Gorgeous photo by @sarahscosysorner!
Hey fairy fam!
Happy Thursday and welcome to day 4 of our readalong of Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan.
Our villainous team are so close and yet so far to getting what they want… but will they do it. 👀
Today we’re reading from chapter 22 to the end of chapter 26. Let’s do this!
When you’ve finished today’s section, catch up with me in the comments down below so we can discuss!
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for Long Live Evil, from chapters 22 to 26. Please only read on if you’ve finished this section!
-!SPOILERS!-
So… I thought fifteen lashes didn’t sound that bad. Like it’s bad but fifteen doesn’t sound like that many, right??? Except… it’s an enchanted whip so Key could well die from it.
Everything is going wrong, the Cobra has to tell Rae he no longer has the key after Marius launched it.
The only upside? Our fave character Key managed to survive the whipping, barely though. Rae’s soft side comes out and she takes care of him.
Rae and the Cobra are blissfully unaware of everything crumbling around them. Emer bumps into Marius, but that’s not really the bad part. She sticks around to eavesdrop on Marius snitching to the King. He tells him almost everything. That they wanted the key to get the flower, that they’re evil and scheming. And yet the King only seems to care to know whether the Cobra has “had her”. Charming!
Octavian honestly doesn’t seem all that bothered? He does mention that they don’t know the Cobra’s true name though and Marius must hold some semblance of respect for the Cobra still, because he doesn’t give it to he King.
Emer, shook, is on her way back to tell Rahela and the Cobra everything she just witnessed… but catches the pair mid fight. Ultimately, she decides to keep this VERY IMPORTANT INFO to herself.
Rahela visits the King and I am getting REAL nervous about how much she’s changing! She tells him he needs to reforge the sword and rename it ‘Longing for Revenge’. I totally get WHY she’s doing this, I can see she’s trying to get the story back on track but this just feels like a dangerous game!
They take a stroll together and she convinces him to take her to the greenhouse. This is painful cause she has absolutely no idea that he knows she’s trying to get the flower. 😭😭😭
BUT, things get weirder because his reaction to the flower as well as what he said happened between them in the past with the flower differs to what Rae remembers from the book. Either the story’s changed again… or he’s lying. And I genuinely don’t know which!
Either way, they call it a date and vow to come back. Is this how Rae will get the flower? 👀 Key is healing and unbeknownst to Rae, he just witnessed that whole thing. He seems ok with it? But as much as I love him I’m still seriously worried he’ll betray her, and this probably didn’t help!
After making up with the Cobra, things seem to be back on track and they’re heading out! Rae wants to invite Lia to their box but the Cobra warns her getting entangled with the main characters will lead to disaster. Eric, I think that ship sailed in section one?
She invites Lia anyway and… she outs her. Rae tells her she knows her game. Knows she schemes just as much as she does. It’s allllll coming out!
Marius finds them and this doesn’t bode well for Rae and Eric’s plans, cause he’s disgusted at the company Lia is choosing to keep.
It’s battle time!!! True to how the rest of the story has gone so far, it doesn’t go to plan at all. Rae and Eric are really good at scheming, just not so good at actually getting their way! Marius isn’t volunteering to be Lia’s champion like he’s supposed to, like they hoped.
Despite the Cobra’s efforts to force him to volunteer, they’re too late. Lia declares she’ll be her own champion. So, I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m starting to think maybe Lia entered the story too? I could be way off though!
It looks like the chains holding the manticore have been tampered with, sabotaged on purpose. Rae knows if Lia dies, it’s all her fault. Key can’t go because he’s still hurt – so it’s on Rae to save the day. Despite her being suspicious of Rahela though, Emer won’t let her go in alone. She steals the generals battle axe and makes it to them.
Are things starting to come together? 👀 The King did indeed take Rahela’s advice and reforge the sword. The prophecy is coming true! Rae declares Lia the winner and the new Queen… and that is what makes it all click into place for Emer, she’s really questioning who Rahela is now.
With the King having won the love triangle and Rae telling Vasilia his interests do indeed lie elsewhere, Vasilia decides she’ll go home and save her brother. In one of the most wholesome moments we’ve seen so far though, Lord Fabianus stands up to declare his love! He wants to go with her but his sister is too sick, he wants to know if she’ll wait for him.
Hortensia joins the fray and reminds Lord Fabianus she tried to drown him once and urges him to go. I love that even in the cutest moments Sarah Rees Brennan still manages to coax a laugh out of me! 😂
The day seems to have been a success and Emer draws Rae a bath, or as she likes to call it, her “plot tub”. But, things aren’t as calm as Rae thought, cause as she settles down she starts to hear a lot of noise and realises a storm is coming her way.
Things were going SO well until the end!!
What kind of storm do you think the author means? I’d like to think it’s a literal weather storm but I don’t think Rae will be so lucky!
Do you think Emer or Key will betray Rae?
What do you think the King will do when he and Rae go back to the flower, given he knows she wants it?
I’m SO SCARED for this final section! For Rae’s sake, I hope it goes well!
Love,
Shannon
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This is going way too well, so something is going to happen next. I’ve had my hopes that Rae would be able to return to the real world, but reading these last chapters has been making me think that that probably won’t be the case. It is quite sad as Alice is probably sitting next to her bed waiting her to wake up in the hospital and she never will I first thought this would be a standalone, but realising there will be several books has made me think this story differently. it is a slim change Rae will ever return to the real world. Also I think now that Lia is kinda also on their side, Emer will not betray Rae. It might be Cobra who eventually betrays her, as Rae has changed his beloved story. Super excited for tomorrow.
I agree with you! Knowing it’s not a standalone but a series makes me think Ray will stay in this world for a long time (and also hope for a HEA)
It seems that things always get out of control really quickly despite all the plotting! It’s interesting and for me unexptected that the story can divert so much from the books, it’s almost like everyone cane alive with free will. Or maybe as you say there are more “real world” people.
I like the group of vipers and the friendship with the Ice Queen.
The relationship between Eric and Marius is super confusing to me, I can’t make out what they’re feeling or thinking.
I find Emer a bit shifty, not sure I would trust her.
At this point I have no idea what’s going to happen in the final part, there is too much chaotic energy so I’m just enjoying the ride…
The king seems not to be too worried about the flower if he just let it go to waste another year with the other Rahela. So he might give it to her if she wants it. After all, she saved the day, even if he isn’t as aware as Rae and Eric are.
I’m really intrigued by Lia and I love that she is not only a damsel in distress that she has some kicking too.
As for who will betray Rae? I have a feeling it will be Lia, not Emer or Key this time, though they might do it at some poin in the future as well.
That storm was a bit scary, I might have to read on and finish already!
I’m waiting for something to go really bad and I’m scared 🙈 I’m curious if the person who was not smiling was King or Marius and they plotting something.
I’m not sure about Key betraying her, I was more thinking what if Key becomes the Emperor somehow so he can be with Rae? Emer might do something to betray them probably.
The King might destroy the flower in front of her, that would be so cruel. I really hope she gets out of the book. I have to go back and keep reading, I’m so nervous
Emer deciding to keep the infos for herself was SO frustrating but nobody can be trusted in this novel! Lia is definitely a way more interesting character than I thought, I didn’t see it coming.
Emer holding all that information back was so frustrating!! This was still one of my favourite sections of the book, the various plotting and the changes of the story has kept me hooked. Something is definitely coming…
Everything is getting intense. Key is getting too invested on Rae while Rae is too busy messing things up. Key is definitely not just what he says he is, he’s too amzing to be just a gutter brat… And omg, I’m sooo confused with Marius, are you a friend or foe? Is there a chance that Marius and Cobra will be together? Lol. I hope that Emer will not betray Rae, she always seems so doubtful and angry. This is gonna be one scary finale.
This is too much, it’s going too well except for Emer keeping secrets. I don’t trust any of them but I don’t think either Key or Emer will betray her. Key did say at the start he was just going along with it until he got a better offer but I don’t think he will betray her
1. What kind of storm do you think the author means? I’d like to think it’s a literal weather storm but I don’t think Rae will be so lucky!
I think it is indeed metaphorical for something big that is going to happen
2. Do you think Emer or Key will betray Rae?
I think it is more likely Emer will than Key.
3. What do you think the King will do when he and Rae go back to the flower, given he knows she wants it?
I kinda think Rae will do something to make him pass out so she won’t have to touch him and can pluck the flower herself without him interfering
I think at this point Emer and Key are devoted to Rae now. If anything, I feel like the only person who’ll become a detriment to Rae’s plans is Rae herself. Especially because whenever she and the Cobra try to influence the story, things change. She’s spent the entire book building up the Emperor’s ego that I feel everything will come to a head. Because he definitely didn’t like being scorned in such a manner with Vasilisa.