Deathbound Duke's Daughter: Volume 1

Deathbound Duke's Daughter Light Novel #1

by Terasu Senoo, Munashichi (Illustrator), Roy Nukia (Translator)

One evening in early spring, eight-year-old Erika Aurelia realizes she’s the detestable little villainess from an otome game called Liber Monstrorum: The Winter Maiden and the Phantasmic Beasts. As if that wasn’t bad enough already, Erika’s role in the game is to pester the main character... and then die in order to kick off a mysterious series of events! These incidents are different in each love interest’s route, and seven routes means seven deaths to avoid. Not one to throw in the towel, Erika knows she must take action to destroy her death flags—and since her life is on the line, there’s no time to lose!

Her very first death flag is set to rise after she meets two noble children from a prominent magician’s house. In order to prevent the resulting incidents, the Gold Rush Murders, she arms herself with her brother's expensive(!!!) magical items and heads into the ancient Seafarer’s Ruins. But things don’t quite go according to plan...

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Magic, Shojo, Romance, Fiction, Adventure

173 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 12, 2017

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't let the similar descriptions fool you - this is much darker than My Next Life as a Villainess in terms of both the heroine's previous life and her reincarnation.

[Jeremia Dominguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good worldbuilding focus, and the characters are also enjoyable. Plays out as a nice mystery adventure.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is AMAZING. However, my heart has been BROKEN because I just found out more than the first two light novels are not available in English and I WANT TO SOB!! This is just SO AMAZING and I NEED ALL THE STORY NOW!

5, heartbroken I guess I need to buckle down and learn Japanese now, stars.

[Nicole Westen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not expect to love this series as much as I did. The premise is the same many other isekai light novels with a female protagonist, but what really sets is apart from the pack is the sheer amount of world building. I don't think I've come across any isekai novel so far that has developed the fantasy world to this extent, including ancient movements of people, the evolution of religions, and the differences in function between things such as magic and alchemy, even though they appear the same at first. Just from this first volume you are left with a little bit of a feeling of wonder at what else there is to discover in this fantasy world.
I would also consider this a read-a-like for My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom, although darker. Erika is the villainess of an otome game with a reincarnated earth-person soul. Remembering how she died first in every route in the game, Erika sets out to eliminate the initial events that would later, at school, lead to her demise. And if you wanted to like My Next Life as a Villainess, but thought it was too silly, then check this one out. Similar premise but with more serious drama.

[Shay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich worldbuilding, an incredibly intricate magic system, and a cast of likeable characters.

To call this just an Isekai novel is to do it a disservice. While there are mentions of the protagonists past life brought up a few times, it is never overly dwelled upon or consistently referenced.

I was caught off guard by how detailed everything in the world was, by the end of it, I was interested in the other nations, and excited to see how they all interact with each other. Alchemists, Magicians, Dragon Riders, all separated by nation, and from the looks of it, each having their own way of interacting with the world.

Im excited to see what Erika gets up to next, and hope she's able to shatter all of her death flags.

[m · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, because although the descriptions were nice and the magic system pretty cool, I don't feel like I cared at all about the characters, which is something pretty important for light novels to me.

[Ami 乁⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠o⁠ ⁠˘⁠ ⁠ㄏ (written by Jane Austen) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this novel once before and immediately deserted it after realising it's another one of those "reborn as a villainness" novels because I've had a bad experience with those types and isekai in general.

But!

I decided to give it a second chance and what do you know, this is actually pretty good! The worldbuilding is quite intriguing, the protagonist is not a goody two shoes who removes her death flags just by being herself (I'm looking at you My Next Life as a Villainness: All Routes lead to Doom) and has a shade of layers, though sometimes she does exhibit an annoying level of dumbness. The other characters are also interesting, if a little flat but the central plot more than makes up for it.

That being said, the writing style can be a bit overbearing sometimes in that the author tries to explain everything all at once (which seems to be a problem with most light novels I've read so far) but the novels being so small definitely helps with that problem.

All in all, it is a pretty good read as far as isekai fiction go.

[Megan Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings on this one. In some ways I like that the world building has more depth than most light novels. The wand woods, magical ink, and supernatural creatures that compose the world appear to be thought out. The pacing seems too quick as it focuses solely on the action and not really the character interactions. Some will love this but it is not quite what I was expecting going in and it was hard to adjust. Parts of it also were a little confusing. Eight-year-olds battling old gods is a bit much for a starting arc but, truthfully, I guess that will depend on what follows.

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the main character. She feels realized enough to carry a series. The author managed to make the rest of the cast feel like individuals with understandable motivations.

It's a small twist on a generic fantasy setting (enough that all of the spells are recognizable from D&D) but I'd be the last person to hold that against a book.

[Abi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Entertaining, well translated, and exciting. That said, I found the labyrinth portion of the book to be too long. I liked Erika, Claus, and Anne. While it was good overall, I can't say I absolutely loved it. I might read the next one.

[My · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads more like a fantasy novel with the amount of worldbuilding and intriguing (and quite dark) hints at a much bigger story than your usual isekai light novel, I'm hooked and would like to see more of Erika's current life and past life.

[¥uri ݁˖☘︎✟⚚☕︎݁˖ · Rating 4 out of 5]

an enjoyable read

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

The story touch my soul. I feel for this little girl. Characters personality was deep. Worth to read and add to collection.