If you’ve been yearning for a comedic high fantasy featuring a dark wizard protagonist, your wait is over. Caitlin Rozakis’s Dreadful is a delightful romp through a world where humor and wit reign supreme. The story follows the misadventures of Gav, who endeavors to navigate a series of bizarre and hilarious predicaments.

Rozakis’s sharp writing style kept me engaged (and giggling) throughout.

I enjoyed the way Dreadful balances humor with meaningful storytelling. Yes, it’s funny, but it’s also a well-written book. Even better, Rozakis has crafted quirky, interesting characters who are themselves twists on long-suffering high fantasy archetypes.

For those of us who love to laugh, Dreadful is a joy to read. I mean, the cover says it all, doesn’t it??

The plot, while light-hearted, also touches on deeper themes of classism and bigotry, providing a satisfying and thought-provoking experience.

But whether you’re in it for the laughs or the story, Dreadful delivers on all fronts. If you’ve already read Dreadful and enjoy fantasy stories with a strong sense of humor, check out my reviews of The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde and I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle​​​​.

For those looking for an entertaining summer read, give Dreadful a try. It’s a narrative that is as funny as it is engaging. I highly recommend it to anyone in need of a laugh and a great story.

In Dreadful, Caitlin Rozakis takes on the oft-attempted and oft-mishandled mission of attempting to write a humorous fantasy book. Many have tried to follow in the footsteps of famous authors like Terry Pratchett and more often than not, tragically miss the mark.
Dreadful, has a fabulous core concept of someone waking up realising they are an evil wizard who has managed to erase their own memories.This alone had me intrigued, but the addition of wholesome side characters like hench-individuals and bold princesses alongside painfully seductive sorceresses captivated me. I think Rozakis managed to balance the heavier more thought-provoking plot elements with the humour of the book to create something that had an overall balance to it.
I wouldn't describe Dreadful as side-splittingly-funny but it definitely raised a smile and at some points a chuckle which is what I wanted the book to do. I thought the aspects where there were interactions with other characters definitely made the book sing - the Garlic Festival was pure genius.
I'd recommend this book to fantasy fans feeling stuck in a rut and needing something of a shake-up.
I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley - all opinions are my own.

Such a fun read! If I had my guess, this author is a fan of Terry Pratchett and has let him inspire both story and characters. Which is almost the highest praise I can think of for a Fantasy novel that aims to be fun an whimsical. The characters are fun and well thought through, the plot is all over the place (and reflects the main characters experience of the very strange turn of events he finds himself in) in the best possible way! I'm a little slow with my review, but I loved this book so much, I suggested it for my bookshops fantasy book of the month, where it was very well recieved!

Dreadful is a humorous and whimsical YA fantasy standalone novel by Caitlin Rozakis. Released 28th May 2024 by Titan Books, it's 352 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.

This is a diverting, slyly funny, wonky story full of off-kilter characters, an intelligent, fairly badass princess, an evil magician with amnesia, memory demons, goblins, depressingly decorated evil wizard tower, and some pretty good underlying messages.

There were honestly a few snort-out-loud moments. Evil blue squids, a down-at-the-heels town full of cowering peasants desperately in need of some tourist-friendly activities (a garlic festival! That's the ticket!), transmogrified handsome prince, eyebrowless evil wizard, goblins in fluffy kitchen aprons, and so many more crazy but appealingly silly moments.

There are some really good takeaways about the true nature of how we're seen affecting who we become, self-determination, found family, second (or twenty-third) chances, and making our own destiny. It's not preachy at all, it's very funny in places, and the author has wickedly accurate comedic timing.

Four stars. Highly recommended for library acquisition, home library, gifting, or a read-aloud with a friend/book club/buddy.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

"Dreadful" might just be my favorite read of 2024! This book is a fantastic blend of humor, heart, magic, and a whole lot of fun with evil wizards, sassy princesses, and even killer moat squids. Dread Lord Gavrax, our main character, wakes up with no memory and has to navigate his dark past and nefarious plots with a lot of wit and charm. The goblins are adorable, the plot is engaging, and the writing is delightfully self-aware. If you love humorous fantasy with a twist, don't miss this one!

One of my favourite Australian TV shows is an improv comedy gem called Thank God You’re Here. In it, an unscripted performer walks through a door onto a set filled with fully-scripted actors. The performer has no clue what character they are or what scene they're stepping into, and they have to improvise their way out, making for highly entertaining, sometimes awkward scenes.

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis reminded me exactly of that, except with an evil wizard, who has woken up in a castle and forgotten exactly why he turned into a villainous dread lord, why he’s imprisoned a princess, why his past self kept incinerating his employees, why everyone cowers beneath him and what his fearsome reputation is built on. I’m glad to report I was very, very amused and I found myself laughing out loud plenty of times while reading this.

There are a few reasons this book worked for me:

Firstly, I’ve come to realise that cosy fantasy with too much sugar and fluff just doesn’t mesh with my cynical soul and I was worried I might not be the target audience for this book. But it turns out, I had nothing to fear. This book was simultaneously magical, absurd, flippant, whimsical, satirical, and self-deprecating without being twee. Plus it was full of introspection and heart. And garlic. Lots of it. Vampires would be repelled by this book. Humorous fantasy is probably the closest generic description for it, I wouldn't call it low-stakes or cosy. Lives are definitely at stake.

Secondly, we all know I love a trope subversion and Dreadful doesn't disappoint. It leans into and pokes fun at every fairytale trope under the sun, whether it's conventional heroes, knights in shining armour, princess stereotypes, or evil wizards.

Finally, beneath it all there are subtle underlying themes of kindness and reminders to not discriminate, stereotype or judge a book by its cover. There's a bit of soul-searching and overcoming toxic masculinity. The female characters in this book are written to be intelligent and cunning, which should be a basic benchmark in stories, but seems worthwhile to mention given how frequently certain popular authors write witless, inauthentic women characters.

This was almost a 5-star read for me, teetering on a solid 4.5. If you like T.Kingfisher’s light-hearted fantasies or John Scalzi-type humour, there is a decent chance you would also appreciate this book.

I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something unserious, witty and creative to read, and to anyone who believes in the unfathomable magical power of garlic. I’m genuinely excited to read anything Caitlin Rozakis writes next.

My heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review. This book has been published and is available to read now.

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis is such a great read!

It has adventure, humor, an epic story line, and characters that are unique and such fun to read about. People often forget that a fantasy novel can also be humorous as well, and Rozakis delivers a one-of-a-kind story that readers are going to be enjoying for years to come.

This is comedy/satire style fantasy. Our male main character wakes up in a half destroyed evil wizard's workshop with no memories, either of what happened or who he is.

Except it's looking like he's the evil wizard. He also realises that he was mid scheme and there's a princess locked in the dungeon so he just sort of has to go along with things and try to figure out the plan as he goes along.

But what's he's figuring out is that nothing is quite as it seems in his evil wizard castle.

This was fun, I think that comedy is difficult to do well but this hit the mark nicely for me. The fact that he's figuring out things along with the reader eliminates the need for awkwardly placed exposition which is a nice touch. The side characters are a nice balance of interesting and a bit weird and no one's quite who they seem to be.

4 stars

I would like to thank Titan Books, NetGalley, and the author for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Read if you like:
Cozy Fantasy
Monty Python vibes
Dark wizards who aren't so dark
Smart Princesses

Gav awakens to a mess of what appears to be a workshop of a dark wizard, in a keep full of goblins, surrounded by a moat filled with killer squid. Turns out that that Gav is the Dread Lord Gavrax, a dark wizard that is part of a nefarious plot with three other wizards. He just can't remember what the plot is, or why he appears to have kidnapped a princess and is holding her in the dungeon. As he comes to terms with being both an evil wizard who terrorizes his servants and the village he lords over and learns who he is as Gav, he has to decide who he wants to be and what part he plays in this evil plot.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book and loved that it was a cozy high fantasy. This book is quite funny and, for me, has Monty Python vibes. Unfortunately, the middle of the book dragged a bit and suffered from the only really likable characters were the side characters. I couldn't really root for the main characters. Luckily, the end of the book is completely ridiculous, in a good way so the book did hold my interest. This was an interesting debut, I'll be on the lookout for the author's next book.

I normally love a good amnesia trope but I found this book difficult to get into. I think it’s because it read like it was written very YA (or perhaps even MG) but the characters were older. Which felt a bit discordant to me. I didn’t finish this book because I just felt I was never going to get into it (and I check with a friend who’d loved it, basically if I wasn’t into by the point I’d got to then I never was). Which is not to say that there was anything wrong with the writing or the story, the combination just wasn’t for me. I genuinely thought I’d love this book but it was perhaps too much like a video game. I don’t know. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eGalley.

What would you do if you woke up in a dark lords tower, singed, and with no memories ?

🐌 Taking into account that legging it isn’t an option as it turns out you, are said Dark Lord.

Okay so throughout this I was imagining Gav as Edmund Blackadder, and Grrribeetle as Baldrick - and honestly I’m going to need them to get onto a tv production of this.

Gav is always panicking (relatable) and very much out of his depth (also relatable) He also has magic (enviable) but as he slowly discovers, The Dread Lord Gavrax seemingly has little in common with Gav, and maybe not as competent as Gav had hoped.

With a princess in his dungeon, a goblin house hold, and a garlic festival, Gav tumbles head on into essentially a dark Lord convention, and these were the really scary ones.

Orla, this book has a million reasons to read it but Orla is one of my fave. Competent, honest, and bizarre. Goblin cook in a frilly apron. Please just read this I can’t explain how much I enjoyed it properly 🐙

I absolutely LOVED this book. It was witty and charming and funny. It tells the story of 'Gav', a dark wizard who wakes up with no memories, including why he is a dark wizard and why there's a princess trapped in his dungeon. This story is engaging and heart warming and is a definite 5* from me!

This book was just not for me. I tried! Even though it was a little funny at times, I was ultimately bored. I DNFed at 40%

Hilarious, satirical, and at times redolent with biting humor. We will be ordering this for our library. Our readers will love it.

Well, that was a lark! I was drawn to this book as it was recommended for readers of T. Kingfisher, and while DREADFUL leaned quite hard into the ridiculous and farcical, the humour still appealed to me: cheesy, comical, and bizarre without ever being crass or gross. (I burst into out-loud laughter at one point during the big-bad-boss-battle build-up!) It lacked the depth of a Kingfisher story but was fun anyway.
The side characters were delightful, from the dread lord's evil sidekick to the captured princess to the goblin servants. They veered toward caricatures, but the book didn't suffer for it. As a main character though, Gav was figuring himself out right along with the rest of us. We don't learn why he was evil or why he doesn't want to be anymore, just that he doesn't. I guess it's difficult to explain why someone is the way they are with zero backstory, but I wish we'd known his "why". I enjoyed Gav and his point of view, and maybe - like with the side characters - deep characterization wasn't the point of this book.
The story itself was a decent journey, especially for readers who like a redemption arc. While some of the "lessons" the not-so-dreadful Dread Lord learned were unsurprising and a bit surficial, there were a few good ones too, and the adventure Gav went on to realize these truths was entertaining enough. I appreciate the story's self-awareness and the way that he (and the author!) recognized that good acts don't cancel out bad ones.

I think this book will appeal to some readers very much, while others will find it a bit too cute or twee. It's not a deep story, but entertaining nonetheless. (3.5 stars rounded up to 4.)

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Titan Books for the gifted e-book ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

This had promise, but a bit hard for me to keep up with. I think I could reread it and understand it better. The style was tough. The story itself was very interesting. I like that the narrative was the bad guy. It just needed some work.

I love a good amnesia trope, so was thrilled to see this main character not only suffered from amnesia but turned out to be an evil wizard. There's a princess locked in a cell, goblins, a killer moat squid, and a garlic festival. I thought the prose fit perfectly with the tone of the book, and thought the amount of humor was perfect for my tastes. I can struggle with humor in books, and I think the book was a smidge long, but overall I thought this was a really solid debut and look forward to seeing what else Rozakis writes.

I think this is a perfect read for fans of T. Kingfisher's brand of humorous fantasy. And like with Kingfisher's prose, I think you'll know within the first chapter if this is the book for you or not, as the prose is very voicey.

Firstly I want to thank NetGalley and Titan Books for the arc!

Gav wakes up with no idea who he is or why he’s in a wizards workshop that is half on fire. He quickly realizes that he is the wizard whom this workshop belongs to, and not only that, but he’s also holding a princess hostage for reasons unknown to him.

This book follows Gav as he tries to navigate the situation he has found himself in, with no prior memories of his life or who he is.

I had a good time with this story, it was fun and unique and had a great cast of characters. There was humor and heart, and dare I say a few solid lessons on what it means to be good. Like perhaps being good simply for the sake of goodness is reason enough! And also, that it’s never too late to try and be better.

I’ve seen some people call this a cozy fantasy, and I suppose that fits, if not cozy fantasy then cozy fantasy adjacent. Either way it’s an enjoyable read, and I had a good time with it!

I thought the pacing was good, and the plot solid. The writing was engaging and the characters were likeable!
I rated this 4/5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was a lot of fun. From page 1, there were things that were making me laugh. The author knew what kind of book they wanted to write from the beginning and you can tell. I never had any doubt what this book was going to be like, a fantasy satire with all the familiar fantasy tropes I love from the genre.

"If people don't see what they expect to see...they're disappointed, and then they won't take you seriously."

I really have been enjoying this new trend of books told from the villain's perspective and Dreadful is just another great book that follows that trend. It was whimsically yet handled serious topics like women living under the patriarchy and the balance between power and relationships.

Overall, it was a good book and I had a wonderful time reading it.

This was adorable and cozy and hilarious! It was filled with so many creatures and characters, it was adventurous and filled with magic. The main character’s growth was fulfilling and the stuff he had to deal with was pretty intense at times, but in an enjoyable way. I had a wonderful time reading it.