Mistakes Were Made [Remorseful Demon King Reincarnation]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Kaydence never wanted to be reborn. Now, two millennia after her defeat and death, she is forced to reckon with a world that moved on from the carnage she once wrought. Tormented by the mistakes of her past, she wishes only to pass her new life quietly until the gods claim her soul.

However, the world at large may not agree to leave her alone.

This is my attempt at a straightforward Demon King reincarnation story.

[No LitRPG]

Here are a couple of reviews from early readers:

"I don't quite get it, but I'm sure it's good."— the author's dad

"What I just read is horrible. Why??"— the author's grandma

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2024
Author: DocteurNS

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 2,064
Views: 376,319

Chapters(39 total)

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

Vince the JustRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story is pretty good so far. The characters are likeable, the world is well fleshed-out, and the plot has a tinge of intrigue that keeps me interested in what will happen next. So far it is a really strong start for a new story.
The only thing I wish for at this point would be for the chapters to be released faster, but I prefer quality over quantity, so please, keep releasing at the speed you are comfortable with.
ImMichaelCannonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story reached me very quickly. I could not stop even the call of the body said go go go. It’s only now as I reach the end of the chapter 20 that I can go for there are no more chapters to go and I literally wait for the next update.
IndrahRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Style: It's a fantasy reincarnation story, no major twist with the exception that the main character actually regrets the deeds they commited in the past and now have to deal with what they've done. It is well executed, well structured, the author personnal style might be a bit wordy, but it is truly well written. Also the author seem to be having a ton of fun writing small tidbits of random world building at the start of each chapter, it is not usually my cup of tea, but it is not wasted, since the author actually use them for the plot exposition that we would not have access to otherwise.
Story: This is a character focus story, which means the grand overarching story moves slowly, but a lot still happens in every chapter and a lot of time is taken to develop the characters. This story isn't about unlocking new power or beating up some big monster, but if you enjoy characters having great interaction with each other and delving into a character motivation and personal conflict, this story is for you.
Grammar: Haven't had any issue with typos, and authors is prompt when mistakes are pointed out.
Character: The cast of character is slowly expanding, but so far each of them have been pretty unique and interesting, all of them having their own motivation even if we don't know exactly what they are.
Honestly one of the best read I've had on this site so far, but the story is dragged down by the pace of release, which is very slow about 1 chapter per month... The story so far is still worth a read, but you might need to wait for a while before reading more.
Jonathan DoeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Not quite found family, but has all the vibes of one. The alternating POV is a nice touch, and let us know all our MC's efforts to reign in her evil past do pay off, after all. Overall a nice story on how redemption is earned, not given, and how the MC's family of outcasts hold her inner darkness at bay.
NightbulbRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Mistakes Were Made wastes no time sinking it's teeth into you!
DocNS takes it slow for the first few chapters- prologue notwithstanding- but that feels necessary and right. This isn't the sort of story that can come out right if it's rushed- the protagonist has a lifetime of traumatic stress they haven't had time to be post or disordered about until relatively recently, and their moral compass and sense of guilt has been supernaturally impaired. She's got a lot to process, and with no one else around who knows about that, there's no one to tell her to pick up the pace on it. DocNS is giving her time to work through the denial and self-flagellation on her own.
At 33 currently published chapters, it leaves me starving for more- I feel like the story's just finished with the introduction, intial exposition, and showed us the begginning of the end of her unhealthiest trauma management, and is just getting to the meat of the "rising action" bit.
STYLE: Enthralling. DocNS has an excellent command of narritive atmosphere, and I'm only now really realizing how much he's been able to communicate with it.
STORY: See what I wrote above- though, I should add, this is closer to an OP Protagonist story than a Progression Story. It's not properly either, mind you- the protagonists power does not match her skill and expertise, but the edge those give her is big. She's yet to meet an adult who's combat ability feels like more than that of a clumsy child to her, and her biggest struggles are in keeping the people she loves safe; Keeping herself easy has been child's play so far.
But she's much more fragile than she feels. She's not going to walk the blood-sacrifice-ish path to invincibility that fucked up her last life, and from a genre-savvy audience member perspective, it's obvious she'll gonna be meeting challenges soon enough that will actually threaten her health. At that point, maybe this story will start feeling like a progression fantasy... but for the most part, I think the
Obsequium MinarisRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
There are only a few chapters out so far, but it's all so well-written that I feel comfortable giving this story a big recommend right out of the gate.
From the get-go, the initial prologue chapters are excellent. They do everything they're supposed to do - set the stage, introduce the players and pieces, etc. But what sets them apart is the sheer quality of the writing - it's flowery, to be sure, but it's not purple prose. Rather, it simply feels professional.
And then the actual story chapters come into play, and we start to get a feel for the main character. As the story promises, she is the reincarnation of the Demon King, with all the mental and emotional baggage that entails. And despite initially thinking she'd be a bit cliche, the truth is that she's actually quite complex. It's only been a few chapters, but already I can see hints of her character development beginning to unfold. It's subtle, but it's definitely there, in the way she cares for her friend and her own mother.
Speaking of characters, the way they interact is just sublime. The dialog in this story is fantastic. It's difficult to really explain without reading it, but the way it flows is a joy to read. The only standout I can think of as being over-the-top is in the prologue chapters, where the Demon King and the Hero are interacting; that seemed very... I guess the word is anime-ish, almost? But something tells me that was by design, and it doesn't last, because as soon as the prologue ends, the dialog starts to really flow much smoother from then on, becoming downright pleasant to read. All of these characters have a distinct voice in the story, and the way it's done is just phenomenal.
It's early in the story, with only a few chapters out so far, but Mistakes Were Made definitely gets my recommendation at this point, based on both the idea (I'm a massive sucker for anything even resembling a good redemption story) and the sheer quality of its writing. This story would legitimately not be out-
SherpADerpRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Oh wow. This is just genuinely good writing. Character development is reasonable and realistic. It's hard to write trauma without it coming off as trite or overly wrought, often being dropped in simply to serve as a plot device or justification and rarely represented outside of that.
The depth of the characters themselves is impressive as well. Well rounded, multi faceted individuals with their own lives and stories shown far more through their actions than the occasional PoV switch.
Speaking of which, this novel adheres so well to the trope of "show, don't tell" that it's hardly noticeable as one gets caught up in the world created. A breathing, thriving world exists with well structured internal consistency.
Some of the plot points are rather obvious, but the journey there is genuinely enjoyable to read so it's not terrible. Not everything has to be a twist after all, especially when it's done simply for the sake of subversion instead of writing an actually good story.
The writing is on another level entirely that's often missing from other novels. It's polished and professional while still being entertaining and enjoyable.
I look forward to new chapters at the time of reading. Honestly stopped on a banger of a moment at the time of this review.
Twice GibbsedRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I know it's really early but the prologue is really good. It's not really unique but it follows in good food steps and the tropes it uses really hooked me.
So far it's too early to tell what the characters are like but I've got high hopes.
I'm really looking forward to where this is going.
GameSpenderRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
tl;dr This story does not offer meaningful progression in neither the plot or character development in the 15 or so chapters released as of time of writing
I quite enjoyed the author's previous work "How To Tame Your Princess". Their way of writing character interactions struck me as quite interesting. That aspect of their writing style carries over to this story as well. The prose flows well and the environments are described with enough detail that I, a relatively inattentive reader, can imagine them vividly. The grammar is satisfactory. All that said, what this story suffers from isn't the lack of pure writing skill.
Blandly put, the plot is very slow. As of time of writing, we've had basic world-building, introductions of various villagers, and very banal interactions between them and the protagonist. Said protagonist is indifferent to most people, while the things that rile her up or provide possible conflict resolve or just disappear after a short while, usually within one chapter. Nevertheless, this is an authorial decision which I simply do not resonate with, and someone more used to slow-burn would likely be better acclimated.
Unfortunately, the problems only continue from there. To list off a few: the protagonist is not given a clear goal, nor a strong motivator. She makes plans to leave her birthplace, but as soon as it is brought up, it is also pushed back practically indefinitely; Her multiple interactions with her family are sweet, yet quite similar between one another, both emotionally and in content; Similarly, the now ancient history of the world, the battle between the demon king and the hero, is repeated incessantly across multiple occasions while not offering any new insight, emotional progression, or message; The most egregious flaw consists of the various characters of intrigue, instead of being developed to provide tangible impact upon the story, are swept aside for retellings of boring, ordinary days.
In conclusion, while this story has poten
adhding_nerdRoyal Road
★ 0.5
Really awesome prologue that got me interested in what the Gods did that caused the Demon King to hate them so. Well, I'm still wondering because the author unnaturally tiptoes around the subject every time it gets brought up. Honestly, I'm thinking the gods are the real bad guys here with how secret this is.
But instantly after the prologue, she's already remorseful and regretful, so no actual character growth happened. She was just a new person with a new conscious because I guess the conscious is part of the body?
I really hate mysteries when the character already knows it. So why is it a mystery if MC knows?