“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?”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this on ebook through NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: This was a very cute and entertaining read. I enjoyed it. This is compared to “Legends and Lattes” by Travis Baldree and also T. Kingfisher’s novels. That is an apt comparison, this has a very “swords and sorcery” type of feel with a lot of cozy elements.

This follows Gav, who when he wakes up in a tower missing his eyebrows, doesn’t know he is Gav the evil wizard. As he is faced with a convocation of dark wizards he is hosting, a bevy of heroes who are trying to rescue the princess he kidnapped (he has no idea why he kidnapped her), and a last minute garlic festival, he has to figure out how to survive this while pretending he totally understands what is happening and hasn’t completely lost his memory. Through it all he is trying to figure out why he decided to be evil to begin with. It’s a wonderful look at what makes an evil wizard evil; are they innately evil or did someone push them in that direction? Is it possible to change?

This was very entertaining and funny. I enjoyed the premise and enjoyed how the story played out. There are a number of entertaining side characters as well. The only struggle I had with this book was that I felt t a bit distanced from the characters. Since the main character doesn’t know himself, it’s a bit hard for the reader to really engage with and connect with both him and the side characters. I was starting to really grow to understand and engage with the character when the book ended. The plot was also very predictable despite all the hilarious antics going on, I would have liked some surprising twists and turns.

My Summary (4/5): Overall, I did end up enjoying this. It was humorous and fun. I do wish I had engaged with the characters a bit better and I would love to see where these characters end up in the future. This is a fun and feel good cozy fantasy that has a nice amount of humor and some unique characters. It is fairly predictable but if that doesn’t bother you I would recommend it. I will definitely check out future book by Rozakis.

Early Review – Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis (4/5 stars)

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