This was one of my favorite reads.
It was Isekai like and I loved the characters.
Can't wait for the second one

This book is such a deliciously meta piece of fiction. From the get go I was hooked and so invested in Rae's story. I loved how unapologetically angry and sad Rae was and how that fed into every decision she made throughout. The depth that was given to all of the characters was so well done and it meant that I was rooting for them all in some way as the story progressed. The world building was so good and the ending has me begging for more. So excited to see where this story goes next.

P-E-R-F-E-C-T.

So now excuse me while I read everything else by Sarah Rees Brennan I have on my shelf!

I clicked this so fast because I thought it was the sequel.
Loved this book though, would recommend!

The flow of the story is perfect, I can't wait for book 2 and I know it's going to be AMAZING! Thank you for the earc in exchange for a review

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Brilliant!! this was absolutely magnificent! I devoured this! this book was one of my most anticipated reads tand Sarah Rees Brennan delivered! I couldn't put this one. The start hit a bit close to home but it made this read even better and being able to connect and relate to characters.The writing and the witty humour were top tier. I couldn't recommend this book enough. 10/10!

I LOVE this so much. I will always be a fan of books where the character is in a book inside the book. The characters in this are all my loves, and I LOVE this plot. I cannot WAIT to read book 2!!!!

Second time through “Long Live Evil”, and somehow it’s even better.
Sarah Rees Brennan has this uncanny ability to take a premise that sounds absolutely bonkers on paper—something that should read like a parody and shape it into a story that’s clever, emotionally resonant, and completely addictive. On this reread, I caught so many more layers in the character dynamics and thematic threads. The humor still lands, the heartbreak still cuts deep, and the emotional rollercoaster might’ve actually hit harder now that I knew what was coming.

The characters remain the strongest part of the book. They’re written with so much care and complexity that even the antagonists (if you can even call them that) feel painfully real. I still adore Key, his scenes hit every note for me, from hilarious to devastating and if he’s not a central figure in the next book, I will personally riot. But truthfully? I want everyone back. The ensemble is that good.

What continues to amaze me is how Brennan balances tone: the book is delightfully goofy one moment and genuinely gutting the next. She somehow made me fall head over heels for a story I would've dismissed based on the premise alone. It's full of things I usually avoid in fiction and yet I loved every single one of them. That’s talent.

This book hasn’t just held up on reread, it’s cemented its place as one of my favorite reads ,period. I’m counting down, still, the days until the sequel.

DNF at 25%.

This is going to be a divisive one, in that it will either work very well for people, or it will not work at all. Sadly, I was firmly in the latter camp.

I appreciate the idea behind this book and the imagination of it, even if I ended up not appreciating the book itself. A terminally ill girl is able to enter the pages of her favourite story and finds herself a villain in the story, which she decides to fully embrace. The book does not take itself seriously at all, so I could see someone having a lot of fun with this.

I did not have much fun with the tone of the writing nor the main character. Rae annoyed me and just seemed . . . kind of unbearable as a person. I feel bad speaking ill of a fictional cancer patient, but I truly don’t have a good thing to say about how her character resonated with me. She’s having fun with her circumstances and making the most of it, I guess?? That’s a semi-positive thing to say about her?

The writing has a very specific tone, but beyond that, it’s also awkward. A choice passage:

And, Rae recalled with a shock like walking down steps she relied on at night only to find air instead of stair, a new guard suggested how the lady should be punished.

Excuse me, what? This is just not a good sentence.

When I talk about the specific tone of the book, that’s where I think this will be most divisive.

“Seriously, you will be powerful A.F.”
The king’s brow wrinkled. “A.F.?”
“As foretold,” Rae intoned hastily.

And almost the entire first quarter of the book is written like that; I am confident the remaining 75% also is but I just couldn’t bring myself to read more. This book was very resolutely not for me.

However, I do hope others will find this to be a fun and cartoon villainous ride, and I thank the publisher, Orbit, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I wanted to love this. I tried to love this. My best friend adored it, and we're normally so aligned on books we love.
But honestly - I found it unbearably slow and kind of boring... I kept reading waiting for something to hook me, but it just never did.

I am so sad this one didn't work for me as I think the concept is honestly amazing.

The only part I really connected with was Key - he was easily the best part of the book.

Long Live Evil is a unique twist on the high fantasy genre. We follow Rae, a young woman who is terminally ill with cancer. When a mysterious woman offers her a second chance at life, she takes it with both hands. She gets transported into her favourite book series in order to retrieve a flower that holds both life and death. However, she ends up in the body of a villainess who is going to be executed next day. Rae needs to embrace her role as villain in order to survive until the flower blooms.

I have to say, this book was hard for me to rate. This book took me long to finish, and I almost quit multiple times, but I’m glad I didn’t. The first half of the story was rather tedious, but the story really picks up during the second half. I liked Rae as a character, but her narrative became a bit repetitive sometimes. I really liked the worldbuilding though, and I am very intrigued how this story will continue in the second book. I can definitely recommend this story if you like high fantasy and villainy books that aren’t very serious.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for allowing me to read this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

'For anyone who has fallen in love with the villain' immediately sold!

This is a slow start but once it found it's stride I was drawn in. I found it really easy to read, even if the pacing was off. It was entertaining and I was laughing and giggling a lot throughout the book. The characters were enjoyable too but I think my favourite part of this was the sarcasm. I was thoroughly entertained with it which made up for the obvious plot twists. Now I won't say this is a brilliant book but I had a fun time with it. I was invested in the story and in the characters and overall had a blast.

I loved all of the the meta-ness about books in Long Live Evil - such as Rae's open discussion/ridicule of character tropes and making an assessment of the importance of characters based on the features given to them by the author. I found it really entertaining, and quite unpredictable, especially because the nature of the story rapidly changes due to Rae's actions. The story she knows spirals out of her control very quickly, and I am very intrigued to see what will happen in future books given how much she's already changed.

4.5 STARS

Now this is how you write a book within a book! I tried another book that had the same sort of premise and it fell so flat but this was exactly what I wanted. I loved how it really made you feel all the emotions, I expected it to just be a funny adventure which it was but it was also heartfelt and sad and sweet.

I was hooked from the very start, I couldn't put it down and when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. This is just such a fun read, the writing is very engaging, it's fast paced and immersive and I really loved all of the characters. I thought it would just be Rae's POV which I enjoyed but it was nice to get the other characters POVs too! It focuses on the villains, there's a villain romance and killing as a love language (trust me when I say this particular love interest will be your new book boyfriend).

I absolutely loved the characters, even the characters I didn't really like were so interesting and I loved the way they subverted form the roles Rae expected of them because of who they are in the story and really became three dimensional. I really liked the exploration of what determines if people are good and bad and the way people can be good and do bad things to survive in a world that's set against them, especially women. There's also major bi rep, like literally every character in this book is a disaster bisexual whether they know it or not.

I am actually extremely picky about the whole villain obsession that's been trending recently but THIS is what I want in villains. Villains you can root for but ARE actually villainous. They'll stick up for each other and band together but they are out for themselves at the heart of it and they will do what they have to to get what they want but they aren't just assholes, they have genuine motives, they are actually morally grey not just straight up bad people with a bull sob story.

There are so many common tropes and character types here but the author really makes it her own and makes it original and fresh. It also calls out the stereotypes that you see quite a lot in the fantasy genre.

I really liked the deep look at how patients experience cancer, I had never heard some of the descriptions before and clearly this is a first hand experience which I really appreciated and found very brave.

The one thing that threw me off was that it was dated very quickly with the slang that was used. I see what it did and it was quite funny seeing real world Rae use our modern slang and the book characters thinking she was on drugs but I feel the phrases used were a bit too specific and some are barely used anymore even now so that can be a risk.

I saw the twist coming but I dont consider that a bad thing and I was still on the edge of my seat because it was done so well and I can't wait for the next book now! (There has to be a next book right??🥺) I just hope the two characters I thought would be endgame can get passed this little snag🥲 Basically the summary of this review is if you ever want to vicariously live the "fuck you I'm choosing me" life, then this book is for you!

This book was definitely an experience, still trying to decide if it was a pleasant one.

The beginning was pure torture to get thru, it was too many things at once and idk what was going on. Later it got better in the middle, when I started to understand the world building I could enjoy it more.

Really liked the court intrigues and trying to outsmart people who want you dead. And basically everyone wanted her dead. There was too much modern language in fantasy setting. Like I get it, she's from "real world", but it felt forced, like older people trying to write in slang.

Honestly writing “Seriously, you will be powerful A.F.” or “May I speak in tongues at nature’s treasury?” during romantic scene should be banned. Many times I cringed so hard I needed to close the book and take a breather, cus my eyes were bleeding.

The povs other the main character were boring, plain and unnecessary, would be better if it was single pov. The ending was predictable, but nice.

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.