A solid story, with all of the adventure and chaos of Saturday morning cartoons.

Gav isn't sure how he got here. Why is the room on fire? Why is there a princess locked in a cell? Why are there goblins everywhere? And who chose the decor?!

A sharp, witty high-fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, evil wizards, and a garlic festival. Gav—better known as Dread Lord Gavrax—has definitely had some better weeks.

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis is an absolute delight. Reading this one felt like watching an episode of Scooby Doo.. where you could see that all the characters were making some horribly wrong decisions that were going to blow up in their faces.

But amongst the chaos and adventure are themes of releasing ourselves from our past, not letting our situation define us, and taking action towards being the type of person we want to be. The fact that Gav isn't a spring-chicken makes this even more heartwarming for ahem older fantasy readers.

This was such a fast, engaging read, and the perfect cure for a book hangover!