Fairy Tale by Stephen King is a modern-day fairy tale that dips into horror and fantasy at some points. Stephen King has always created his own kind of Fairy Tale lore in his novels and this one, he takes it head on. King explores the dark origins of fairy tales like the Grimm Brothers’ original Fairy Tales. King doesn’t just stick with fairy tales and incorporates the dark writing of H.P. Lovecraft, as well. The pace of the novel is a little uneven. The novel starts too slow it’s King so it is still somewhat interesting, but the novel could have cut 30 -40 pages and been fine. The novel starts speeding away until the middle when the main character goes to another land and slows down again, The 200-page rising action to the finale was perfect pace and hard to put down. Each chapter has an illustration of the events that happen in that chapter that helps the reader envision the characters and scenes. I will say this is the slowest start to a Stephen King novel, but it still slowly drew me into this world and I knew every bit of the main character and the choices he made. The story captures the boy and his dog’s narrative perfectly, as an animal lover it was hard not to smile at the bond between Charlie and Radar. I think this is one of his best novels in the last couple of years. Fairy Tale marks the 30th Stephen King novel that I have read, since starting my blog I have only 12 so I have quite a few to reread and experience as well as new reads. Stephen King is the G.O.A.T. of writing he publishes not one but two to three books a year, and they might not be all great but a few are and the rest are good. King has published over 60 novels and has no plans to stop, I can’t wait to read more. Fairy Tale by Stephen King was published on September 6, 2022, by Scribner.

Plot Summary: 17-year-old Charlie Reade has been through a lot in his years, he lost his mother to a car accident and watched his father turn into an alcoholic. When things got bad with his dad he made a deal with God if you fix my dad then I owe you, after that prayer, his dad started going to AA and changed his life back around. Charlie never forgot that promise. He rides his bike by the old recluse of the neighborhood Mr. Bowditch and is alerted by his old dog barking and hears a faint cry for “help”. Charlie finds a frail Mr. Bowditch with a broken leg and calls 911. He saves him but Mr. Bowditch has no one to take care of his dog Radar which Charlie volunteers. Charlie and Radar bond as does Charlie with the ailing Mr. Bowditch. Charlie feels this is his repentance for his prayer with his dad and he agrees to take care of Mr. Bowditch as he heals. Charlie finds Mr. Bowditch has secrets others will kill for, a pot full of gold, and a secret passage to another land. Charlie makes a decision to go to the land of fairy tales but finds it cursed. Is it the land of fairy tales or nightmares?

What I Liked: Stephen King’s imagination is unparalleled and this story shows it off. I liked the lore of the land and the curse. The gray people were super interesting in the way they were described. The book illustrations served the story well and Stephen King wanted them to be like the illustrations in books like Treasure Island and Dracula that he grew up with, and I feel he nailed it. I liked the side character of Iota the best and his need for revenge. The fight scene between Charlie and Cla was pretty epic and I loved the bit at the end with Cla’s final gesture. The Night Soldiers had a cool design and would have loved more on their origin. The last 200 pages of the novel were awesome the rising action was one of his best, the finale I had a little bit of an issue with but the rising action to it was great. The boy and his dog moments were the best and made me spend some extra time with my own dog. I loved the Lovecraft element that came in and how it was explained. The book cover is such a great design that pulls you in.

What I Disliked: The slow pace at the beginning, is still interesting but slow. The bad guys were not built up enough. Their evil plan was good to take over the land but everything else could have been set up better. The villains were more plot points than developed characters. The climax had an awesome set-up, but the actual finale left me wanting more from it.

Recommendation and Rating: Fairy Tale is a solid Stephen King story. Aside from the pace and my wanting a little bit more from the finale I enjoyed this book a lot and will recommend it. I recommend this book for fans of Stephen King, Fans of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and stories from H. P. Lovecraft. I rated Fairy Tale by Stephen King 4 out of 5 stars. I have read over 30 Stephen King novels but only read 13 for my blog. I will rank where Fairy Tale fits into the 13 I have read and fully reviewed. The ranking is from best to worst 1) The Shining, 2) Misery, 3) 11/22/63, 4) On Writing, 5) IT, 6) The Outsider, 7) Fairy Tale, 8) Later, 9) If it Bleeds, 10) Elevation, 11) Joyland, 12) Billy Summers, and 13) The Dead Zone.