Fairy Tale by Stephen King is a dark fantasy novel which was published in September 2022 and follows the adventures of 17-year-old Charlie Reade.
After Carlie befriends the scary old man that lives nearby he discovers the entrance to a hidden, otherworldly realm.
Here he must learn about the inhabitants and ultimately lead the battle between forces of good and evil.
So, what did I think after reading?
Now, I love Stephen King, and this book sounds like another blockbuster…
But in truth it’s just ‘fine’, and when you pick up one of his books you pretty much always expect to be blown away, but this doesn’t do that.
Why?
The main reason for this reaction is that it feels like two books merged into one.
The first half is about a boy and his dog, and the second half is more what you would expect from a King novel.
I feel the need to say that it isn’t that the book is bad.
It’s just that for the first 300+ pages I found that I wasn’t really that bothered about what was going to happen next, to the point that I didn’t pick it up for about a week, and that’s an unusual reaction to have to a Stephen King book for me.
So should you read Fairy Tale?
If you haven’t read a book by this author this is not the place to start.
This would give you the wrong impression of King’s writing, but if you just want a good read which ambles along to start with and then kicks into action halfway through this could be the one.
If it was anyone else when it comes to giving this book review a rating I might give it 4 stars as, like I said before, it isn’t bad.
But compared to pretty much every other King book I’ve read it’s only worth a 3 in my opinion.
Conclusion
What Fairy Tale by Stephen King does have in its favour is twisted fairy tales, secret worlds and (eventually) some page-turning action, just don’t expect this to be one of those books you can’t put down.
A solid story that is slow to start but worth persevering.
