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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Violence
Fairy Tale by Stephen King is a modern-day fairy tale that dips into horror and fantasy at some points. Stephen King has always created his own kind of Fairy Tale lore in his novels and this one, he takes it head on. King explores the dark origins of fairy tales like the Grimm Brothers' original Fairy Tales. King doesn't just stick with fairy tales and incorporates the dark writing of H.P. Lovecraft, as well. The pace of the novel is a little uneven. The novel starts too slow it's King so it is still somewhat interesting, but the novel could have cut 30 -40 pages and been fine. The novel starts speeding away until the middle when the main character goes to another land and slows down again, The 200-page rising action to the finale was perfect pace and hard to put down. Each chapter has an illustration of the events that happen in that chapter that helps the reader envision the characters and scenes. I will say this is the slowest start to a Stephen King novel, but it still slowly drew me into this world and I knew every bit of the main character and the choices he made. The story captures the boy and his dog's narrative perfectly, as an animal lover it was hard not to smile at the bond between Charlie and Radar. I think this is one of his best novels in the last couple of years. Fairy Tale marks the 30th Stephen King novel that I have read, since starting my blog I have only 12 so I have quite a few to reread and experience as well as new reads. Stephen King is the G.O.A.T. of writing he publishes not one but two to three books a year, and they might not be all great but a few are and the rest are good. King has published over 60 novels and has no plans to stop, I can't wait to read more. Fairy Tale by Stephen King was published on September 6, 2022, by Scribner.
Plot Summary: 17-year-old Charlie Reade has been through a lot in his years, he lost his mother to a car accident and watched his father turn into an alcoholic. When things got bad with his dad he made a deal with God if you fix my dad then I owe you, after that prayer, his dad started going to AA and changed his life back around. Charlie never forgot that promise. He rides his bike by the old recluse of the neighborhood Mr. Bowditch and is alerted by his old dog barking and hears a faint cry for "help". Charlie finds a frail Mr. Bowditch with a broken leg and calls 911. He saves him but Mr. Bowditch has no one to take care of his dog Radar which Charlie volunteers. Charlie and Radar bond as does Charlie with the ailing Mr. Bowditch. Charlie feels this is his repentance for his prayer with his dad and he agrees to take care of Mr. Bowditch as he heals. Charlie finds Mr. Bowditch has secrets others will kill for, a pot full of gold, and a secret passage to another land. Charlie makes a decision to go to the land of fairy tales but finds it cursed. Is it the land of fairy tales or nightmares?
What I Liked: Stephen King's imagination is unparalleled and this story shows it off. I liked the lore of the land and the curse. The gray people were super interesting in the way they were described. The book illustrations served the story well and Stephen King wanted them to be like the illustrations in books like Treasure Island and Dracula that he grew up with, and I feel he nailed it. I liked the side character of Iota the best and his need for revenge. The fight scene between Charlie and Cla was pretty epic and I loved the bit at the end with Cla's final gesture. The Night Soldiers had a cool design and would have loved more on their origin. The last 200 pages of the novel were awesome the rising action was one of his best, the finale I had a little bit of an issue with but the rising action to it was great. The boy and his dog moments were the best and made me spend some extra time with my own dog. I loved the Lovecraft element that came in and how it was explained.
What I Disliked: The slow pace at the beginning, is still interesting but slow. The bad guys were not built up enough. Their evil plan was good to take over the land but everything else could have been set up better. The villains were more plot points than developed characters. The climax had an awesome set-up but the actual finale left me wanting more from it.
Recommendation and Rating: Fairy Tale is a solid Stephen King story. Aside from the pace and my wanting a little bit more from the finale I enjoyed this book a lot and will recommend it. I recommend this book for fans of Stephen King, Fans of Grimm's Fairy Tales, and stories from H. P. Lovecraft. I rated Fairy Tale by Stephen King 4 out of 5 stars. I have read over 30 Stephen King novels but only read 13 for my blog. I will rank where Fairy Tale fits into the 13 I have read and fully reviewed. The ranking is from best to worst 1) The Shining, 2) Misery, 3) 11/22/63, 4) On Writing, 5) IT, 6) The Outsider, 7) Fairy Tale, 8) Later, 9) If it Bleeds, 10) Elevation, 11) Joyland, 12) Billy Summers, and 13) The Dead Zone.
Plot Summary: 17-year-old Charlie Reade has been through a lot in his years, he lost his mother to a car accident and watched his father turn into an alcoholic. When things got bad with his dad he made a deal with God if you fix my dad then I owe you, after that prayer, his dad started going to AA and changed his life back around. Charlie never forgot that promise. He rides his bike by the old recluse of the neighborhood Mr. Bowditch and is alerted by his old dog barking and hears a faint cry for "help". Charlie finds a frail Mr. Bowditch with a broken leg and calls 911. He saves him but Mr. Bowditch has no one to take care of his dog Radar which Charlie volunteers. Charlie and Radar bond as does Charlie with the ailing Mr. Bowditch. Charlie feels this is his repentance for his prayer with his dad and he agrees to take care of Mr. Bowditch as he heals. Charlie finds Mr. Bowditch has secrets others will kill for, a pot full of gold, and a secret passage to another land. Charlie makes a decision to go to the land of fairy tales but finds it cursed. Is it the land of fairy tales or nightmares?
What I Liked: Stephen King's imagination is unparalleled and this story shows it off. I liked the lore of the land and the curse. The gray people were super interesting in the way they were described. The book illustrations served the story well and Stephen King wanted them to be like the illustrations in books like Treasure Island and Dracula that he grew up with, and I feel he nailed it. I liked the side character of Iota the best and his need for revenge. The fight scene between Charlie and Cla was pretty epic and I loved the bit at the end with Cla's final gesture. The Night Soldiers had a cool design and would have loved more on their origin. The last 200 pages of the novel were awesome the rising action was one of his best, the finale I had a little bit of an issue with but the rising action to it was great. The boy and his dog moments were the best and made me spend some extra time with my own dog. I loved the Lovecraft element that came in and how it was explained.
What I Disliked: The slow pace at the beginning, is still interesting but slow. The bad guys were not built up enough. Their evil plan was good to take over the land but everything else could have been set up better. The villains were more plot points than developed characters. The climax had an awesome set-up but the actual finale left me wanting more from it.
Recommendation and Rating: Fairy Tale is a solid Stephen King story. Aside from the pace and my wanting a little bit more from the finale I enjoyed this book a lot and will recommend it. I recommend this book for fans of Stephen King, Fans of Grimm's Fairy Tales, and stories from H. P. Lovecraft. I rated Fairy Tale by Stephen King 4 out of 5 stars. I have read over 30 Stephen King novels but only read 13 for my blog. I will rank where Fairy Tale fits into the 13 I have read and fully reviewed. The ranking is from best to worst 1) The Shining, 2) Misery, 3) 11/22/63, 4) On Writing, 5) IT, 6) The Outsider, 7) Fairy Tale, 8) Later, 9) If it Bleeds, 10) Elevation, 11) Joyland, 12) Billy Summers, and 13) The Dead Zone.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Charlie Reade is your average 17 year old, all-American boy from the Midwest. Motherless and the son of a recovering alcoholic, Charlie is a good-natured boy with a complicated past. He's athletic, responsible, and a dedicated student on the cusp of entering the next chapter of his life: University. When Charlie unexpectedly becomes a hero after saving his cantankerous, loner, and mysterious neighbor, Mr.Bowditch, his life is turned upside down, inside out and out of this world.
Like Dorothy in the bewildering land of Oz, Charlie finds himself on a treacherous journey full of otherworldly villians and charming allies, magic corridors, and haunted cities. Can Charlie overthrow a cruel and barbaric King, banish the curse that has trapped the citizens of Empis, and restore the beautiful princess to her rightful throne?
As usual, King creates a sprawling cast of memorable characters, fleshed out and woven together with engaging dialogue and creative world-building. The book draws inspiration from many familiar Fairy tales - The three pigs, the old woman in the shoe, goose girl, and more - while still being uniquely its own tale. The fairy tales are simply hinted at and is not a direct retelling.
This is a long book at 600 pages and while it's somewhat understandable in that King takes his time building characters that we will understand and root for (and you will root for them), it almost winds up feeling like two completely different books (Before Charlie Discovers Empis and After Charlie Discovers Empis). It's entirely possible that King intended this, and it does serve to illustrate a sharp divide between magic and reality, but it sometimes just feels a little long-winded and unnecessarily slow.
This is not King's version of any particular classic fairy tale or even a compilation of them, but rather, a completely original fairy tale born out of Stephen King's endless fantastical mind. If you are a King fan, it's a must-read because it has all the elements that make Stephen King books great: engaging characters, interesting dialogue, imaginative world-building and a compelling story. If you are new to King, this book might not be the place to start because its a sprawling tale that requires some commitment to march on through the slow middle to get to the classic Stephen King conclusion.
Like Dorothy in the bewildering land of Oz, Charlie finds himself on a treacherous journey full of otherworldly villians and charming allies, magic corridors, and haunted cities. Can Charlie overthrow a cruel and barbaric King, banish the curse that has trapped the citizens of Empis, and restore the beautiful princess to her rightful throne?
As usual, King creates a sprawling cast of memorable characters, fleshed out and woven together with engaging dialogue and creative world-building. The book draws inspiration from many familiar Fairy tales - The three pigs, the old woman in the shoe, goose girl, and more - while still being uniquely its own tale. The fairy tales are simply hinted at and is not a direct retelling.
This is a long book at 600 pages and while it's somewhat understandable in that King takes his time building characters that we will understand and root for (and you will root for them), it almost winds up feeling like two completely different books (Before Charlie Discovers Empis and After Charlie Discovers Empis). It's entirely possible that King intended this, and it does serve to illustrate a sharp divide between magic and reality, but it sometimes just feels a little long-winded and unnecessarily slow.
This is not King's version of any particular classic fairy tale or even a compilation of them, but rather, a completely original fairy tale born out of Stephen King's endless fantastical mind. If you are a King fan, it's a must-read because it has all the elements that make Stephen King books great: engaging characters, interesting dialogue, imaginative world-building and a compelling story. If you are new to King, this book might not be the place to start because its a sprawling tale that requires some commitment to march on through the slow middle to get to the classic Stephen King conclusion.
I was hesitant on the four-star rating. This story is very well told, and the narration on the Audible version is succinctly performed. I did enjoy about 3/4's of the narrative, but my issue comes in Stephen King's endings.
The premise is simple, young adult finds adult in trouble, saves adult and then for a portion of the story assists in rehabilitating the adult until a secret (a fantastical one at that) is discovered and the latter half of the story is presented with the young adult maturing within that world. It takes many fairy tales of old and interweaves their plots into a fairly believable world.
I enjoyed the story, but the last portion of it was tough to get through, namely after our protagonist (Charlie Reade) was captured.
Over the last few books of King's, I felt that the endings are created in such a way that forces the closure of the story. Maybe I just dislike the way that endings are written in most books and this is definitely a subjective thing on my part; but I remember very few of King's endings. However, luckily he makes up for it with the bodies of the work, which are superb.
Even though this isn't necessarily like King's other novels, I think an average reader will enjoy this one.
The premise is simple, young adult finds adult in trouble, saves adult and then for a portion of the story assists in rehabilitating the adult until a secret (a fantastical one at that) is discovered and the latter half of the story is presented with the young adult maturing within that world. It takes many fairy tales of old and interweaves their plots into a fairly believable world.
I enjoyed the story, but the last portion of it was tough to get through, namely after our protagonist (Charlie Reade) was captured.
Over the last few books of King's, I felt that the endings are created in such a way that forces the closure of the story. Maybe I just dislike the way that endings are written in most books and this is definitely a subjective thing on my part; but I remember very few of King's endings. However, luckily he makes up for it with the bodies of the work, which are superb.
Even though this isn't necessarily like King's other novels, I think an average reader will enjoy this one.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I was enjoying this I just fell out of it
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No