Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis – Review

Published: May 28, 2024

Publisher: Titan Books

Series: N/A

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 368 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
A sharp-witted, high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, evil wizards and a garlic festival – all at once. Perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, K. J. Parker and Travis Baldree.

It’s bad enough waking up in a half-destroyed evil wizard’s workshop with no eyebrows, no memories, and no idea how long you have before the Dread Lord Whomever shows up to murder you horribly and then turn your skull into a goblet or something.

It’s a lot worse when you realize that Dread Lord Whomever is… you.

Gav isn’t really sure how he ended up with a castle full of goblins, or why he has a princess locked in a cell. All he can do is play along with his own evil plan in hopes of getting his memories back before he gets himself killed.

But as he realizes that nothing – from the incredibly tasteless cloak adorned with flames to the aforementioned princess – is quite what it seems, Gav must face up to all the things the Dread Lord Gavrax has done. And he’ll have to answer the hardest question of all – who does he want to be?

A high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, an evil wizard convocation, and a garlic festival. All at once. Dread Lord Gavrax has had better weeks.

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I feel like I’ve really been on a roll with these humorous fantasy stories lately and I’m actually really loving this trend. I know humor in books, especially when it’s very prominent, won’t work for everyone but I apparently don’t mind getting burned occasionally. I will pick up most humor-heavy fantasy books that grab my interest and give them a try. Dreadful was a success for me!

This follows Gav, who has just woken up in a strange tower, full of strange objects that he has no memory of. Gav is terrified that he’s about to be found by… well, anyone, and they’ll kill him for trespassing because there’s no way he belongs here! Slowly, his memories trickle back a little and he realizes that he is in fact, Dread Lord Gavrax and the tower is his, as are the goblins that staff the tower and fear him so horribly. Apparently he was bad for blowing them up if they displeased him for any minor slight – not a great guy, ol’ Gavrax. Gav is trying to separate himself from his previous self because he doesn’t actually want to be a bad guy anymore. He wants to stay alive and not get killed by the significantly more powerful and more evil wizards that he’s supposed to be working with for some mysterious spell. Oh, and he’s also got a kidnapped princess in his dungeon and she’s really not a fan of Gavrax, or the new Gav. 

Gav was a delightful character that was the story equivalent of looking back on your cringey teenage years and going “Oh my god, why did I do that”. He has that same experience every time he opens his wardrobe and sees that tacky ass flame covered robe. I think it also shows how people are shaped by their pasts. Gav might not have turned into such an awful person and Dark Wizard if he hadn’t been trying to shield himself from a ton of terrible experiences by developing this tough evil guy persona. I mean, his choices were definitely NOT the right way to handle those things, but that’s how people actually react to rejection and trauma sometimes. Those people need therapy and so did Gav, but that’s not found in fantasy books very often!

I loved watching him try to be a better person once he was given the chance for a fresh start, free of his past. He made the goblins so happy! The princess, Eliasha, was a delightful character as well, and once she and Gav got on better terms they made a great team. Even the other Dark Wizards were fairly interesting, and though they weren’t all that detailed they felt appropriately threatening. This was definitely more (main) character driven and I really enjoyed it. I think the humor in this book is going to be more universally appreciated than that in How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying, though if you enjoyed one, you may enjoy the other. Overall, I would recommend this particularly if you’re looking for a good laugh and some solid character development. Also, who can resist a story from the villain’s perspective?