I got a kick out of the humor for the first half of the book, but it started wearing on me after that. I also didn't like the juxtaposition of the near-rape and the sex with the farmboy...It seemed really strange and indelicate.

Hilarious. Very reminiscent of Terry Pratchett and Tom Holt. Will be ordering for my library. Our fantasy fans will really like it.

I laughed so much through this book my face hurt. Weller is one of my auto buy authors and this while different didn't disappoint. Highly recommend for all levels of fantasy readers. Just a fun time.

I think the entire concept of this story is hilarious and amazing. An Isekai/video game/fantasy mashup where the protagonist is so tired of trying to save the world from the Dark Lord- and failing each time, for hundreds of years and hundreds (thousands?) of lives. So she decides to become the Dark Lord herself. A hilarious and bloody journey ensues as "Lord Davi" assembles an army of minions to support her on her journey toward Dark Lordship.

I did take one star away for a certain scene having to do with a fox-wilder and a single line that is seared into my brain forever. Also, some of the dialogue and internal monologuing is kinda cringey, but I think cringe goes hand-in-hand with this type of humor so it didn't take too much away from my reading experience. Overall, I really enjoyed this and I am looking forward to the sequel!

Thank you to Netgalley for an Advance copy of this book for an honest review.

I was so excited for this book, it sounded so fun and different. It started off so well, the concept was cool and the main character's jokes were funny. I was into it but then it just got too much, the jokes were just alot.

The humour will work for some unfortunately it did not work for me and I could not stand the main character.

I did enjoy the writing style and will try reading other books from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit Books for the ARC of How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying.

I tried, I really tried, but I could not even make it to chapter 3. I thought it might have just been me, but I let my 18 year old niece read a few pages and she summed it up best by saying it read like Wattpad circa 2016.

I am all for a sassy FMC, but Davi was just annoying. You can definitely tell she is written by a man. The snark and crass humor is off the charts.

Also, how does she have all these pop culture references if she has been in this time loop for 1000 years?

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Orbit for allowing me to read this arc. When I heard it was a comedy with a Groundhog Day fantasy vibe I was sold.
Unfortunately, no offense to the gentleman who wrote the story, but as I got to about 60% it just seemed to have lost steam. The beginning had me sucked in though.

In Dark Lord Django, we trust.

This was a bit of a departure from his other books, but that just goes to show that he can write quite a range (and successfully at that, in my humble opinion). This one reads like he took the bit of humor present in the Burningblade & Silvereye series, tweaked it and then dialed it up to 100.

5/5 Stars (Sword to the back of the head, instant death):
Fun. Honestly this is the first word I would use to describe the book. It's ridiculous, irreverent, and just an overall good time.
Humor. I love that Dark Lord Django branched out and tried something new! It worked! It feels like T. Kingfisher and Eliza Clark teamed up to write a humorous fantasy novel with an extra dose of raunchiness.
Fantasy World. I loved how this poked fun at fantasy in general. The world just felt silly, but in a way that was familiar and somehow... wholesome.

Hopefully better in the next lifetime:
Pop Culture References. While plenty of the pop culture references were welcome, there were a bit too many. I can see someone of a different age or nationality not being able to enjoy this book at all due to them. I certainly didn't catch all of them, but I imagine plenty of folks would be much worse off.
Footnotes. Some of them were funny, but overall I found this more annoying rather than a perk.
Pseudo-bestiality. Before you get the wrong impression- these were people that just happened to be humanoid fantasy creatures, rather than just straight-up animals. I just couldn't get down with the descriptions of sexual acts with the fox-people, etc. It made me feel like a furry- not to yuck your yum, if you're into that. (In fact, I would encourage you to read this if you get down in animal costumes like that)

Further Considerations:
+I felt the beginning relied too much on the word 'fuck' and was worried this was going to be another Cassandra Khaw situation. Good news: that tapered off and I stopped noticing it after the opening chapter.
+I find it interesting how some reviewers are claiming that 'women don't do this' or 'women don't do that'. Cool, are you all women? Do you speak for all women? Because I have definitely met and known women who are bisexual, sex positive, irreverent, and would very likely behave in the same manner in a world where they respawn every time they die. Sure, feel free to get upset that I am a man telling you this 🙄, but you do not represent every woman in the world. Women are not a monolith. Queer women are not. Bisexual women are not. Just because a book doesn't represent you, does not mean it was written by an ignorant asshole who doesn't think of women as humans. I have read plenty of novels written by queer men about queer men, where I did not feel represented as a queer man. Get over it.
+The above said, Django Wexler, I BEG you to please write a novel with a QUEER MAN protagonist. At this point, we know from your other books that you have queer women covered, but I think so far we've only gotten one side character in The Shadow Campaigns that was a queer man. Please Dark Lord, consider the pleas of your minion. Pander to the gays. Advance our agenda!

I would recommend this to open-minded readers looking for a humorous fantasy romp. If you hate laughter, intercourse, or violence- maybe steer clear.

If you like your Dark Lords of the sassy, irreverent, meta-commentary-having, fourth-wall-breaking variety, Django Wexler has the book for you!

Most of us, including yours truly know Django Wexler as one of the household names of the “flintlock fantasy” subgenre, you know the one with magic AND guns! His Shadow Campaigns series have become something of a standard against which all other flintlock authors are compared (well, him and Brian McClellan). While he has written another YA series, it is not what he is known for among the fantasy cognoscenti. So when he tried his hand at a light-hearted fantasy “comedy”, I was naturally intrigued. Cue, How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying!

The brief tells us that the titular character Davi is one of the Kingdom-saving heroes, in a “life”time battle against the Dark Lord, a stereotype that we all know and love. Except, that every time she dies, she respawns with all of her memories, and she tries again. This cycle naturally wears her down and she is generally fed up with the “good side”, and says “To hell with it, I will be the next Dark Lord!”.

Shenanigans ensue.

How to Become the Dark Lord is a schlocky, cheeky, tale which follows our Dark Lord-in-waiting Davi (now Davi Morrigan Skulltaker, because why not?!) as she travels to the Convocation, where the new Dark Lord is chosen. Along the way she accrues her merry band of (un)likeable sidekicks which include a sexy orc, a sexy wolfkin, a cute mousekin, a deadpan stonekin, and so on, you get the gist. Wexler does a good job of writing side-characters with enough personality to not feel like cardboard placeholders but not spend too much time on each of their character arcs to extend this into epic-fantasy territory.

I hate to drop the C-bomb when it comes to this book, you know the dreaded *whispers* Cozy Fantasy, but this is a very low-stakes almost feel-good story, especially with the lighthearted easy-to-digest prose. If Cozy Comedic Dark Fantasy was ever a nanogenre, How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying would be among the names to look out for.

Where this book will get divisive among fantasy readers, especially fans of the darker corners of the genre, is the prose and personality of our protagonist, Davi. Her characterization can perfectly be summed up as Deadpool in a D&D campaign. If that's something you enjoy, you’ll love her meta-commentary and constant fourth-wall-breaking sassiness. If you prefer your characters more serious, and stoic, Davi will begin to grate on you within the first few pages.

As opposed to his other works, Wexler also approaches the prose of this book from a very young Millennial/GenZ stance, with tons of slang and modern-day references. This book references everything from Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Marvel’s Avengers, HBO, and many others. Other reviewers have cited this as a reason to DNF the book saying that it gets quickly annoying and breaks immersion. My two cents are that the “lol I'm so quirky and such a memelord” vibe is a tad bit overdone, and the “less is more” approach would have made each reference shine a lot more. Davi’s overly sassy badass promiscuous persona becomes something of a meme after a while. Sadly, Wexler never really chooses a stance on whether it is intentional, or is more tongue-in-cheek in-universe. In the narrative, Davi is reasonably competent and is helped through more by her compatriots.

The conclusion of the book ends on a cliffhanger signalling the start of a series, but I wonder how long this schtick will last across multiple books, and whether it being left as a fun little standalone would have been a better idea. Only time will tell.

A fun easy-to-read romp is what you get with How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying, a perfect little palette cleanser before we dive back into the gritty, nihilistic grimdark worlds we know and love!

Thank you so much to Orbit and NetGalley for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Somehow this was entertaining as all hell? I had a great time with this book. Davi is someone from earth that finds herself in a video game-esque time/death loop, where she wakes up and is told her destiny is to help defeat the Dark Lord. But after countless lifetimes and horrible deaths and finding herself at the beginning again, she decides to say screw it and dedicate her life to becoming the Dark Lord instead.

It was honestly like nothing I've read before, and felt like a throwback to video games where there are no saves, when you die you start back at the beginning again, and it made me nostalgic as hell while I enjoyed watching Davi stumble through this new path she chose.

If I had to nitpick something, it's that for someone with so many lifetimes and unlimited partners (by her own admission) she was like....weirdly obsessed with sex at the worst possible moments. She felt as horny as a teenage girl all the time apparently? Who am I to knock her feelings in high stress situations but that did take me out of the book a bit in the beginning before I got used to it just being how she is lol.

I did like it though and that ending?! I'm for sure going to read book two and I can't wait.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying is filled with dark humor that hits perfectly for me. A little snarky and in your face. Davi has been told that she is destined to take down the Dark Lord. And she has tried. And she has failed. With each failure comes death and like a video game with infinite lives, she gets returned to the start. We quickly learn of her hundreds of attempts and now she has had enough. So instead of trying to be the hero, she will change things up. This time she will try to become the Dark Lord. And what a ride. There is something freeing about knowing there is no consequence to your failure and not having to do the right thing.

I adored Davi as a character. She is smart and quick-witted. I loved her deeply caring heart in spite of her attempts to lean into the bad. She and her minions are some of the best characters. There are a lot of battles and fighting as well as descriptions of injuries and methods of death. But the author made the palatable and part of the greater good.

This book left me with a warm feeling and a smile. I am excited that this is the start of a series because I like the world that the author has created. I know that this story will not be for everyone, but for those who enjoy a dark comedy with heart, it will be a winner. I will be anxiously awaiting the next book.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest review.

If you like quirky fantasies with a lot of pop culture references…this book is for you.

Personally, though it wasn’t my favorite. It reminded me of a similar humor style to Deadpool which I did enjoy. It was certainly a humor filled book, I think it was more what I was expecting vs what I got.

7 swear words in a 3 page prologue is a bit excessive - no?

DNF. I couldn’t get past the language (swearing and sexually explicit) Emphasis is one thing, bolstering your word count and “character street credibility” with zero actually need for it? Major pass for me.

I felt the book summary was misleading. I would not have requested this book if the summary matched what’s inside.

Django Wexler is definitely solidifying his spot as one of my favorite authors. I absolutely loved How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying! I can totally understand how some people wouldn't enjoy this but it checked all the boxes for me. I cannot wait for the next installment to see what all happens.

DNF at 11%

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for a copy of this book. However, this book is not for me. I am not the target audience for this book. It very much felt like a female main character who was written by a man FOR men. I can absolutely see where the tone and the overall vibe were going, but after the first chapter I could tell I was not going to enjoy this read.

The description and the general premise of the book were ABSOLUTELY right up my alley, but I believe the execution of it was for a different reader than myself! This is a story about a woman named Davi who is (presumably) from Earth, but has lived the last 1000+ years in a fantasy world where she respawns at the same point every time after she dies. The description of the book says that it is Groundhog Day meets Guardians of the Galaxy (I'm guessing plot-wise), but I would compare the humor more to Superbad or Super Troopers.

Davi is the chosen one, selected above all others to defeat the Dark Lord and save The Kingdom from certain peril. She just hasn’t figured out how to win yet, and every time dies for her cause time resets. She’s back at the beginning…again. It’s been a millennia, and Davi’s decided if she can’t beat them, why not be them?

I don’t think it was accurate to compare this novel to Guardians of the Galaxy because it will set unrealistic expectation for the themes of this novel. I mean I get it, because Davi is a human amongst fantasy creatures just the like main character of Guardians of the Galaxy is a human from Earth amongst Aliens, but that is a PG13 movie and this novel opens up with a torture/suicide scene. It’d be more apt to compare it to Deadpool both in themes and in the personalities of the characters. If you don’t mind
(a) profanity
(b) violence
(c) tongue in cheek humor
(d) sexually explicit innuendo
then I really do recommend this novel! I think that Davi has a strong and distinct voice that was enhanced with the use of the footnotes as asides. I think that the use of first person POV was a good choice for Davi’s character, and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t gravitate towards first person POV on my own.

The story was fun, and exciting, and the world building was great! I’ve personally never read anything like it. I think that the time loop trope can be a bit over done sometimes, but this was well executed. I look forward to the next one!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC.

This unexpectedly turned out to be so entertaining I’ll even forgive the “Groundhog Day meets Guardians of the Galaxy” description because as much as I dislike that type of formula, it is, for once, pretty on point.

It’s immediately obvious that this particular brand of comedy can only ever work with a time loop: for example, there is a fairly detailed gory scene at the beginning that can come across as shocking because of how unwarranted and violent Davi’s actions seem, but quickly enough you settle into her mindset that basically nothing is real or final - not even death. (Or is it?)

It also takes effort and skill on the author's part to pull off the kind of narrative that explicitly addresses the reader while telling the story, and here it’s done splendidly, in a kind of natural way that doesn’t seem presumptuous or overdone. Some of the sex-related jokes/comments didn’t exactly resonate with me, but they didn’t really take away from my enjoyment either. Maybe it’s because I’m meh about the races that resemble humans to a large degree but have some animal and/or mythical features as well - I appreciate the variety of them and the new Dark Lord Diversity Vibes, though.

I went into this fully expecting it to be a stand-alone, so up until the very end I expected a twist that would turn everything upside down and at the same time explain it. Instead, we got some hints as to why Davi ended up like this and more mysteries to unravel. Well, no objections there, since I’m perfectly happy to accompany Davi on her next adventure.

This was everything that I wanted it to be and more. I wanted a humorous fantasy that still had the action and adventure of a great fantasy, and this delivered.

Davi is used to dying because every time she dies, she wakes up again in the same place and has to start over again. Her mission? To save the Kingdom from the Dark Lord. After a thousand years, she is sick of it and decides a new tactic is in order. Rather than attempting to defeat the Dark Lord, she is going to become the Dark Lord.

This is full of dark humor and sarcasm, which I absolutely loved. Davi’s personality was amazing, she was tough and determined, but also a bit uncaring about her situation, knowing if she failed, she could just try again. I don’t know that her character would be everyone’s cup of tea, but it was definitely mine.

I was surprised by how attached I became to all of the characters. Davi treats people as a bit disposable, but throughout this story that changes and as she grew more attached to the people she met, so did I. The character and relationship growth throughout this book were really fantastic.

If you are looking for a funny fantasy with a sarcastic, cursing FMC, a sexy orc lady, a cowboy mouse, and an amazing adventure with battles and trials, you need to read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit Books for this Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review!

I'll start bluntly: this book was not for me. While I found the concept entertaining, the main character's cussing had me cringing at every page. It felt uncreative to have that degree of cussing without much of a purpose, and it felt lazy that the author didn't seem able to express the character's emotions through any other method aside from fourth-wall breaks and perhaps the worst case of sailor's mouth i've ever encountered. I cannot lie--I almost DNF-ed this book on page 3 because the cussing was so prolific right out of the gate, but I pushed through because the concept had me curious. (Disclaimer: I generally don't mind cussing in novels. What bothers me is cussing aggressively rather than off the cuff "of-course-this-character-cusses-I-get-the-vibe"-style cussing).

The concept also left me wanting. Because the character's general attitude, superciliousness, lack of metacognition, and unfounded superiority complex all seemed obnoxious, I just could not root for her. I felt that the main character really would have been better off as a boy because the author wouldn't have had to include so many blase concerns regarding r*pe while the main character entered her quest to become the next dark lord. These blase r*pe references also quickly turned into off-hand rape jokes/references, which had me feeling quite cross. The most unfortunate thing: because these topics were handled so clumsily, I couldn't chalk these issues down solely to nihilism symptomatic of immortality. It felt like the author was trying to channel Rick from "Rick and Morty," but have Rick written by a 13-year-old boy who only just learned his first swear word. Nothing about this character felt skillfully handled or artfully knitted together.

I also got a hefty videogame vibe from this story--and not in a good way. The repeated returns to the beginning of the story upon death seemed to serve only to adhere to the main concept: that the character can be reborn in perpetuity. This problem never stopped itching my brain and the constant cussing and banal dialogue were like the nails on the chalkboard of my imagination.

Normally I would chalk personal preference issues such as the above down to 'this book might not have been meant for me,' but the dialogue, pacing issues, fourth-wall breaks, and character defects were all such extreme and deliberate decisions that heavily detracted from my ability to enjoy the book at all. This felt less symptomatic of expressing my preferences and more developmental for my future preferences. At best, it made me skip a few sentences of exposition-via-dialogue/cussing.

But time for a positive note: I do believe that this book could be enjoyable for some people as not every read needs to be the next Pulitzer or a 5-star experience, but the faults in writing that persisted throughout this book were irredeemable for me. I just couldn't focus on enjoying the novel with these problems popping up quite literally every three sentences, but I imagine that there will be people who do enjoy these things. I'm not one to yuck someone else's yum, but with the highest respect for the author, this one wasn't for me.

Davi is stuck in a time loop in a strange magical world, in which she’s supposed to rally the humans and defeat the Dark Lord… and after hundreds of failures she’s done. Screw it. If she can’t beat the Dark Lord then gosh darn it she’s going to become the Dark Lord instead!

For much of the book, the story reads like you’re playing a video game (and the book knows it - I appreciated that Leroy reference). It feels like a roguelike RPG - and Davi seems to share that opinion, viewing many of her fellow characters as NPCs. At times it left me wishing for more character development, but that wish did end up fulfilled later on in the book.

The dry humor (and many asides) reminded me a lot of Murderbot, if Murderbot were raunchy and occurred in a fantasy setting. Overall the book was a lot of fun to read, and I’m looking forward to book 2!