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A review by larakmacon
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I loved the first 1/3 of this book, and hated the last 2/3rd. It felt like the two parts were written by two different people: one a renowned thriller/horror author and the other a 15 year old boy.
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
The first third that involved Charlie, Mr. Bowditch, and Radar was great. The pace was good, the character development solid, lots of sprinkles of foreshadowing.
Once Charlie’s gets to Empis, the narrative really started to fall apart for me. There was minimal world building and a lot of pieces that were left unexplained. The premise of this being the land where fairytales come from could have been really unique and clever; instead it felt kind of lazy. King didn’t have to do any really world building because this was basically just a kind of retelling.
The last 2/3 of the story really dragged on. It felt like there was so much fluff - there were so many new characters introduced but none of them were really developed that well.
This is the first Stephen King book I’ve read, and it left me pretty disappointed. He is a very skilled writer but this book just didn’t do it for me.
Finally, a few random bits that made me cringe:
• the term “scrot” being used
• the ablism, holy shit! This was really off putting to me.
• the random sex scene at the end of the book that finished with the quote, “if it was a mercy fuck, all I can say is hooray for mercy.” Wth?
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
The first third that involved Charlie, Mr. Bowditch, and Radar was great. The pace was good, the character development solid, lots of sprinkles of foreshadowing.
Once Charlie’s gets to Empis, the narrative really started to fall apart for me. There was minimal world building and a lot of pieces that were left unexplained. The premise of this being the land where fairytales come from could have been really unique and clever; instead it felt kind of lazy. King didn’t have to do any really world building because this was basically just a kind of retelling.
The last 2/3 of the story really dragged on. It felt like there was so much fluff - there were so many new characters introduced but none of them were really developed that well.
This is the first Stephen King book I’ve read, and it left me pretty disappointed. He is a very skilled writer but this book just didn’t do it for me.
Finally, a few random bits that made me cringe:
• the term “scrot” being used
• the ablism, holy shit! This was really off putting to me.
• the random sex scene at the end of the book that finished with the quote, “if it was a mercy fuck, all I can say is hooray for mercy.” Wth?