Content levels
Trigger warnings
Hero archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Synopsis
**Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for that world or ours.** Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. When Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from it. Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world. King’s storytelling in Fairy Tale soars. This is a magnificent and terrifying tale in which good is pitted against overwhelming evil, and a heroic boy—and his dog—must lead the battle. Early in the Pandemic, King asked himself: “What could you write that would make you happy?” “As if my imagination had been waiting for the question to be asked, I saw a vast deserted city—deserted but alive. I saw the empty streets, the haunted buildings, a gargoyle head lying overturned in the street. I saw smashed statues (of what I didn’t know, but I eventually found out). I saw a huge, sprawling palace with glass towers so high their tips pierced the clouds. Those images released the story I wanted to tell.”
Is Fairy Tale appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
This epic fantasy contains strong violence depicting battles between good and evil in a parallel world, mature themes of grief and alcoholism, and intense peril. The protagonist is a teen, but the content is aimed at adult readers who enjoy King's darker storytelling.
What to know going in
This book has strong violence, no sexual content, and moderate language. Content notes include addiction, death of parent, animal death, death, and grief (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens who love epic portal fantasies with high stakes battles and a loyal dog companion will be drawn into this adventure where a boy must save another world from overwhelming evil.