Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis - Book Review

 

Book Review:

Dreadful

by Caitlin Rozakis

Release Date: May 28, 2024 

Genre: Fantasy

Age Range: Adult

Goodreads Avg. Rating: 3.74 stars

This is the story of Gav. His tale begins as he awakens in a strange room with no memories. Worse is that he awakens in a dark wizard's liar that might be on fire. Slowly we learn as Gav does why he was there and who he is. However, with each discovery comes more questions. Why is there a princess locked up or why does his past self have such awful taste in décor? While Gav is trying to make sure no one notices he isn't the same person and maybe he doesn't want to be.

There isn't much that can be said for world-building. However, the book did give off a cozy atmosphere. Our story takes place in a general fantasy medieval world. We only really get to see Gav's tower castle and the surrounding village, which both are in a slightly pitiful state. The castle is on the smaller side from the descriptions we get. Also, it is designed with a dark theme throughout, with flickering torches that barely shine light, and carvings of suffering everywhere. Then there is the poor village. It seems on the smaller side but of course, many people wouldn't want to live near a dark wizard. At the point of the novel, it also looks a little run down, again due to dark wizards' preferences of people not being in sight. Yes, this all sounds dark and glumly but altogether it made me have a cozy fall feel to the book.

The magic system is also somewhat general. There is a definite base rule to magic usage in this world, though it isn't fully explained. Normally this would be an agitation but as we are only able to learn what Gav does it fits. Magic could be used on large spells like weather magic, apparently, this is tricky with possible negative effects. Then there are the smaller (kind of) spells like permanent glammers. All magic comes at the price of something though. The small spells we are able to see use flowers and there is a comment about a rain spell that would wipe out the forest. However this is all from dark wizard spells, well I suppose a rain spell is neutral, so I wonder if the good wizards have the same energy drain of the surrounding world.

Our main character and only POV is Gav. When he wakes up in Dread Lord Whomever's workshop he has no idea who he is. The realization hits him pretty quickly though that he is this dread wizard. Through the book, we will see Gav develop as a character. In part because well he started as a blank slate. Gav looks at his past self and looks at the world around him to find what he wants to stand for. Supporting characters could be the princess, the goblins, and the steward for the dark wizard Gaverouax, all of whom are much more than they seem.

Let's see the main story plot without spoilers and more than what I have already said. The story takes place over the course of a few weeks. From the time our main character awakes in utter confusion until he walks off the page is a fun time. Gav decides that he must attempt to act as normal as a dark wizard can so none of his minions will notice. This doesn't go quite to plan. Slowly he is realising that maybe he doesn't want to be that person everyone only seems to mildly respect. Maybe instead he could be good?

This book was very amusing. It had so many typical fantasy troupes that were spun to show a different take. The first (most obvious too) would be the take on what a bad guy is. Yes, there were dark wizards here but maybe they weren't all evil.* Then there were the "heroes", have you ever wondered what happens to the dragon once it's slain? Well, this will give a look at that, as well as how these hero characters think of common villagers' well-being. I feel that this second part though is only more so a nod at how nobility treats simple villagers.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this read. It is a self-contained story that ends on the perfect note. I enjoyed getting a twist on the typical dark wizard/hero story. Watching Gav's journey to become a person for himself not based on anything was touching. This is a shorter book so perfect to fit between larger items on your TBR.

You can find this book from the below retailers or many others:

Amazon     Random House