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Rae is 20 and dying of cancer. For the last several years, her main consolation has been her younger sister Alice and Alice's favorite fantasy trilogy, Time of Iron. Due to brain fog and fatigue, Rae has read the second two novels but not the first, which she knows only via what she remembers from Alice reading it to her and recounting events to her - but that's not all that much, again due to brain fog and fatigue. However, she does have a massive crush on the antihero protagonist, the mortal king in book one who becomes a semi-undead, all-powerful emperor in Book Two.
This is all relevant because a weird woman walks into her hospital room and offers to transport Rae into the body of a character from the novel, with the deal that if she can pick a highly guarded flower that blossoms once a year, she'll be cured and returned to her own world. Rae takes the deal, only to discover that 1) she's in the body of the villainess, 2) the villainess is slated to be executed the next day by the very angry currently-king, emperor-to-be.
Rae quickly realizes that she needs to assemble Team Evil from the people she has, consisting of one angry maid destined to become an axe murderer and one cheerfully sociopathic guard who she doesn't remember from the books at all. Lucky for her, she does know what's going to happen. Sort of.
"Person gets transported into their favorite fantasy novel" is a big genre in Asia, but this is the first one I've read (and the first western one I've encountered.) So this is a review from total ignorance. I'd be very interested to hear how it's similar to and different from other isekai novels, from people more familiar with the genre. For instance, I enjoyed how Rae was actually not all that familiar with the novel, but for all I know that's a totally normal trope of the genre.
I had mixed feelings about this book. There were parts that I loved. There were parts that I thought were extremely well-done. There were parts that left me cold. And there were parts where I wished the story had gone in a different direction that would have appealed more to me personally.
All the parts involving Rae's cancer were extremely good. Sarah Rees Brennan had cancer herself (she discusses this in the afterword) and it's one of the more realistic depictions of severe illness - including the social repercussions - that I've come across. Unfortunately, that was all so realistic and heartfelt that it made me want the rest of the book to have at least a little more realism and emotional heft.
This is an extremely quippy book. Rae is a quip machine, and so are several other major characters. Unfortunately, I didn't find most of the quips actually funny, so I spent a lot of the book wishing she would just stop. But most readers loved the banter and jokes, so your mileage will probably vary.
Quips aside, there were a couple areas where I really wished for more emotional weight. The whole book is about Rae being in a villainess's body and celebrating being evil. But she's not actually evil. She's just hot. The villainess is very curvy and it's a puritanical world, so Rae just wears low-cut dresses and lives in goth quarters, and that's "evil." It's like goatees being evil in the Star Trek Mirrorverse - it's a fashion statement. Plus commentary on how we view sexual women as evil, which is certainly true in real life, but not so much a thing in fantasy books nowadays.
Rae never, not once, does anything even slightly evil to anyone. Some of her decisions have bad consequences for others, but that's always because she made a mistake, not because she intended to harm anyone. I found this frustrating, because I wanted Rae to be tempted at least a little by actual evil. When I had a life-threatening illness, I sometimes wondered what I'd be willing to do in exchange for getting a healthy body back. That's Rae's entire motivation, so I wanted her to actually wrestle with "What would I be willing to do to be healthy again?" But she doesn't get put in a position where she would have to do something actually bad in order to save her life until the last few pages, so there's only like 30 seconds of dilemma.
For a lot of the book Rae thinks the characters aren't real, but she still never does anything bad to them. So when she finally realizes that they are real, it doesn't feel meaningful because she's been treating them like real people all along.
But! There was also a lot that I did like. I loved Key, the cheerful sociopath bodyguard. He was by far the most fun character in the entire book, and the only one I got emotionally invested in. This was also the most clever part of the book - it explains exactly how writers get people to fall in love with a villain, and then goes step by step through the process and makes us fall in love with Key. Brilliantly done.
I loved Key and Rae's relationship, which was very iddy for me. It was "sociopath attack dog on a leash who loves only you," plus femdom overtones. And their banter was often actually funny - I'm thinking especially of when Key is trying to tell her he wants to go down on her, and she doesn't know any of his euphemisms. I was totally invested in them as a couple.
I also enjoyed Emer and Lia, a pair of supporting characters. They had sympathetic motivations, and they didn't constantly wisecrack.
Also, the ending was KILLER. (A killer cliffhanger, just so you know.)
I was expecting Rae to realize that she loved Key and the emperor was just a powerful dick. I was not expecting UNDEAD THROAT-CUT KEY to BE the emperor! Although in retrospect, it is extremely well set up, from the emperor and Key having great cheekbones to Alice being mad at the emperor killing Rahela with red-hot iron shoes - something which Key was going to suggest.
So I'm very intrigued to see where this goes, and also what's up with the book and its anonymous author.
I also appreciated that the fantasy book excerpts are extremely plausible as an actual popular book series.
So, will you like this? I think that depends on how funny you find it. If I'd been more charmed by the banter and musical numbers and the comedy in general, then the goatee evil would have been perfect. I'm definitely going to read the sequel, though.
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Interestingly, I didn't actually like the cancer parts as much for approximately the same reason you liked them -- I was in this book expecting epic fantasy hijinks and all the cancer stuff was way too realistic and emotional :P
I do agree that the quipping gets old. Although I absolutely loved Rae and the Cobra's friendship and it did seem like the kind of friendship where they would quip at each other nonstop. Though I would think that both of them would learn after a while to stop quipping at the other characters? Code switching anyone?? But SRB is always like that so I kind of think of it as the price of admission at this point.
For a lot of the book Rae thinks the characters aren't real, but she still never does anything bad to them. So when she finally realizes that they are real, it doesn't feel meaningful because she's been treating them like real people all along.
Hm. I actually thought this was a little more interesting -- it parallels both Key's sociopath outlook that no one is real as well as the noble outlook that the peasants aren't really real. I mean, I see what you mean in that in both those cases Key and the nobles do do bad things to the people they don't think are real, but in other cases they just kinda... don't think about them.
I LOVED LOVED LOVED the Cobra and Marius. This is obviously a super iddy me thing but it turns out that a) evil-presenting character with heart of gold b) upright character who is all about Honor and Doing the Right Thing and c) relationship between (a) and (b) with fealty overtones that become explicit are ALL SUPER MY THING. I didn't want them to be a sexual couple, I just wanted them to be ALL THE ROMANTIC PLATONIC, which the book also delivered. (obviously also a super iddy me thing) (Yes, I also absolutely adore The King of Attolia which I absolutely think SRB was thinking of when she wrote those parts.)
I loved Lia! Which I was not expecting. (I liked Emer a lot too, but I was expecting that.)
In addition to being curious about the anonymous author, I am also curious as to who the mysterious lady is who transported her to the other world? (And is she the author?)
THAT CLIFFHANGER OMG.
Massive spoilers rot-13'd:
-V jnf FB phg hc jura Xrl "qvrq" guvaxvat gung rirelguvat Enr fnvq gb uvz jnf n yvr. V sryg fb onq nobhg vg naq pbhyqa'g fgbc srryvat onq nobhg vg! V QVQ ABG XABJ VG JNF N CYBG CBVAG. (Gubhtu V qvq jbaqre vs ur jnfa'g ernyyl qrnq sbe n juvyr, ohg ur xrcg abg pbzvat onpx.)
-V svavfurq guvf obbx lrfgreqnl naq V xrrc guvaxvat nobhg ubj jryy fur frg gung hc naq V whfg qvq abg frr vg pbzvat ng nyy, V jnf nofbyhgryl sybberq. V xrcg guvaxvat guvatf yvxr "tbfu guvf Bpgnivna thl ernyyl xvaq bs fhpxf naq vfa'g tbbq ng zhpu" ohg V punyxrq vg qbja gb gur punatrf va gur gvzryvar. Ohg, yvxr, gurer'f gur gvzr gung Revp gbyq Znevhf abg gb svtug Xrl!! (Juvpu vf rkcynvarq va-grkg nf, bu, uhu, znlor gur Qhxrf unq onfgneqf?? Ohg gurl qvqa'g!) Naq gura gur cneg jurer Revp fnlf "V guvax fur'f znqr n onq zvfgnxr" naq bs pbhefr V gubhtug ur zrnag "chfuvat Bpgnivna vagb gur nolff" ohg abbbbbb, orpnhfr Revp npghnyyl qvq ernq gur svefg obbx! NNNNNU. Gurer jnf ng yrnfg bar zber V gubhtug bs va gur zvqqyr bs gur avtug ynfg avtug ohg qba'g erzrzore abj :C
-...vg bppheerq gb zr juvyr jevgvat guvf gung fur fubhyq 100% unir znqr Revp gryy ure RIRELGUVAT ur xarj nobhg uvf irefvba, tvira gung fur qvqa'g xabj zhpu nobhg gur svefg obbx. :C
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I think the cancer being that realistic was a problem whether you liked it or not - it's either jarring and unpleasant in a basically fluffy book, or it leads you to expect and want it to be less fluffy. Probably she should have given Rae a heart defect and no details on it.
I actually thought this was a little more interesting -- it parallels both Key's sociopath outlook that no one is real as well as the noble outlook that the peasants aren't really real. I mean, I see what you mean in that in both those cases Key and the nobles do do bad things to the people they don't think are real, but in other cases they just kinda... don't think about them.
I liked that parallel, I just wanted Rae not thinking people were real to have actual effects on how she behaved. It has effects on how Key and the nobles behave!
I did also enjoy Marius and Eric.
V rira sbhaq vg sehfgengvat gung Enr qvqa'g nfx Revp nobhg gur svefg obbx! Ohg V jnf guvaxvat nobhg cybg fghss fur zvtug zvff.
V nyfb ernyyl pnerq nobhg Xrl qlvat guvaxvat fur arire pnerq nobhg uvz.
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Maybe I'll wait till the sequel comes out and see if people feels the story wraps up satisfactorily, and THEN decide whether I'll give the books a try.
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Spoilers speculation for the ending:
V guvax gur jbzna ng gur ortvaavat jub bssref Enr gur pubvpr zvtug or gur nhgube bs gur obbx? Jub'f gur tbqqrff jub tbg chfurq bhg? Naq fur xrrcf gelvat gb trg gur sybjre fb fur pna or erobea vagb gur jbeyq be fbzrguvat? V qba'g xabj ohg V nz irel vagrerfgrq va svaqvat bhg.
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V nyfb gubhtug gur zlfgrevbhf jbzna jnf gur nhgube.
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I did find the quippiness a bit overdone, but it very much is a your mileage may vary thing. I also agree that Rae was never evil, just going all in on the aesthetics.
Key and Rae were incredibly iddy, and I also enjoyed Lia and Emer, but my fav dynamic might actually be between Marius and Eric, simply because the way the two of them come away with two completely different interpretations of the same events was so funny. (Revp: V ubcr Znevhf'f zbgure naq fvfgre yvxrq zr gung bar gvzr gurl ivfvgrq gur pncvgny! Gurl tnir zr guvf pbby xavsr ohg V'z abg fher...Znevhf: bs pbhefr ur naq zl fvfgre ner abj sbeznyyl ratntrq, naq gur snzvyl qnttre vf n flzoby bs gurve orgebguny.)
My guess
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Oh those are great. I didn't catch either of those, just the cheekbones and the iron shoes bits.
Eric and Marius were genuinely funny that way and I liked that.
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I guess Gael Baudino's Dragonsword trilogy is a Western isekai? The main character I think maybe first has a vivid fantasy life, and then trauma makes it become real, and she's staggered by the enormity of that event and the responsibility that lies on her. So, doesn't seem very similar to this one.
I haven't read any Asian isekai. The isekai and related anime I've seen are mostly characters are locked into a MMORPG, or characters die and get reborn in an unfamiliar world like MMORPG-style rules, or Ascendance of a Bookworm, where the character gets reborn in a fantasy world and works to invent mass-market books because she loves reading. I think My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! might be the only one I've seen where the protagonist is previously familiar with the story and the characters.
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I don't know if this is my kind of book, but that is SUCH a bulletproof trope for me that I may end up reading it anyway 😄
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I've found that a lot of fantasy books that claim to be pro-villain, pro-evil shy away from having those villain protagonist characters actually do much evil, even when that's the whole point of the novel!
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I've never tried her published works for whatever reason. But this sounds really appealing!
Thank you for reviewing it.
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