<i><b>Lady Rahela had struck a deal with villains, and failed to consider villains did not keep their bargains.”</b></i>


This was one of my anticipated reads of the year and I fell in love with the beautiful cover but unfortunately it was very difficult for me to get into but I tried to keep reading to figure what would happen next but I did end up dnfing at 30% because it wasn’t pulling me in.

<i><b>“For everyone who’s ever fallen for the villain?</b></i>

This book is for you if you love villains and high fantasy!!


<b>Thank you to Sarah Rees Brennan, NetGalley and Orbit for the chance to read and review this e-arc in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions remain my own.</b>

Honestly, I've been raving about Long Live Evil (Time of Iron, #1) and telling everyone how much I love the storyline. If you enjoy fantasy, villains, meta then this is the book for you.
Rae is dying and listening to her sister Alice reading from her favourite fantasy series, Time of Iron. Alice adores the book series, in particular the heroine. Rae on the other hand, prefers the villainous characters. And so, when Rae is transferred into the story, she bcomes the infamous"Beauty Dipped in Blood". And the story really kicks off from here. Rae soon realises that in order to survive in this fictional (now real) world, she must embrace her devilish side. And she needs to do so quickly as she is due to be executed!
The storyline moves rapidly and there is a range of wonderful, fantastical characters. There is even a musical chapter - think the musical episode of Buffy, only way funnier!
5 full, glorious stars!

Rae’s future is looking pretty bleak: hospitalised with 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 in her books, 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.

<b>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.
</b>
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 people’s perceptions 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.

<b>”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."
</b>
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.
High three stars!🌟

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.

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
Rating: 5/5
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 it has layers), 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!!!

3,25/5 stars

This was very much isekai villainess coded story. I enjoyed it and could easily imagine it as an anime/animation. It was entertaining and because of the cliffhanger at the end, no matter how predictable it might be, I really do want to know what happens in the next book.

I had fun reading the book, but in a way it felt really surface level. The pacing was a bit off at times and we didn't really get much world building or get to know the characters that deeply.

I liked Rae as a character, but that's nothing new because I've liked pretty much every villainess I've watched anime about. I also liked how we got to see other POV's and how they thought about everything that happened around them.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.

was holding out hope i would love this but It ended up making me wish id dnfd instead.

The premise was interesting, but I've seen it done plenty of times. That wouldn't have been an issue had the execution been good.

I felt like the narration style, especially of rae was so hard to get through. It felt forced.

The author has clearly tried to be amusing/funny and break the fourth wall which honestly was to the eerriment of the book. I felt like the entire point of the book was washed out and diluted by pointless humor and forced banter.

This book is a breath of fresh air. I first read this book last year a week after the hardback release so I was excited to get to reread it again ahead of the paperback release. I adore that we follow the perspectives of the villains and how absolutely flawed every single character in this book is. I really hope with all my heart that the yearning and absolute obsession that that the MMC has for the FMC stays strong and we get more of its twisted perfection in the sequel (which I absolutely am dying to read). The ending is so wild there’s no way anyone can read this and not want to continue the series.
This book is a love letter to fantasy and reminds me of the isekai storylines I’ve read so often in Manhwa which is fantastic cause it’s a plot point I adore.
I would implore everyone who loves romantasy to pick up and read this book.

This was a wild ride with nothing I could have expected. Being dropped into a world she once believed was solely fantasy Rae aims to make it out alive and potentially save some of her favourite characters along the way.

Surprisingly it wasn't at all predictable at all, as although we know the plot of the book, the effect of a human in characters bodies actions can have great change.

The development of the female characters like Lia, Rae and Emer were amazing as they developed into fearless strong women ready to defend. Additionally, the growing of trust between Marius and the Cobra was unexpected but heartwarming.

In a world where something that the king doesn't like can simply be labelled as treasons, they're making change, big change. Overall, I liked the story as a whole and hope it continues after that shock of an ending.

"Watch me. This is my villain origin story."

This book had such a strong premise!
A woman in the hospital suddenly waking up in a fantasy world she recognises from a story. Only this time, she’s not the heroine. She’s the villain.

Long Live Evil is campy, chaotic, meta, and proudly over the top. It heavily leans into tropes while also trying to unravel them. Rae, the main character, is sharp-tongued and self-aware, and fully embraces her new reality with a flair for theatrics (and some hilarious commentary! Naming her boobs "evil twins" was certainly a choice).

There's a lot to enjoy here. From bold villain monologues to unhined characters. I appreciated how the book plays with ideas of morality and storytelling.

That said, this was a 2.5 stars for me. (Rounded up to 3) The pacing dragged in places, and I often found myself confused. Especially with the many characters (some of whom go by multiple names which I just couldn’t keep up with) and the occasional shift in POV that felt jarring. The worldbuilding, while ambitious, often felt like it relied a bit too much on context clues, which made it hard to stay grounded

Still, I admire what it was trying to do.
It was messy and I don’t think it will be for everyone, but I can see it being an instant favourite for a certain kind of reader.

64% DNF. So sad to say that this one just wasn’t for me. I really wanted to persevere with it and hoped it would pick up with time but I found myself slipping into a reading slump and forcing myself to read just to finish the book…

I was just a little lost. The pacing was quite slow and I was constantly getting confused with names and characters who didn’t stand out enough. I loved the concept but just didn’t resonate with the way it was handled. The fictional world our main character ended up in was a little too reliant on context clues and again I just felt a little lost. 

I’m glad that this one has been a positive reading experience for some other people though; a good reminder that reading and reviewing is subjective.

3/3.5

Let's be honest, I picked this book because I'm convinced I could make a great villain. Also, I'm quite weak for villains when reading a story and there is a thin line between a good and a bad villain. This book has both.

It took me a while to get inside the story (no pun intended), until Cobra shows up, then it started to get interesting, until at times it wasn't. I honestly like the concept of the book, but the plot, not so much. It felt a bit tedious at times, too long and a bit "too cliché," which I guess is part of the point of the book. Villains are fun, heroes are boring and stereotypical, rinse and repeat (or murder and repeat in this case).

However, the ending was exceptional. I guess it could have been expected, but I didn't think about it when reading the book. I loved it; that was the highlight of the book for me. Will I be there for book 2? I'm still not sure.

SOME QUOTES:
(because this book is full of punchlines to die for)

"Watch me. This is my villain origin story."

An anti-hero was just a villain with good PR.

Only heroes cared about honour. Villains were allowed to be practical.

This book was everything I hoped for in a funny and entertaining villain isekai: I LOVED how the story turned out and all the whimsical but ironic vibes that Sarah Rees Brennan managed to put in this book. With a original way to tell a story where the MC is a villain, the isekai "trope" is a very fun way to put things in a mother prospective, and it's not really investigated in the traditional publishing industry. The cliffhanger at the end made me gasp: guess Rae got what she called for. I can't wait for book 2!

This book was utterly bonkers and in a good way! It’s grounded in irreverence, yearning, rage and flamboyance.

There is a lot going on. Sometimes I looved this book, others I was frustrated and a bit baffled but I was so swept up by the end I have to say my experience was brilliant.

On the surface this is a light hearted, tongue in cheek book but there were so many brilliant moments and insight into character, what makes a villain or a hero, who is deserving of a story.

Rae, the FMC, was glorious and I loved that she fully leaned into her new reality and had a glorious development arc where she learned that her reality is a construct and her actions have profound consequences. She is also hilarious and I was living for her naming her chest “the evil twins.”

I think the commentary on character is best summed up in the character of Key. Who, if you wrote out his behaviour and personality on paper, is emphatically a merciless, sociopath but you can’t help but love him. His actions are honestly the worst but he’s so compelling. I think the strength of this book is in the questions it makes about morality and goodness through the characters. Also, the Cobra is glorious and delightful and must be protected at all costs.

The world building is very ambitious and, again, bonkers. I loved the names for things like Palace on the Edge. The ravine of raving ghouls just casually being a part of everyone’s morning commute or pop to the market. But at times, along with the volume of characters, I did feel my brain start to hurt as I tried to keep up. While I found the chapters from Emer and Marius interesting, I’m still confused by the choice to make them the alternate POVs. I’m interested to see where they go next book.

Overall, this is quite delightful and utterly ridiculous and all the better for it. The Key is to leaaan in to it. I obviously, immediately need book 2.

“In real life, people let you go. That was why people longed for the love from stories, love that felt more real than real love”

In Long Live Evil, Rae makes a bold deal: her life, in exchange for securing the legendary Flower of Life and Death. She steps through a portal into the world of her favorite fantasy novel, where she embraces the role of the story’s villain and the chance to rewrite her destiny on her own terms.

Firstly here I LOVED the commentary on fantasy fiction and how it explores traditional tropes and the reader experience! It’s an ode to the fantasy / romantic fantasy genre. In the first few chapters I highlighted so many passages in the text and will be thinking about many of them for some time.

I struggled more with the plot itself. I think it was well written - just the metafictional element wasn’t for me. I wasn’t sure about the modern language and I couldn’t immerse myself in the world as much as I’d have liked. That being said it’s 100% worth picking up and giving a go, the writing is clever, witty, and unique. If you’re looking for something entertaining, and a bit quirky - it’s a great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the arc.

High 3 stars, a book worth revisiting another time.

This story follows a woman who is sick in hospital and ends up being transported into a fantasy story she is familiar with.

The twists throughout the book and bizarre villainess experience was the highlight.

It’s a great concept and I throughly enjoyed the idea, characters and story but something about the book just felt very strange throughout.

Because the character seemingly knows most of the story and character within the fantasy world it felt like a weird dynamic reading something that was quite modernised through Rae’s POV but outside was a ‘real’ fantasy world- it’s like we are simultaneously looking through a window at a commotion but also being the centre of the commotion.

The book felt like a very camp, flamboyant and fun ride which you just have to roll with it, I really did enjoy the book when I was feeling it but I found myself entering a reading slump half way (no fault of the book, just busy) and this made it hard to get back into the headspace for this story which is why I felt like the times I enjoyed the book it would be a solid/high 4 stars but dipped to 3 by the end. I’d definitely need to revisit another time.

The characters did get confusing, it felt like characters were thrown at us with different names and a lack of introduction for us to familiarise us with them, then they’d come back under a different name which was just confusing. The book also had chapters from different characters and I personally listened to the audiobook so this made the experience more confusing.

Though I gave the book 3 stars I still feel like it’s worth trying as I’m going to believe this book will be loved by a niche but passionate group, I’d definitely want to revisit when I’m in the mood for this story and believe I’d love it much more.

Sometimes, books are just fun to read. This was one of those books for me. I enjoyed the plot and the characters a lot, but my favourite thing was the tone. Yes, some serious things happen in the story, but the book never takes itself too seriously, which was very refreshing. This book isn't going to change my life, but I certainly had a blast with it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

It is not an easy book at first, partly because of the theme, partly because of the various overlaps. Then it becomes entertaining and then it becomes compelling. On the ending I say nothing, but I just hope that the next volume comes as soon as possible!

All'inizio non é un libro facile, un po' per il tema, un po' per le varie sovrapposizioni. Poi diventa divertente e poi diventa avvincente. Sul finale non dico nulla, ma spero solo che il prossimo volume arrivi quanto prima!

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

I enjoyed this book so much! I thought it would be entertaining and it was, but I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would. I cant wait for book 2

Thank you to Sarah Rees Brennan, Little, Brown Book Group UK | Orbit, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

The pacing was off, the characters were simple and one-dimensional, and the plot twists were easy to guess. However, it was fun, it was camp, it was meta, and it was entertaining. I’ll definitely read the sequel!

The way this book got me is unbelievable. it’s fun, it’s camp in its absurdity, it’s so meta in its commentary on the narrative, on tropes and stylistic choices in fantasy, all believable exactly because the protagonist is deeply aware that nothing is real.
It’s also a book about survival, fictional and real. it’s about an ill girl, who has suffered, who’s laying in a hospital bed waiting for the end, a girl that gets another chance and wants to fight to the end to get it, even if that means entering her favorite book as a villain and doing villainous thigs (without losing the plot!)
I also laughed at every single word, because Rhae makes light of everything and everyone in the way we readers do. We quote Loki, and Taylor Swift, and fall in love with villains covered in blood. She does to. Until it’s real.