Fairy Tale

This is a hard review to write. I had so many people telling me this was my perfect book. A boy who loves his dog, and tries to save her by going to a magical world with the ability to turn back time.

Unfortunately this did not live up to the hype and became a chore to read. My biggest issue is the length. There is a lot in this story that could have been cut or paired down. It is full of obscure references that didn't need to be there. It was fun at first, but quickly grew tiresome. It felt like King has this collection of favorite shows/movies/heroes/etc and wants to make sure they aren't forgotten so he ends up including everything possible in this book. Just as I got into a section of the story, these references would pull me back out. Then I'd have to fight to get myself back into the story.

A few times I started to skim the pages, ready to be done with this book. In fact, it took be almost two months or fairly consistent reading to finally complete this story.

The unfortunate thing is that the summary of the story was perfect. It's the execution that became the problem.

Stephen King really shines when it comes to the human relationships and the depth of the main characters. He has a great knack for building those grounded connections. However, the fantasy elements didn't quite work for me here. About 30% of the book felt a bit slow. I loved the beginning, especially before Charlie heads off to Empis, and I also really enjoyed the ending and the lead-up to it. Despite the slow parts, I still found the story enjoyable overall.

3.9/5

It was pretty solid I don't think I'd reccomend it but if I ever need to just pick up a book and read I can always trust Stephen king to write something decent. I like how the plot comes together and the slow build up. I like the world he imagines and I feel like I am exposed to just the right amount of it. I kept thinking that it would've been more interesting to just have read about Bowditch's adventures back in his prime vs Charlie's ones currently but by the end I was rlly satisfied and it had me yearning to read some true eldritch horror, something that I never thought I would be interested in. The writing style is okay and very digestible so I liked it but I wasn't wowed. Overall not bad and a good book but not recommending any time soon.

This is a treatise on disability, how we treat others, and how we treat ourselves. Does the inner self match the outer self (again, back to disability)? As a disabled person, I completely embraced it. It made me cry more than once.

It's also a treatise on how we change everyone we meet, for better for worse. The choice of how is ours.

You'll be wondering (and if you're like me, worrying) does the dog die? Click here if it's bothering you: no, no worries—or rather, worry not.

If it's a Stephen King book, I'm going to find something to enjoy. Something about his writing style is magnetic. Conversational, but not dumbed down. Down to earth, but out of this world. Frankly, I consider him a national treasure.

Fairy Tale, however, is not among my favorites. The first half, was outstanding. Really drew me in, and I couldn't put it down. About half-way when things ... changed? ... I started to lose interest. There were parts that felt extremely drawn out. Maybe some aggressive editing could have helped? I wonder if there was an opportunity to split this into two books and stretch out each half to its own book? We'll never know.

All in all - I enjoyed it, but this took me a while to finish as some parts felt like a slog. Not his best, but still Stephen King.

Fairy Tale is a coming-of-age story, narrated by Charlie, a 17-year-old who discovers a passage to a fantasy world, parallel to our own. I found it entertaining enough with an adequate if not staggering story and mildly likable hero. Charlie narrates the story in the first person and when he gets to the other world, he mentions the fictional stories from our world that are similar to what he's experiencing, making this a meta comment on fairy tales/fantasy. I would have preferred it without this element and would rather make my own associations and connections.

As other reviewers pointed out, the beginning setup of the story goes very slowly. The backstory of his mother's death/father's drinking, Charlie's “deal with God,” and his friendship with Bowdtich and Radar are laid out. I don't mind a long Stephen King book or taking the time to develop characters but somehow these relationships in Fairy Tale are lacking conflict and depth. Yes, Bowditch is difficult and Charlie's reasons for helping him are complicated, but it still feels mundane. Charlie's motivation of saving Radar wasn't the most compelling but it was relatable for any of us that have ever watched a pet age and slowly pass on.

Once Charlie made the decision to go on a magical journey, my curiosity was piqued for the fairy tale world which had some interesting elements. There was some tension as Charlie reached his goal of helping Radar and then paid the price for it. I enjoyed the concepts of the Night Soldiers (and the solution for stopping them), the Fair One, and the Gray. I wish the “science” of the Night Soldiers and the Gray had been fleshed out (no pun intended) but that's no big thing. I appreciated seeing Charlie's development in terms of problem solving and taking responsibility. The final beast battle was unfortunately anticlimactic, as often happens with King. (I am still not over the final Dark Tower battle.)

Generally though, Fairy Tale was a bit bland and mild. It's similar to The Talisman, Eyes of the Dragon, or The Dark Tower but not as deep and intense. Stephen King Lite?

I always enjoy a good Stephen King tale, but this probably the easiest 5 stars I've given in a long time.

Charlie is a good kid who's had a difficult life. His mother died when he was young, and his father drowns his grief with alcohol, so Charlie has become the adult in the family. He ends up befriending the elderly town hermit Mr. Bowditch and his dog, an aging German Shepherd named Radar. There's this weird shed out back, and there's weird noises coming from it, but Bowditch says to ignore it so I'm sure it's fine, right?

When Bowditch dies, Charlie discovers that no, everything is not fine. And what he finds in that shed will lead him into an entirely new world that is inextricably connected to our own, and if Charlie doesn't do something, our world could be destroyed. Oh and there's a sundial that can reverse time, but surely no one is interested in that.

I read this book a few months after my beloved dog Zoe died. I always jokingly referred to her as “my firstborn” and her loss hit me like a ton of bricks. Reading this book, it was so easy for me to relate to Charlie and the lengths he went to. I would do anything, absolutely anything, to have puppy Zoe back with me again. Oh, there were so many tears reading this book.

If you're a dog person, or just a pet person, I think you'll love this book. If you like to cry, I think you'll love this book. If you like Narnia-like stories of hidden fairy tale worlds, this is for you. But if you want a more stereotypical King horror/thriller, then you'll probably be disappointed here. While there are certainly monsters, this is not Pet Sematary.

I strongly recommend it; this book will always be a favorite.

This gave me dark tower vibes for sure. Less conclusive than I might like, but I loved the world building. I feel like it was set up to have more in the series, but we shall see.

Overall, less impactful. A few threads of meaning and a good story, but nothing that's really going to sit with me forever.

This book is both classic King and King clearly branching out. Teen protagonist + magical world just like in The Talisman, but not set in Maine, and with a fantasy style that still doesn't miss King's signature gross-outs or hideous details. It lives up to all three of the authors he thanks in the dedication: Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and H.P. Lovecraft. Although I love King's style (especially because it's unmistakably his), it is usually somewhat dry compared to my favorite fantasy authors. Not so here. I also like that although King did a great job of setting a story in the era of smartphones and YouTube, he still did it his way, and didn't make his protagonist as annoying as the real thing. As a commentary on fairy tales, this book was fun to read, with King not only mentioning Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, but himself, Piers Anthony, and R.L. Stine. Highly recommended.

3½ stars.
Yes, it took a long time, but life got in the way.
The first 350 pages or so were amazing, but at that point the story began to draaaag on, and a gazillion new characters were introduced, who were hard to keep track of.
Around page 500 it started to pick up again, and that is the reason I gave it that extra ½ star.

First third of the book is good on it's own and would have been a great start for one of his other horror novels, but it didn't fit well with the story being told here. Too much of the book was dedicated to world building in the real world just to slip through a portal into a completely different world, this first section would be more suited if we had stayed in the real world.

Second third was an interesting introduction to the Fairy Tale world, but is where we get into King equating people with bodily issues as being scary? I believe the “King of Horror” could to do better than that this far into his career. Not to mention that the hero Empis needs is a blonde hair blue eyed white boy? Was he really going to be unable to help them if his hair stayed it's original color? Is there some unspoken fairy tale logic that prevents brown eyed men from being a prince? It's a fantasy world. It could have been literally anything that made him stand out, but King went for blue eyes and blonde hair.

And finally the third part was like reading a story that King was forced to write instead of a King wanted to tell. Like maybe he got bored of the idea part way through.

I feel like this is a 2.5 but I've decided to round down for the main character's appearance unnecessarily changing and for a bad guy that ended up not being as relevant as he should have been for all the hype at the beginning.

As a fan of Stephen King's previous fantasy work, The Dark Tower specifically, I was excited to pick up his latest novel, Fairy Tale. Overall, I really enjoyed the book. The characters of Charlie, Mr. Bowditch, and Radar were particularly well-written and their relationships with each other added a lot to the story.

One of the things I liked most about the book was the way it blended elements of magic and the supernatural with everyday life. The story felt both whimsical and spooky at the same time, which is something King does incredibly well.

However, there was one section of the book that didn't quite work for me. About two thirds of the way through, the story took a turn that felt a bit out of place and derailed the overall flow of the book. Despite this, I still thoroughly enjoyed Fairy Tale and would definitely recommend it to fans of Stephen King's work.

I still think about this book at random moments. It's engrossing and haunting and beautiful and murky and I just love it. The characters nurture the experience with their authenticity and the ones you're not meant to like scratch and claw at you and leave you with a rotten taste in your mouth...just as they ought to. There are moments where the story is slow and gradual, but once those moments pass, you realize that you're better off for them. Should you choose to listen to this one, you won't be disappointed. The narration is fantastic.

A little wibbly wobbly in the middle but the start and finish were fantastic! Plus how can you not love Radar! I enjoyed the twisting of old fairy tales and how they got the King treatment!

Overall I enjoyed this quite a bit

“You get used to the amazing, that's all. Mermaids and IMAX, giants and cell phones. If it's in your world, you go with it. It's wonderful, right? Only look at it another way, and it's sort of awful. Think Gogmagog is scary? Our world is sitting on a potentially world-ending supply of nuclear weapons, and if that's not black magic, I don't know what is.”

Too much criticism on this book, and I'm not really understand why!
I loved this book, It's a beautiful story with great characters and if you like fantasy and want something beautiful and inspiring, this is it.
If you're a diehard fanatic of King's origins you may not be completely sold on it. But, from a fantasy lover, this book is beautiful and I strongly recommend to people who want fantasy and hope together, you'll find it in Fairy Tale by Stephen King.

Wonder Pet Radar.


If you know me then you know three things are true. I love coffee I love books and I love anything penned by Stephen King. That being said, this is a slow start. But the slow was interesting enough, because so much of it revolved around Radar, who is the best girl, and the people who love her, that I didn't mind the slow. And then there was a point, about halfway, where I stopped to consider the beginning and how slow it was and how much lead up and space it took and I had to concede that most of it was necessary. Was all of it? Maybe not. But the parts that weren't, I think I've ignored.

Also, as a fun time, this book isn't set in Maine. It's set somewhere in Illinois near Chicago. Which was a pleasant surprise. And also, Cujo got a shoutout. Which made my head hurt in the logistics of the meta. Its definitely unlike any Stephen King story I've encountered; different than any fairy tale ever told; and is absolutely and uniquely brilliant!! I don't even know what to say about the plot development, the characters, the setting, or anything else about it without revealing more than a review should say!! But if you love a great story about a boy and his dying dog —except its not that; its not really his dog, at least at first, but ... well, and it doesn't die ... ( can't say why without revealing the magic that is Stephen King.

So imagine a bit of every fairytale you know as a child just slightly twisted with a bit of quotes that don't really but make sense and you have the joy of a story about a boy and his dog that's not really his dog and a cast of magical people who give you a heartwarming sense of dysfunctional family and you have this 5 star read in a nutshell.