Reviews with content warning for Gore - Fairy Tale

This was honestly I think one of the worst books I’ve ever read. And I actually love Stephen King. 11/22/63 is one of my favorite books ever and I’m not scared of some length. But I’m truly surprised I even finished this book.

1. The characterization. LITERALLY NO 17yo TALKS LIKE THAT. There were so many parts throughout the book that I was cringing at how awkward the dialogue was. And the 2 like sex scene at the end…I almost got into a car crash while listening that’s how awkward it was.
2. I get that Charlie is supposed to be speaking a different language throughout his time in Empess but he doesn’t have to continue saying “I tried to say electricity but couldn’t” or something of the sort. A one time explanation that it’s a different language would’ve sufficed.
3. Overall I just didn’t love the characters. I felt that Charlie was trying too hard to act like he’s a “bad guy” inside and then somehow is the nicest and smartest 17year old that’s ever lived.
4. I understand that King built an entirely new world here but that’s what it felt like…like he was just pulling random words out of his a**. Night soldiers? Snab? I just couldn’t get into it. Also the snab just felt like an ex machina the entire time. Whenever you needed an out…sir Snab to the rescue.
5. Spoilers for this one. I really thought that the idea of other fairy tales (rumplestiltskin, Cinderella, the other Grimm stories) would have a larger part of the ending of this story. I understand that there was some kind of divine intervention at the end in the name of rumplestiltskin, but it just felt lame. That’s the only way I can describe it. I continued to read because I thought maybe there was a tie-in, but there wasn’t. He was just comparing his life to these other stories and somehow everything worked out in the end. How did it work out for him??? I just don’t understand.

Anyways, this was long and winding. Overall, I would not recommend.

Content Warnings

urmm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

My first Stephen King book. Not what I expected but really enjoyed it.

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liksie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

3.75

Good Book! Sadly very slow and long for a quite simple Story. The first and the last 200 pages were really good. All in All its a great tale with highs and lows.

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jadehusdanhicks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This was a wild ride and a different take than most of Stephen’s books that normally orient around the horror genre.

This took well know lore, legends and fairytales and put them in his own unique interpretation in this world of the other that just so happens to be down mr bowditches well.

It deals with morals, good deeds, grief and patience and so much more. I loved seeing our MC Charlie connect with both radar and mr bowditch as well as getting to travel with him through his journey and experiences in this other land.

Overall it was unexpected from king but an enjoyable read nonetheless. A unique take on so many well know fairytales and legends alll wrapped up into one creative interpretation that brought them all together in a unique story of its own.

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automatic_rae's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

A beautiful story of love, fear, and full of hope. Masterfully written, evoking true emotion. Gripping, exciting, nerve-wracking, brilliant.

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rissaread's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

this was my first stephen king book and i think it was a nice introduction to his writing and his style. i loved this book, i love the story and reading everything charlie was going through. i can of course see why people didn’t click with it, not everyone is into fantasy esque books and that’s fine.

and yes, i can say at some points it felt as though there was unnecessary details or pieces in chapters that were definitely not needed ( like that part in a chapter about the jenny girl charlie knew, kind of unnecessary to me ) some parts did drag and i was like alright get to the point lol but i loved the story!

i also saw some reviews here of people saying once charlie enters empis it got boring and they liked the beginning better but i completely disagree. the whole point of this story was about the other world, the world under the well and it was so fascinating to me. again, i get it not being everyone’s cup of tea but don’t pick up a book literally called fairy tale and expect a normal story about a teenager and a dog.

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shiftycow1313's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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anniefizzell's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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