The Other Side: A Second Chance [Dark Isekai Drama]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Luna Ashflow is not the type of girl one would typically expect. At the very least, not internally. In her previous existence, she was a despondent young man, a solitary individual who had once made an effort to rescue someone's life but tragically ended up being shot and killed in the process. Upon awakening, she finds herself reincarnated in a new world on the verge of transformation and war. To navigate this changing landscape, she must learn the language and secrets of this world to support her new family and confront the challenges brought about by the imposing crisis that looms overhead. While also striving to build upon her new identity and purpose so that she could leave a lasting impression on this second chance at life. A slow-burn take on the isekai genre. Notable tags: Unreliable Narrator,Chosen One

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2023
Author: ImmortanJoJo

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.4/ 5.0
Followers: 1,790
Views: 745,999

What readers say about The Other Side: A Second Chance [Dark Isekai Drama]

“I rarely give out such high scores, but this was deserving of the high rating! A lot of times when I do reviews I just have to slog to get through them, but I found myself feeling excited for each proceeding chapter as they only seemed to get better and bet…”
VioletMoonRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“This story is divided into books, and the books have very different flavours. It starts off as a deliberately comfortable, cliché, sugar sweet isekai comedy. This is a true slice of life where not much happens, but we get to know and care about the characte…”
hoplagerRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

VioletMoonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I rarely give out such high scores, but this was deserving of the high rating! A lot of times when I do reviews I just have to slog to get through them, but I found myself feeling excited for each proceeding chapter as they only seemed to get better and better.
Style: Easy 5/5 here. The style is descriptive and snappy. The author doesn't get bogged down in prose, yet is still descriptive enough I always have a good mental image of what's going on. It's difficult to strike a balance, but I found this story to be right on the mark.
Grammar: 4.5/5. The only reason I dinged this is because where were plenty of missing commas. Ultimately, it wasn't a big deal, but I'm particular about this kind of thing when editing software is so easily available. Otherwise, the only other thing I noticed was that I think it would've been better to convey the main character's thoughts via italics rather than writing them in normally. It just felt a bit clunky, honestly. Otherwise nothing major.
Story: 5/5 I love the slow paced approach. I am so curious as to what is in the cabin behind Luna's house! I found the Isekai to be well done, and I'm very persuaded by the new world. Nothing crazy has happened, yet I find myself turning the pages nonetheless.
Character:5/5 but I'd give it 6/5 if I could. I haven't read many books where the character's personality is conveyed so well through the pages. I find the main character to feel very real, and their dialogue and internal thoughts cracked me up as I read through this novel. Keep it up! I'm jealous, as another writer. I would love to one day be able to convey my characters just as strongly. Excellent job!
Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a change of pace from power fantasy lit-rpgs relying heavily on overdone tropes. This story earned a follow from me, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it getting lots of visibiilty soon.
hoplagerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is divided into books, and the books have very different flavours.
It starts off as a deliberately comfortable, cliché, sugar sweet isekai comedy. This is a true slice of life where not much happens, but we get to know and care about the characters.
The tone shifts hard for the second book, which is some real grimdark horror. The jarring tone shift from the overly comfortable intro as we watch the characters that we came to care about having a very bad time add up to some real feels.
I think the author handles character and unreliable narrator well, and I can see how even the cringe cliche "admiring own boobs" type scenes are likely to eventually be plot significant in a way they usually aren't for this kind of story.
I think the story expressed the horror of being a civilian in war well. This is unusual at least on RR. The tone shifts again to more of a grim dark adventure story, which is fine. But I did think that war of the worlds refugee arc was excellent.
With these positive things said - each arc of this story has quite a different style. A reader who wants to read a certain type of book might find this frustrating as the style they want will be mixed in with ones they don't. Personally I think the author is doing something interesting.
The third book seems to be going in a different direction again. So far it's pretty generic with some world building. I suspect the series is eventually going to go in a more 'zoom out, battle between gods and planes' direction but not yet. Not sure where the current segment is going, but it feels like a stop for breath.
I think this story is written primarily as an exploration of the characters - their development and internal conflicts - the plot / flow of the story will do what is needed to explore those things.
CobaltWolfRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I've had the rare and fortuitous chance to follow this work since its early parts, and getting to see it grow and blossom over time has been such a gratifying experience. It is a strong and unique story that stands out in the extremely dense fantasy isekai genre, having carved out its identity in such a beautiful slow burn manner that it makes me jealous. The gender bender aspect of the story with the protag going from male to female leads to some interesting stuff, alongside becoming an elf, but it goes much deeper. Since the story is a slow burn, you get to see the character become more mature and more nuanced as their power and individuality grows. There's a deep seeded trauma in Luna which leads to some downright chilling scenes as they are faced with the horrors of revisiting the life they left behind. It is very easy to become attached to her. The cast has grown slowly, and become far more fleshed out and interesting the deeper we've gotten into the war arc, which is why it is now a 5.
The story is a very rare 5 star for me. The pacing is deliberately slow. Slow enough that the author seemed actually kind of wary about how slow it is at the start, but I genuinely appreciate it. This story is the type that shouldn't go too fast, because it would break what has been set up so far. This is a character driven story with a world alongside it that is important, so slower pace is generally best. The world around Luna is interesting, with a long history and complex dynamics. You learn things slowly, and some reveals caught me entirely off guard. This is some of the best lore I've seen in a web novel, which is why I require a tangent.
This is specifically about gods in fantasy, and why I believe The Other Side is simply built different in its lore. Gods in fantasy can either be extremely detached or attached to the world, and in isekai, they're often used more of as an entry tool. Usually the way that the protagonist enters the world is through a god simply yeeting the
TishersRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It took me three days to read up to the latest chapter (chapter 87) and I have to say that I am completely captivated by the story. The author's skills have continued to evolve during the story (the last seven months or so) and I can't wait to read more.
Samantha NelsonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is a slow burn with a fair amount of slice of life embedded in it. It's more akin to a traditional fantasy novel where you slowly discover the world with the character. The slice of life portions are well written. In addition, you do clearly move on to new things.
Style: The style is great. A bit more prose could make it pop, but it is clean and fun to read.
Grammar: It's close enough to perfect. The sentence structures are tidy and commas are used correctly.
Story: While this is a slower burn due to several early slice of life scenes, the scenes are well done. It also has expanded scope as the protagonist leaves the birthplace and journeys into the wider world. I'm looking forward to what comes next.
Character: The characters are well written. The family dynamics are fun to watch. Luna's attachment to her new family is refreshing. It's nice to see someone embrace that side of things. Each of the characters does have their own little quirks which add a nice bit of life to them.
Overall: It's a great read if you want a slow burn traditional fantasy with slice of life baked in. I'd recommend it.
exoilluminatorRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story has some truly amazing moments, but there are parts where the pacing feels frustratingly slow. Certain decisions made by the author don’t personally resonate with me, but I acknowledge that this is just my opinion—take it with a grain of salt the size of Texas. Despite my critiques, I still consider the story a solid 5 out of 5 overall.
That said, my main sticking points are with the pacing and character development. At times, entire chapters are spent asking questions without getting meaningful answers or explaining something that ultimately gets abandoned in the next chapter. While I understand the author’s intentions, this approach can feel drawn out and unnecessary.
Without spoiling anything, I’d like to offer a suggestion: if you ever decide to rewrite the story, consider making the protagonist significantly older. Part of my frustration stems from the fact that the protagonist’s youth often renders them ineffective, and when they are useful, it sometimes feels unearned or inconsistent.
Another suggestion would be to streamline the decision-making process for the characters. There are moments where they spend an excessive amount of time debating or asking questions, often without getting clear responses. In a real scenario, most people would likely give up and walk away rather than linger in a situation with noncommittal answers.
That said, the fact that you were able to write this story is an incredible achievement, and my suggestions are simply one reader’s perspective. Thank you for creating such an engaging tale, even if certain aspects didn’t entirely work for me.
Lemon snakeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'd say, without spoiling it, expect a fantasy x modern type of mix for the story's theme. Magic has become a conduit to situations that could put any cataclysmic historical event to shame.
Reincarnation? A second chance? Nay, it is nothing but a dive into Hell!
A remarkable grim dark story where the MC is OP but not enough in the face of the calamities that shakes her new world.
Truly a masterfully well written story, it's apocalyptic and thrilling, I could really feel the confusion and despair of the MC and other characters are going through as they fight for their lives in a world at war.
There are short slice of life type of breaks in between chapters, where things seems to get better and you get a semblance of hope until... a sense of dread builds up... And this is when everything go down again.
During my read, nothing immersion breaking came up, it's really nice.
The side characters also play major roles that contributes to the story, you might even come to see how much of an impact they have on how the events unfold...
Another thing I loved is the fact that we discover more about the lore of the world of Enora as the story progresses.
There are no "wall of text lore dump", and every new information the author gives us is relevant to the context in which the information is communicated
A highly recommended read that was truly refreshing.
Keep up the good work and thank you for the chapters!
Magius SwiftscaleRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Alright, here's my spiel. I ran out of chapters to read as of this writing, but it's off to a phenomenal start, even if the big plot beats may be some time away, by my guess. It's always refreshing to go read something you wouldn't normally, and find yourself pleasantly surprised.
Story:
This world feels rich and lived in, the aesthetic is Victorian or some kind of late 1800's kind of feeling, with magic filling in a couple modern comforts like lighting. I'm sure this is the tip of the iceberg, and there are tantalizing hints of the coming conflict.
I like that there's plenty of small beats (this does feel like an extended prologue, so I may have to revisit), it's easy with fantasy to focus on a bunch of heroes getting into a massive brawl, and not homes, families, small town life that gets swept up when wars and baddies come a'knocking.
Style
Theres plenty of descriptors, the breaks in perspective in the intermissions don't seem too jarring, and there's lots of little hints to chew on, both for Luna's family history, and the world as a whole. It's almost easy to forget that Luna has a whole different perspective from a previous life, and there's no hand holding like instantly knowing the language or a [System] progression.
Grammar
Very few errors, and I think some other folks might have picked up the ones I would have noted. The writing feels crisp, and well thought out, and it is quiet consistent.
Characters
About the only item of note is that transition between Luna's old life and the new one. The MC has some depth to their personality and clearly is in a transition from the old life to the new, in more ways than one, and I sense some internal struggle down the line. That's not a bad thing, character complexity is always good to have.
The remaining cast have a vibrant appearance, believable and more than a cardboard cutout. Each has a distinct flavor so far, and I want to hear more.
Overall
Sometimes I forget to remind myself I shouldn't fixate on my go-to genres
AchgharRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This amazingly well crafted story has it all! From characters that are a little too real at times to an immersive world with thought out world building and a gripping plot.
This masterclass in story telling is simply exquisite and I'm afraid that I'm far too bad at reviewing to illustrate how good it actually is!
So instead I urge to check it out for yourself, though this story may not be for everyone as it is a really slow burn. Nevertheless, I do believe that is exactly what we need nowadays: to take a step back and enjoy the simpler delicacies of life.
Though, if I had to give one critique it's that the MC seems to have gotten over his traumatic death a little too easily. Maybe we all just handle trauma differently.
magical heartRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I am going to start this off by saying that I was not expecting the story to be as good as it has turned out to be. The cover made me think that this story was going to be cheap in trophy, however I was pleasantly surprised by the depth that all the characters have the engaging story. The MC those starting off but slow has very compelling character motivations and acts reasonably considering her age in most situations. All the other characters seem fairly believable and interesting as well. They come off as people is not always likable people and I appreciate that. There were some small grammatical errors here and there but the author overall gets a good story flow going back as so far enticed me and fully engaged me within the story.
I got really engaged with the story actually to the point where I binged it over the course of a day and 1/2 till I caught up. I'm really looking forward to seeing what story goes and I think that anyone reading this review should give the story a shot as well. It really is a lot of fun and I think if you enjoy epic fantasy that you can find something alike in the story.