What a hilarious, fun, satirical villain novel. I absolutely loved it. If you're a fan of Assistant to the Villain, Dreadful, or the Despicable Me movies, you're going to love this one. What great fun. Highly recommend, and I had to buy a copy for my shelf and videos to share as well. Also love the cover art.

Thank you to Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

[3.75/5] HOW TO BECOME THE DARK LORD AND DIE TRYING sticks Davi in a time loop that she can't seem to get out of. When we meet Davi, life #237 is about over and she's ready for life #238. Sick of constant failure playing the role of the hero, Davi rebels, figuratively throws some birdies to the universe, and decides to start her new life (lives?) as the Dark Lord. First, though, she has to figure out how to become said Dark Lord. And that involves amassing minions and a convocation of trials.

The humor of this book is certainly on another level. To have an appreciation for it, it would probably be a good idea to already have a predilection for dark, dry humor. Otherwise, Davi's twisted and random thoughts and jokes might grate on the reader after a while. It's hard not to have a perverse view of the world, though, when one keeps dying and coming back to life. Davi is also comfortable with her sexuality and is not afraid to express her desire in what appears to be a queer-normative world. I found this entertaining, but some may get annoyed at constantly having to read about Davi wanting to satiate her appetite.

There are also a lot of pop culture references. While this isn't something that took me out of the story, others might feel differently. However, what I found distracting was all of the footnotes littered throughout the story. They serve as a pause in the immediate story to provide an extension of Davi's thoughts or jokes. After a while I stopped reading them because I found it annoying to constantly stop the plot progression.

And, speaking of plot, HOW TO BECOME THE DARK LORD AND DIE TRYING has a rather simple one. It is heavy on the journey trope during which Davi meets orcs and various other peoples and tries to persuade them to join her cause. I have a neutral stance with this trope. Even so, I started to struggle to stay interested and wanted more from the story than a political campaign journey. Objectively, it is important for Davi to gather minions. But it took up so much of the storyline that I felt relieved when the plot finally focused on Davi's trials toward Dark Lord-dom. I thought the last 75 pages or so more interesting than the bulk of Davi's journey to get to the Convocation.

The reveal at the end piqued my interest enough to want to continue with the next book in this duology. (I must admit I thought and hoped this was a standalone, though.) However, I hope the reveal wasn't a red herring and actually means something. Overall, HOW TO BECOME THE DARK LORD AND DIE TRYING has a unique dark sense of humor that is refreshing in the fantasy genre. Though the plot is a little too simple for my tastes, the characters are certainly entertaining, so it's easy to root for Davi's success.

This book was a quirky, sarcastic delight, and I am here for it. This is the type of read though that you’re going to go all in on loving or find it to be not your jam. Lucky for me, this was a right read at the right time. Have you ever felt like you’re stuck in a loop trying to accomplish something but the outcome never changes? That’s our dear dark lord Davi — she’s tired of dying while trying to save the world, so it’s time to shake things up and become the dark lord. Watching Davi wing her way through gaining minions, defeating other baddies, and tackling trials was pure fun. One of the elements I loved most about this book was the dark council that Davi surrounded herself with. The characters were district, yet well developed. They created a perfect found, if dysfunctional, family. I also felt that Wexler did well with the world building especially since they had to cross many different terrains. There are also plenty of surprises, twists, and revelations to keep readers hooked from start to finish. I combo read this between the physical book and audiobook. Both were delightful, but if I could only choose one, I would recommend the audiobook. Jeanette Illidge brought the hilarity and sass up a notch that I didn’t get from the physical read. This book does end on a cliffhanger but I highly recommend it.

A quirky, light-hearted time-loop adventure.

Davi has spent hundreds of lifetimes trying to beat the powerful Dark Lord, only to lose and get killed, resulting in a reset to try again. She's sick of this pattern, so she decides that she's going to become the Dark Lord instead.

This book is quite light-hearted and a lot of fun, with most of the comedy focusing on sarcasm and somewhat on immature jokes. There are definite content warnings for suicide, but note that Davi regenerates in a new life when she dies, so it doesn't feel particularly dark. The story itself follows a well-tested adventure format, with Davi trying to form her horde and get to the Convocation to get named the Dark Lord. This classic format means that readers are just along for the ride and get to enjoy the story mainly as a love letter to these types of fantasy stories.

In terms of the parts that I liked a bit less, Davi definitely has an immature joking style. While that can be funny, it also occasionally got annoying. A lot of these aspects were in the footnotes, so it's also possible to skim over them if they get frustrating. I also feel a bit like this could be a stand-alone, but I guess it's nice to think about what could happen next.

Overall, I definitely recommend giving this book a try, particularly if you enjoy light-hearted adventure stories. It would make a really good beach read as well.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying is delightful! I can't wait to go and nab a physical copy of this fast-paced and darkly humorous adventure of a read. Going to be recommending this one to a few friends and keeping an eye out for more works by Django Wexler in the future.

I was very much not a fan of this. It’s vulgar, repetitive, and not my style. Too modern in the style of writing for what I expected to be a more fantasy world. The humour felt forced and tired. Also felt like every page has some pop culture reference that didn’t seem to tie into the actual story. I really wanted to like this book, I loved the concept. But the delivery really fell short for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my review!

A really fun read that gives you a different point of view on being a "dark lord" there were also some sweet moments. Overall, a really fun reading experience, lots of adventures, trying to figure out the perfect plans to carry out missions. Filled with really interesting characters. I really enjoyed the flow of the story and it kept my interest throughout the whole book. The thing that first caught my attention was the title I laughed out loud when I read it the first time. I can say that the title truly lived up to its name and I was not disappointed at all with the main character. Love their outlook on life and their purpose.

Thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this wonderful story!! Definitely recommend if you are looking for a light hearted fun read.

Davi feels like she’s been around the block a time or two. Because she has. She has lived a hundred lives trying to save humanity from the Dark Lord. And each time she failed. She has died a hundred deaths. Some were fast and easy, others were slow and painful. But she always comes back, like a character in a video game respawning. But Davi isn’t in a video game. She’s living her life. And now she’s done with it.

No more trying to fight against the Dark Lord. It’s time for a new plan. It’s time for Davi to become the Dark Lord.

She takes all the wisdom and snark she has acquired while being stuck in her time loop and heads out on her quest. She will need minions to help her in her fight and thaumite, a sort of powerful material that can increase strength or abilities like healing powers, or in humans, it can allow them to do magic. But just waltzing in and becoming Dark Lord is not as easy as it sounds, because Davi can’t let anyone know that she is actually a human. If anyone finds that out in this world, it’s once again game over for Davi.

So Davi has to charm the orcs, and then the wilders, to get together an army that might be able to get her to the Convocation, where she can throw her hat in the ring for Dark Lord. But there are a lot of obstacles in the way, and it will take everything Davi has in her to make it to the end of each day without getting killed again.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying is the first in a series starring a smart, sarcastic, bisexual, raunchy, ambitious human trying to take over the world she’s accidentally woken up in. The book is written in her perspective, so you get to see how a potential Dark Lord thinks, and how she expresses herself sexually, as there is a certain amount of graphic information throughout her story. There are also some descriptions of battles and of torture (hello, chapter one), so if you’re not up to taking that on, then this probably won’t be a good fit for you.

I will admit that I don’t read a lot of fantasy or sci fi. I dabble, especially if the story is billed as humorous. This book is said to be funny, and it truly is. Davi is smart and funny, and she uses that humor through the entire book to tell her story, to express her motivations, and to make her plans for becoming the Dark Lord. There are even footnotes throughout, which are also pretty snarky, but can also get a little tiresome to flip to. But as a dabbler, I could easily figure out what was going on, so if you’re only a dabbler too, then you don’t need to worry about struggling to follow the story. Davi does a good job of explaining what she’s thinking and doing, and a lot can be understood by context. So if you’re up for it, How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying is a heck of a ride. I may even have to buy a ticket for the next one in the series.

Egalleys for How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying were provided by Orbit Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Ok this was SO FUN!!! I always love a disaster bisexual with a filthy mouth and throw in some action, a great premise and untraditionally lovable characters and I am H O T T O G O. I laughed, I almost cried, and I can’t wait for the second one.

this, unfortunately, did not work for me. I love humour in books but only when it flows and feels like it's naturally part of the story, both tonally and to match the characterization. The humour in this felt way too over the top and unnecessary. every line does not need to be funny for me to keep going in a book. this kept taking me out of the story. It felt way too forced and was so tedious to get through. The crassness put me off too. I dnf'd this book around 20 ish % because i just could not keep going.

I really don't agree with how Davi was written. Has this author even interacted with a woman before? Very disappointed in how Davi as a bisexual woman was portrayed. Are we all supposed to be sex-obsessed and I just missed the memo?

Upon starting this, the tone and story was immediately engaging and exciting. I hadn’t read anything like this before, however as the story continued…I quickly found myself turned off. Not because of the crass humor or modernity in what’s supposed to be some medical / alternate plant Groundhog Day story, but because the MC is a women, yet it’s clear she’s written by a man. The overt sexualization of her action and intentions read like the male gaze come to life, all slutty salaciousness included. Ultimately it just started to make me uncomfortable so I had to DNF.

I really wanted to love this book but ultimately was not able to finish it.

Our main character is a woman who found herself stuck in a storyline where they are meant to save humanity from the dark lord, and every time she dies, she starts over from the beginning of that story.

We start out after she has been through this times upon times upon times. She's super jaded, meaning the violence around her and inflicted upon her doesn't have much weight. I just found myself not liking the character and not having much interest in what was happening to her.

It also seemed obvious to me that this was a female character written by a man. Perhaps some of this was due to how her tone and view is effected due to her situation...as I've heard good things about the author before when it comes to writing women.

Part of what drew me to this book is that I knew it would be full of dark and irreverent humor. But it is joke after joke, absolutely relentless, which hurts the impact of the humor.

Overall I think this book was just not for me, and that others would enjoy it.

Davi has been living life in an endless loop in a fantasy world. Is it a game? Is it a dream? No idea, but she has experienced life amongst humans in this land, and has achieved a comfortable existence as their ruler and hero, many times over. But no matter what choices she makes, humans are eventually attacked and slaughtered by the Dark Lord's army. After her latest death at the hands of the Dark Lord's chief torturer, Davi is returned, for the umpteenth time, to the forest glade where she has always entered this world.

This time, however, Davi decides she is done with trying to be the hero. Instead of taking the hand a an elderly wizard so she can be escorted to the human kingdom, Davi viciously murders him, and goes off to find the nearby orc encampment.

Davi is determined to chart a different path through this land and become the Dark Lord, because she's so utterly sick of losing and dying horribly, every iteration. Maybe, if she becomes the Dark Lord, she'll win this time.

Before I go any further, I should say that I thoroughly enjoyed this profanity-ridden story about a young, very sexually active woman plotting and scheming her way to power. Author Django Wexler kind of does Davi as Deadpool stuck in a fantastic land with fantastic beings, such as orcs, yetis, stone eaters, fox-wilders, and other humanoid creatures, and it totally worked for me.

There is so much humour, and violence, as Davi must win over first a band of orcs to her side. This is a critical start to her trajectory in this novel, as we see her manipulating and lying, but also reading her opponents' needs and intentions, and crafting her words and actions to win them over. And though she has decided to be tough and terrible, we also see Davi begin to feel fondness and compassion for the people she is convincing to follow and fight for her on her quest for power.

Davi is irreverent, sarcastic, and impulsive, and just so fun. Though much less physically powerful and fast than those around her, she must become adept at using her wits, and the little bit of magic she has access to, to build her army, or horde, as she travels across the dangerous land to gain her title.

The sheer variety of people she pulls along with her was wonderful. I loved the various -wilder beings, with fox-wilder Amitsugu, her spy master, being delightfully devious. And her right hand and closest advisor is just the best. Tsav is a powerful orc, and oddly sweet and kind, for all that she's also incredibly deadly.

I loved Davi, Tsav, and this world and the many dangers they must deal with to arrive at the Convocation, which Davi intends to win so she can be dubbed the new Dark Lord of the land. There are numerous trials, and we can take it as a forgone conclusion that things will work out in Davi's favour, from the novel's title. After, the story ends on a cliffhanger. So, even though I'm not super fond of these types of endings, I am so invested in Davi and Tsav that I want to read the next book now.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Orbit Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book. In the beginning I thought it was going to be a new favorite. Sadly the middle felt a little slow for me. The twist towards the end of the story was very interesting and grabbed my attention. I also enjoyed some of the characters dynamics.

This one sounded intriguing, but it ended up being a very fast DNF for me. I absolutely hate when male authors insist on writing female main characters if they can't be bothered to do it well, and that's exactly what we have here - no thanks. And I'm no prude, but the humour just doesn't work for me - it's sophomoric and super cringey, and the best thing I can say is that at least I figured out this book is not a good fit for me before I wasted too much time.

I appreciate that I was given a free advance reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Based on the title, I expected (and wanted) to follow an entirely villainous character. However, Davi is so desensitized to death (both hers and those around her) since she has been reincarnated into the same life so many times.

Davi has a strong character voice and somewhat kooky inner monologue (very fourth wall breaking), which will likely rub some readers the wrong way (especially since she is so clearly a woman written by a man), but I enjoy strong character choices.

Overall, this was the start of a fun and intriguing world to explore, and it was exciting to see Davi use her vast knowledge from her past lives to outsmart and work around her problems.

I am definitely intrigued enough to pick up the second book when it comes out.

Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for this ARC.
I tried with this book, but after picking it up and putting it down multiple times, I just don't have a desire to pick up again. I just couldn't connect or care about the main character or their actions. The side characters are more interesting then Davi.
DNF at 34%

The humor didn’t really hit for me. I love the idea and the writing style is fantastic. It just wasn’t for me. Humor is highly personal so it is definitely worth a shot if it sounds interesting to you! If you enjoy the humor, you will love the book.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really cool premise, but really bad execution.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler is a fantasy novel that is blurbed as Guardians of the Galaxy meets Groundhog day.
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.

This book is just a pass. Save yourself the cringe.