Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Themes: Adult, Fantasy
The synopsis
A TALE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S EVER FALLEN FOR THE VILLAIN…
When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at living: a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favourite fantasy series.
She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she’s not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor’s tale.
So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they’re doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor’s fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.
This adult epic fantasy debut from Sarah Rees Brennan puts the reader in the villain’s shoes, for an adventure that is both ‘brilliant’ (Holly Black) and ‘supremely satisfying’ (Leigh Bardugo). Expect a rogue’s gallery of villains including an axe wielding maid, a shining knight with dark moods, a homicidal bodyguard, and a playboy spymaster with a golden heart and a filthy reputation.
The review
When I first heard about this book I was immediately intrigued. Long Live Evil is like nothing I’ve read before in fantasy, except for manwhas (Korean mangas), as the plot is based on a regular young woman getting sucked into the story of the current popular novel of our world, where she becomes the villainess of the story.
Narrated in a humourous and silly tone, this book follows truly evil characters (a future axe murderer, an actual murderer, and a scheming woman). But are they really evil? Nothing is really like it seems at first as the author chose to write evil characters who still have some goodness in them and supposedly good ones who aren’t that innocent. It makes for interesting characters who you surprisingly grow attached to.
As it does with the characters, Long Live Evil plays with numerous tropes and literary conventions, twisting them to create something entirely unique. Here I must give two major trigger warnings as the author is very descriptive in gory details and in the description of cancer, an illness our main character suffers from. We truly are in an adult book here.
I loved Rae, our main character, with her humour, and courage but also because of her cunning and scheming side. She is ready to do everything to achieve her goal, and by everything I mean everything. She’s a heroine unlike any other I’ve read before. Her voice is also the occasion for the author to give some strong feminist undertones to the book, which denounces misogyny and the way women have to live in a society created by men.
In brief: If you’re looking for a fantasy but also want something different, go and pick up this one. It’s truly unlike anything I’ve seen in novels before and was perfect as I wanted something reminding me of some manhwas I’m currently in the middle of. Full of twists and turns, Long Live Evil will keep you holding your breath until the end!
My rating: 4/5
A Book by the Fire 