Not nearly as clever as it thinks it is, and if it tried half as much to be clever it would be twice as good. That being said, I ended up really liking this book in spite of its problems, not because of them - it's clearly a woman written by a man, it's extremely self-consciously quippy, it thinks it is footnoting like Terry Pratchett and it is... not. I got involved though and really want to know what happens in the second one. I'm not sure how to rate it!

Final Rating: 4.00 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I was initially interested in this book because the title caught my attention immediately. The book itself lives up to the title in terms of tone and the book ended up being a fun meta fantasy.

The main character Davi is stuck in a time loop; every time she dies, she re-awakens next to a wizard telling her it is her destiny to save the world. But after more than 200 failed attempts to defeat the Dark Lord, she decides she's had enough and will become the next Dark Lord instead. We then follow her as she amasses her army of minions and travels across the land to compete for the title of Dark Lord.

I had a lot of fun reading this fantasy. As someone who loves fantasy RPG video games, the idea of failing your quest so often you turn to the dark side was fun and relatable. The world-building was straightforward but interesting; enough information to understand the stakes without being so overly lore heavy that it slowed down the pacing. My one point of contention with the novel was some of the writing for the main character's overt sexuality, which came off as over the top. There's only so many masturbation jokes one can read. However, I really enjoyed the other characters so I did still enjoy the relationships.

Overall, I would recommend this book for people who want low-lore fantasy, love a quippy meta writing style, and/or fans of fantasy RPG video games like Nox and Skyrim.

A book not for everyone. A bit of a hit and miss. This is very different from other of Wexler's works and somehow feels very raw and unpolished. The humour is cheap, characters crude and the mix of modern pop culture references is jarring in the plot setting. It really wansn't a straight forward satire/humor which I was expecting. Mixed bag.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for an eARC of this book!

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this one at 20%, so my star review may not accurately represent the book as a whole.

Simply put, I think this book wasn't for me, which is surprising as I'm an avid gamer and DnD lover. But I found the humor off putting and the prose too vulgar; it's probably the perfect fit for someone else, though, as there's a lot of good parody of the swords and sorcery genre here.

I will say that part of what put me off was the narrator's voice. There were times, usually the more serious moments, where I could feel the potential heart this story could have, but those moments were often brutally severed by a comment about someone's breasts.

I would also suggest that if it isn't too late the publisher add more concrete content warnings. It's great they're there in the first place as I know they're not yet industry standard, but if they're going to exist, they should probably be more robust. When CWs say discussions of SA, I expect something a bit more serious in the content, not the MC being so flip about potentially being assaulted.

Hope this book finds the right audience!

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review.

When I started this book, I was hooked by the main character perspective and her way of talking to the reader. It felt like we were in it with her. At times, I did not know what to think of as far as this book was concerned. So much murder! So much death! Overall, I perservered and I really enjoyed it. I feel like this will be a unique one for me to reccommend cause man there are some triggers in here, but overall I thought Davi was such an interesting character and the other supporting characters kept me intrigued as well. I really want book two already, but. will resign myself to waiting.

This is an adventure story at its heart. The princess isn't in the tower waiting to be saved, in fact she's tired of being the chosen one against the forces of darkness. It was interesting to see Davi planning to become the Dark Lord, but still keeping as much of her humanity as she could.

The footnotes on this book are absolutely essential reading - do not skip!!

Synopsis:
Davi has done this all before. She’s tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she’s rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she’s killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she’s been defeated every time.
This time? She’s done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that’s who she needs to be. It’s Davi’s turn to play on the winning side.

Once you get past the long title, this is a fun book.
Davi is a girl from our world who keeps dying and waking up in a fantasy world where she is the Chosen One who can defeat the Dark Lord. She eventually gets tired of this and decides to become the Dark Lord herself.
This book was a lot of fun to read. Davi was sarcastic and snarky. She was also very motivated. Some of her supporting cast were interesting and likable, as well.
The book moved along at a great pace.
If there was any downside to the version I read it was the use of footnotes. When every chapter was done, there would be footnotes to read about things that had happened in the chapter. By the time I finished a chapter, depending on the number of footnotes, I’d have to go back and look at what they were referring to.
That’s not to say I disliked the footnotes. They were amusing.
In closing, this book isn’t for everyone. There are things in here that may trigger some readers or pull other readers out of the story

Thanks for Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF 15%-this was one I was so excited about, but I have to agree with what another reviewer called out. There are three main things that are going to make or break this book for readers:

1. The snarky main character
2. The use of footnotes
3. Consistent random references to modern day in a medieval fantasy setting

I love a snarky character as much as the next reader, but the disconnected, disgusted with the situation snark this character had made me really not care about anything that was going on. The other stuff I could cope with and honestly I could cope with all three, but all of them were all done to the extreme to the point that it was annoying to read. Alas, as much as I was excited to read this, it was terribly disappointing.

Oh no, you got Deadpool in my fantasy :-(

This was excruciating to read. Django should not try to write comedy. I’m not opposed to gore, sex or vulgarity in my fiction (and generally welcome it.) The persistent onslaught of it here just set off try-hard edgelord alarm bells.

This book is hi-larious. It's not for everybody, but if you enjoy a fast moving plot, irreverent sarcasm, and some violence for the sake of humor, it's a must read. The main character is clever, likable, and literally-thanks to her unlimited lives-unstoppable. It's fascinating to watch her plan evolve and the found family aspect is one of my favorites. Very fun read that I recommend for the kind of audience that will appreciate this style of writing.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book!

There is definitely a time, place, and person for this particular story. And I can say it was not the time, place, and I am not the person in my case. Honestly, I'm not really sure what fell through for me. I've read plenty of books that have main characters that are very similar and have enjoyed them just fine. All of the swearing didn't really bother me, but something was not sitting right with me. In this case, I honestly think it was just a wrong time thing. If I had read this in a different mood, I might have liked or even enjoyed it a lot more, but I sadly did not.

I think that if anyone is going to read this book, they need to be very aware of what they are getting into. This book does not take itself seriously in the least bit, and comes with a crap ton of trigger warnings that I would fully look into before reading. I personally don't think the content warnings as strong as they should be, but it could just be a personal thing like I said. In any case, I would really look into other reviews before going into this book so you know what you're getting into.

I DNFed this novel at 25%. Unfortunately, I couldn't handle the amount of cursing in the dialog. I recommend others to try the book since it has a fun synopsis...as long as cursing isn't one of the things that bugs you.

"You!" I bark at the next orc. "Where do you see yourself in five years? [...] "Prob'ly dead, if we're being honest? Gotta be realistic"

This was a fun, sarcastic read if you're in the mood for an adventure story with lots of different creatures (wilders), gathering a horde of misfits, and finding (unlikely) love and friendship along the way. The book is chuck full with reference to pop culture, from games and films to D&D moves.

The main character can be quite crude and says (or thinks) whatever she wants without much fuss which some people might not enjoy, but I didn't mind. It did however sometimes mean that there was a lack of emotional buildup or tension and the relationships that the main character forms lack a kind of depth that I personally love seeing in the books I read. It does make sense plot-wise though, seeing as you probably lose a certain level of giving a f when you've lived and died and lived again so many times.

In terms of pacing, the book started off quite strong while the middle dragged for a while, for it to pick up again towards the end. For me this meant that I took quite some time to finish the book, as I had a harder time picking up the book to read during the chapters that I wasn't as interested in the events that were happening on the pages. The chapters of this book are really quite long (20-30 minutes) which makes it hard to do the whole "oh just one more chapter!" thing because this time you're actually stuck for a good half an hour if you do that.

If you're looking for a light, humorous and satirical read with both a lot of fantasy and contemporary elements in it - this might be great for you. In the end, the book wasn't my cup of tea as much as I expected it to be, so I'm not sure I'd pick up book 2 when it comes out (I didn't know it was going to be a series until the last sentence!). I do want leave a honorary mention to the footnotes; those were hilarious.

After 1,000 years and 200+ lives, Davi is tired of trying and failing to defeat the Dark Lord on behalf of the Kingdom. She decides it's time for a new strategy. In this life, she's going to become the Dark Lord, since she'll just reset at the beginning again when she dies.

I thought this was a very fun read with a strong narrative voice, but it still created a interesting world that left me full of questions and anxiously anticipating the next book in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book; it was so not what I expected!

The premise revolves around a female main character (FMC) who is clearly from our world, thrust into a fantastical Dungeons & Dragons-esque setting with a Groundhog Day twist. Having experienced life over a thousand times, each time dying only to awaken on the same day and time, she is informed by a wizard that she must prevent the rise of the Dark Lord. However, after her thousandth cycle, she defiantly decides to take matters into her own hands, and with a flippant attitude, decides to become the Dark Lord herself. With nothing to lose, as each death merely resets her to the same moment, she has a new and untraveled path before her.

What truly sets this book apart, earning it a solid five stars in my opinion, is the humor infused throughout, particularly embodied by the FMC. The author uses footnotes throughout each chapter, effectively breaking the fourth wall and inviting readers to become immersed in the story as characters themselves. These footnotes are rife with pop culture references, self-deprecating humor, and an abundance of sarcastic remarks that inject a lively energy into the narrative, making it an absolute joy to read. Honestly, I have never read a book that was so much my style of humor like this book.

However, I must offer a word of caution: the book ends on a cliffhanger, leaving me really wanting... needing a sequel. So go read this book! Personally, this book has prompted me to explore more of the author's works, as I found the writing style immensely enjoyable and engaging.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

DNF 15%
I hate giving up on a ARC so early because i feel like I did not give it a fair chance. However, my problem with it its something that's likely to bother me until the end.. and its the humour. I feel like its a bit too much sometimes even though I knew this would be a silly and comedic story. I could ignore it if there was something else grabbing me into the story but there isn't. So far we are just following the main character in this adventure and just her and I guess I need some more connection? I'm not sure. Maybe that happens later, so I'll leave the door open for me to try this again maybe anither time, after I see some more people reading it.

I'm giving this a 3 stars here on NetGalley since I DNFed so early I don't think it's fair to give anything less or more.

This was really cool concept, but a little bit repetitive for me. Obviously, with the fact that the main villain can't really 'die' there will be repetition but I ended up a little bored.

I requested this ARC based on what it promised from the blurb--funny, lighthearted, a spin on "the one" trope. Unfortunately, after reading the first chapters, I confirmed NONE of those things were present, would be present, or were even in the same category as what this book actually is.

It's a female heroine written by a man, who delights to narrate her story with a filthy-mouth and an insufferable douche-bro attitude. There is gratuitous violence, casual wishes to die (in graphic detail), hypersexualized thoughts every other paragraph, and no emotional depth whatsoever.

If you are ready to deal with that bs attitude for 432 pages, then by all means enjoy the book. But I can't even begin to explain how far off the mark this book ended up being for me.

[Netgalley ARC]

I really, really, really wanted to like this book - but I ended up DNFing it around the 27% mark.

This is a humerous fantasy book, but in this case the jokes just came across as juvenile (and at worst, creepy). The main character in this book is a woman, and so many of the jokes are about her being nude, engaging in bestiality, and even jokes about SA in the first full chapter. I am by no means a prude, and it wasn't just the presence of dirty/sexual humor. Rather, a lot of the jokes came across as "a man writing women" because the prose, storytelling, and humor went way beyond a woman reclaiming her sexuality (or not being afraid of being sexual), to a place where it felt like the author was ogling his main character.

This is really dissapointing because all of the non-sexual humor works really well! There are clever jokes about fantasy worlds (and how generic they can often feel), the lore of "Dark Ones", orc politics, and DnD tropes. I am so dissapointed that some of the humor completely turned me off from this book because there is quite a good book in here.

Davi is stuck in a time loop. Everytime she wakes up, she's met by a wizard who tells her she is meant to save the kingdom by defeating the dark lord... though it never seems to work out that way. This time, she's going to try a different tactic. What if she....BECOMES the dark lord??

This book right here. I adored everything about it. Davi is a bad ass, take no prisoners, determined lady who is going to become the dark lord if it's the last thing she does. I love a good time loop story, and one that doesn't take itself too seriously is even better. This book fits in a niche of books like Starter Villain that is irreverent, silly, and laugh-out-loud enjoyable, and I am here for it. Can't wait for the sequel!!!

If you read the title and thought "ah yes, this is a serious fantasy." I have questions!
If you don't like modern references in fanatsy, please turn back now, this is not for you. Beware, there be Rick Astleys.

Because I think Davi might have one serious bone in her body, and it's doing a lot of work against all the silly and hillarious things that are happening. Look, we've all been there. We've been at the end of our ropes and we're ready to say F&#! it. So here's what happens when you've been grinding at a goal and it's just not prudent to keep at it, and she's written as to someone who really doesn't have any f*$&'s left to give, but we all know it's about the f&$#'s you find along the way.

This was a fun adventure and I really wanted something silly but like still kinda serious, and boom, here we go. (reader, I'm also reading Douglas Adams atm, so I needed something somewhat rooted in reality.) So, silly, check. All throughout the adventure there are continuous snippets of Davi being a silly little goose, which does help with some of the more serious notes. There are also fight scenes, political fights, and big army battles, all very well written and gives the same excitment that an epic fantasy would give you. So overall, I think it's a good balance between the two.

I enjoyed the characters, and would also like a hug from Tsav. I think the characters are where this book shines. So if you're a character over plot, this will also serve you well.

I look forward to the final installment coming out because I didn't know it was going to be a duology and have now been left with book blue balls. Thanks for that!

Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for an e-copy,