Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan (Review)

Title: Long Live Evil
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Orbit
Date published: August 27, 2024

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by Hachette Book Group Canada in exchange for an honest review.

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.

⤖ My Review ⬻

I’m very much a fan of a villain origin story done right, and Long Live Evil intrigued me quite a bit with its synopsis. It sounded unique and fun, so I knew I had to give it a try. Now that I’ve read it, I can definitely confirm it was both!

What I didn’t expect was the amount of detail and complexity in Long Live Evil, especially considering that it’s part of a series rather than a standalone. There’s a lot of world-building, intricate character dynamics, and a plot that twists in ways I didn’t always see coming.

That said, I have to admit that the writing lost me a little bit at times. Brennan’s writing was good—it just didn’t click with me in certain moments. Maybe it was the pacing or perhaps the prose itself, but there were parts where I had to push through. Despite this, the creativity and ambition behind the story were clear, and that kept me going.

I enjoyed the characters, though I can’t say I connected deeply with any of them to the point of loving them. Their interactions with each other were fun to experience, and the plot of Long Live Evil as a whole kept me entertained. I might continue the series, or I might not—it’ll likely depend on the synopsis of the next book.