Reviews tagging 'Death'

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

126 reviews

nickcallebs's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Alcohol

anoble17's review

adventurous dark 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Minor: Death and Sexual content

uchihas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, and Death of parent

mandaraffe's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Infertility

rachelunabridged's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

This was a really enjoyable read! I absolutely loved the first half of the book. It was just so wholesome, and I really enjoyed watching the relationship develop between Charlie, Mr. Bowditch, and Radar. I had so many feels and thought that this would be a 5-star read for sure; however, the last half of the book fell kind of flat in some places, and I ended up not enjoying it as much as the first part. It was still a great read, regardless. There were some really fantastic characters, and I loved the homage being paid to the various fairy tale and classic stories that many of us know and love. Would definitely recommend to anyone who has ever enjoyed a fairy tale.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body horror

chaoticlibrarian's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Cannibalism

Minor: War

delwithit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cultural appropriation, and War

Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

boglord's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Infertility, Sexism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Rape, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

kelseyr713's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed both halves of this tome by Stephen King. I’ve seen a lot of reviewers who say they lost interest when Charlie goes down the well, but I’m not sure what they were expecting since the book is called Fairy Tale. Stephen King shares in his author’s note that he wrote this as a comfort during COVID, and I definitely got swept away by the characters and world building. He did a fantastic job building up my love for both Charlie and Radar. I would love to read more stories set in this little corner of the King-iverse.

I was hoping for an Eyes of the Dragon reference, since that’s one of my favorite books ever, but didn’t notice any.

I took a star off for some pacing issues and the fact that Charlie does NOT sound like a teenager from the present day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Physical abuse, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child death, and Sexual content

librariangeorgia's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

Stephen King being Stephen King writes what feels like the longest book I’ve ever read that’s so detailed it feels like it’s never going to end. However, I did thoroughly enjoy it. 

 

I loved all the references to well known fairytales, with his own dark modern twist on them - it’s more like Grimms fairytales style. 

 

The first quarter of the book follows the story of how Charlie becomes a part of Mr Bowditch’s life. The rest of the book is then focused on the other world that Charlie finds - and what a world it is. The sheer detail that King has used for every single bit of this world makes it so easy to imagine what it looks like, what the people look like and what the general atmosphere feels like. 

 

My favourite character without a doubt has got to be Radar - I just love that doggy! Charlie is a pretty solid protagonist though I have to say, for the first 200-ish pages, I thought he was about 12 not 17…. 

 

The ending slash resolution was super satisfying and I feel like it was very well wrapped up. 

 

As much as I enjoyed this book, I still think it was way too long - but I say that about any book that’s over 300 pages, because my attention span and interest doesn’t last that long! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent