I was not a fan of this title. It took quite a while to get into the meat of the story, with the narrator skipping between POV at the beginning of the book. I did not follow the story easily and often felt confused which character was the main. Not for me. Perhaps the physical book would be easier to follow, but regardless the story did not deliver enough fantasy action fast enough to keep my attention.

I read this as an audiobook and I have to say I was very impressed by the voice actor and production. I found the American accent somewhat jarring but overall, no complaints.

I think the concept of this book is really intriguing, and I like that Rae treated the story really frivolously because she didn’t think it was real, I think it allowed for the story to be really camp in a way it wouldn’t have otherwise pulled off.

It took me a long time to get through this book, the pacing wasn’t great; it definitely got better towards the end when more action was happening, but I struggled to get there. I found the fantasy world cliché in a way which wasn’t super appealing. I imagine that was intentional, because the book is more interested in the main character’s engagement with that world than the world itself. Nonetheless I think it could have been better with a more interesting world.

I’m not sure I’d recommend this book but I did have fun with it; if you like Game of Thrones but wish it would take itself less seriously then this is probably your kind of book.

WOW. It's criminal it took me this long to read this, the characters were incredibly well written, and at each turn the story subverted my expectations, it was a campy in a fun way while still managing to be incredibly profound, ALSO it was queer AF which made me really happy - I have no idea what to expect from the next book but I'm so excited to find out
Also - I listened to the audiobook and the performance was a masterpiece

This was spectacular. As a huge fantasy reader I have always wanted to fall into a fantasy book as one of the characters. Having a book embrace this and to do it so well was everything I never knew I needed. I need the next book in my hands immediately!

I listened to this as an audiobook and the performance given by the actress was stellar. She gave each person their own identity and was easy to distinguish from one another.

The story itself felt a little cliché, but was well developed and I did not expect the twist at the end. Rae as the main character felt over the top, but then again, she is dying and has nothing to lose. It did seem to be going a little over the top with the whole "let's be evil" premise, which might be more suitable for younger audiences who are in their rebellious phase, As much as I rolled my eyes at it, it was easy to overlook as it was the main selling point of the book.

It does appear that there will be a sequel, but I'm not sure that I will continue simply due to the fact that I'm not the target audience, therefore it did not make me feel the way it wanted me to feel. It's obvious the author had fun writing this book and did so in a fun and clever way.

⭐️⭐️.75

This book was all over the place. It was kind of hard to follow! I was really excited by the story just from hearing what the book was gonna be about but as soon as I started reading it, I just couldn’t get hooked in. I love the fantasy aspects of this book. I just could not grasp being thrown all over the place.

I even went so far as to get the audio thinking that maybe it was just the e-book that was throwing me and still I kept zoning in and out of the story.

The narrator did a great job. I do not think it was the narrator at all just because I did try reading this book on my Kindle first, but I just didn’t love this book.

At first, it gave me the never-ending story vibes, but then it just morphed into something else and I really had a hard time following the story just because I couldn’t stay hooked in it. I really wanted to love this book.

I started with the e-book in August and I am now just finishing with the hybrid in December if that tells you anything. I am normally a fast reader.

This was entertaining, but not engaging.. if that makes sense. I chuckled and many parts were cleverly written, I just couldn’t connect to the characters.
Story: 3⭐️
Audiobook narration: 5⭐️

This was a fun campy read, I had a great time with Rae as she navigated being transported into her favorite book and becoming a villainess. Moira Quirk does a fantastic job narrating as always, she’s able to convey a great deal of emotion while speaking clearly enough that the book is understandable at even higher speeds.

This was such a fun listen. The narrator was really good and made the story really come alive.
Fun villain story. Highly recommend

When one is given the choice of dying or going to live as their favorite character in their favorite book you might not want to pick the one that is fated to die. Rae is dying of cancer, and she shares her love of Time of Iron with her sister to distract her from it. But stepping into that world isn’t as easy as she thinks. She quickly realizes there are a few plot points that she has forgotten, and she better work out how to avoid her own execution. Rae is snarky and she does enjoy being the bad girl of the book. As she is changing the narrative as fast as she can in order to survive and to get the emperor to marry his fated love along with doing the one thing she needs to get back to the real world.
The snark in this book is turned up to eleven and it does subvert a lot of the current fantasy tropes of lots of bestsellers. The ending is a cliffhanger and goes to show Rae that she should have paid more attention to the clues in the book she thought she knew.

***5.0 Stars***

Overall,
I had so much fun with this! When you read as many books as I do they tend to blend together because many of the elements of the story are the same, what can I say I know what I like. Every once in a while a new premise or a new way to portray similar elements in a widely different way comes along and stands out in your mind. I will admit, I did not read the synopsis of this book, I honestly just liked the cover and the title (hats off to the publishers for that). When I started reading this (well actually I listened on Audio) I was like wait, I did not think this would be a book set in the real world! I had no idea where this was going, and then poof portal to your favorite book! Sign me up for this! As far as characters go, I enjoyed all of them, there was real character growth all around and while some plot points are pretty predictable that did not dampen my joy while reading. Because while I knew the likely outcome I had no idea how we would get there. This was a ride. Can not wait for the next one!

Thank you netgalley for the audio arc. I received a free arc in exchange for my free and honest review.

what a fun freaking book !!! can you imagine being able to be one of your favorite characters in your favorite fantasy series?! how fun is this idea!! the characters were all so much fun and I loved how Rae saw them thru a different Lense when she was actually one of the characters, vs just being a reader. The character development and relationships were all so fun, and I did NOT see the twist coming at all, but I am happy about it. Cant wait for the next one !! The narration of this book was also amazing

Absolutely brilliant!!!

This theme is not necessarily new but is done with so much genuine love for fantasy and storytelling that it stands out by miles. I picked this up intending to just get a feel for Amit and next thing I knew I was five chapters in and utterly invested. Fabulous characters, enough surprising plot twists. I am dying for the next in the series already. Won’t be able to recommend this enough!!

I nearly always enjoy anything written by Sarah Rees Brennan, but this very complicated book stretched my suspension of belief pretty much too far. It's essentially about a dying woman dropped into the world of a popular fantasy series in which she needs to survive a year, and that puts her on a tightrope effort to save her character from immediate execution and not overly change the existing story. It didn't work for me, and I'm sorry because it's an original idea and I wanted to love it. It's certainly violent, and I wonder about the change of focus of a writer who is mostly famous for YA fiction, as many readers who will want to read this book may not be ready for its mature themes. It's tagged as humor, but the humor that existed wasn't enough to pull it out of the grim dark aspects for me. Excellent performance by Moira Quirk who is particularly talented at conveying the humor that does exist in the book

Long Live Evil by Saarah Rees Brennan was a delight as a book and even more so as an audiobook. Moira Quirk gives a blinder of a performance that matches the prose and characters perfectly!

Brennan is unique in their storytelling and style. It's refreshing and forging it's own path in the Romantasy/ Fantasy genre

There is such a delicious melding and flipping of characters and tropes, turing everything on its head. Whole at times I had to stop and read back (that's on me, not the writing) after adapting to the style, I became completely engrossed and dare I say obsessed by this book

A multitude of dichotomies are the foundation of this book and what an absolute joy they are to work through! A fantastic read and/ or listen for the spooky season and more!

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio | Orbit, Sarah Rees Brennan and Moira Quirk for this excellent ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

This book is very confusing to me. It’s predictable, the pacing is just okay, the characters are pretty standard, but dang if I did not enjoy myself. I was invested and had a pretty good time!

Review: I really enjoyed this - I found myself laughing at it repeatedly and I thought the story was really interesting. I really liked it.

Synopsis: 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.

"Long Live Evil" is definitely not the book for me, however I can see what other people might like about it. It gave me a similar vibe to "Assistant to the Villain" so if someone read that series and is looking for something to read while waiting for the next one, this would be a good recommendation. While the writing style is somewhat similar to the author's other book, "In Other Lands," the style seems to work a little better in a YA book and just feels a little immature for an adult novel.

Overall, this book has some good and bad aspects to it, and I'm curious to see how the sequel goes.

Long Live Evil was a fun romp. It was reminiscent of The Princess Bride in style, but with a most sinister twist! I was a bit confused at the beginning as we were plopped into another book that the characters already knew and didn't have much information, but it was easier and easier to follow as it went on.

As someone who loves villainess anime and manga, I was so excited when this got announced, and I was not disappointed! This did exactly what I hoped it would do; it was a funny and entertaining story but also subverted a lot of expectations. Brennan did a great job of writing both a story you didn't want to put down while commenting on stereotypes and tropes commonly found in fantasy. For a debut author, the writing and characters were great. I can't wait for book two, especially after that ending!

Also, I didn't know this until I finished, but the author herself is a cancer survivor, and she used that experience to make this character and her struggles feel real and more heartbreaking. They say write what you know, and Brennan did that expertly. Please check TW though, as there are parts of this that are hard to read.

The audiobook was well narrated and easy to follow even at a higher speed.