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Roll Over and Die Light Novel #2
ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! (Light Novel) Vol. 2
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE Crooked adventurer Dein and his band of bullies continue to be a thorn in Flum’s side—especially when she rescues a strange, mutilated girl named Ink from some of Dein’s goons. Sweet Ink quickly endears herself to Flum and her companions, but the girl with the sewn-shut eyes comes with her own dark baggage. Can Flum save her, or will her instinct to help another maiden in need lead to her own ruin this time?
454 pages, Paperback
First published December 21, 2018
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123 people want to read
About the author
Kiki
158 books17 followersAlice Ernestine Prin, nicknamed the Queen of Montparnasse, and often known as Kiki de Montparnasse.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 26, 2021
It’s grim, it’s gritty, and they don’t leave the city! Flum and Milkit have made a life for themselves at the house they share with Eterna. However, the mystery of the bizarre creature they encountered still haunts them.
After saving a blind girl from cronies of Flum’s nemesis, Dein, things start to get worse and worse. And when the unthinkable happens, Flum is there to make sure heads are going to roll, along with every other limb and several gallons of viscera.
The first Roll Over and Die novel was a gruesome bit of business that had a clever hook, an intriguing mystery, and several boo-hiss villains. This book is a solid little read but certainly falls short of its predecessor.
Dein was just a bit of a nuisance in the first book, to my recollection, so it’s interesting to see him elevated to such a miserable cockroach of a human being in this story. He’s definitely an irredeemable character, but his thirst for his own survival makes him a bit more interesting than your average baddie. He’s dangerous because there’s no corner he’ll be backed into that he won’t try to get out of.
Once the... everything... starts to hit the fan, the book takes something that is initially kind of goofy and quickly turns it into an icky morass of body horror. I guess props are in order for not just doing the same thing as last time out - this is some freaky work. There’s a lot of grotesque loss of self found in this one.
The book sells the despairing atmosphere pretty well and makes for an interesting little conspiracy/paranoia tale as it goes along. When things really go dark they go dark indeed, though I think the first book held it together a bit better - some turns of the plot are not as good here and it wasn’t at all what I was expecting (for good and for ill).
What I don’t like so much is the loss of the narrative with the adventuring party Flum used to be with. Those side stories gave some oomph to the original tale as we saw just how important Flum was. Here they get a basic mention at the start and essentially vanish from the narrative. I suspect we won’t be done until Flum gets her revenge on Jean, but he’s barely in this.
The book also goes hardcore shonen towards the end - once people start naming their attacks and other such nonsense it really gets to be a bit much. It’s well-written action, but it goes overboard and will probably keep doing so going forward. I will say that Flum’s climactic encounter is a really well done one though - you don’t even miss the illustrations (and for all my whining, the way she learns to apply her Reversal ability is put to clever use).
The relationship between Flum and Milkit is kind of whatever here. It was woefully codependent to begin with and I do appreciate that this book deftly portrays just how incredibly bad that could be during one part. That felt more believable than their actual affectionate moments (honestly, I don’t want to be a jerk, but I feel it might be because it’s written by a guy).
3.5 stars, rounded up because I do like this series. But the first one was a stellar bit of nastiness with a heart. This one is still nasty, but the heart feels just a bit more artificial as it goes down some more traditional action paths.
After saving a blind girl from cronies of Flum’s nemesis, Dein, things start to get worse and worse. And when the unthinkable happens, Flum is there to make sure heads are going to roll, along with every other limb and several gallons of viscera.
The first Roll Over and Die novel was a gruesome bit of business that had a clever hook, an intriguing mystery, and several boo-hiss villains. This book is a solid little read but certainly falls short of its predecessor.
Dein was just a bit of a nuisance in the first book, to my recollection, so it’s interesting to see him elevated to such a miserable cockroach of a human being in this story. He’s definitely an irredeemable character, but his thirst for his own survival makes him a bit more interesting than your average baddie. He’s dangerous because there’s no corner he’ll be backed into that he won’t try to get out of.
Once the... everything... starts to hit the fan, the book takes something that is initially kind of goofy and quickly turns it into an icky morass of body horror. I guess props are in order for not just doing the same thing as last time out - this is some freaky work. There’s a lot of grotesque loss of self found in this one.
The book sells the despairing atmosphere pretty well and makes for an interesting little conspiracy/paranoia tale as it goes along. When things really go dark they go dark indeed, though I think the first book held it together a bit better - some turns of the plot are not as good here and it wasn’t at all what I was expecting (for good and for ill).
What I don’t like so much is the loss of the narrative with the adventuring party Flum used to be with. Those side stories gave some oomph to the original tale as we saw just how important Flum was. Here they get a basic mention at the start and essentially vanish from the narrative. I suspect we won’t be done until Flum gets her revenge on Jean, but he’s barely in this.
The book also goes hardcore shonen towards the end - once people start naming their attacks and other such nonsense it really gets to be a bit much. It’s well-written action, but it goes overboard and will probably keep doing so going forward. I will say that Flum’s climactic encounter is a really well done one though - you don’t even miss the illustrations (and for all my whining, the way she learns to apply her Reversal ability is put to clever use).
The relationship between Flum and Milkit is kind of whatever here. It was woefully codependent to begin with and I do appreciate that this book deftly portrays just how incredibly bad that could be during one part. That felt more believable than their actual affectionate moments (honestly, I don’t want to be a jerk, but I feel it might be because it’s written by a guy).
3.5 stars, rounded up because I do like this series. But the first one was a stellar bit of nastiness with a heart. This one is still nasty, but the heart feels just a bit more artificial as it goes down some more traditional action paths.
March 11, 2022
You don’t have to be a genius to realize and explain why Roll Over and Die is a terrible piece of fiction and an insult to literature as a whole. I have no intention of changing anyone’s thoughts on this work as my honest opinion is that if you’re able to like this, then you’re able to like anything there is to read. Which, don’t get me wrong, is an ability I’m somewhat envious of not having.
Either way, Roll Over and Die is such a bad book that I don’t see any merit in actually writing a cohesive review of it. Instead, my review is quite simply a copy of my textbook of things I hate about this novel, which I decided to create mid-way through the book out of my own morbid curiosity.
Enjoy.
The dialogue is horrendously artificial. Milkit calls Flum her master at the end of every sentence. She blushes every time someone even mentions Flum. Every good (as in, not a villain) character is either a cute girl or a muscular hero. Every cute girl ends up living in Flum’s house. Flum’s powers are just a BS deus-ex machina that allows her to walk everything off. The powers are used in ways that contradict the original explanation of them. She can regenerate any damage. The stats system is a joke. Everybody has 5 basic stats with definitive numeric values, when heroes have higher stats it’s an instant loss for the enemy, but when bad guys have superior numbers it doesn’t matter. Flum can’t cast magic then someone tells her it’s not that hard and suddenly she can. She gets sold into slavery because people bad. She gest beaten around because people bad. Her friends get kidnapped because people bad. Only the people she befriends are good. The bad guys are „the church“. The church conduts experiments on children. Nobody questions a thing of course because they are the church. Dein, the main villain, is an idiot. In one scene he uses a grappler hook to get out and as he’s jumping away he screams bad stuff at Flum like every cartoonish villain ever. He could’ve killed her like 10 times but never does it. She would probably regenerate anyways. Every villain says they want to kill Flum but when they’re fighting they instead spend all the time explaining the plot to the audience. Every fight has dialogue like „HAHAHHA you’re done for“ *something happens* „oh no how come this happened now she’s free!“. Not even my final form happens like every fight too. Every time Flum is about to maybe die, she either regenerates or someone random person saves her. At one point a girl is running through the city from a wave of evil eyeballs and she doesn’t meet a single person for ages despite running through the whole city. Then she does meet like 5 random civilians and the eyes kill everyone and no one in town gives a shit. The eyes enter your body and make you a mutant but it Flum doesn’t care. Flum fights like a whole army of the church guards inside the city and she beats them all. No one questions that either despite the guards blocking roads and stuff. There’s a girl called Ink who doesn’t have eyes but the book always forgets that as if she had perfectly normal eyesight. Flum’s house is literally just a doll house for fanservice. She could’ve killed 10 guys 5 minutes ago but the moment she enters her house it’s fanservice time with Milkit. Who is still fucking blushing. Milkit wears a maid costume because fetishes. She has bandages on her head because cool. She only shows what’s underneath them to Flum in bed. But they’re not dating btw. It’s just friendship. Ink is introduced with a tragic backstory and 3 pages later she is taking a bath with some other girl in Flum’s house. How did she even get a house in the first place. She was a literal slave last volume. Oh btw she was sold into slavery because Jean, another really really bad and mean guy, didn’t like her. Everyone agreed with him back then but now when you ask them Jean was an asshole and everybody loved Flum. The world is the most unispired medieval fantasy ever. Demons, magic and that’s all. Every good character says they’re „investigating“ the church‘s doings as if they needed any evidence when there’s fucking eyeballs killing people on the street. Flum has another unique power called Reversion which can just block and attack and send it back into enemy. Apparently Flum does feel pain from the injuries inflicted on her even though she regenerates everything, she should’ve passed out numerous times mid-fight from losing limbs, burns and idk what else. The dialogues mid-fights are fucking hilarious „HYAAA take that“ *dodges* „AHAHAAH this is exactly where I wanted to have you!“ *repeats 10 times in a single fight*. Ahaha my fucking god turns out Dein the baddest guy on earth who killed a million and one people just wanted a little bit of love alla long. Flum gives him that by talking to him about his worries after the 10th time he tries to assasinate her. Dein is strangeling Flum and what she does is just says Reversion and HIS ARMS FUCKING SNAP IN HALF. Like it’s not enough to be able to fucking regenerate everything you also are able to reverse any kind of damage inflicted. Even after Dein’s arms snap he just puts them back into their place and he can fight with a knife again. In a heroic last ditch-effort Dein gives up his life trying to kill Flum with a suicidal knife attack … knowing better than anyone that while he will die, she will just fucking regenerate. Quote from the middle of the climax of the fight: „Dein swinged his knife wildly slicing open Flum’s shirt, exposing her underwear for all to see!“ I love how the book itself points out that Dein in this fight has far suprassed the physical limitations of a human, one page after he just fixes his broken fucking arms by „putting them back in their place“. When it looks like Dein will actually kill Flum, the evil eyes that were all this time on his side suddenly switch sides and attack him. The book conveniently forgot here that no matter what Dein would’ve done Flum would just regenerate. The evil eyes switch sides because it was actually Ink controlling them all this time. Ink was experimented on by the church and now she is an eyeball spawning monster. Usually she can’t control who she attacks but right as Flum is about to die, she suddenly gains control. The books comments this by saying „Whose will was so strong it could stand in the face of the Gods?“. Because get it, the churchs, gods, get it? The gore in this book is just hilarious. The evil eyes enter your body and make you grow new limbs and organs, turning you into a human meat mass. Flum has a sword that, when she slices someone open, it turns their insides out so their organs are visible or whatever, but the person is still alive so they can suffer through it. The person who is in charge of experimenting on the kids is called Mother, and she is convinced she is being a good mother to the children. So when Flum encounters her the whole argument is just „you are not a good mother, you don’t pay attention to the children“ and they’re having that conversation with a straight face. This Mother literally shows Flum all of what the Church has been doing but Flum doesn’t give a fuck because she saved Milkit and can go back to her doll house. Mother also says that they „can’t kill Flum due to the orders from above“ in a situation when they have an obvious number advantage and just leave. Good for them cause Flum would somehow win anyways. So Ink gets saved by Flum but she is still a monster. They have no way of turning her back human so Ink tells Flum to kill her. Flum is about to do it but then Milkit runs to Ink, hugs her and yells „NOOOO THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY“. And then they find another way and turn Ink back human. And guess how, with Flum’s reversion, for whatever fucking reason. After slicing Dein wide open and letting him be consumend by the evil eyes, he is still alive a hour later after everyone is done having a buddy-buddy conversation. When they’re done with all this Milkit is like I’m the only one who didn’t do anything today, at least I’ll make dinner. Then they all laugh and come back to their fucking ass doll house as if they didn’t just go through the most horrible day in their entire lives. Also exposing the church’s doings can wait first we need to have a snack. At night Milkit crawls into Flum’s bed like she’s a her puppy. But it’s not love btw just friends. The two spend the last chapter having a conversation that’s about the equievalent of „You hang up“ „Nooo you hang up“ „Noooooo you hang up!“ Throughout all that Milkit is still. Fucking. Blushing. AHAHAHAHHAHa and the very last few pages are just Flum and Milkit, sitting on their bed, cleaning they mother fucking ears AHAHAHHAHHAHAHh. You can’t write this shit, you just can’t. And they’re laughing and blushing and yelling „Nooo it tickles!“ as if this piss-poor insult of a book wasn’t embarassing enough as it was.
There, if you can read all this without laughing your ass off because of how hilariously terrible it all is, I genuinely applaud you. Mind you, the list is only this short because I started to take notes in about the last third of the second volume, and I don’t have a good enough memory to recall even a sliver of the bullshit that came before. I will keep updating this list as things come back to me.
Thank you for reading.
Either way, Roll Over and Die is such a bad book that I don’t see any merit in actually writing a cohesive review of it. Instead, my review is quite simply a copy of my textbook of things I hate about this novel, which I decided to create mid-way through the book out of my own morbid curiosity.
Enjoy.
The dialogue is horrendously artificial. Milkit calls Flum her master at the end of every sentence. She blushes every time someone even mentions Flum. Every good (as in, not a villain) character is either a cute girl or a muscular hero. Every cute girl ends up living in Flum’s house. Flum’s powers are just a BS deus-ex machina that allows her to walk everything off. The powers are used in ways that contradict the original explanation of them. She can regenerate any damage. The stats system is a joke. Everybody has 5 basic stats with definitive numeric values, when heroes have higher stats it’s an instant loss for the enemy, but when bad guys have superior numbers it doesn’t matter. Flum can’t cast magic then someone tells her it’s not that hard and suddenly she can. She gets sold into slavery because people bad. She gest beaten around because people bad. Her friends get kidnapped because people bad. Only the people she befriends are good. The bad guys are „the church“. The church conduts experiments on children. Nobody questions a thing of course because they are the church. Dein, the main villain, is an idiot. In one scene he uses a grappler hook to get out and as he’s jumping away he screams bad stuff at Flum like every cartoonish villain ever. He could’ve killed her like 10 times but never does it. She would probably regenerate anyways. Every villain says they want to kill Flum but when they’re fighting they instead spend all the time explaining the plot to the audience. Every fight has dialogue like „HAHAHHA you’re done for“ *something happens* „oh no how come this happened now she’s free!“. Not even my final form happens like every fight too. Every time Flum is about to maybe die, she either regenerates or someone random person saves her. At one point a girl is running through the city from a wave of evil eyeballs and she doesn’t meet a single person for ages despite running through the whole city. Then she does meet like 5 random civilians and the eyes kill everyone and no one in town gives a shit. The eyes enter your body and make you a mutant but it Flum doesn’t care. Flum fights like a whole army of the church guards inside the city and she beats them all. No one questions that either despite the guards blocking roads and stuff. There’s a girl called Ink who doesn’t have eyes but the book always forgets that as if she had perfectly normal eyesight. Flum’s house is literally just a doll house for fanservice. She could’ve killed 10 guys 5 minutes ago but the moment she enters her house it’s fanservice time with Milkit. Who is still fucking blushing. Milkit wears a maid costume because fetishes. She has bandages on her head because cool. She only shows what’s underneath them to Flum in bed. But they’re not dating btw. It’s just friendship. Ink is introduced with a tragic backstory and 3 pages later she is taking a bath with some other girl in Flum’s house. How did she even get a house in the first place. She was a literal slave last volume. Oh btw she was sold into slavery because Jean, another really really bad and mean guy, didn’t like her. Everyone agreed with him back then but now when you ask them Jean was an asshole and everybody loved Flum. The world is the most unispired medieval fantasy ever. Demons, magic and that’s all. Every good character says they’re „investigating“ the church‘s doings as if they needed any evidence when there’s fucking eyeballs killing people on the street. Flum has another unique power called Reversion which can just block and attack and send it back into enemy. Apparently Flum does feel pain from the injuries inflicted on her even though she regenerates everything, she should’ve passed out numerous times mid-fight from losing limbs, burns and idk what else. The dialogues mid-fights are fucking hilarious „HYAAA take that“ *dodges* „AHAHAAH this is exactly where I wanted to have you!“ *repeats 10 times in a single fight*. Ahaha my fucking god turns out Dein the baddest guy on earth who killed a million and one people just wanted a little bit of love alla long. Flum gives him that by talking to him about his worries after the 10th time he tries to assasinate her. Dein is strangeling Flum and what she does is just says Reversion and HIS ARMS FUCKING SNAP IN HALF. Like it’s not enough to be able to fucking regenerate everything you also are able to reverse any kind of damage inflicted. Even after Dein’s arms snap he just puts them back into their place and he can fight with a knife again. In a heroic last ditch-effort Dein gives up his life trying to kill Flum with a suicidal knife attack … knowing better than anyone that while he will die, she will just fucking regenerate. Quote from the middle of the climax of the fight: „Dein swinged his knife wildly slicing open Flum’s shirt, exposing her underwear for all to see!“ I love how the book itself points out that Dein in this fight has far suprassed the physical limitations of a human, one page after he just fixes his broken fucking arms by „putting them back in their place“. When it looks like Dein will actually kill Flum, the evil eyes that were all this time on his side suddenly switch sides and attack him. The book conveniently forgot here that no matter what Dein would’ve done Flum would just regenerate. The evil eyes switch sides because it was actually Ink controlling them all this time. Ink was experimented on by the church and now she is an eyeball spawning monster. Usually she can’t control who she attacks but right as Flum is about to die, she suddenly gains control. The books comments this by saying „Whose will was so strong it could stand in the face of the Gods?“. Because get it, the churchs, gods, get it? The gore in this book is just hilarious. The evil eyes enter your body and make you grow new limbs and organs, turning you into a human meat mass. Flum has a sword that, when she slices someone open, it turns their insides out so their organs are visible or whatever, but the person is still alive so they can suffer through it. The person who is in charge of experimenting on the kids is called Mother, and she is convinced she is being a good mother to the children. So when Flum encounters her the whole argument is just „you are not a good mother, you don’t pay attention to the children“ and they’re having that conversation with a straight face. This Mother literally shows Flum all of what the Church has been doing but Flum doesn’t give a fuck because she saved Milkit and can go back to her doll house. Mother also says that they „can’t kill Flum due to the orders from above“ in a situation when they have an obvious number advantage and just leave. Good for them cause Flum would somehow win anyways. So Ink gets saved by Flum but she is still a monster. They have no way of turning her back human so Ink tells Flum to kill her. Flum is about to do it but then Milkit runs to Ink, hugs her and yells „NOOOO THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY“. And then they find another way and turn Ink back human. And guess how, with Flum’s reversion, for whatever fucking reason. After slicing Dein wide open and letting him be consumend by the evil eyes, he is still alive a hour later after everyone is done having a buddy-buddy conversation. When they’re done with all this Milkit is like I’m the only one who didn’t do anything today, at least I’ll make dinner. Then they all laugh and come back to their fucking ass doll house as if they didn’t just go through the most horrible day in their entire lives. Also exposing the church’s doings can wait first we need to have a snack. At night Milkit crawls into Flum’s bed like she’s a her puppy. But it’s not love btw just friends. The two spend the last chapter having a conversation that’s about the equievalent of „You hang up“ „Nooo you hang up“ „Noooooo you hang up!“ Throughout all that Milkit is still. Fucking. Blushing. AHAHAHAHHAHa and the very last few pages are just Flum and Milkit, sitting on their bed, cleaning they mother fucking ears AHAHAHHAHHAHAHh. You can’t write this shit, you just can’t. And they’re laughing and blushing and yelling „Nooo it tickles!“ as if this piss-poor insult of a book wasn’t embarassing enough as it was.
There, if you can read all this without laughing your ass off because of how hilariously terrible it all is, I genuinely applaud you. Mind you, the list is only this short because I started to take notes in about the last third of the second volume, and I don’t have a good enough memory to recall even a sliver of the bullshit that came before. I will keep updating this list as things come back to me.
Thank you for reading.
May 2, 2021
Flum Apricot is less concerned with the energy required to count all the blood and coin spilled to carve a space for herself in a world that refuses to acknowledge she exists. Flum Apricot is now concerned with the anger and trepidation required to master what few resources she has in pursuit of peace and quiet in the company of those she cares for. ROLL OVER AND DIE #2 evolves from its origin as a visceral dungeon-crawl survivalist narrative and into a more calculating and more personal tale of one young woman's effort to stay alive against all odds.
Not to say Flum Apricot is unaccustomed to fighting for her life. In the previous volume, she outlasted lecherous slave traders, endured attacks from flesh-eating ghouls, and overpowered human-made orc hybrids that were the stuff of nightmares. The kid's got spunk. The only difference, now, is that instead of going out in search of danger, so as to earn a living, Flum must know defend herself against a theater of fools who really do wish she would just roll over and die already.
Flum's life in the western district comes under threat when local sellsword Dein Phineas pledges to make good on his promise to inflict as much suffering on the young adventurer as possible for embarrassing him at a previous impasse. Kidnappers. Assassins. Arsonists. Flum never knows from which direction the next threat might arrive. But she's tough. She can handle it. So long as she can protect her precious maid-friend, Milkit, everything will be alright. But further troubles loom. An orphan girl named Ink arrives on Flum's doorstep. Flum's friend at the church, Sara, is under close watch for her poking and prying of the institution's underground activities. And what's the deal with all of these mysterious and gruesome deaths around town involving hideous, multi-limbed amalgams that resemble something human but are clearly not?
ROLL OVER AND DIE #2 threads each of these splinter plots together in ways that are not always practical but are nonetheless efficient. Flum must defend her household against constant attack (with Eterna's help, thankfully), investigate the church's wrongdoings (especially in the wake of the Anichidey lab incident), discern what to do with the orphan girl and her multitude of secrets (mysteriously, the girl's eyelids are sewn shut), and more. Flum isn't about to give up and die, but one certainly wouldn't blame her, what with all that lurks in the shadows.
The action and violence of this volume is less causal and interconnected. Previously, Flum needed to level-up and firm the foundation of her skills class. Here, she must act and react in accordance of the situation. For much of the novel, this means less brutal violence than readers are accustomed. But when things get going, things really do get going. It's a bit impractical how quickly the girl regrows her limbs, thanks to her blade's magical enchantment, but it's nevertheless fun to see Flum surprise a few bandits after having her arm blown off, getting shot through by a dozen archers, or being infected by a nasty creature that submerges in her flesh and takes control of her limbs. The creepy factor escalates as the novel continues.
Interestingly, readers catch a glimpse of some serious, boss-level baddies in this novel. The events at the Anichidey research lab were terrifying. And yet, it looks like some of the individuals behind the work of that lab, or who have since advanced its findings, have greater ambitions. So, that's another thing to add to the list of troubles: the end boss's subordinates.
The author frames these dilemmas by sharing the weight. It's not uncommon for Flum to believe she has to solve all of these problems herself. This is one of the novel's enduring tapestries. However, recurring characters, such as Eterna, Sara, and the surprise return of a certain friendly swordsman, ensure the cursed girl has some timely backup. ROLL OVER AND DIE #2 also introduces a few new allies. Ottilie Fohkelpi, for example, is the lieutenant general of the royal military; she's young, shrewd, and willing to throw down at a moment's notice. It's good to have close friends in powerful places.
ROLL OVER AND DIE #2 is full of hectic action. Lots of running around. Lots of jumping at shadows. Lots of new and confusing enemies. Lots of uncertainty. It's a different narrative approach than the previous volume, but it still makes for a quality read. The author clearly enjoys tormenting her protagonist. And while Flum may not be all that much closer to discerning the truth behind her unusual affinity, it's becoming curiously evident that her former "hero's party" was assembled by way of duplicitous reasoning. And indeed, it could very well be that the party she's forming in the meanwhile, is one of destiny, composed of an apprentice nun bruiser (Sara), a powerful witch (Eterna), a military expert (Ottilie), a veteran swordsman (Gadhio), and perhaps others.
Not to say Flum Apricot is unaccustomed to fighting for her life. In the previous volume, she outlasted lecherous slave traders, endured attacks from flesh-eating ghouls, and overpowered human-made orc hybrids that were the stuff of nightmares. The kid's got spunk. The only difference, now, is that instead of going out in search of danger, so as to earn a living, Flum must know defend herself against a theater of fools who really do wish she would just roll over and die already.
Flum's life in the western district comes under threat when local sellsword Dein Phineas pledges to make good on his promise to inflict as much suffering on the young adventurer as possible for embarrassing him at a previous impasse. Kidnappers. Assassins. Arsonists. Flum never knows from which direction the next threat might arrive. But she's tough. She can handle it. So long as she can protect her precious maid-friend, Milkit, everything will be alright. But further troubles loom. An orphan girl named Ink arrives on Flum's doorstep. Flum's friend at the church, Sara, is under close watch for her poking and prying of the institution's underground activities. And what's the deal with all of these mysterious and gruesome deaths around town involving hideous, multi-limbed amalgams that resemble something human but are clearly not?
ROLL OVER AND DIE #2 threads each of these splinter plots together in ways that are not always practical but are nonetheless efficient. Flum must defend her household against constant attack (with Eterna's help, thankfully), investigate the church's wrongdoings (especially in the wake of the Anichidey lab incident), discern what to do with the orphan girl and her multitude of secrets (mysteriously, the girl's eyelids are sewn shut), and more. Flum isn't about to give up and die, but one certainly wouldn't blame her, what with all that lurks in the shadows.
The action and violence of this volume is less causal and interconnected. Previously, Flum needed to level-up and firm the foundation of her skills class. Here, she must act and react in accordance of the situation. For much of the novel, this means less brutal violence than readers are accustomed. But when things get going, things really do get going. It's a bit impractical how quickly the girl regrows her limbs, thanks to her blade's magical enchantment, but it's nevertheless fun to see Flum surprise a few bandits after having her arm blown off, getting shot through by a dozen archers, or being infected by a nasty creature that submerges in her flesh and takes control of her limbs. The creepy factor escalates as the novel continues.
Interestingly, readers catch a glimpse of some serious, boss-level baddies in this novel. The events at the Anichidey research lab were terrifying. And yet, it looks like some of the individuals behind the work of that lab, or who have since advanced its findings, have greater ambitions. So, that's another thing to add to the list of troubles: the end boss's subordinates.
The author frames these dilemmas by sharing the weight. It's not uncommon for Flum to believe she has to solve all of these problems herself. This is one of the novel's enduring tapestries. However, recurring characters, such as Eterna, Sara, and the surprise return of a certain friendly swordsman, ensure the cursed girl has some timely backup. ROLL OVER AND DIE #2 also introduces a few new allies. Ottilie Fohkelpi, for example, is the lieutenant general of the royal military; she's young, shrewd, and willing to throw down at a moment's notice. It's good to have close friends in powerful places.
ROLL OVER AND DIE #2 is full of hectic action. Lots of running around. Lots of jumping at shadows. Lots of new and confusing enemies. Lots of uncertainty. It's a different narrative approach than the previous volume, but it still makes for a quality read. The author clearly enjoys tormenting her protagonist. And while Flum may not be all that much closer to discerning the truth behind her unusual affinity, it's becoming curiously evident that her former "hero's party" was assembled by way of duplicitous reasoning. And indeed, it could very well be that the party she's forming in the meanwhile, is one of destiny, composed of an apprentice nun bruiser (Sara), a powerful witch (Eterna), a military expert (Ottilie), a veteran swordsman (Gadhio), and perhaps others.
March 20, 2021
Flum and Milikit’s adventures in the West District continue! Will Flum be able to fight off Dein and his allies while protecting her innocent crush?
The author wrote in the afterword that they were “hoping to tell a full-throttle story full of lesbian romance with just a hint of horror,” but I would argue that the horror aspect really drove this novel. I was holding out for the romance aspect, but it wasn’t until the last couple chapters that we got to see any of Flum and Milikit’s romance (which still hasn’t changed much from Volume One). This novel is another fun addition to the Roll Over and Die series, but doesn’t quite match the exciting tone of its predecessor. Like Volume One, this story has some gruesome elements to it. I’m pretty squeamish, but the action is described so bluntly that I don’t find it over the top at all. The ending of this volume foreshadows more adventure and action to come...and hopefully some wlw representation!
3.5 stars rounded up. Can’t wait for Volume Three!
The author wrote in the afterword that they were “hoping to tell a full-throttle story full of lesbian romance with just a hint of horror,” but I would argue that the horror aspect really drove this novel. I was holding out for the romance aspect, but it wasn’t until the last couple chapters that we got to see any of Flum and Milikit’s romance (which still hasn’t changed much from Volume One). This novel is another fun addition to the Roll Over and Die series, but doesn’t quite match the exciting tone of its predecessor. Like Volume One, this story has some gruesome elements to it. I’m pretty squeamish, but the action is described so bluntly that I don’t find it over the top at all. The ending of this volume foreshadows more adventure and action to come...and hopefully some wlw representation!
3.5 stars rounded up. Can’t wait for Volume Three!
September 9, 2025
If the transmisogynistic character of "Mother", a transfeminine coded woman with "monstrous" and "masculine" features who was consistently portrayed as abusive and predatory and who was consistently degendered even by the book itself wasn't present, this would be another 5/5 read. The introduction on Ink Wreathcraft is a welcome member of Flum's little found family, and giving Eternia a child to look after in the queer found family of Flum, Milkit, and Eternia is an amazing thing. She adds a cheerful dynamic to the characters much like Sarah does, and her permanent presence in the story, unlike Sarah's, is a consistent mood lifter. It's also rather sad that "Mother" is portrayed as a monstrous trans woman, because Ink, as a character, could be read as a metaphor for a young trans girl about to go through puberty. Considering that the plot (the eyeballs) is literally kicked off by Ink's body being out of control and despite it being literally a function of her body, she really doesn't want to be the monster/mutant she was born/created as, with the final part of the story culminating in a surgery done to Ink to make her body more human passing to her own benefit, a transfeminine reading of Ink can be part of, or all of, the crux of the story. Otherwise, I really love this series of books, and in fact, reading Ink as a trans girl just makes me like the series more.
August 2, 2021
I really hoped this one would somehow even surpass the first one. This book moves into this daily life arc which brings more suspense into the horror aspects. There were some exceptionally frightening parts in this volume, and some of the illustrations are *brutal*. They were all very well chosen in this volume, better than in most light novels I have read.
This novel still fell from four-star to three-star to me because the ending was extremely lackluster from a horror aspect. . Towards the end of the book, the quality of the dialogue took a huge hit as well. Part of this could have been the translation, but the characters suddenly seem to figure out everything going around them with the faintest of hints or prodding, making them feel omnipotent.
This series still has legs I think so I am going to keep on!
This novel still fell from four-star to three-star to me because the ending was extremely lackluster from a horror aspect. . Towards the end of the book, the quality of the dialogue took a huge hit as well. Part of this could have been the translation, but the characters suddenly seem to figure out everything going around them with the faintest of hints or prodding, making them feel omnipotent.
This series still has legs I think so I am going to keep on!
July 11, 2021
2.5/5, rounded up to 3.
Well, what can I say? Overall the book is good. The horror element is great, keeping me in the edge of my chair. There was a scene in the middle of the volume (which also had an illustration) which scared the hell out of me haha. The yuri too was good, and developed in a really good pace.
But the ending, oh the ending. How I hated it. It felt so lackluster compared to what the narrative was implying. It was sheer convenience. Uttely unbelievable. Completely misplaced.
They sold a grimdark story, but what I got was just a story with blood and violence. This is not enough to be grimdark imo.
So, if you are looking for a grimdark light novel, keep looking. You won't find it here.
December 30, 2021
Definitely much worse than the first volume. I found myself drifting off to sleep each time I picked this up but managed to tough my way through it. The action is dull, the romance never materializes, characters show up and disappear randomly and yet are privy to events they weren’t even involved in. There are some marginally interesting bits alluding to this world being a future earth-like world that returned to a quasi-medieval world at some point in the recent past as one character has specific recollections of that past at the end. But, that trope is more interestingly told in Mark Lawrence’s The Broken Empire trilogy.
September 29, 2025
A great follow up that shows a slow and gentle progression of the yuri romance we want from Flum and Milkit. All while giving us an abundance of the grim and grotesque we expect after Vol. 1. Especially an illustration that finally gave us a visual of what the spiral truly looks like and I was in no way prepared for that.
While the over arching plot line keeps moving forward, I can't say it is one that sounds very unique and a little underwhelming in the grand scheme of things. The grim and dark aspect falling off is probably what killed most of my excitement. Here is hoping a little extra gets put in to differentiate itself moving forward. That or the disturbing nature of the world gets brought back to the standard volume 1 left me expected.
While the over arching plot line keeps moving forward, I can't say it is one that sounds very unique and a little underwhelming in the grand scheme of things. The grim and dark aspect falling off is probably what killed most of my excitement. Here is hoping a little extra gets put in to differentiate itself moving forward. That or the disturbing nature of the world gets brought back to the standard volume 1 left me expected.
March 1, 2021
Another awesome volume
This series has the best description of combat that I've read yet. It really feels like I'm watching the fight instead of reading it. I also love the horror elements, they add a nice change of pace. And Flum and Milkit's relationship is just so innocent. I'm loving everything about this series and looking forward to reading the next volume.
This series has the best description of combat that I've read yet. It really feels like I'm watching the fight instead of reading it. I also love the horror elements, they add a nice change of pace. And Flum and Milkit's relationship is just so innocent. I'm loving everything about this series and looking forward to reading the next volume.
March 26, 2021
I Pre-Ordered this an I’m so happy that I did. It was very stressful that I read the entire book in a within 24 hours (time spent reading 9 1/4 hr). The story the characters and the punch’s to my heart were all worth it thank you Kiki for your amazing story.
June 12, 2021
Great part 2
Fun, slow, so slow but beautiful romance , magic, fantasy adventure with some light and very heavy moments . I’m really enjoying this series very much and look forward to reading more about this story . Flum is an awesome character.
Fun, slow, so slow but beautiful romance , magic, fantasy adventure with some light and very heavy moments . I’m really enjoying this series very much and look forward to reading more about this story . Flum is an awesome character.
December 19, 2021
Realmente una historia impresionante, se pone más turbio a medida que se descubren los secretos de la iglesia y dejando con unas ganas de saber que es lo que pasó mucho antes, así como el punto de vista de los demonios.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 6, 2025
My main problem with this entry is that they should have killed Dane a long, long time ago. Dude tried to murder a bunch of people multiple times, and sent people to rape and murder little girls. Why not kill him immediately? Makes no sense.
February 4, 2021
So if Akame ga Kill and Berserk merged, took crack, and had some feel good yuri elements to it, you’d end up with my favourite light novel (which is this)
February 11, 2021
Another great volume!
Dark and horrific with a tinge of Yuri, another great volume in this series. I'll be back for volume 3.
Dark and horrific with a tinge of Yuri, another great volume in this series. I'll be back for volume 3.
July 20, 2021
This continues to be pretty solid in it's grimdark way. I'm quite enjoying it.
June 7, 2022
Review to come.
I am not sure if I want to start Novel 3, or if I should start Otherside Picnic.
I am not sure if I want to start Novel 3, or if I should start Otherside Picnic.
July 8, 2023
เป็นยูริที่อ่านโคตรสนุกกกกก
March 29, 2024
The horror got amped up, the action got better, this book built upon everything From book one and ended with such a good cliffhanger!
Read
November 4, 2025That damn wire.
January 24, 2022
My impressions of the first volume left me thinking this was an edgy series with an excellent sense of adventure and some horror elements. This volume was more of an edgy mess but the horror elements really delivered in a way I was delighted to see. I was genuinely spooked in some points.
The story could be quite repetitive as it follows Flum being followed around and stalked by a character from the first volume, which is all good in of itself, but it dawdles on either character actually getting anywhere. There's a lot of things happening outside of this, but they aren't as much of a focus as they probably should have been. With Flum constantly re-encountering this character throughout the novel, the threat this character posed never really felt real, especially as other plotlines overshadowed this character's threat level easily.
The characters are still sweet, I think I actually like Flum now even if she's very much the basic protagonist personality. Eterna is officially the best character so far but we all saw that coming. Sadly, Milkit still makes me uncomfortable. I want to like her, and I want to like her relationship to Flum, but the "master" thing that I was sure would begin to fade away as they worked on building Milkit's confidence suddenly doesn't seem to be going anywhere. The power dynamic is still very unbalanced and I'm hoping Milkit coming into her own is more of a focus in the next two volumes.
I also missed the sense of adventure in this one as the setting remains in the city the whole time. As that was one of my main impressions from the first volume, and what convinced me to continue the series, it was somewhat disappointed to not find that much here. I suppose I don't mind the idea of them staying in the town but I wish we had more worldbuilding in the individual streets and exploring their city that's now their home rather than brushing it by. I hope this is something that returns in the next volume too.
New characters like Otilie and Ink were alright. Otilie is a character archetype that I usually love anyway so I'm pretty happy with her character but Ink was a bit... well she didn't really add much for me. Hoping for more development at some point.
I've noticed while typing this up that there's just a lot that I hope to see in the coming volumes that this one didn't really deliver on. I do like it about as much as the first one though because I should emphasize how much I loved the horror, it was truly a highlight and I really like the way it was written. Everything else that I'm still hoping to see seems like it can be fulfilled in character development which happens over the course of a series anyway, and it's still ongoing (despite the hiatus, I really hope we get news on volume 5 in Japan soon :/) so there's plenty of opportunity in the future for what I want out of the series to make a proper appearance.
The story could be quite repetitive as it follows Flum being followed around and stalked by a character from the first volume, which is all good in of itself, but it dawdles on either character actually getting anywhere. There's a lot of things happening outside of this, but they aren't as much of a focus as they probably should have been. With Flum constantly re-encountering this character throughout the novel, the threat this character posed never really felt real, especially as other plotlines overshadowed this character's threat level easily.
The characters are still sweet, I think I actually like Flum now even if she's very much the basic protagonist personality. Eterna is officially the best character so far but we all saw that coming. Sadly, Milkit still makes me uncomfortable. I want to like her, and I want to like her relationship to Flum, but the "master" thing that I was sure would begin to fade away as they worked on building Milkit's confidence suddenly doesn't seem to be going anywhere. The power dynamic is still very unbalanced and I'm hoping Milkit coming into her own is more of a focus in the next two volumes.
I also missed the sense of adventure in this one as the setting remains in the city the whole time. As that was one of my main impressions from the first volume, and what convinced me to continue the series, it was somewhat disappointed to not find that much here. I suppose I don't mind the idea of them staying in the town but I wish we had more worldbuilding in the individual streets and exploring their city that's now their home rather than brushing it by. I hope this is something that returns in the next volume too.
New characters like Otilie and Ink were alright. Otilie is a character archetype that I usually love anyway so I'm pretty happy with her character but Ink was a bit... well she didn't really add much for me. Hoping for more development at some point.
I've noticed while typing this up that there's just a lot that I hope to see in the coming volumes that this one didn't really deliver on. I do like it about as much as the first one though because I should emphasize how much I loved the horror, it was truly a highlight and I really like the way it was written. Everything else that I'm still hoping to see seems like it can be fulfilled in character development which happens over the course of a series anyway, and it's still ongoing (despite the hiatus, I really hope we get news on volume 5 in Japan soon :/) so there's plenty of opportunity in the future for what I want out of the series to make a proper appearance.
July 11, 2022
Ichi thì dịch mượt khỏi bàn, nội dung cực kì cuốn, couple Milkit x Flum cũng siêu siêu soft nữa, nói chung là rất đáng để đọc
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