This book was one I picked up on a rec from my autobuy author, Rosiee Thor. It’s one that they blurbed and it was excellent. I will absolutely be reading whatever comes next from Caitlin Rozakis.
The Dread Lord Gavrax has had better weeks…
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? (Blurb from Author)
Content Notes: Violence, death, gore, murder, sexism, threat of torture, fire, cursing, discussion of sexual assault
Now that I’ve scared you with the content notes, let me tell you about how surprisingly wholesome this book is. Not in the gross “no queers, no cursing, no death” kind of wholesome. It’s wholesome in the sense that Gav spends the entire book figuring out who he was, who he wants to be, and how to make that happen.
Past!Gavrax was basically an incel and has done some really awful things that are mentioned in the book, but after losing his memory, he becomes Gav. Gav sees himself as a completely different person and works to become that person. While also trying to stop evil wizards from destroying the world for more power. And also a lot of garlic.
It’s not low stakes, and it’s not really cozy, but somehow, it feels very cozy. It subverts a lot of fantasy tropes while being totally queernorm, hilarious, and heartwarming. I read fantasy constantly and this book kept surprising me. I loved that a lot.
It’s a standalone, though I do wish we could see more in this world. I can’t say a lot more without spoiling this, but really, I highly recommend it. Also, the cover is really adorable and great on audio!
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