Very meta, self-aware fantasy/comedy, I liked parts of it, but in others it just dragged. For a story using a time-loop element, I wish it had been used more, but I get that it was mainly for setting up events instead of being crucial to the active plot. Something I definitely noticed was the strong sense of "this woman was written by a man" in how Davi narrated the book and spoke, which took me out of the story at times. I would say that people who liked The Blacktongue Thief and Kings of the Wyld would like this book, but unfortunately I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped to. However, I will be picking up the next book, because I will admit that ending did get me!
3/5 stars

The synopsis and cover is what prompted me to read this book. Within minutes of reading though I was surprised at the crudeness and language. I can handle minor profanities and general immaturity and expected it with this knowing it's a satire/comedy work but it was over the top. The first few chapters have A LOT of language. It does have funny moments and lots of pop culture references.

What saved the book for me was the latter half! I enjoyed when Davi and her crew made it to the big event and the unexpected ending that unfolded. Big cliffhanger. The characters are great and the magic is interesting. I would like to read the second one to know what happens and maybe I will but I'm hoping the language and sexuality take a backseat so the plot can shine.

I really wanted to like this one. It was funny (my favorite type of fantasy) and the idea of a normal person becoming the dark lord was intriguing. As other readers have suggested, the footnote formatting is difficult, but I did enjoy the footnotes themselves and a lot of the world building. I liked the narrator’s voice for the most part. Unfortunately, the story itself and a lot of the supporting characters fell flat. There just wasn’t much tension. Thanks for the ARC!

It took until about 60% of the way into this book for me to really start enjoying it. The first part felt very juvenile, so much swearing and over the top commentary.... But as it settled into the story, the characters started to grow in depth and I really started to enjoy it!
The footnotes in each chapter are fun additions and I am definitely invested enough that I will be looking for the next book.
Give it a read if you enjoy lots of nerd culture references and a slightly ridiculous main character!

When I first read the synopsis of this book, I was like "hey this sounds right up my alley. I love reading about a humorous villain, but unfortunately, this one fell short for me. I really wished I liked it more, but the writing style is not for me. The problem was the footnotes, in the sense that I didn't read any of them because it was confusing and hard on a kindle and I didn't want to spend that much time. I feel like I missed out, but eh.

This is on me but I expected this to be more like “Assistant to the Villain” and I went in with incorrect expectations. The fourth wall breaking, footnotes, and other things just made this feel like “the book is a joke” and it wants to treat itself like one, and I wasn’t really interested in that. That said, for people who know what they are getting into, they’ll probably have fun.

I don’t know how this will go over. I’ve not seen one like it. So dropping five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the ARC.

This is definitely one of those books where you will either love the style and content or absolutely despise it. And I adored it so much, I preordered a physical copy at 25%.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying felt like a South Park episode mixed with everyone’s first drunken tabletop RPG session meets the movie Groundhog Day. It’s fun. It’s irreverent. Is it a masterpiece of fantasy? No! But it’s a good time and you should give a it a read if you feel like laughing.

I cannot wait to see what happens in the future for would be Dark Lord Davi.

Fun premise, but the footnote formatting is awful in the ebook verison and detracts heavily from the reading experience.

—Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The cover. The title. The synopsis. All of this pulled me right in and i kneww that i would give this 5 stars. It was so damn good!
I mean come on, if you mention Gotg i’m obviously gonna fall in love with it.
This was a fav of the year already. It was everything i hope it would be.

Reviewed for NetGalley:

This was a wild ride. I loved the smart dialogue and inner monologues.

I did tend to get lost with some of the plot and characters, but still an overall fun read.

I requested this book as an ARC because of the description. Boy was I disappointed. I don't mind the gore, violence, and other content but only if I am aware of what I'm going into, especially if I have read the description. Looking at the reviews, I can see that some others also feel this way too. Other than the "wool thrown over me", the writing itself left the MC falling flat. I like things breaking the fourth wall as much as any other but I like the character to still feel like there is dimension. Instead, the repetitive narrative that was most likely meant to further push the "Groundhog Day" vibe only made an easy read feel like I was wading through a thick narrative that contained denser material. Overall, I think that it was a fresh type of trope but only felt like an average read.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Davi has had enough! She has spent thousands of years stuck in an endless time loop, destined to defeat the Dark Lord and yet, always failing. Well, if you can’t beat them, join them! In this loop she has decided to become The Dark Lord!

A soft parody of the genre, it’s quite meta with its pop culture references and I really enjoyed Davi’s footnotes. But it also contains a fair amount of violence and crude humour, so be ready for it! The comedy didn’t always land perfectly with me but I did have a few laugh out loud moments!

Davi is a very entertaining protagonist and I enjoyed when she got more emotional depth closer to the end. I think it was the thing that tipped me toward really liking her character.

I really got attached to her ragtag group of devoted minions. My favorite was, unsurprisingly, the sweet Tsav! What can I say, ever since Legends & Latte I have a soft spot for orc ladies!

Overall a fun read and I’m very curious to see what’s in store for Davi in the sequels!

(Thanks NetGalley and Orbit for providing this EArc)

I received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was…. Interesting. It was dark in some ways, but very tongue in cheek.

The plot was simple enough; I mean it’s the title for goodness sake. I enjoyed the twists and turns Davi’s journey takes. I saw some things coming and some definitely caught me off guard. I also appreciate the humanity of the ‘bad guys’ (getting to know villains is a lot like getting to know heroes) and seeing things from a different perspective. It was an interesting take, something I haven’t read before.

The characters are funny and fitting for the story. Davi’s closest henchmen all have personalities and are fascinating in their own ways. You don’t love all the characters (after all, these are supposed to be the bad guys), but you have to admit they all fit well in the story.

The writing is witty and entertaining. Very dark humor throughout, but comedic dark humor. I didn’t love the appendix style chapters, but most of that is from reading on my phone. If I had a physical copy, there would be no issue.

I enjoyed this, although it didn’t hook me in as some other books. It took over a week to read, but part of that is outside life. I’d give this one a 3.75⭐️

Thank you, NetGalley and Orbit books for this advanced reader’s copy. This was a fun ride. This book has a little bit of everything- life, death, jokes, fights, sexy time, orcs, minions, journey. Who doesn’t want to be a Dark Lord?! Well, depends how many fights you need to have and how many minions you have to manage really.

Have you ever been stuck in a time loop? You keep dying over and over again. A Dark Lord is responsible for it. And you get so fed up with it, that you just decide that you'll become the Dark Lord. No? I thought this happened to everyone...

Well in case you're wondering what thats like...let me present to you...How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler. Its not out yet. It doesn't come out until May 21st, 2024. I was lucky enough to get an early digital copy of it thanks to Net Galley and Orbit. And now that I've finished the book I have a few things to say.

First of all: this book is one of the funniest books I've ever read. And I've read Discworld books. And The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying absolutely ranks among the funniest of the funniest books. Its wacky. Its wild. The main character thinks a lot of things that she doesn't say*. She also says a lot of stuff that you'd think she wouldn't say. She is smart and funny. What a fun character.

Also I should mention that this book is absolutely not for kids. This is a very adult book with adult humor. The main character is very frank about some things that might make you blush**.

I really love the footnotes in this book too. You have to read the footnotes!***

I really love this book. This is good book. That said...I had no idea it was going to be a series.**** So be warned about that. There is going to be another book! I need to read it now.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying is a lot of fun. There are some pretty unexpected twists. Most unexpected, like I said before, is what the main character says and thinks. What wild book. Can't wait to see where it goes.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler will be out on May 22, 2023. Thank you to Net Galley and Orbit for the early digital copy of the book.

*My favorite comments, said and unsaid, are about the cowboy mouse

**she's bawdy. Look it up.

***You don't have to read the footnotes but they are usually just as funny as the main book. If not more so.

****The next book is called Everyone Wants to Rule the World. I need it now.

Interesting book from one of my favorite authors. Very different from what I have come to expect. Was not convinced at first, but in the end it sucked me in and I enjoyed it tremendously. The premise was strange, but interesting enough to keep you entertained. Good characters, that keep you involved and rooting for them to succeed.

I actually loved this book. It is definitely not for everyone. I found it hysterical. I Love dark sarcastic humor, which this book had. The main character is a human girl who has died multiple times but keeps waking up again in the same place. At one point she is tortured by a dark lord. When she dies and wakes back up she decides she is going to be the dark lord now. All her actions determine how she become this dark lord. Think a much more vulgar adult Assistant to the Villian LOL. Anyway loved. Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books!

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 4.

I have some mixed emotions about this book, but overall I think it’s very fun and an easy read. The humour had me laughing out the gate, particularly the way the plot itself is funny. I found Davi’s narrative voice got old rather quickly - she reminds me of a middle school kid who I would not enjoy talking to for more than 5 minutes - but the situations she finds herself in are hilarious, and the concept of “save scumming” her life is very funny.

Davi reads like a teenage boy, and while part of me enjoys when women are written in a more “masculine” style to break away from misogynistic tropes, I don’t think this sort of character suites a female lead at all. Davi doesn’t think like a woman, and I think some male authors believe that making a crude, gruesome, vulgar female character is edgy and different (she’s not like other women!!) but it doesn’t hit right.

This book reads like Legends and Lattes if it was horrifically violent and vulgar, which is itself hilarious. I think the story overall felt a bit simple - the world building wasn’t anything grandly unique, nor was it really dug into the way I’d like for an adult fantasy - but the mystery and “how will this play out” of it all kept me intrigued throughout.

I think there’s a very certain audience that would eat this up, and even though the characters and world building weren’t at 100% this is still a good time to read.

Our Protagonist is a woman named Davi. She has been conscripted via Portal Fantasy into becoming a Chosen Hero. Unfortunately for her, she has also been stuck in a All You Need Is Kill style timeloop which always ends with her horrible death at the hands of the Dark Lord (if she doesn't do it first). She has suffered through a very high number of deaths for centuries and finally comes to the conclusion that if she can't beat the Forces of Darkness...

...Her efforts are at first not very successful, since the Forces of Darkness are not much interested in acquiring human recruits. (The mutual antipathy is very high.) However, Davi acquires enough of a back log of "well, that didn't work," deaths in order to fake it till she makes it. This enables her to get a toehold in with a small band of "Wilders" and from there, begin the long quest to become the Dark Lord.

This was an extremely violent book with a lot of really black humor! Davi is a traumatized hot mess of a character due to her many, many deaths. She is very much not-sane, and it spills over in the frenetic energy of her thought processes and actions within the narrative. (Her stress was making me anxious other words: Good job, author!) She is also reckless and somewhat thoughtless, which fits in with all the trauma. (So many maladaptive coping behaviors. So. Many.) I did not expect her to get as far as she did.

How to Become the Dark Lord also has some interesting implications about the setting. That is, there are some hints that the black-and-white setting is more gray than Davi initially understood (or understands) it to be. There are also some indications that the humans are the "actual" bad guys. (In the sense they are invaders attempting to wipe out the people living there.) The ending is just as much of a hot mess as the Protagonist, and I am really looking forward to seeing where the writer is going with this.

This review is based on a galley copy received from NetGalley.

An irreverent mashup of Live, Die, Repeat (Edge of Tomorrow if you saw the movie) and D&D, HTBDL&DT is a hilarious start to Dark Lord Davi’s journey. If you read Legends and Lattes and thought, I love this idea, just make it a lot more inappropriate and up the stakes a bit, you’d get this book. Or if you read Assistant to the Villain and thought, I like this, but let’s add a hoard, expand the world, and our main character isn’t afraid to swear, bam, you get this book!

I really enjoyed this book! Davi is such a fun character and I loved the take on how she handled dying over and over. Her abilities and what she learned give her an edge but don’t make her overpowered which I really appreciate! And her whole character arc is amazing. Without spoiling the end, I really appreciate where she lands with her outlook on life after the book ends.

Tsav, Amitsugu, Droff, Mari and Jeffrey were standouts as far as the supporting cast goes. Tsav for sure earns her place as best Orc.

I love the lore building in this first entry. There’s so much I want to know! Why is Davi special? How will she change her fate now that she’s taken a different path? There’s enough left unanswered that I’m dying for a sequel… which is unfortunate since this book isn’t even out yet!

I’ve already told a few of my friends to pick this up when it releases officially, and I’ll watch eagerly for the sequel!