Long Live Evil
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES "BEST SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY OF 2024" AND "BEST ROMANCE NOVELS OF 2024"
THIS IS A TALE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S EVER FALLEN FOR THE VILLAIN…
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.
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 favorite 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.
★ "Absolutely wonderful.”―Kirkus (Starred)
★ "Brennan's adult fantasy debut is two great stories in one: the romantasy in the background and Rae’s adventure in the foreground."―Booklist (Starred)
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A teenager learns to embrace her Bad Girl Energy in an unexpected way in this entertaining fantasy. Rae is a teenager who bonds with her sister over Time of Iron, a series of blood-and-thunder fantasy novels set in ancient times. She’s also struggling with terminal cancer, and one day a mysterious figure appears in her room, offering her a way out. Rae walks through the door and is transported to the world of Time of Iron, where she becomes a sexy, voluptuous villainess and quickly learns to like a life of evil. Long Live Evil manages to be an exciting period fantasy and a wickedly witty parody at the same time, with Rae’s 21st-century outlook and playful cynicism making her a truly engaging antiheroine. If you’ve ever secretly rooted for the bad guys, this one’s for you.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
YA author Brennan (In Other Lands) hooks readers from page one of her spellbinding adult debut. Rae, who has cancer, delights in having her sister Alice read from their favorite fantasy series, Time of Iron, in her hospital bed. One night, she dreams of a mysterious woman from the world of the series, who offers her a cure. All Rae has to do to be cancer-free is enter the books and pluck the Flower of Life and Death. But if she fails, she'll die in her earthly body and wind up trapped in the story forever. Rae takes the deal and is transported into Time of Iron—in the role of villainess Rahela Domitia. Arriving in medias res, she must evade execution or risk dying in both worlds. Brennan has a lot of infectious fun with her meta conceit, and as Rae interferes with the plot she knows so well, the stakes ratchet up and the story takes some unexpected turns. Readers won't be able to turn the pages fast enough.
