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A review by twistykris
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
As a disclaimer, I listened to the ~24-hour audiobook, read by Seth Numrich and Stephen King. For my neurodivergent baddies who have a hard time focusing with audiobooks: try listening at 1.3-1.5x speed. It SINCERELY helped me get through the long patches of King's tendency to go into almost too great detail.
I enjoyed both "parts" of this book, although they had very different vibes. Part one with Charlie and Mr. Bowditch and Radar was wonderful. I loved watching the blossoming, unlikely friendship between a 17-year old and a grumpy old man with a loving, protective dog. It felt very wholesome and heartwarming, until Mr. Bowditch's death, at which point, the magical, fairy tale elements are introduced.
About 40% of the way through the book, I felt like the pacing was off. I almost DNF'd the book merely because I felt it was a case of reading a book at the wrong time (I was on vacation and thought a long audiobook would help with the plane rides.. I almost dozed off on the plane instead). I truly enjoyed the second half, once things picked up, and I consumed the last 30% of the book within a day or so. King does a great job with world-building and it was very easy to connect with Charlie and the characters in Empis.
Along with some of the pacing, I also had issue with the way Charlie spoke. I'm not opposed to swearing or vulgar language but
1. Charlie does NOT sound like someone born in 1996 (the emphasis on why Charlie say "awesome sauce" is just.. bizarre? I was born in 1990 and this didn't seem like a common phrase used, let alone one I would want to translate in another world)
2. The sexualization is just.. so ridiculous in some of King's novels, and this one is no exception. I get it, Charlie is a 17-year old, and "boys only think about sex", but the fact Charlie describes the breasts of different characters (ones he's attracted to or not) is just.. so weird to me.
I enjoyed both "parts" of this book, although they had very different vibes. Part one with Charlie and Mr. Bowditch and Radar was wonderful. I loved watching the blossoming, unlikely friendship between a 17-year old and a grumpy old man with a loving, protective dog. It felt very wholesome and heartwarming, until Mr. Bowditch's death, at which point, the magical, fairy tale elements are introduced.
About 40% of the way through the book, I felt like the pacing was off. I almost DNF'd the book merely because I felt it was a case of reading a book at the wrong time (I was on vacation and thought a long audiobook would help with the plane rides.. I almost dozed off on the plane instead). I truly enjoyed the second half, once things picked up, and I consumed the last 30% of the book within a day or so. King does a great job with world-building and it was very easy to connect with Charlie and the characters in Empis.
Along with some of the pacing, I also had issue with the way Charlie spoke. I'm not opposed to swearing or vulgar language but
1. Charlie does NOT sound like someone born in 1996 (the emphasis on why Charlie say "awesome sauce" is just.. bizarre? I was born in 1990 and this didn't seem like a common phrase used, let alone one I would want to translate in another world)
2. The sexualization is just.. so ridiculous in some of King's novels, and this one is no exception. I get it, Charlie is a 17-year old, and "boys only think about sex", but the fact Charlie describes the breasts of different characters (ones he's attracted to or not) is just.. so weird to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Violence, Death of parent, and Cursing
Moderate: Confinement and Sexual content
Minor: Ableism