Long Live Evil

Long Live Evil is a wildly unique novel about a dying girl in our world who gets thrown into her favorite book series. It's a take I've never seen done quite this way, which was really really fun. I love ‘people getting thrown into books' as a trope, and Long Live Evil is no exception to that. I did really love Rae's take on deciding to be evil – you never see people take the ‘bad' side so it was fun to watch her realize that she could do whatever she wanted with little recourse. (Was interesting watch her battle with wanting to be evil, but also wanting to help people.) Rae falls in with an actual sociopath, her maid who betrayed her, and the main love interest of the book.

I saw the ‘twist' at the ending coming a mile off, but it didn't matter at all because the reveal was so satisfying. I can't wait to pick up the next book to see what's going to happen to Rae, and the story itself.

INSTANT CLASSIC! INSTANT FAVORITE! SARAH POPPED HER FOOT OFF IN THIS BOOK!!! AND KEY!!!! MY BABY❤️‍

I didn't pick up that this would be a series but I'm totally fine with that. I think my favourite part is when Rae made them believe AF stood for As Foretold. Think about it! If you were in a fantasy book and the villain who claims and then proves herself to be a seer tells you a certain phrase means something – you'd believe it! There's no Google to back it up. Which is why I think Rae was able to be successful here, why this bizzare plan worked. While there are obviously modern elements in the book, it's largely set in a world where there are things as seers and prophecies. So if she said something weird, she can just chalk it up to a prophecy! Normally I'd side-eye it and say “No, that absolutely cannot work” but Sarah Rees Brennan made it work in a way I really enjoyed.

I liked how we had a modern insight and character experience a fantasy heavy world. It was almost like we were speaking through her because I could see myself react like that in those situations. While I found myself not liking Rae in every scene, I grew to like her, her personality, personal growth throughout the book. She realized that the characters in the book were people instead of just fictional characters. She found strength in her that she likely didn't even know she had. I can't wait to see her journey in the next book, what Brennan has planned for her.

The secondary characters were so fun to read and get to know. I think my favourite would probably be Key – he was funny and even though he did annoy me for a good half of the book – he certainly made up for it by creeping into my heart and stabbing anyone who wanted to come close. Seeing the other secondary characters encounter and communicate with Rae was also quite fun. They either had no idea what to do with her or just did whatever she demanded them to do. Which Rae definitely enjoyed and utilised to her heart's content. I think next book she'd probably ask for more/make them do more because she has the experience now and knows they'll do what she says. I think I might be rooting for a villain arc for Rae here

I’d like to thank both NetGalley and Hachette Audio, from whom I received an ALC of Long Live Evil.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first but once I gave in and embraced the camp, I had a really good time with Long Live Evil. I love the concept of the book and the idea that entering a story can change its plot. It’s a lot like the idea that if you travel to the past, you can’t change a single thing or the future will veer wildly off track. Rae’s presence in the book and the decisions she made changed the future of every character, and it was a lot of fun to see if those changes were for better or worse.

This is Sarah Rees Brennan’s first adult novel but the writing and especially Rae’s dialogue read to me like YA. I actually struggled to like Rae very much. At first I thought it was because of her childish dialogue and obsession with her new body’s boobs, and while that didn’t help, I think my main issue was that her insistence that none of the characters were real made it hard for me to care about anything, including her. By reminding so many times that no one was real, she was also reminding me that she isn’t real. She was telling me not to care for her either, and I decided to go ahead and listen.

Despite Rae’s best efforts, I found most characters interesting and each had a lot of depth. My favorite character, Key, is one of the first that Rae meets when she wakes up in the world of this story and he’s fascinating. I’m not much for book boyfriends but I might make an exception for Key.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Moira Quirk. That’s right, Mo from Nickelodeon GUTS narrated this audiobook. God, I’ve always wanted a piece of The Crag. Anyway, sometimes it seemed like she was reading parts of conversations too quickly, faster than the person speaking would actually say them, but for the most part I enjoyed her narration and I think she did the voices of the many characters very well.

Despite the few issues I had, Long Live Evil was ultimately a satisfying read. The ending left me wanting more so I’ll definitely be reading the next book!

RAE is dying of cancer when a strange woman offers her the chance to enter the world of her favorite book series on a quest that will save her life. She comes to awareness in the story to discover she is in the body of a villainous character on the eve of her execution. From there, she scrambles to save herself in the book narrative, recruit Allie, and complete her quest so she can return to the “real world” before time runs out. 

This book was fun and interesting. I didn't realize it was the first in a series and it could really work as a standalone. Rae is in turns charmong and brittle.  Two characters from within tbe book añso serve as POV characters with their own agendas and ideas about what should happen. Rae often doesn't know what's going to happen because of brain fog and the plot changing from tbe orogonal book. Twists and turns abound. 

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