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A review by kdonovan2005
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I really wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. The plot is great -- time looped "The One" decides she's had enough and is going to become the bad guy instead. Unfortunately, the execution is not great.
The writing is ok -- not the worst, but the writer definitely thinks he's funnier than he is. There's way too many modern references and it's unlikely that Davi (the MC) would know all or remember of them. Also there's a lot of inconsistencies with what she does know/remember from Earth (one moment saying she remembers next to nothing, the next making a very niche reference -- definite continuity errors).
As other reviewers have said, Davi is also most definitely a female protagonist written by a man. She reads like a basement-dwellers' wet-dream. I really don't like to say "no woman would every act like that/say those things, etc." because woman are multi-faceted, can be anything, yada yada, but I think it warrants in this case. Davi is grating and over-sexualized and the little romance there is is really clumsy.
The plot is fairly predictable and it's very clear the writer is a big D&D fan, which is fine if you like that sort of thing. There are some good action/puzzle/etc scenes. The world building is also pretty good -- the parts I enjoyed the most were descriptions of the environment, cities, etc.
Overall, it's a decent read if you remove/skip over the sex/romance, but I doubt I'll read the second one (or third? Who knows how long it will drag out). This definitely should have wrapped up in one book.
The writing is ok -- not the worst, but the writer definitely thinks he's funnier than he is. There's way too many modern references and it's unlikely that Davi (the MC) would know all or remember of them. Also there's a lot of inconsistencies with what she does know/remember from Earth (one moment saying she remembers next to nothing, the next making a very niche reference -- definite continuity errors).
As other reviewers have said, Davi is also most definitely a female protagonist written by a man. She reads like a basement-dwellers' wet-dream. I really don't like to say "no woman would every act like that/say those things, etc." because woman are multi-faceted, can be anything, yada yada, but I think it warrants in this case. Davi is grating and over-sexualized and the little romance there is is really clumsy.
The plot is fairly predictable and it's very clear the writer is a big D&D fan, which is fine if you like that sort of thing. There are some good action/puzzle/etc scenes. The world building is also pretty good -- the parts I enjoyed the most were descriptions of the environment, cities, etc.
Overall, it's a decent read if you remove/skip over the sex/romance, but I doubt I'll read the second one (or third? Who knows how long it will drag out). This definitely should have wrapped up in one book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism