There's a recap in the beginning, yay!

After participating in the challenges, dying, having sex with Tsav (a lot), winning the challenges, Davi is finally the Dark Lord. She decides to go back to the Kingdom to finally bring peace to the humans and the wilders. But when she gets there, eveything is different from all of her previous lives. Her Himbo Boyfriend, the prince Johann, is married and the bloodthirsty Duke Aster is in charge. Trying to appease two vengeful armies and figuring out the time loop, Davi must find the way to break her curse once and for all.

It's a fun book just as the first one was. Davi is the same, the whole breaking the 4th wall and talking to the reader. She still focus too much on sex but I felt this time she was more focused on the main plot and more things were happening the entire book. She has to scheme, to politick, and to fight the entire book. Because of that, I really liked the pacing of the story; thing were happening the whole time, either war, or magic, or her plans. I liked how the magic was even more used this time since we spend quite a while with the humans and they do magic. The magic system is not elaborate nor anything, but I liked some of the scenes with magic. I liked the progression of Davi's relationship with Tsav, it felt like a natural, mature progression while still fun. They relied on each other and helped each other in many ways.

The story in itself is pretty simple; it's a good popcorn book. I just felt a little let down by the mystery; it felt lackluster, I was hoping for a more complex reason and not such a cliche villain. I feel the author tried to give the villain some sort of backstory and crooked moral compass. But it felt somewhat shallow. <spoiler>I really liked the ending though, where every character ended up (Johann taking up the throne, Mari being the Dark Lord, and both maintaining the peace), especially Davi and Tsav, with a house in the lake.</spoiler>

It's a fun and lighthearted fantasy with some stakes especially in this second book. If you like the first one, I definitely think you'll like the end of the duology.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me is a sharp, irreverent, and satisfying conclusion to Django Wexler’s Dark Lord Davi duology. Picking up where the first book left off, Davi has officially taken up the mantle of Dark Lord after deciding that the only way to save the world is by subverting its entire system. Now in control of a restless army of wilders and magic, she finds herself grappling with the burden of leadership, the absurdity of prophecy, and a looming time loop that continues to threaten everything she’s fought for.

This second book narrows the scope in a good way. Where book one occasionally felt bloated, this installment is tighter, funnier, and more emotionally grounded. Davi is still navigating her complicated relationships, including a prickly romance with her orc girlfriend and the lingering history she shares with her himbo ex from past lives. The banter is as snappy as ever, and Wexler’s voice remains one of the most entertaining in contemporary fantasy. The meta-commentary on fantasy tropes, especially the chosen one narrative, never feels overbearing.

This is a wildly entertaining and oddly heartwarming sendoff to one of fantasy’s most endearingly reluctant villains. Davi may be a Dark Lord, but she is also one of the most relatable protagonists in recent memory.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I loved this book! It was equal parts witty and sentimental with a conclusion that I didn’t see coming. Dark Lord Davi is an incredible character with deep thought that is reflective of people. Deeply caring while often being very witty and comical! I hope she gets all the loving then lifetime!

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me" picks up where we left off with Dark Lord Davi in the first installment, where she now has been named the Dark lord and must conquer the world.

The charm from the first book was missing from here, and the story didn't seem to have the same enthusiasm or entertainment. I kept going with the novel in hopes that I would get sucked in, but it continued to feel like a sludge. The humor and obscenity of the plot felt downplayed, the characters weren't as dynamic, and the plot felt loose, with the objective not being super clear.

I did like the story enough, but felt let down with the lack of a thrilling story.

Dark Lord Davi continues to be an absolute joy. Snarky as ever, the sequel continues with her goal to break free from her time loop with predicably hilarious and heartfelt results.

My largest complaint here is the formatting. This book has footnotes and apparently the choice was made in the second book to put all the footnote explanations at the end of the chapter. No one is going to try to go to the end of a chapter on an e-reader to look at each of these! So they were essentially useless.

Now for the book itself, it was a sarcastic good time. This book, as the first was, will absolutely not be for all people. I'd even venture to say it won't be for most people. But I thoroughly enjoyed watching Davi grow. Seeing her have to figure out how to treat people as people and not just a means to an end. And her relationship with Tsav is SO sweet!

I love this book so much. I enjoyed the first one as well, and this just made the story even better. Davi's character growth, as well as the plot twists made it really worth reading. I highly recommend this one, especially to people who love Dungeon Crawler Carl.

This is the second book in a series.

It’s is original, quirky and full of raunchy humour. It kept me reading, and highly entertained!

I strongly suggest this series to anyone who enjoys fantasy and humour.

**A Sharp, Bloody, and Looping Finale for Dark Lord Davi**

The concluding volume in the *Dark Lord Davi* duology delivers a wildly entertaining, blood-soaked ride, equal parts irreverent and introspective. Davi is back—and still cursed with the burden of infinite retries. The twist? She’s already *won*, sort of. She’s the Dark Lord now, which comes with its own brand of moral ambiguity, restless armies, and political backstabbing. Oh, and a girlfriend who is very, very done with time loops.

At its best, this finale brims with razor-sharp humor, gut-punch plot twists, and surprisingly touching moments of self-reflection. Davi’s voice remains an undeniable strength—sarcastic, self-aware, and frequently unhinged in the best way.

However, the novel occasionally buckles under the weight of its own cleverness. The constant reordering of time and alternate outcomes results in a fair bit of narrative clutter. While this endless recalibration reinforces the emotional exhaustion of living through a loop, it sometimes makes the world feel more like a puzzle to solve than a story to live in. The shifting timelines demand a high level of attention, and the frequent comparison between what *could* have happened versus what *did* slows the pacing in some key moments.

Still, the book sticks the landing, offering a cathartic, satisfying end that threads humor, grief, and hard-won clarity. Dark Lord Davi may have started as a joke with a sword, but she finishes as something more complicated—and more human. A fittingly chaotic finale for a delightfully twisted tale.

I really enjoyed the first book and this second one was just as good! I love the humor in this book. I think the world building and magic is unique. If you're looking for a fun fantasy check this one out!

Thank you @orbit books for the gifted ebook.

This book is a hilarious and heartfelt ride that blends magical mayhem with everyday anxiety in the best way. The main character is charmingly awkward, and it’s easy to root for her as she stumbles through a world full of supervillains and secret plots. Wexler nails the balance between snappy dialogue and genuine emotion, making every chapter feel fresh and fun. If you've ever felt out of place but still wanted to do something big, this book totally gets you.

This was just such a good time. I was expecting a series, so the fact that it ended surprised me. I really enjoyed the growth of the main character, but I still love the snarky and sometimes childish behavior that she has. Definitely read book 1 first

I loved the first book in this series and the second book did not let me down! Davi is still just as hilarious as ever while also adjusting back into starting to care for people again and I loved her growth in this book while also staying herself and keeping true to her goals.

I loved how much this book focused on the final battle, the reveals, the truth and so much more while also calling out each and every piece as it happened and adding amazing one-liners in footnotes I couldn't stop reading. I also loved finally truly getting to see the Kingdom from Davi's perspective as it was only ever talked about and not shown so that was fun and new as we saw all her old-new friends and got to add a great mix of personalities into her friend group.

This series did a wonderful job at being exactly what it wanted to be, it stands out so much, is filled to the brim with fantasy satire, and honestly my favorite part was all the random common current language mixed in an old fantasy setting, I lived for those moments. I'm so sad it's over, but I don't like this series will lose its best parts during a re-read so I cant wait to pick it back up again!

If you’re here for the snarky antiheroine energy of book one, just know that book two takes things in a more serious direction. But it works. It’s a natural evolution for a character who’s been through literal centuries of pain, loss, and time-looping madness.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me may not have made me cackle on every page like its predecessor, but it gave me something better—emotional payoff, character growth, and the kind of ending that sticks with you.

Davi,a girl thrown into a fantasy world has finally learned How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying (paper) using the fact that time resets when she dies. She’s been a thousand years of personal time trying to stop the Dark Lord, but actually becoming one is a problem. That’s because Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me(paper from Orbit). It’s time for explanation and for the unkillable big bad to come out of hiding. It’s also time for time to resume. Django Wexler manages to explain what was going on and to provide a satisfying ending. I enjoyed the trip.

I really liked the first book in the series. It had a tight structure and from the first page the snark and humor was evident. I think I was expecting something similar but this changed tones very drastically.
There was less of the snark and humor and more of higher stakes story. Perhaps I went in expecting a similar book but the conclusion did not work for me. I struggled get through a lot of the book. Perhaps people looking for a more traditional end to the story might appreciate it.

this book was a little harder for me to get into than how to become the dark lord, but once it got going i LOVED it!! only hard because i just truly felt the anxiety Davi was having trying to save everyone. then when her brilliant mind starts working i have to be forced to put the book down because it’s so exciting!!

great story telling as always, humorous, and sexy orc ladies. i would recommend this series to absolutely anyone.

Dark Lord Davi now has the unenviable position of convincing her Dark Horde to not actually kill all the humans, please and thank you? While trying to broker peace between the humans and the wilders, Davi also begins to come to terms with her past millennia of life and learns why she’s here in the first place.

I enjoyed the first one, but I liked this one MUCH more! Davi is such an engaging narrator. And it’s still just as funny, raunchy and violent, but Davi’s character growth is also just so great. Watching her come to terms with the permanent nature and consequences of her decisions was captivating. And her relationship with Tsav is wonderful. There’s communication and mutual respect, and Tsav doesn’t back down from calling Davi out on her bullshit, repeatedly:

I do wish that there was more of the side characters from the first book. Especially Mari and Jeffrey. But the new side characters we get to know are equally as delightful.

My thanks to both NetGalley and Orbit Books for the opportunity to review this arc.

Dark Lord Davi is back! and with a new perspective ... maybe.

I think my favorite thing in this book was Davi's development, and I love that it was forced through Tsav. With as many lives as she's lived, it's easy to see how Davi could easily slip into old habits, and having Tsav there to force her to really look at her actions and examine herself was the best little moment to her true turn around.

Overall, this was a fun and satisfying end to Davi's story.

I did not know this was a duology because I am bad at reading summaries! But I think the length worked REALLY well. The split between the first and second book was well-placed. This was a great conclusion to the duology.

The plot here is very unique, and I don’t want to spoil anything, but from start to finish it’s a breath of fresh air in the fantasy department. The world created is unique, and the cast of characters provides great variety. The ending did not disappoint!

I was sad that so many of the characters I liked so much from book one did not feature as heavily here. However, you do get a few new gems.

The second book was not as funny as the first. I understand why, but I missed a little of Davi’s snark. Still love the addition of the footnotes, which are almost always laugh-out-loud material.

Thank you to Django Wexler, Orbit Books, and NetGalley for the ARC!