did enjoy this book. I adore Key. I love a bad boy and he's truly bad! I'm also keen to go on and read the next one!
Thank you so much for to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in return for an honest review.

—Received copy of Long Live Evil through NetGalley in return for an honest review—

TW/CW - discussions of cancer and treatment; terminal diagnoses; depiction of a fatal hit and run; child death

Rae’s life didn’t go the way she planned; when everyone else is out enjoying their early twenties, Rae is lying in a hospital bed, dying. But she still has her favourite book series, Time of Iron. Given a second chance at life she steps into the world of Eyam, and directly into the shoes of the villain, the Beauty Dipped in Blood. But that doesn’t matter to Rae; she’s always loved the villains, and the hero of the story, the Once and Forever Emperor isn’t exactly destined to be a kind and benevolent ruler. Everyone’s favourite characters have a spark of villainy about them.

In order to get home, Rae gathers a group of villains and rogues to help her in her schemes, avoid assassination attempts, and plot to change their fates. Because stories are never written in stone, and anything can happen, especially when you try so hard to keep things on track. Wading through bodies, Rae and her allies might not make it to the end of the story, and the future of Eyam is anything but certain.

I was initially drawn to this adult fantasy debut thanks to artwork the author commissioned from Venessa Kelly (@VScrivanoKelley on twitter), and loved the idea of the villains being the main characters in the narrative. Villains, especially well crafted ones, are sometimes more well loved than their protagonist counterparts; they delight in their wickedness, and it can be cathartic to witness a character doing horrible things for their own enjoyment, but also to see someone fighting for something they believe in, even if that goal doesn’t line up with the ‘heroes’. After all, villains are the heroes of their own stories.

Where I struggled with this book at the start was the writing style. I was given an advanced reader copy, so the writing hadn’t been fully polished and finalised, but it was silly little things that took me out of the narrative on several occasions; constant repetition of names within the narrative, very easily datable pop culture references, and the fish out of water nature of Rae’s dialogue sometimes distracted me, but it was very easy to get back into the swing of things. This story keeps you engaged with it’s witty banter and likeable characters that you just want to see succeed. The mysteries keep you guessing, and the twists are very twisty indeed.

Character growth was also something I’d like to praise. Rae had the most to learn, and whilst her ‘these aren’t real people, they don’t matter’ mantra did grate on my nerves throughout the narrative, it was definitely a lesson she needed to learn. It was a fun and different way of looking at the classic villain approach to other characters of ‘these people are beneath me, they don’t matter’, and casts her in this brilliantly morally grey light. She goes from being very self centred, to self sacrificing, and I am very excited to see what will happen in future books in the series.

My favourite character in the entire book was the first person Rae met when she woke up in Eyam; Key is a wonderfully morally black palace guard, who stabs first and doesn’t ask any follow up questions. I loved how much fun he was having causing as much chaos as possible. The way he interacted with the other characters, not even bothering to hide his murderous intentions, the sly one liners, and his relationship with Rae were highlights, and every time he is on the page you are guaranteed a fun and bloody time. His character arc and the mysteries that surround him kept me guessing and intrigued from first word to final piece of punctuation.

This book was a delight from start to end, and while I may have struggled a little with the first half and some of the more overt pop culture references (one that stuck out was a reference to my favourite vine (IYKYK) that really took me out of that particular scene), but what makes it stand out is the engaging characters and their relationships, the plot twists and action, fully realised world building that has left many things open to be explored in future books, and an excellent climax that has left me desperate for more.

Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a solid three and a half for me; I'm rounding it up to four stars, just because despite the flaws, I did think it was a lot of fun! I did unfortuately not realise it was going to be part of a series (warning if you're expecting a standalone: this ends on a massive cliffhanger!), but I'm not going to fault it for that - just something to be aware of going in!

Long Live Evil centres on Rae, who is given a chance to save herself from her terminal illness by entering the world of her favourite (well . . . her sister's favourite, and hers, kind of!) book series. The only catch is that she will not know what life exactly she will be born into in this universe . . . and unfortunately for Rae, she ends up taking the place of the villainess, only a little while before canonically she ought to be dead!

Rae was a fun character. She's deeply flawed, which works very well here (it's hard to imagine a paragon of moral goodness taking to her new place so well!) - but she does love her sister, and that love is what drives her through the whole book. She's a little embittered from the hand that life has given her, too - she wants that second chance, and she'll do anything to get it.

The side characters are all plenty of fun, too - it made me wonder terribly what the original book series was like, if Rae was not there! They're funny and charming and interesting - but the book unfortunately wanders around perspectives a bit too much for my liking, I don't mind a dual narrative book at all, if that's what I think it is coming in - but the dual narratives don't begin until well past halfway through the book, by the time you've really gotten to grips with Rae herself and you kind of just want to continue spending time with her!

My other big problem with this book is the prose. At times it just . . . seems to be trying too hard to be witty and deep, and it kind of ends up feeling like you're being banged over the head again and again with the 'point' of it. I lost count of the number of metaphors we encountered about how evil is about being out for oneself. It's not bad prose (well - I'm not personally a fan of super-trendy cool modern terminology that will feel dated in ten years, but I get that lots of people are, and this is something that Rae does a lot), but it just . . . doesn't always mesh with the kind-of-comedy-kind-of-deep vibe that this book is trying to get going for it.

That being said, I probably will pick up the second one. It's a really big cliffhanger, and I'm attached to the characters enough to overlook the other flaws!

Con Long Live Evil esperaba encontrarme una lectura subversiva, que pusiera por delante al malvado, que diera otro enfoque a la historia. Sin embargo, me he encontrado una novela sobreactuada, previsible y ciertamente aburrida.


La narración comienza con la joven Rae, enferma de cáncer, que en su lecho de muerte recibe la oportunidad de viajar al mundo de fantasía que le leía su hermana durante su larga convalecencia buscando una salvación mágica que parece imposible. Esta primera parte ya es bastante insufrible, pero ni punto de comparación con lo que llegará después. Se puede tratar esta premisa de una manera muchísimo más elegante como Alix E. Harrow en A Spindle Splintered pero es que Harrow rebosa talento.

La excusa que utiliza Sarah Rees Brennan para que Rae se acuerde de unas cosas del mundo y de otras no es que se dormía mientras su hermana le leía, así que puede hacer de pitonisa de Hacendado con sus pronósticos sobre el futuro. Y aquí ya empieza a caer en barrena, porque nos encontramos con un desfile de arquetipos fantásticos tan previsible como aburrido, con unos elogios a la “maldad” directamente risibles y con la mención constante a la “narrativa” que recuerda a Redshirts, pero en peor. ¿Se pueden escribir libros meta? ¡Pues claro! Pero entiendo que hace falta algo más que referencias poco sutiles al Mundo real TM dentro de tu mundo de fantasía para que tu lector entre en el juego.

Además, el humor es entre poco sutil y basto, con constantes referencias al pecho de las candidatas a reina (se me había olvidado mencionar el detalle del harén del rey en espera de que escoja cónyuge entre las “afortunadas”). Me puedo reír de una broma zafia, de dos… pero una detrás de otra pues me acaba cansando. No lo recomiendo para nada.

DNF @ 70%

It really bums me out to DNF an ARC but I've been trying to read this one for a few weeks now but everytime I open it up there's always something that makes me decide to pick up another. I tried to give it a fair chance though so I got up to the 70% mark before finally deciding that I could spend my time reading another.

This has one of the most interesting concept I've ever seen, which is the reason why I had decided to request it here. It's definitely very meta and camp-y. I probably went into this book thinking it'd be something else (something more in the lines of high fantasy) and I'm not a huge fan of pop culture/stan twitter slangs in fantasy books - honestly, not even in contemporary but I can justify a few - so this was really hard for me to read. I also had a hard time with the writing and the dialogue. Plot-wise, it was fun? but I feel like there was so many parts where I was just confused by and I felt like there was so much info dumping about the world and the characters.