Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Beautifully written, and a lot of fun.

I hope this is the start of a new trilogy. There is so much promise in the characters and I would like to see what happens next. Kayla is a wonderful new dark. Lord and her family are great additions. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

This book was okay. I liked most of the main characters, but the mom's constant nagging just kept grating on my nerves. I get that Kayla's family's inclusion was a way to do a fun twist on the whole "normal kid gets transported to a fantasy world" genre. Her interactions with her brother was entertaining, but her mom nearly ruined the entire book for me. Once the mom calmed down, the book became much better. I found the magic system and the plot entertaining.

I was so excited that Patricia C. Wrede finally got this book published. I read about it when I had first discovered Dealing with Dragons decades ago. This book did not disappoint! It was a quick read full of action, adventure, friendship, and family. I hope she continues this as a series.

This was another solid fantasy middle grade novel that I know children would like. It has a great plot, with some twists, and the worldbuilding was great. That being said, the representation fell short to me.

This was a fantastic book! I actually can't think of another MG fantasy where the main character is transported to another world WITH a reluctant parent. The fact that Kayla's adopted mother went to the magical world WITH her added an element of realism and hilarity that I really enjoyed, especially as an adult reader. I loved that part of the story.

Kayla, her adopted mother, and her brother are attending the Minnesota State Fair when they are approached by a knight and transported to a fantasy land, where Kayla's biological father was the Dark Lord. Kayla is now of an age to accept her inheritance as a Dark Lady, and is taken to the land she is now allowed to rule. This book felt familiar in a lot of ways, from the setting (dark ramshackle palace), and the quest (Kayla being the sudden inheritor of a kingdom), but where this book really shines is in the major differences.

I've mentioned Kayla's adopted mother and brother going with her, but the iPad she's holding at the time they transported is transformed into her familiar and provides some really funny moments and also works to provide information about the world to the reader. The outfits are funny, royals are served pizza, and Kayla has the opportunity to no longer randomly execute people. I think this book was so lovely, and I really loved it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

4.5/5 stars

This was absolutely adorable and awesome - I wish this kind of book existed when I was in middle/high school! Patricia Wrede is such a masterful writer and has truly perfected her craft - you can feel her excitement about a project when she writes and this is no exception. It's fun, unique, funny, and a great start to what I hope will be continued in a series.

This book has quirky characters, a fun premise, and is very well written. I LOVE Macavinci and Archie and while Ricky annoyed me (I believe that was the intent), I understand where she was coming from as a mom myself. Kayla was an awesome main character and I really appreciated the maturity she showed and the reasoning behind it - being a kid when you lose a parent will do that to you. The whole ensemble was great and I loved learning more about the castle and the world as Kayla, Del, and Ricky did. Oh and Del....that kiddo has my whole heart.

Seriously if you want a fun fantasy that's super easy, I can't recommend this one highly enough - for all ages!

The negatives: This book was good, but a little long. There were parts that seemed unnecessary to the plot. There were also a lot of characters to keep track of.

The positives: I enjoyed the humor. The way items came across the border from our world to the new one was intriguing. I liked that there wasn't any romance in the story.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

Patricia C. Wrede’s The Dark Lord’s Daughter is an intriguing story where a 14 year old is told she’s the heir to a Dark Lord, presented with many choices, & has to find a new path forward for a kingdom long marked by the violent & the often absurd.

After Kayla is magically transported to the dark lord’s kingdom she has to come to terms with her new life as Dark Lady & as the biological daughter of a dark lord.

There are dangers aplenty but luckily Kayla was also transported with her adopted mother Riki & her brother Del, the former who adds guidance & firmness & dependability to Kayla’s journey & the latter some levity.

The characters aren’t neat & tidy & squared away & I really liked seeing the nuance Patricia C. Wrede includes. Watching how aspects of their life in current, modern time meet up against their Dark Lord world-crossing transformation is interesting & Kayla’s overall journey as a kind, practical, & assertive ruler is fun to watch.

4 ⭐️. Out now.

Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.

[ID: Jess’s white hand holds the ebook in front of a group of sunflowers.]

We read plenty of books about characters who find they are "the chosen one". But what if the thing you're chosen for is evil? That's the central problem at the heart of this book. In a turn not unlike Pratchett and Gaiman's Good Omens, though, Kayla has been raised by a "normal" family. Thus, she has pretty average and sensible approaches to what should be dramatic problems. She's also a girl after my own heart. When told she must do something her first reaction is to ask "why". And she's strong-willed enough to resist tradition and forge a new path. A fun story for fantasy fans and kids unafraid to forge their own path.

How would you like to get whisked away into a strange land and find out you're the heir to the Dark Lord's kingdom? This kingdom is full of traditions that dictate everything you do.. unless, of course, you're just a regular person trying to take care of her people.

This was such a unique and fun story. Kayla is torn with this idea of being a Dark Lord and actually trying to help. Her mom is hyper focused on dong whatever it takes to get them home. The traditions of this land constantly coming up an driving Kayla crazy but it's almost sometimes quite comical to see how the people of this land do everything by tradition even when it makes no sense.

This book did not really go the way I expected, in the best way possible.

A magically humorous world.

Kayla was at a state fair with her mother and younger brother when a stranger whisked them all away to another world. Kayla knew she was adopted, but she never expected to find out that her father was the Dark Lord of a magical world. Now, everyone expects her to become the next dark lord, a position that involves a lot of beheading, executions, and other nefarious deeds. While their mother worries about finding a way back home, Kayla and her brother explore a world of magic and Dark traditions.

This was a fun book. I enjoyed Patricia Wrede's other books when I was younger, and I'm happy that this one didn't disappoint after all this time.

Since this book is aimed at a younger audience, there obviously aren't any decapitations or sacrificing the lives of any relatives. (Disappointing as that is.) But there is a lot of dark humor that's so obviously exaggerated in a way that's perfect for any age. While the plot, themes, and other literary devices weren't very complex, the sarcastic humor and world building made this a great read.

Kayla and her brother didn't have much character development, but their mother, Riki, had a lot of room for growth. Life as an overworked single mother turned Riki into a helicopter mom, and being teleported into a strange world with her young children only increased her overprotectiveness. I liked having a well rounded side character, but more than that, I liked how the story was very family focused. It kept the family unit intact, unlike most similar fantasy books where young kids go off on quests or adventures (that even mature adults wouldn't cope with in real life), without any adult presence. But here, the mother came along for the journey, and was involved in helping Kayla figure out her role as the dark lord. Just like you'd expect from any mother.

It feels like there should be a sequel. Not everything is resolved by the end, although there's enough of a conclusion to satisfy readers in case there isn't one

When Kayla is transported with her family to a magical world, she finally gets to learn about her birth family, but must also inherit her late father's position as the Dark Lord. With the help of her mother, younger brother, a potential dark lord wannabe competitor, and a team of unwanted castle inhabitants, Kayla must learn to be a dark lord without actually killing anyone.

Sometimes you need a palate cleanser read–something that is a little different from what your normal fare. This fantasy middle-grade novel is an adventurous and quick read no matter what age you are. The perfect palate cleanser.

This was a very fun book to read. Dark and light magic. Different worlds. Ghosts. Evil fathers. Imprisoned spirits. Magic. Dragons.

Oh so fun. Perfect middle grade read to peak interest in a fantasy lover.

As a long time fan of Patricia C. Wrede (and after recently re-listening to the Enchanted Forest Chronicles on audiobook), I was excited to dive into this story. Kayla believes she's an ordinary girl, but after she, her mom, and her brother are all sucked into an alternate dimension, she learns that she's the long-lost daughter of the previous Dark Lord and she must take over his throne. Wrede always approaches magical systems with logic and wit, and it was interesting to see the way that the modern technology that Kayla and her family were used to became magical creatures and objects in her world. The characters were solid and the plot was the right mix of surprising and sensible. I did feel that there was some small spark missing--the resolution of the problem was novel and entertaining, but not especially satisfying. That said, many kids are looking for excellent stories that place a modern protagonist in a magical setting, and this more than satisfies. Recommended.

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

This was such a fun read! I loved the combination of technology & magic, but I loved the characters more. I wish this had a sequel to see what comes next!

I was ecstatic to see that Patricia C. Wrede had a new book out since she’s been my favorite author since I was twelve and first stumbled upon Dealing with Dragons. No one tells a compelling fantasy story while simultaneously poking fun and the sillier fantasy tropes quite like Wrede, something The Dark Lord's Daughter does brilliantly, only this time from an anti-hero, villainous perspective. Though the story is aimed at middle grade readers, I’d recommend it for readers of all ages.

Kayla was clever, resourceful, and relatable, and it was great watching her reconcile her earth-based moral compass and the dark heritage she stumbled upon. I thoroughly enjoyed the hilarious excerpts from the The Dark Traditions (a dark lord handbook) at the start of each chapter. The really helped paint a picture of how other dark lords and ladies handled their business. I also loved a very entertaining side effect of world hopping—objects from the other worlds that don’t exist in the world you’ve entered transform into their nearest equivalent. Kayla’s tablet turned winged monkey familiar, Macavinchy, was delightful and my favorite character of the book. I was also very fond of the dragon heads that guarded the Dark Lady’s quarters and the dungeon.

Though the story stands alone, the ending definitely leaves room for more books. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will be book one in a series.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.

A fun middle grade return from Wrede. I enjoyed the presence of Kayla’s family instead of having the lone hero separated from everything as well as the inclusion of a family dynamic in terms of adoption that you don’t often see represented, and the way the world-building turned the idea of the heroic journey on its head. Still, I think the story might have benefited from some more character work, additional established backstory and emotional resonance in terms of Kayla’s life back at home and her connection to both sets of parents (her late adoptive father and their relationship, for example, is barely touched upon), and perhaps a bit more tension or a less obvious villain in the climactic ending scenes. Try with readers who enjoyed last year’s Spellbinders: The Not-So-Chosen One or might appreciate a somewhat topsy-turvy fantasy world.

I just finished reading Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles and was very excited to read this new title from the author. However, perhaps my expectations were set too high as I wasn't engrossed in this title as I had expected. Still, kids who gravitate toward fantasy will enjoy this read.

What a cute, cozy read! The beginning lagged a bit, but it was easy to keep up with and had picked up the pace by the halfway point. I enjoyed the familial interaction as well as the elements of the castle itself. Great middle grade read - receiving the Mom's Stamp of Approval from me.