A review by questionablereads
Fairy Tale by Stephen King

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

Fantasy is not a genre that I read/listen to often, but this story was told beautifully. The protagonist Charlie is a seventeen-year-old jock, his mom has passed, and father is now a recovering alcoholic. Like all children dealing with that kind of family trauma, Charlie lashed out in his past, but is now trying to make amends for previous horrible behavior. Due to a horrific ladder accident, Charlie befriends his elderly, crotchety and recluse neighbor Mr. Bowditch, as well as Mr. Bowditch’s old dog, a German shepherd named Radar. Charlie becomes Mr. Bowditch’s caretaker and the two become a strange pair that you absolutely fall in love with. Their banter is comical and heartwarming. Mr. Bowditch has secrets of his own that Charlie eventually unravels, and we are thrown into a world of fantasy and fairytales that we all grew up with and loved, but keep in mind, this is Stephen King we’re reading, so while we KNOW the stories, these retellings are much like their original works, or darker. As I said, I’m not someone who reads fantasy often, but Fairy Tale was a great story that never got slow or lost my interest. Also, I’m a dog person, and the relationship between Charlie and Radar was everything I love about being a dog person. I cried at moments that weren’t even sad, my heart was just too full to contain myself. 

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