In this sequel, the accidental Dark Lord tries to lead her new people to peace with the humans, against strenuous opposition from parties on both sides. Flippancy and lesbian lust guide her way. If you liked the first book, the second continues perfectly well in that vein.

Fun duology! Davi is a sympathetic character in a way. A thousand years of dying horribly in countless ways has left her a bit broken but she’s not down for the count! I’m glad the author wrapped it up in two books. They were darkly funny and the humor might’ve palled with three. They’d make solid summer reads if you have a whim for something light and entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!!

We have returned to the world of the dark lord! The time loop has changed but what does it mean?! Now that Davi has become the dark lord, could she be moving towards destiny? She also has to figure out how to manage the wilders as they expect blood to be spilled. Human blood specifically. In this second and final book, Davi must be the dark lord, fight the dark lord, and survive the dark lord!

I love Wexler’s writing. It’s so much fun. The banter is awesome and reading a fmc with a male brain is hilarious because truly, women don’t think like Davi. My only issue with the book is the plot. It’s shaky at best. Does it really change my opinion? No. I still loved this book. It’s something different and it’s a great spin on fantasy. With LitRPG becoming a popular genre in this space, I feel this book fits right in. Overall I give this 4/5 stars!

A very satisfying ending to the story. Unusually for me, I'm glad this ended up as a duology as it could have gone too far.

I want to start by saying a huge thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

What do you do when your entire existence suddenly changes dramatically? For Davi, she's having a couple of existential crises: one, she's just been named the Dark Lord... and she has no idea what she's doing, really. And two, she's starting to recognize that she actually doesn't want to to reset the way she used to. In fact, she'd like to live a long time with her girlfriend, thank you very much.

This book picks up shortly after the previous one left off, with Davi and Tsav on a mission-- try, somehow, to keep the murderous horde away from the equally-murderous humans. And maybe achieve world peace in the process. There's naturally more court intrigue than the previous volume now that the human kingdom is involved, and we get to explore just how bad the humans Davi used to run with actually are. During this, we also see Davi actually progressing to a a more mature state of mind, as she actively contemplates who she was for the past thousand years, and why she should not and cannot continue on like that. Tsav is a big part of this revelation, but it's nice to have our MC gain more dimension along the way. While in the first book she was a bit too unrelatable, the sequel has her intelligently acknowledging that she actually likes how far she's come. She's still her irreverent, pop-culture-referencing self (odd enough for someone who claims to not remember much from Earth, but I digress). Davi just has discovered that treating everyone as valuable--except maybe the snake-wilders and certain power-hungry courtiers--is the only way that the world, and also she, can hope to find peace.

Everything remains silly and engaging, and while it's not quite the raucous journey of the first book, I actually enjoyed the action of this one more. The political intrigue (and commentary) is relevant to the times and helps flesh out the fantasy world even more. Plus, Johann and Matthias are amazing. My favorite bits absolutely have to do with their relationship and the funny things that seem to always happen with them.

Despite the ending feel ever-so-slightly abrupt, the duology ends well. It certainly seems a natural conclusion, and I don't think there's much left unanswered. Except, what is going to happen to Odlen? We deserve more Odlen lore. I feel like she's important. Even if she's still just teething.

Rating: 4.25 stars

Review posted to StoryGraph: April 30, 2025 (https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/fb5211cb-6863-4191-9c9e-5c0d7d6f72ec?redirect=true)
Review posted to Instagram: May 5, 2025 (https://www.instagram.com/seekayread/p/DJS-YSyRC4G/)

I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in return for an honest review.

5 stars for a great conclusion!

I loved the first book, how campy and fun it was. I had no doubt that the conclusion to the duology would be just as good.
The camp-ness is still there, the fun banter and we meet a few more characters that are A+.

Davi's expressive relationship with language makes the journey so fun.

"Fuck fuck fuckity flaming fucking godamn motherfucker, are my first thoughts, my brain still trying to comprehend how quickly things have gone sour"

and a personal favorite:

"The string of profanity that follows is not expressible in any known font, not even Wingdings. I can't swear I'm not making the words up on the fly, having achieved through sheer rage a connection to some kind primal, universal ur-profanity of which all other swear words are merely dim reflections. Through me, new curses were entering the world, dripping with vile meaning that scholars of blasphemy and sexual perversion would take decades to fully comprehend."

Really in the overall the character development is not forced, it feels natural in this stream of events with the companions she keeps around her.
The discovery of what all of this is and how it came to be is bananas and I definitely didn't see that coming. I felt like I was with Davi searching for the answers with her and her companions, especially when that woaaaahhhhh moment happens.

I cant recommend these books enough. If you love a fun time definitely pick this one up and share it with your friends. it doesn't even really feel like a fantasy to me even though it is firmly in that category.

Thank you Orbit for the Advanced Reader copy of this book!

What a wild ride! Davi really kept me guessing until the last moment! The humour here was as great as the first book and the footnotes always gave me a chuckle; especially when they were petty. I truly enjoyed this book and the world created and can't wait to check out more of Django Wexler's work.

Davi succeeded in becoming the Dark Lord, but now she has to figured out how to break out of the time loop she's been trapped in and remember that if she ends the time loop, death will count.

I really enjoyed getting to see the Kingdom side of things with this book, and I thought as Davi was forced to grapple with death becoming permanent, she became a more interesting and less callous character. I thought it was a very entertaining read, and I enjoyed it even more than the first book.

This was a delightful dark comedy / cozy dark fantasy.

A relatively low-stakes plot with plenty of humor, and heart. All this being said I don’t think that everyone will love this book. I think that this book is very much going to appeal to millennials but not as much to any other age range.

I loved the message about setting aside differences between races to avoid mutually assured destruction, it seems particularly needed at this point in time.

I couldn’t wait to read this book. Davi quickly became a favorite character and I wanted to know what happened. Django Wexler did not disappoint. The book begins with a brief recap, told in Davi’s usual snarky way, and was a perfect refresher. Then the book tells of Davi’s latest exploits and how the Dark Lord is faring. Excellent read and perfect follow up book.

I've been eagerly awaiting this sequel to How To Become The Dark Lord and Die Trying, and I was not disappointed by this next installment! It continues the nihilistic humor tone and fun footnotes that I think really set this series apart from other fantasy series I've read, and I really appreciated the little recap at the beginning to sort out characters and plot from book 1. My only qualm is that things wrapped a little too neatly, but I did really enjoy this story overall.

Great sequel to How To Become A Dark Lord. All the questions from the first book are answered here, and there's a satisfying conclusion to the problems raised in that book as well. Plus, more Devi! Her voice and her character are utterly delightful. Love this duology.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me is the sequel to last year’s How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying.
It tells the story of what happens to Dark Lord Davi after the events of that book.
I really enjoyed Dark Lord and thought that Rule would be the same. I was not disappointed at all. It had all the same humor and quirkiness and footnotes that the first book had. The humor is dark and snarky and still might trigger some people, but I had fun with it.
The story itself didn’t seem to move as quickly as the first one did. Not really drag, but not as effortlessly as the first book.
All in all, if you like off the wall humor in your fantasy novels, you can definitely get what you need in this book.

Thank you to both NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC!

This felt like a solid follow-up to the series opener, one I recommend reading if you enjoyed the first one. The enjoyable banter and added depth outweigh some weaknesses to the story.

Pros:
The snark. Still great, you can’t beat it, especially the footnote snark.
The world building. A better look at the Kingdom, some great background lore, and so many questions answered.
Characters that continue to not be perfect, and consequences for messing up.
Cons:
One or two more moments of honest characterization, instead of jokes, would have made this book one of my favorites of all time. Not as many of the characters get these moments as I would have liked, though, and very few new characters.
The villain. This book seemed to go back and forth between two villains, and once it settled on a primary one (or more accurately got the lesser villain out of the way), I was left unsatisfied by the villain’s abrupt fall.

This has the same fun vibes and narration style as the first book, but without a lot of the novelty. I also just wasn’t as interested in this phase of Davi’s story and much preferred the “let’s assemble my horde” phase in the first book.

I think the big bad’s motivation was a little weak and it bothered me that we didn’t really learn more about the time loop spell and the whole history of humans other than the short villain monologue.

Davi’s character growth and relationship with Tsav were the strongest parts and I liked their friendship with Johann and Matthias.

I enjoyed How To Become The Dark Lord And Die Trying, but was absolutely OBSESSED with Everybody Wants To Rule The World Except Me.

From Davi's cheeky inner monologues to beasts like the octopanzer, Wexler continues to provide the randomness and humor that brings to mind what would happen if Dungeons & Dragons was played with Cards Against Humanity cards instead of dice. Yet, there was a distinct shift from the entirely flippant IDGAF energy of book 1 to a more contemplative tone. After a millennium of not having to live with the consequences of her actions (albeit via a metaphysical reset button activated by her death), Davi is now struggling with morality and the finality of death in a world on the verge of war. Exactly the time one wants to be facing these challenges, right?

The depictions of these struggles and Davi's thoughts along the way were superb. While I may never know what it's like to constantly respawn like the Chosen Undead (Dark Souls anyone?), the insight into Davi's mind and her personal growth made her so much more relatable. And her relationship with Tsav realistically had its own struggles, but was so precious! We even get to finally meet himbo Prince Johann and see him undergo his own on-page and off-page growth. In general, there is so much character development it should be coming out Artaxes' wazoo (IYKYK).

If you want a fun fantasy duology with found family, love is love, villain era, fourth-wall breaking, Isekai vibes, I would highly recommend this one!


That said, please take heed of the author's note that due to the main character's background (i.e. the existence of time loops and magic) there is casual mention of self-harm and suicide. Also, as the story progresses and Davi grows there are descriptions of existential dread. While sex scenes are predominantly off-page there are frequent mentions of sex, raunchy dialogue, and the questioning of why Davi isn't wearing pants (this happens more than one might think).

Well, I can definitely say that Davi is not a quitter! After achieving what she thought would be impossible, Davi wins the title of Dark Lord. So, you would think that maybe she could take a break and rest on her laurels with Tsav in a cottage by a lake. Nope! Next up, something even more impossible, now she has to convince the wilders and humans that they don't want to fight and kill each other. Easy Peasy! Sadly there are other forces at play, including a mysterious figure that actually created the time loop she is stuck in plus other people like the Duke and Sibarae wanting to continue the slaughter till only their own people are left. Much is revealed between the plotting and it was nice to finally find out why she came to this world (and considering all that, I think Davi is pretty well adjusted, unlike the other guy!). Davi continues to grow and change as she learns that she does not need to solve everything on her own and I love that she has friends and found family in both wilders and humans who are also looking for peace.

This whole book is a wild ride with nary a dull moment (yes, it is graphic, full of snark and stressful at times with the ominous things that happen) and the ending is good and well deserved for Davi and her gang. They have been through enough and I am happy to see that Davi can finally live out her full life instead of resetting time and again. Such a good duology!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to finish this series!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reader's copy of the book. I enjoyed this book so much. This duology has everything you could want. This second book wraps the story up so nicely and all the burning questions from the first book are answered. I absolutely love Mari and Tsav. Johann the himbo is fun. This was a fun book and good conclusion to the story overall

I had such a fun time with the first book in this series and book two was just as amazing! The only disappointment is that this is only a duology! I need more! If your looking for a light hearted good time with a compelling plot and characters that will stick with you you’ll love this duology highly recommend!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing me with an e-ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series so I was pretty excited to see how things were going to turn out. The second and final book in the duology did not disappoint.

The long and the short of it is: if you liked the first book, you'll like this one. As the story begins, Davi is trying to steer the Wilder horde she's now Dark Lord away from their gameplan of killing all humans. While the first book had Davi trying to break her depressingly repetitive time loop (wherein she tried for a thousand years over hundreds of lives to defeat the Dark Lord) by becoming Dark Lord herself, gathering her horde with her wits and skills built up over all those multiple lives, this one has her using those same skills to try to broker a peace between humans and wilders that might mean she gets to just... live her life. The first book was a lot of re-setting and using people as pawns, and this one is more about her trying to get used to her new reality.

Davi and Tsav travel to the human side of the border and meet up with himbo boyfriend Prince Johann (mentioned in the previous book as the guy she usually ended up trying to steer towards defeating the wilders), but find that he's not in charge in this timeline. Davi runs into a ton of obstacles and situations to overcome but no longer has her deeply ingrained knowledge of the world to guide her. However, like the first book, she still uses her brains and unique powers to try to come out on top, and this time she also has allies and a life she wants to keep (including her relationship with Tsav the sexy bald orc lady, which continues to be a bright spot when things get a little dark).

I like Davi as a character. I liked her in the first book too, in part because her cynicism and general attitude about the world was earned. She wasn't just some random person we come across who is just good at everything instantly. She's good at everything because she's had a thousand years and hundreds of deaths to *get* good at them. She's also had a thousand years and a hundred deaths to develop a very particular way of seeing the world. However, one of her strengths is that, even as she became more and more disillusioned, she was still, deep down a decent person.

In this book, Davi deals even more with the fact that, now that she can't just re-set at will (or at least, the fact that she doesn't know exactly what will happen when she *does* re-set), her actions have real consequences. If someone dies because of something she does, there isn't any way to undo it. She has to work against her own impulse to distance herself from people or see them as chess pieces she can just move wherever she wants. Her struggles made me root for her to finally get her closure, to succeed and get to just live.

As with the first book, she has a fun cast of supporting characters, with a few new additions aside from Prince Johann (who truly is a guileless, dumb but decent himbo), who are just as likable as the sidekicks she picked up last book.

On top of trying to bring about world peace, Davi also finds herself looking into the mystery of how she came to be stuck in the time loop in the first place, and what the purpose of it is. This mystery is resolved by the end and I thought it was clever and surprising. The final battle against the true big bad was a nice combination of Davi's cleverness and long ingrained skills, and her newfound desire to have and keep friends and to continue to live.

All in all a great ending to the duology and another book by Django Wexler that I really enjoyed reading. He has a knack for writing books with fascinating worlds, compelling plots and characters you can really root for. Anything involving time travel can pretty easily fall apart, but he manages to explain what's going on with getting too far down the rabbit hole.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy and/or humor.