For fans of Piers Anthony's "Xanth" series or Terry Pratchett's humor, "Dreadful" is your next comfort read!

Caitlin Rozakis does what many fun, low-stakes reads often fail to do, and that's giving the main character enough of a developmental arc that feels both natural and aligned with the plot. Our main character Gav, an evil-wizard-turned-feminist-icon, undergoes such an arc, but without the hemming and hawing of "wow, look, this man is learning the basics of being a decent human"! Against a backdrop of comical side characters, including a princess who also learns not to judge a goblin by its smell, and a group of terrified-but-sturdy villagers, "Dreadful" feels like a whimsical D&D campaign that leaves you feeling good (and wanting to redecorate your dungeon by the end).

Rozakis' prose is straightforward, never lofty, which makes this novel accessible. It handles sexism and racism well without shoving the lessons learned in your face. Gav is likable despite his seedy past and the heroes that come to rescue the princess become caricatures of faux gallantry, which makes you root for the slap-stick, messy group of true heroes even more. I enjoyed every minute and was sad it was over by the time I finished the last page.

Deceptively heartfelt and full of hilarious capriciousness, make sure "Dreadful" is on your shelf, if only to provide warmth and comfort in a world that feels more and more like an Evil Wizard's squid-filled moat.

A new trend seems to be emerging in fantasy books with plot about villains who don't necessarily want to be villains and Dreadful is a striking example of that. Unfortunately in this case the subgenre the author chose is COSY, which equals painful boredom that is not levelled by the book's humor. It's ridiculous, sure, but at the same time it seems forced to me. Not a lot is happening here, the protagonist's inner monologues grow monotonous after first chapter and his motivation to change and ditch the villainy has no logical explanation (apart from fulfilling the "cosy" tropes). The ending felt anticlimactic and probably that's what killed the book for me. Lesson learned, I should keep away from anything that brands itself a "cosy" read and uses Pratchett's name as a marketing gimmick.

Dreadful is yet another case of “stellar concept, so-so execution.” I mean, look at that cover, right? Gorgeous. Unfortunately, that’s about as high as my praise will get with this one. While there’s definitely a lot to enjoy, in the end, some of the choices made left me unsatisfied.

I don’t think it’s entirely fair to compare this to Terry Pratchett. I mean, sure, on a surface level, whimsical fantasy with a twist is very Pratchett, but Dreadful seems to be missing that Pratchett oomph. What do I mean by this? Well, Pratchett’s work is definitely funny and witty, but the writing grounds itself in questions of morality, ethics, philosophy, and the like. There’s no such thing as whimsy for whimsy’s sake; every character, plot, and arc has a purpose in the larger philosophical exploration of Discworld.

That can’t be said of Dreadful. Oh, there’s an Attempt, sure, but any discussions of misogyny feel confused and tacked-on to the plot. (Nothing is fully explored in a way that feels earned, is my point.)

We follow Gav, the Dark Lord Gavrax, a dark wizard whose amnesia prevents him from remembering the choices he made that set him off on his dark path. It’s heavily implied that his past experiences set him down a path of misogyny and resentment, but, because he’s lost his memories, he never has to grapple with his choices. What’s stopping him from doing everything again? You could make an argument that his new friendships and alliances are what’s preventing him from making the same mistakes, but, without understanding his past choices, I just don’t buy that he won’t make them again. How can you learn from your mistakes if you don’t even know what those mistakes are, etc.? Ultimately, this character development just felt unsatisfying and, frankly, I didn’t really buy it.

The author has better luck with the supporting characters, like the goblins, who feel more believable because their status as supporting characters means they don’t need to be fleshed out as much. They’re easier to like because you don’t watch the author struggling to give them unearned depth.

On the whole, the plot and pacing are fine, and the ending feels earned, but my frustrations with our protagonist make this a hard book to unilaterally recommend. It might’ve been the mood I was in while I was reading. As always, feel free to draw your own conclusions. If you’re interested in a cozy fantasy, the fact that this doesn’t work for me shouldn’t be the reason you feel dissuaded from checking it out.

The book was amusing and I liked the premise of a dark wizard who forgets who he is and he’s surprisingly not that dark after forgetting himself. I enjoyed some of the characters and I liked the use of absurd scenarios and humor to discuss toxic masculinity. However, the writing just wasn’t for me. It was fast paced with you dumped right into the story and I didn’t really care about any of the characters. Overall, it was funny but not memorable for me.

I don’t think I read the same book as everyone else or this just wasn’t for me. It felt like I was dropped into the middle of a story with no explanation and it kept getting weirder and more confusing. I get that the main character does not know who he is and has forgotten pretty much everything but I just did not enjoy this story or the way it was written. I really wanted to like this one but it just wasn’t for me.

This was a super fun read. I found myself actually cackling at times. The humor in this is a mix of dark humor and just plain silliness. I loved all of the characters. The main character was absolutely delightful and his development throughout the book was fun to watch. All of the supporting cast was so much fun. I love loved the goblins and the sassy princess. The world building was fantastic. And the writing just had so much wit and self awareness in it. I like that in all the humor and fun there was really and underlined vibe of doing what is right int he face of a "second chance" of sorts and the journey that is taken to be not really the best person but the best version of your person.

This book is HILARIOUS. I've been going around telling people it reminds me of THE PRINCESS BRIDE from the villain's perspective...if the villain ended up losing his memory and turning good (or just pleasantly average). I was initially intrigued by this book because of the concept, which is stellar in itself, but it's so rare that the execution of an idea lives up to my expectations as thoroughly as this one did. The characters are all so lovable (except Zarconar...), and the wit of the narration is second to none. Over and over again, I found myself laughing out loud and murmuring snippets of dialogue to myself because they begged to be heard. All this to say, I will IMMEDIATELY be purchasing a copy for myself, and I will also be purchasing anything Caitlin Rozakis writes in the future. Basically, I'm a lifelong fan.

Normally I would classify myself as a fairly drama-orientated reader. I love me some heart ache and feelings. However, every once in a while there’s a book that comes along that the synopsis just sounds so funny, that I have to read it. Dreadful was one such book—and if fun and whimsy are your main goals, then it certainly does not disappoint.
Personally, I’m not super into most amnesia based storylines as I find them frustrating, but the tone that this one took really set it apart. Gav’s lack of memory wasn’t used as a crutch to deliver exposition. Instead it was treated more-so as a comedic tool to emphasize the absurdity of his former persona’s reputation and behaviour. In that vein, Dreadful felt a lot more akin to a classic British surrealist humour and satire as opposed to situational comedy. Think more Monty Python and less primetime American sitcom.
Overall, it was an incredibly amusing read, even if it did get a little wordy in the internal monologues at times. If you’re a fan of twisted fairytales, but done in a silly way, then I would certainly recommend it.

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis is simply brilliant, a rollicking great adventure that is the perfect mix of HIgh Fantasy and Contemporary Satire/ Humour. The narrative and storyline is artfully constructed and the characters are simply brilliant, especially Gav who is utterly polarised and confused to his core because of it

Highly recommended and I am looking forward to more from this author

Thank you to Netgalley, Titan Books and Caitlin Rozakis for this hilarious ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

This is a lovely book with lots of lovely heart and descriptions. It’s funny and fun and great for anyone who loves Fantasy, but wants something fresh and different.

Dreadful is a rather delightful book. I mainly requested it because the summary sounded so interesting but the actual story is so much more fun than I could ever have expected.

Dark Wizard, Gav, has just woken up with no memory and, over the course of the book, comes to realise that being a dark wizard isn’t the be all and end all to life. In fact, being good is a lot more productive and rewarding than hurting people. With the help of his goblins, his serfs and a princess he is keeping captive, Gav has the opportunity to redefine his life and decide who he wants to be/

This was such a fun book. It takes a lot of traditional fantasy tropes and completely turns them on their head in a fun way. Rozakis wonderfully plays with these tropes before taking things in a completely different direction and it was delightful to read.

Gav makes for a fantastic protagonist. You never actually get to know who he was since the book begins with his amnesia, but you revel in reading him learn to be better over the course of the book. I spent most of the book smiling at his growth as a character and he definitely earns the ending he gets.

Dreadful was a very fun read. It’s fast paced with lots of things happening but it never feels like too much. I enjoyed the characters and Rozakis writes her story very well. It is well worth a read.

It was a cute book and an interesting take on fantasy but I dont think it was great. I think it would appeal to teen boys who read fantasy. It didnt really read as adult fantasy to me.

I was initially very excited for this read, I love a good cozy read, and was interested to see how the author explored the themes of identity and toxic masculinity. We meet Gav, a "dark wizard" when he wakes up from a spell gone wrong having lost all of his memories, leaving him, essentially, a tabula rasa version of himself that is ready to turn over a new leaf and try to "be good". On one hand, it was fascinating to consider the concept of a "core" version of ourselves existing sort of buried beneath our life experiences and trauma, a sort of experiment with nature versus nurture playing out in a fantasy world, I found it hard to care too much about a male character finding it hard to not be a complete murderous asshole. The story was charming enough, but remained a bit shallow and forgettable.

A dark wizard loses his memory, and his darkness along with it. This was so funny, and such a fun ride. I would definitely recommend to Terry Pratchett fans, or anyone who enjoyed the Tales of Pell.

This book doesn’t match its title, because it’s absolutely wonderful! So clever, so much laughter to be had. What happens when the Dread Lord Gavrax loses his memory. Well first don’t panic! Actually for Gav panic is very easy indeed, and only to be expected when you are a Dread Lord, with no knowledge of your past, your plans or dread lord skills, and you are not nearly the baddest Evil Wizard! Gav is about to have a week to remember (sorry for the pun). The one positive, if you can’t remember who you were, maybe you can have another chance to be the person you can live with for the rest of your life. If you live long enough to have a ‘rest’ that is! Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

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?

It seems like Dark Lords and similar are all the rage in my month as a reader, and it is pretty hard to not make comparisons between this one and How To Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying, especially because they have a lot of things in common and because I read that one quite recently too. But these two books, even if they have quite similar premises, because they have Dark Lords (atypical Dark Lords at that) and are both farces, are quite different from each other.
Dreadful has much more heart and it is delightful. It is cute, and it is sweet. (And how you can be sweet and have a garlic festival goes beyond me, especially because I detest garlic with a passion, and here I was, completely in love with a garlic festival). It is funny, and it is heartwarming (again, dark lords, evil wizards, goblins, and killing moat squid don’t usually go hand in hand with heartwarming, but this one will surprise you, in all the best possible ways!).

We follow Gav, who comes to his senses without memories. He doesn’t remember who he was, he doesn’t remember his previous plans at all and he doesn’t know why in hell he has a princess in his dungeons, scared goblins all around, and a sack full of moat squid death set on killing them all. What he knows is that his previous self wasn’t really a good person, some greater plan is in motion, and some really bad people are involved. And things aren’t looking up for him or his castle and his village.
He tries his best to improvise and to unravel, at least a bit, all the bad things his previous self had done but… it’s not so easy, especially since all the heroes in the kingdom are trying to kill him to free the princess (and in doing so they would probably kill her horrifically but that’s not the point here), and a congress of dark mages has to be had in his castle in less than a week. And hey! they also have a garlic festival to organize, because they found themselves with an abundance of garlic and no other things.
Following Gav around while he tries to be a better version of himself, and while he get to know, really know, the people who live around him is a small pleasure.
Sure, we have a plot that is full of twists, action, funny moments, sweet ones, and scary ones… it is quite the complete plot, there is something for everyone, really! And we also have some in-depth moments and food for thought, sure. But to me, the best thing in this book was the characters.

I may not be the greatest fan of the princess, but she is a good character too, it’s just personal preference. That said, I loved a lot of these characters and there are so many fun moments in there. The Goblins and Siraco, the steward, were just so cute. Sort of… But I loved them all! It was delightful, it was fun (a lot of fun!) and it was also heartwarming. We have a lot of “awww” moments, too.
The only complaint here is that we don’t have enough squid. Not nearly enough!!!

This book is highly original and yet so comfortable. It really has a sort of cozy vibe to it, even if this is not a “proper” cozy book, and it is completely new even if it feels like your snuggly comforter. It is a hard mix to obtain, but the author did an amazing job with it. I had fun, I had comfort, and I was quite happy while reading it. I don’t think I could have asked for more! And a last, small thing but… have you seen that cover?? It is so dark and cute and… aww!!!!!

Dreadful is a hilarious misadventure of a Dark Wizard who’s forgotten pretty much everything about himself and why he’s missing his eyebrows.

As Gav figures out who he was (apparently a Dread Lord in a castle full of goblins), he also has to come to terms with his past self’s extravagant decor choices, a princess locked in the cells, and evil colleagues that have an evil plan to execute.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the eARC!

I found Dreadful to be laugh-out-loud funny. Caitlin Rozakis has brought to life a seriously unfortunate bloke who only has himself to blame for the predicament he’s garnered.

This very much reads like the Dungeons & Dragons movie that recently came out (Honour Among Thieves). There’s cantrips and fireballs, and moments where you could easily imagine the player has rolled a critical fail. And I think my background of playing D&D made this tale a rich experience.

Characters like Orla and Valevna were fantastic and really highlighted a diverse cast. And there was a strong message of the woes of toxic masculinity without being preachy. The inclusion of frank conversations between characters were refreshing and made sense to help show growth in certain parties. Again, these were done in a way that didn’t shove ideologies down your throat.

Overall, this was a fun read! I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the messes that arose from the tomfoolery. The crescendo of the narrative could have had more payoff, but it didn’t ruin the reading experience. If you enjoy sassy bickering, an unfortunate sod untangling disasters, and quaint sidekicks that will steal your heart then you’re in for a treat with Dreadful. Just look out for the moat squids. They’re no joke.

Review TL;DR
Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars
Strongest elements: World building and comedic scenes.
Content warnings: Slavery, murder, sexism, gore, kidnapping, confinement, racism, and violence.
Genre: Fantasy

DREADFUL by Caitlin Rozakis is a light-hearted venture into how memories and outward appearance define oneself. It all starts when one middle-aged man wakes up in his lab, which is now on fire and one big mess. He doesn't remember who or where he is, much less that he has a princess as a prisoner. Through context clues and careful conversation, he discovers he's the Dread Lord Gavrax, who has a rather dismal reputation. But without his memories, is he really the Dread Lord? And does he have time for all this introspection when also fielding and upcoming ritual with an even darker wizard?

DREADFUL by Caitlin Rozakis is Despicable Me meets Shrek. Gavrax, or Gav, is the main character who so desires to be bad, but just can't seem to get it quite right. Naturally a hot head, Gav forces that reaction down because it doesn't serve his current situation. First he must figure out who he is and what's going on. Because he apparently kidnapped a princess, there are a number of forgettable hero types (like Prince Charming from Shrek). You know the kind: all good looks and bravado but no skills, smarts, or forethought. These golden hero archetypes make themselves known in the latter half of the book and provide some minor entertainment.

Eliasha, the princess, has a strong moral compass and essentially serves as Gav's conscience. She of course doesn't let him assuage his guilt and is obviously quite annoyed at being his prisoner. But she has some flaws as well, which I think shows that even seemingly perfect storybook figures aren't so impeccable after all. Eliasha learns from her bias and becomes comfortable with her other "flaw," deemed as such by her family.

With respect to the storytelling, the writing style worked just fine for my preferences. Given the official synopsis I had hoped for a bit more banter and humor, maybe something more over the top. The moat quid is more of a side piece (until it isn't) rather than a feature. But I still found it entertaining between the goblin kitchen staff mishaps and the low stakes relative to the fantasy I tend to read. I also thought it was a tad bit slow and wanted a little more action, but that didn't stop me from finishing it.

Even though DREADFUL is a lighter read, it presents some philosophical questions. Who are we without our memories? If we lose them, are we still the same person everyone knows? Should we be held accountable for actions we don't remember, especially if we no longer seem to be that past person? And can we be a different person without our memories and will people accept that?

It also touches on the importance of appearance. Even though Gav no longer desires to hurt others, he keeps up appearances until he gets his bearings. In this case it's foreboding decor, furnishings, and clothing. When people see him appear this way, they expect evil actions, particularly since they know past Gavrax. Gav slowly comes to realize perhaps this is a shield for his own cowardice.

Overall, DREADFUL by Caitlin Rozakis is a fun standalone fantasy debut. Betwixt and between the expected evil Dread Lord nonsense are some existential nuggets. There's just enough philosophy to chew on while Gav has to figure out who he wants to be. Those looking for something that doesn't take itself too seriously will appreciate DREADFUL.

I'm so glad I took a chance on this book. I had very low expectations on it from the blurb. I was not sure I would like it, but I ended up absolutely loving it.

When the Dread Lord Gavrax loses his memories, he experiences an existential crisis that causes him to grow a conscious. There are some seriously laugh out loud moments throughout the books.

I absolute love the characters, especially the goblins.

My only very slight complaint is that in some places the pacing dragged just a bit. Overall, an excellent read, however.