I’m a big King fan and have been since I was a kid whose parents didn’t censor their child’s reading like they probably should have.
But for the last decade I’ve not read many of his newest releases and not always been impressed when I did.
Fairy Tale though. King taking on Narnia esque fantasy adventure? Yes please. It turns out, The Special K himself can write fantasy as well as the spooky stuff.
I absolutely loved this book. From the slow burn beginning where we really fall in love with the characters, to a fish out of water story, to the full on heroics you’d want from a fantasy story. All the while bursting with heart and hope against evil. Yet, it never once felt generic. King is a skilled enough writer to take you down a road plenty travelled, but makes it feel brand new. Like when a friend comes to visit and their marvelling at the sites let’s you see the once ordinary in a new light.
The world he creates is different, vibrant and lively while being close enough to home to always be relatable.
Peppered throughout though are spots of darkness that come from one of Kings horror books, that hint at a hidden darkness. J J Abrams should learn a lesson here about how to answer mysteries just enough to be satisfying while also leaving plenty of room for the reader to ponder on the unanswerable.
I’d love to get the opinion of a non King fan on this book, because I feel like Fairy Tale would really appeal to a reader who hasn’t connected with King before.
I never read a Stephen King book all the way through until Fairy Tale.
That being said, if I didn’t take this book on in audio format I really don’t think I would have liked it as much as I did. His writing, while good, is very hard to get into. I was able to appreciate that slow burn beginning after the fact but it was very brutal during it. I just kept thinking “can we get to the guts of this book already?!”
I honestly felt more indifferent than anything else about the book. I gave it three stars because the writing was good and I didn’t take any major issues with it I just felt…meh. Wouldn’t recommend it to anyone but I don’t regret reading it. I can honestly say though that I probably could’ve walked away from this book without knowing how it ended and never think twice about it.
I can see how some people could love it though, I just wasn’t one of them.
This. If meandered way too much in the middle of the book. The beginning was great. The ending was great. The middle was painfully slow.