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Sign up todayLong Live Evil
Narrator
Moira Quirk
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Length
17 hours 3 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“Genuinely one of my favorite reads of the year. It’s a perfect blend of aspirational high fantasy with modern sensibilities and slang and a dash of evil that’s more about putting yourself first than being an asshole. I could not have told you what was going to happen next at any point, right up until the very end of the book when my jaw DROPPED. I’m praying that Sarah Rees Brennan is a fast writer because I desperately need the next book! Also, the narrator, Moira Quirk, absolutely CRUSHED it. She made the book that much more enjoyable!”
— Amelia • Queen Takes Book
Bookseller recommendation
“I'm actually obsessed with this book and am BEGGING for book two. On my knees willing to swear myself in as an evil minion. I was laughing out loud while listening - yes, the audiobook is FANTASTIC - and by the time I had finished, I was literally trying to find ways to finish listening to it despite needing to take care of adult responsibilities. Long Live Evil is my number one read of the year!!! If I could listen to it on repeat 24/7, I would. I would even beg for a magical woman to appear and drop me directly into the story. It was truly perfect in every single way. ”
— Caitlyn • Bookmarks
Bookseller recommendation
“This book had me laughing out loud, biting my nails, and cheering for wickedness. I'm so delighted by everything that happened within these pages and I'm yearning for book 2. Long Live Evil is my number 1 book of 2024!”
— Cat • Bookmarks
Bookseller recommendation
“This is honestly one of the best books I have read in years. It has ruined me in ALL the best ways. A young woman who is dying of cancer gets the chance to enter into the world of her favourite book, with the possibility of being miraculously cured if she can finish a specific quest. She wakes up in the body of one of the story’s villains - just hours before she is to be executed. How she gets out of it, and how the story changes… that is the real tale. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. The storytelling is divine and the whole concept is amazing. It will leave you with your jaw on the floor, a book hangover, and a deep yearning to find out what happens next.”
— Kristi • Owl's Nest Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Long Live Evil is full of betrayal, longing, drama, and the best-dressed villains around! This warmed my little villainous heart, as I love a good Isekai tale. Rae personifies the definition of a villain with a heart of gold, just like all the vipers. However, a heart of gold can only get you so far in a world that can be more villainous than you realize!”
— Sarah • Cavalier House Books
Bookseller recommendation
“An interesting telling of the 'reincarnated as the villianess' trope that's become popular. I especially loved to hear the point of views of the 'book characters' and their takes on the villianess. The story takes some refreshing turns especially when you think you know where the narrative is going. I'm looking foward to find out what happens next ...”
— Maddie • Book No Further
Bookseller recommendation
“Long Live Evil works on a number of levels. It's campy and fun with a fast-moving plot, but also has a serious backstory and lots of heart. It's a feminist read of a certain epic fantasy, and both an ode to behaving badly and a reality check for villain lovers. I stayed up late to see how it would end, and all I can say is book 2 can't come fast enough. ”
— Robin • Books & Books @ The Studios of Key West
Bookseller recommendation
“I loved this book so much that I had to buy a hard copy too. If you are a fan of Faith from BtVS, this book is your jam.”
— Veronica • River Bend Bookshop
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.
THIS IS A TALE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S EVER FALLEN FOR THE VILLAIN…
Sarah Rees Brennan was born in Ireland by the sea. After world travel and surviving stage four cancer, she settled there in the shadow of a three-hundred-year-old library. Writing young adult fiction, she was a Lodestar, Mythopoeic and World Fantasy finalist, Carnegie nominee and New York Times bestseller. Long Live Evil is her first adult work.
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Reviews
"Absolutely hilarious, a wild joyride through subverted narrative tropes that's surprisingly poignant but also made me laugh until people looked at me on the train."—Everina Maxwell, author of Winter's Orbit "Brennan’s brilliant Long Live Evil harnesses clever banter, delightful turns of phrase, and epic backdrops in the service of exploring the nature of stories and the freedom that comes with embracing being named a villain—and maybe actually becoming one. Most of all, it introduces us to Rae, who uses her quick-thinking, loyalty, and ferocity to sidestep (and do the occasional musical number around) doom."—Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of Book of Night "Laugh out loud, heartfelt and seering in the same breath. Simultaneously a send-up and a tribute to the tropes, fandom and power of fantasy, Long Live Evil is a romp that leaves you asking: are we all the villains in someone else's narrative?"—Eliza Chan, author of Fathomfolk "The compulsion Sarah Rees Brennan casts over her readers is unholy. Not only could I not put Long Live Evil down, I barely remembered to blink. It was so immersive that when I finished I put my face in my pillow and screamed in actual devastation at being kicked out of the story. Utterly magical. Sarah Rees Brennan is a genius of emotional control. No other author can make me cry by page two, be laughing out loud three pages later, and then rip my heart out with a smile."—Shelley Parker-Chan, author of She Who Became the Sun "Funny, audacious, and supremely satisfying, Long Live Evil is the chosen one we've been waiting for. It succeeds as both a brilliant meditation on the pleasures and perils of fiction, and a sweeping, romantic adventure in its own right. Get ready to laugh out loud, cry in public, and cheer on the villains as Brennan smashes through tropes with witty, wild glee in this delicious, subversive treat of a book."—Leigh Bardugo, New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House "Utterly brilliant. I can’t stop thinking about Long Live Evil, which has rocketed to the top of my list of all time favorite fantasy novels. Pick this up immediately, Brennan will take everything you think you know about fantasy and turn it on its head."—C. S. Pacat, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Rise "Long Live Evil is a glorious, swoon-worthy villain romance. What a delicious read."—Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne "Layers laugh-out-loud comedy and swoony romance over an emotional core of powerful anger and loss. I loved it." —Emily Tesh, author of Silver in the Wood "Sarah Rees Brennan’s charms are unmatched. Her books makes you feel as if you’re in on the joke and always invited on the most fantastic and romantic adventure."—Rainbow Rowell, author of Fangirl “Is Sarah Rees Brennan accepting applications for minions?? If so, sign me up immediately. This is a defiant shout of a book, so entertaining and funny that you almost don't notice its devastating, razor-sharp heart until it's smiling sweetly into your face while it withdraws the knife.” —Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light "Long Live Evil is the huge-hearted and whip-smart meta-fantasy of my dreams. I went in laughing and came out crying, and so will you."—Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January Expand reviews