I started this book feeling a bit weirded out by the premises but i kept going.
The beginning is messy, the pace is quite challenging... but it has the great power to keep you hooked, no matter what. Then it's like playing a video game, where everything twist and turns but you can be a witness of it all through your own eyes (even if i didnt' appreciate very much the other povs)
It's funny, i laughed so hard because its sarcasm is often extravagant and exaggerated, the story and the characters are messy, flamboyant and entertaining. The characters are quite archetypical but they were perfect for such a story, and i ended up being sucked into Long Live Evil, more than i could imagine.
It would take so so little to make it great, but still, i had an amazing time with it!

This book starts so beautifully. A dying heroine that you truly feel for, a lost teenager whose life is to be cut short... not a fairytale, but the hard reality of cancer. I was all in and entirely cheering her on.

Then suddenly, we're in the fairytale. Near the end, in fact, surrounded by characters that we should know but don't. Fortunately our heroine does, and jumps at the second chance to save herself by whatever means (a fantastic story idea!), but I kept finding myself so confused, I just couldn't follow the story.

Everything was about tropes, with fantasy references, contemporary jokes and slang thrown in like a loaded gun or a dick joke suddenly appearing in Lord of the Rings. I couldn't follow who was who, as each character was described as who they were supposed to be in the fictional universe, rather than the one I'm reading.

I wanted to love this, but the contrast between fantasy and 'reality' was so jarring, I really did feel as if I'd been thrown into the story in the middle of Book 3 of 6. A sad DNF.

I have been reading this for almost a month and not making any progress, so I decided to DNF at 20%. This sounded like something I might be into since I usually enjoy weirder books with this type of premise. But I just cannot get into it. It’s so moustache-twirly villain-type, and the juxtaposition of modern, pop culture language paired with the fantasy setting and style is just not doing it for me. I know it’s supposed to be satire and the moustache villain thing is just a play on the trope, but it’s not working for me.

This book was... confusing...
I loved the premise, but the pacing was strange and the characters I found slightly annoying. I really wanted to like it more, but something was just off.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Having read some of Sarah Rees Brennan's work previous works, I was expecting her trademark wit, expansive worlds and well-developed characters. LONG LIVE EVIL delivered this and so much more.
This is the beginning of an ambitious series, teeming with intriguing, exciting (and sexy) characters. The archetypes are there - the hero, the maiden, the soldier. Only this time we're rooting for the villains.

LLE takes a meta look at stories; really showcasing the depth of SRB's skill and knowledge of storytelling. Is there always just one hero and everyone else the villain? Or are we all the hero of our own story?
The reader follows Rae, a girl dying with cancer in her chance to gain her life back - she just needs to survive a fantasy world that she read with her sister. She knows the plot of this story - or so she thinks.

It's easy to see that LLE is a labour of love. There is such care taken with Rae's story that is obvious it's from close to SRB's heart. Between the witty jokes, flowing dialogue and hilarious cast (there's also a musical number mid-book), there are some scenes which pack a real emotional punch.

This is Sarah Rees Brennan at her best, and I can't wait for the world to get a hold of this book. Bring on the next one!

I think that this is the most fun I've had reading a book all year!

From the blurb, I expected this to just be a funny book. It was so much more than that. Yes, it's hilarious, and yes there were over-the-top, absolutely ridiculous, had me snort-laughing moments, but at the heart of it all is Rae and her life up until the moment that she decided to step into her favorite fantasy series, and how that life impacts the choices that she makes.

I have to admit, Rae confused me initially. I didn't understand her motivations or why she made the decisions that she did. But as the story unfolded and we learn more about everything that she had been through, it all started to click. It's both heartwarming and heartbreaking, and I ended up falling completely and totally in love with her character and rooting for her to be even more devilish than she was.

There's a strong plot in this book, but it's very much a character driven story. If you peel back the giggles and the action, there are really good questions of good vs. evil, heroes vs. villains, right vs. wrong that are explored as the characters go through the story (within a story). It's interesting to see how Rae (and another character, who I won't name to avoid spoilers), although knowing how the story was supposed to go and who the protagonists and antagonists are, begin to interact with the characters and find out more about their personalities- and how that affects their understanding of their favorite fantasy series (...which they're currently living in. It's all very meta.)

As much as I adored Rae, I have to say that Cobra stole the show. An absolutely ridiculous, wretched, fabulous, and complex character. He had me both howling with laughter and holding back tears. I want an entire book about his back story. Could not get enough.

You can't go into this book expecting anything like anything that you've read before. This is a wild, unbelievable, charming, ridiculous, over-the-top journey with twists and turns that you just have to sit back and enjoy.

I can't recommend this enough. It's a new favorite. I can't wait for everyone to get their hands on this.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

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