Sarah Rees Brennan offers a funny, dark, clever story within a story in which the heroes and villains are redefined, redemption is always possible, revenge is sweet, and rewriting the story doesn't always shift the plot in the way you'd expect.
I love a story that flips a traditional setup, and Long Live Evil is my most recent favorite in the Villains Are People Too book trend (check out two of my recommendations in this vein below).
Rae has always taken comfort in books. But now she's dying, and in a panic, she makes a magical deal in which she lives on...in the world of her sister's favorite fantasy series.
But when she dives into the book, wars are being waged, and Rae quickly figures out that she's not the heroine of the story. She's the villain. And only she can organize the rest of the plotting, dark, moody, sometimes exasperating bad guys (and girls) in an attempt to change all of their futures.
As Rae falls into the role of the evil sister plotting against the beautiful, sweet heroine Leah, she feigns amnesia to cover her ignorance about how this new world works and how she fits into the story.
But when Rae begins tinkering with characters, trying to shift the plot--posing as a prophet telling the future--she figures out that she's not the only one who came from the "real world" and has infiltrated the story. She wishes she'd paid more attention to certain plot points that are life-and-death important to her now. And she also realizes she may not be helping the cast of characters or securing her own safety; she may be making everything worse.
If she can get to the magical flower that rarely blooms and could transport her back to her biological family, she'll be able to leave all of this complication behind. But she's begun to realize that her fictional family and chosen family in her new life have become precious to her, and it also dawns on her that she may be the key to saving them from the unforeseen evil that could destroy them forever.
This is so funny, sometimes dark, and it has lots of heart.
For two other great books that take a sympathetic, darkly playful view of a villain, check out Hench and Starter Villain.
I'd love to hear your thoughts about this book!
I listened to Long Live Evil as an audiobook courtesy of Libro.fm.
Sarah Rees Brennan is also the author of the fantastic character-driven young-adult fantasy In Other Lands.
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