https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2024/12/2024179-long-live-evil-sarah-rees.html ( )

The concept is something straight out of a fanfic. A real life human gets pulled into a fantasy book and has to survive there with all the book knowledge and 21st century awareness they have. The main character Rae is dying of cancer, but if she stays alive in her sister’s favourite book series, she could live. The problem is that she gets put in the body of a villain. It’s fun, it’s camp and wants to be exactly that.

This is both the book’s greatest strength and a weakness.
I loved that Rae was snappy, self aware and cynical. She knows what is happening and fully embraces the role she got assigned, toying with familiar story tropes as they appear.
That also made the book a bit confusing. I am told what the original story is at the same time as I follow Rae mess it up. To me, it made the book feel a bit random, with events, characters and lore appearing as the plot demanded. I had no prior knowledge of this fantasy world, so I wasn’t sure at times what was happening and why something was wrong or subversive.

Rae is highly entertaining, and the self aware narration made me laugh multiple times.
A guard sees a known villain pass but doesn’t comment because it’s above his paygrade, as it happens. Rae proudly says: “The point is, I’m totally evil and I want you to be my evil minions.” Or the following exchange: Key raised his hand. “I’m evil? I think.” Rae applauded. “That’s awesome!” And that’s just from the first quarter of the book alone.

If you’re looking for a serious and epic high fantasy, this is probably not the book. It’s more of an affectionate parody and I liked it a lot. The ending made me excited for the sequel as well. ( )

Long Live Evil is a fun fantasy book about a young woman who is dying in the real world, and is given a chance to live by going into the world of her favourite fantasy series and becoming a character in the story. It was a really fun read and I was very invested in the characters, and the world-building is really well done. There were a few points where I thought the protagonist should've figured something out sooner, but overall I loved the book and can't wait for the sequel. ( )

Portal fantasy in which a young woman about to die after suffering for several years gets a chance to live in her sister’s favorite fantasy world. Turns out she’s in the body of one of the villains. If only she’d been able to pay a little more attention when they were reading the early books (brain fog was an issue). If she embraces evil, successfully handles the Emperor-to-Be, and outmaneuvers her beautiful, pure stepsister, maybe she will be ok. There were definite echoes of Brennan’s other works (genre savviness, banter), and though I preferred In Other Lands I will read the next one—which there should be, since it ends on a serious cliffhanger. ( )

A thoroughly enjoyable, creative story that makes you cheer the villains. A bit too predictable, and Rae is a bit too clueless for my taste. Still, she has confidence, a heart/conscience, and a blast doing everything. So many unanswered questions with an explosive ending makes me anxious for the sequel! ( )