The Bell Tolls for Me

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

A succession crisis consumed the Kingdom of Dovhain following the death of Edgar the Great. In the treacherous royal court, Princess Isabella had endured every indignity, overcame countless injustices, and fought against the most vicious of enemies. At first it had been for survival, but in time, it became for hope of a better future. She became the queen, only to be betrayed by those she trusted most.

Somehow, Isabella woke up eight years in the past, one week after her father’s death. Though she’s once again found herself in the tempest of misery that is the royal court, she hasn’t lost everything. The experience and knowledge that she gained in the struggle for the throne might help her steer fate in the direction that she wishes.But the question she naturally poses to herself is a difficult one. Should she pursue her own happiness, or attempt to better the realm? She might pursue paths long denied to her-- exploring the depths of magic, forging lasting bonds with people she can trust, and gaining fulfillment she once thought an impossibility.

Or... will she dare reach for it all?

***

This fiction is stubbed. Formerly here in entirety, select volumes have been revised with reader feedback and moved to Amazon! A preview of the content remains, and current chapters still release here, but the removed volumes will be found exclusively in the links below.

Volume 1:eBook

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2025
Author: Nemorosis

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 3,713
Views: 492,383

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

3rdPinEyeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Considering the fact that RR community is a rather niche bunch, I assume that you all are familiar with this stuff and can gauge what kind of book this is. So I will only say few words; this is one of the must-reads which is written in a very eloquent yet not overly gaudy language, involving very deep, grounded and intelligent characters with a plot that flows smoothly at a excellent pace without neither boring you or skimming over the stuff. Regardless of your favorite genre, your gender etc. this book is ought to be "your" cup of coffee as well. Check it out, folks.
VictisaadiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a earlier review than I would usually leave, but I don't feel the need to wait until I've seen more. It's good, and you should read it, especially if you've enjoyed similar stories before.
The Bell Tolls for Me is well done with a likeable cast and unlikeable villains, but importantly, it's clearly written by someone very familiar with the genre. I don't know how many fics, webnovels, light novels, manga, or manwha I've read on 'betrayed noble girl goes back in time to before it all came apart', and the sister genre of various otome isekai's with similar themes, but it's a lot. Like, a *lot*. And this is an absolutely excellent example of the premise, with very high quality writing and engaging twists and stakes. Further, it nails a lot of classic themes and familiar designs in ways that feel interesting and unique rather than rehashed. Simply put, it just does everything right, and more.
I have extremely high hopes for this story, and if the author keeps at it, this may well be an all-timer.
shazzanRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
All around great piece of work. Reincarnation, courtly intrigue, bloody contest for the throne, magic, and much more. If litRPG and number go up is why you come to RR, than this may not be your cup of tea, but if great storytelling, characters, and world building is what you love, then you should be very pleased with this. Just top notch all rounder. A detailed living breathing world with fleshed out believable characters, and an obviously well planned story. This plane is not being built in the air. The author obviously planned this piece of work out in detail before pen met paper. Just an overall RR gem in the making.
EvercrestRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Finished v1 before the stub so figure may as well drop a preliminary review, will likely update it once more after finishing the rest.
The Bell Tolls for Me is a story I picked up at random just perusing the various lists on RR and it certainly didn't disappoint. Narratively it was sound, the prose was snappy, clear, and entertaining throughout, and the weaving web of intrigue managed to keep my attention from start to finish of the volume.
Not to say that there aren't some cliches or very predictable or expected tropes used that at times, but in a genre like this, with clear expectations in more cases than not, none of them were particularly off-putting at the end of the day.
Style was fantastic, the vocab, and the portrayal of the world and its festering corruption and the wonders around it made the story what it is.
Grammatically there weren't any issues that detracted from the reading experience.
Characters were somewhat of a mixed basket. There's the white lotus type 'enemy' who has an extremely unlikeable presence even from the minimal screen time she had. There's the 2nd ML who isn't really the 2nd ML and has a somewhat awkward presence. The ML himself who... while a great character does have some flaws simply due to the nature of the progression of things.
Standout though? Randolph, Randie, the best bodyguard money can and can't buy. One of the best presenting side characters in nearly any novel I've read in terms of pure joy he brought me on screen.
For me the biggest flaw at times was that certain things felt more condensed or rushed; I reckon it's mostly just due to the nature and size of the story, not a con per se, just left some threads somewhat not as impactful as they could've been. Granted, this is also just the vol 1 experience, and it isn't as if the threads are fully closed yet, so more a minor nitpick/personal gripe than anything.
Worthwhile story by far, and definitely earned its place on the lists. For someone who likes the genre, certainly an
RoyalEclipseRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A well written take on medieval drama with fantasy elements. The main characters are well written, with flaws and ambitions, and the court politics are sharp and realistic.
The prose is likewise, as far as i can see, perfect from a technical standpoint.
I will most likely update this review once the story ends, but so far, we are barely getting started and i already want three books and a movie adaptation.
LuckyKPRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Really enjoyed reading this story. It’s a classic set-up: noblewoman female MC is abused by her family, is murdered, and returns to the past to get her revenge! Except, also, it isn’t. Because our MC is primarily looking for a way to save her country for the corruption within it, and all the characters are written so well that the entire tale is elevated. It’s so nice to read about intelligent characters where the dialogue and actions show readers how smart they are, instead of the author telling you and the plot spinning in unbelievable circles to support them.
Thanks for the story, I’ll read anything else you write!
superlloydRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
One more great story hit the dust!
(Seriously lot s of great story this year)
What I like, in no particular order, no filler chapter, interesting plots with many twists, a clear story arc. While it is a long still on-going ride, it's not a sitcom kind of story. There is an evolving plot that we follow from start to a, as of yet, distant and nebulous end.
Re_ForgedRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Princess Isabella is every bit the royal personality I've been looking for since forever—responsible, caring, noble, and true. Unlike most of her contemporaries in other works, she doesn't dismiss the ideals of her station as unrealistic, merely aspirational. And the nuance is there, believe me. I look forward to her character in the story to come.
The only flaw I can make note of is her (to me at least) unrealistic tendency to inspire romantic devotion in the male secondary character cast. It's not a particularly unique problem amongst other novels of its type, and indeed, it's not even uncommon amongst other genres, but it does still grate on one's ability to suspend disbelief. Nevertheless, this is an excellent story that deserves a try, if you're up for saving a kingdom from a succession crisis borne of fallible nobility, complex motivations, and machinations clashing with power imbalances.
SlepyBoiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I liked it. But there is always a "but" I guess.
Deducing some points for pacing - was a bit too fast in my opinion; for characters and story (combined) because the ending was in my opinion too abrupt. I guess maybe it's just not my cup of tea. It seemed open-ended (or maybe anti-climactic is the word?) which is... not bad, I am just picky when it comes to open-ish endings. There is a certain disappointment to it when you reach it.
Yeah pretty much I liked everything until the very end, ending not so much, not bad to be fair. I guess my expectstion were a bit too high.
Grammar was good to my knowledge. Not a native speaker but I think it was good. I think characters were good besides the part where it ends.
But overall a solid story.
(Just yapping to get 200 words)
Also I really want a burger. There are these burgers in my city they are really good but man these guys take extra for delivery. Its -30 C (-20 F) outside, damn.
I think open endings are very disappointing to read but also very good because of that disappointment. A realization that story may not have ended but you won't get to see where it goes from now on. It's kind if annoying in good way. Still think it hard nail down a good open ending. If you think about any ending is open in a certain definition if "open".
Is that 200 words?
TaravangiumRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
This is a good story so far, especially considering others I've tried on Royal Road. My main issue is with both characters and the political scheming feeling a little too simplistic.
Firstly, the characters. Most feel like they have one primary trait and act rather predictably from that. I think I could categorize the majority of them into just few buckets: "corrupt and plotting", "earnest and naive", and "morally gray but mostly honest". It makes the cast start to blend together a bit in my mind.
Especially the love interest. Oh wow, he has a dark and violent past, but now he's gentle and totally reliable with her. Never seen that before.
As for the plotting, well, it's also a bit two dimensional. Either the MC can remember something to neatly solve the problem, or get her dark and mysterious boy to help fix it.
Lastly, there are minor grammar and spelling errors scattered around that can be occasionally distracting. Some of them should have been caught by a basic spellchecker without much effort, and others are like this sentence:
"I propose that we form a coalition," Gaspar proposed.
Obviously using the same word twice in a sentence redundantly isn't the worst thing, but in a story that tries to be intricate and elegant the minor errors feel more jarring.
The story's entertaining enough to continue for now, but I had hoped for more when I saw some of the high praise and recommendations... And who knows, maybe a surprising twist will come up and make me revise my opinions so far.