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A review by alilbitofmonica
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan
Did not finish book. Stopped at 52%.
I’m sorry but what did I just read?? I dnfed this at 52% after hoping it would get better. It didn’t.
First of all, I genuinely could not follow this story for at least 30%.
Here’s what I know: Rae is sick and is offered the chance to be cured by entering the fictional story “Time of Iron” and finding the magical flower that will save her. She enters the story as the character Rahela, and must use her knowledge of the book she’s read and loves to survive in the fictional world. The best way to do that? Become the villain and help everyone embrace their inner villain, too.
The concept here is SO cool, but the world building was chaotic and confusing and there were so many characters introduced early on that I truly could not follow it.
The 30-50% range definitely got better, but the story was just so wild at this point that there was no saving me.
The main character is honestly very irritating. This feels VERY YA despite being an adult fantasy. The main character is immature and the dialogue supports this. I wanted to love Rae as the villain, but I was so unenthused by everything she said and did.
Let’s talk about the language: this book has so many attempts at pop culture references (which I usually don’t mind, but in here it feels awkward) and zillenial/gen z vocabulary. Telling the emperor he will be “powerful AF” was so bizarre? And the term “razzle dazzle” was used. It was just all so strange.
And let’s just talk about the MUSICAL NUMBER?? With the lyrics “everyone knows baddies can get it”, “I made bad though sexy choices”, and “here lies a dinner, and a total babe”………. I wish I was joking. And this coming from a certified musical fanatic. I should be loving this but it was so out of place and ridiculous.
Audio review: the overall narration is honestly very jarring. The main narrator role of storytelling is done with a british sort of accent. But Rae is from Oklahoma (I think) and has a southern accent. The back and forth in paragraphs and dialogue is so abrupt it’s actually distracting. And then other characters are a variety of accents. Obviously this narrator is good at accents, but to all be mixed together and not blend or flow well within the lines of the story is just overwhelming.
First of all, I genuinely could not follow this story for at least 30%.
Here’s what I know: Rae is sick and is offered the chance to be cured by entering the fictional story “Time of Iron” and finding the magical flower that will save her. She enters the story as the character Rahela, and must use her knowledge of the book she’s read and loves to survive in the fictional world. The best way to do that? Become the villain and help everyone embrace their inner villain, too.
The concept here is SO cool, but the world building was chaotic and confusing and there were so many characters introduced early on that I truly could not follow it.
The 30-50% range definitely got better, but the story was just so wild at this point that there was no saving me.
The main character is honestly very irritating. This feels VERY YA despite being an adult fantasy. The main character is immature and the dialogue supports this. I wanted to love Rae as the villain, but I was so unenthused by everything she said and did.
Let’s talk about the language: this book has so many attempts at pop culture references (which I usually don’t mind, but in here it feels awkward) and zillenial/gen z vocabulary. Telling the emperor he will be “powerful AF” was so bizarre? And the term “razzle dazzle” was used. It was just all so strange.
And let’s just talk about the MUSICAL NUMBER?? With the lyrics “everyone knows baddies can get it”, “I made bad though sexy choices”, and “here lies a dinner, and a total babe”………. I wish I was joking. And this coming from a certified musical fanatic. I should be loving this but it was so out of place and ridiculous.
Audio review: the overall narration is honestly very jarring. The main narrator role of storytelling is done with a british sort of accent. But Rae is from Oklahoma (I think) and has a southern accent. The back and forth in paragraphs and dialogue is so abrupt it’s actually distracting. And then other characters are a variety of accents. Obviously this narrator is good at accents, but to all be mixed together and not blend or flow well within the lines of the story is just overwhelming.