Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

23 reviews

rissaread's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

this was my first stephen king book and i think it was a nice introduction to his writing and his style.  i loved this book, i love the story and reading everything charlie was going through. i can of course see why people didn’t click with it, not everyone is into fantasy esque books and that’s fine. 

and yes, i can say at some points it felt as though there was unnecessary details or pieces in chapters that were definitely not needed ( like that part in a chapter about the jenny girl charlie knew, kind of unnecessary to me ) some parts did drag and i was like alright get to the point lol but i loved the story! 

i also saw some reviews here of people saying once charlie enters empis it got boring and they liked the beginning better but i completely disagree. the whole point of this story was about the other world, the world under the well and it was so fascinating to me. again, i get it not being everyone’s cup of tea but don’t pick up a book literally called fairy tale and expect a normal story about a teenager and a dog. 

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unicornofblue's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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depmythmoon's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

 “[…] learn to listen so you can listen to learn,” (pg. 413)

“There’s a dark well in everyone, I think, and it never goes dry. But you drink from it at your peril. That water is poison.” (pg. 446)

This was my first Stephen King book (I know I’m behind, please ✋🏾😭), and I really enjoyed his writing style. If I had to relate it to anything I’ve read before, it would be “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger. It’s that descriptive type of writing that tends to have longer sentences and delve into minor details of something a character mentions. He also uses parenthesis more liberally than any author I’ve read before, which I enjoyed seeing. I’m not exactly sure why some people suggest that this isn’t the Stephen King book to start with. It was a great read in my opinion (if the 5 ⭐️ rating was anything to go off of). If this isn’t considered to be one of his best, I’m just glad that I have many more great works to look forward to.

This story has an overall theme that focuses on morality and how nobody is only good or only evil. We follow the male MC, Charlie Reade, who has a less than squeaky clean past, yet he has such a noble role within the story that juxtaposes that past nicely. He can even recognize that he may not be the textbook definition of a protagonist in a story, but he steps up to the plate anyway. The whole reason he even got into this situation is some twisted sense of obligation that hurt my heart for him while also making me think further about the motives of the good deeds that people choose to do. Anything that makes me slightly question how I view the world and others is guaranteed to stick with me and get a good rating.

Radar, the dog that Charlie goes on this mission to save, was both so adorable and heartbreaking. Seeing how her condition deteriorated as the story continued pulled at the heartstrings. Had I been a pet owner, I know for a fact that this book would have made me shed more than a few tears. So, pet owners, please be careful when going into this story. She’s such a good girl 😭

I will say… the big bad if the story did feel slightly anticlimactic while also being fitting for this tale. It left me torn, but I did love how King was able to tie it all back to multiple points that go all the way back to the beginning of the story. It would have been nice to see a little bit more there, of all places, but we were already pushing like 500+ pages at this point, so I don’t exactly blame him for getting it out the way. 

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wildflower_magic's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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franzis's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


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lissaslibraryxo's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Fairy Tale is a characterful, deeply cool romp through a cruel but enchanting fantasy land called Empis. The book is skilfully plotted in what I would define as quarters - the first is hero Charlie's Illinois reality, the second is his first taste of Empis, the third is his magical, suffering-filled coming-of-age, and the fourth is battle and resolution. Fairy Tale isn't frightening - it is tense and delightfully grim/gross at some points - and is original despite drawing inspiration from well-established fairy tale tropes. Charlie is an endearing, funny and believable protagonist. Empis is highly imaginative, as are lots of idiosyncratic phrases used. Loses a bit of steam in the last quarter and flails slightly, but is bastioned by loveable characters, vivid setting and a great ending. 

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immovabletype's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25


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jennymaarika's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25


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febronia87's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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steveatwaywords's review

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

It felt good to be in the discomforting arms of Stephen King, again, and this is one of his old-school fantasy-adventure tales with the customary unexpected grit. If you have appreciated tales the like of The Talisman or The Eyes of the Dragon,--even, to a degree, 11.22.63-- this is a good choice.  If you're looking for something closer to the darkness of It or Needful Things or something heavier in character development like his Finders Keepers, Insomnia, From a Buick 8, or Hearts in Atlantis, there is somewhat less to satisfy.  This is roller-coaster King having a good time writing, throwing in odds and ends from his (our) childhood because he can, taking open shots at Disney and contemporary politics because it's fun. Enjoy the adventure, wince at the satisfying squelches of flesh, and say hello to the dog. 

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