Read Time: 2 Minutes
Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis is a fantasy novel that kicks off with a man waking up with no memory, only to discover he’s apparently the dark wizard everyone fears. He’s got a tower, a reputation for being utterly dreadful, and a princess held captive in the dungeon. Classic villain checklist, basically.
Problem is, he has no idea who he is or what’s going on. He has to bluff his way through it while trying to figure out what kind of person he used to be… and whether he wants to be that person again. A hard thing to do while holding a princess hostage, and that a number of other dark wizards are going to drop by soon to summon an elder demon.
I went into this expecting something along the lines of an isekai story where someone from our world wakes up in a fantasy body, but it’s actually more of an amnesia arc. The not-so-dreadful dark lord suspects he may not be the monster everyone thinks he is, at least he doesn’t think so any more. A solid premise, and I admit the early chapters did a reasonable job at getting me interested.
Unfortunately, the story never quite hooked me. It’s not bad (or dreadful, ha!), just… underwhelming. The momentum felt a bit flat, and I found my attention drifting more than I’d like. I feel like part of that might be the narration. While the performance was generally fine, it lacked energy. Some of the voices, the female voices in particular, felt a bit underdeveloped, and there was the occasional background click that was mildly distracting. Nothing terrible, but it didn’t do much to elevate the material either.
Also, minor gripe, but the odd pronunciation of “towards” as “two words” stuck out every time. Weirdly specific, but once I heard it I couldn’t un-hear it.
The story had potential with the dark lord questioning his identity and trying to be someone not evil. It just felt like it was lacking something, though I’m hard pressed to put a finger on what, exactly. If I had to pick at something… I’d say the humour and twists felt a little muted, and while I didn’t dislike it, I’m not sure I’ll remember much about it a week from now.
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