“He nearly lost his breath at the influx of new information. He had goblins. He had, most likely, just been talking to a goblin. He had a princess. He had no idea why he had a princess.”

What do you do when you wake up with no eyebrows, no memory, a castle full of goblins and a kidnapped princess in your dungeon? Well of course, you wing it. You pretend you know what’s going on and you hope for the best. Dread Lord Gavrax, a feared master within his castle, finds himself in exactly this situation. He has no idea what evil deeds he has done and what part he is playing in the upcoming ritual that the other Dark Wizards have planned, but he knows he must find out soon before he gets himself killed, horribly. Yet Gavrax no longer remembers why he was evil, and more so, he finds himself no longer wanting to be seen that way. So what does that make Gavrax now? 

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis is an outrageously fun read with hidden depths and surprising heart. This is a story of reinventing yourself and choosing who you want to be. 

Dreadful throughout remains a very character driven story as we are presented with a kind of redemption story arc, with very little in the way of an action packed plot. Some readers may find this too slow, whereas I personally enjoyed the gentle pace and was pleasantly surprised by how much fun it was following Gavrax’s journey. Memory loss is usually a trope I dislike but Rozakis cleverly uses it here to draw the reader in, to grab our curiosity and have us intrigued by this supposed ‘evil villain’. Gavrax is immediately likeable because he’s the ultimate goofy character who fumbles around, causes chaos and is completely out of his depth. The more he discovers about himself, some of which appals him, the more it makes him question what had led him to become that way. A number of conversations Gavrax has with other characters are executed so well, Rozakis’ dialogue whilst being witty also reveals much character depth and so I began to like Gavrax even more because of this complexity. I also enjoyed exploring the close knit setting of his castle and surrounding village as he takes in the places he is the Dread Lord of. 

This book is filled with tongue in cheek humour, creating a consistent light hearted atmosphere and tone. At times I did find that the humour went off on a tangent and used modernisms (the American term bangs for instance!) which did occasionally pull me out of the story, however this wasn’t a major issue. I found myself more impressed by the way Rozakis used humour to bring out one of the major themes, that of misconception. Gavrax is supposed to be our Dark Wizard and some of his past deeds do illustrate that he once did live up to the—prone to violent outbursts and malevolent behaviour—villain trope. Yet this is no longer the case, and Gavrax, even though he still has a fiery temperament and the inclination to be cruel if he wanted to, sees that the imposing black floor length robes, the gothic decor, the skulls and torches are all an archetype, a show to display his menacing power. Is this the real Gavrax? It doesn’t have to be. Perhaps Gavrax is misconstrued and can actually be the hero of this tale. What makes a hero? I found his character study a surprisingly multifaceted element to this otherwise playful story. 

“He didn’t feel particularly evil. He didn’t have a deep urge to flay someone alive and laugh while doing it. But clearly he had. He’d lost connection with whatever made him himself. If a human was made up of the experiences of their life, was Gav anything at all?”

The theme of misconceptions and subverted tropes then runs through to the other characters. The kidnapped princess, Eliasha, is not quite the damsel in distress who needs saving by a brave Hero. It’s clear she’s intelligent and resourceful enough to find a way of freeing herself from the castle and yet she doesn’t. As we delve deeper into her character it becomes apparent that she, like Gavrax, needs to escape from others’ expectations of what a Princess should be and have the freedom to choose her own path, to be content with herself. Even the goblins, particularly the valet Grrrbeetle and the cook Orla, are not as grotesque or primitive as their appearance and reputation would have you believe and are actually rather sweet. Turning all these tropes on their head again creates such a humorous story, a mostly cosy vibe with just hints of darkness. When Rozakis also throws in a garlic festival, a dark wizard’s banquet with not so edible food and a race to stop a world destroying ritual from taking place, well you also have a very entertaining story arc. One which I thoroughly loved by the end.

Review copy gifted by Kabriya at Titan Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! 

Dreadful is out now – you can order your copy HERE