DNF: Fairy Tale

[thistlechaser]

Fairy Tale by Stephen King.

I've read nearly all of Stephen King's books, and I don't think I've ever DNFed one of them. It made me really sad to drop this one.

The first third of the book was about a boy taking care of an old man who had broken his leg when he fell off a ladder. Nothing supernatural. Nothing horror. Just their day to day life. (And, as long as King's books are, a third of the book was as long as most other book's I've read.)

Even though nothing happened through the entire first third of the book, I kept reading because something had to happen eventually, right? Eventually we got to the "supernatural" part (the main character ended up in what was basically Fairy Tale Land, a place where all the elements from fairy tales were real), but that was actually more boring than the first third. Nothing at all felt new, we all know these fairy tales by heart.

About halfway through the book and gave up and looked at Goodreads to see what others thought.

"2 stars. I’m still King’s Constant Reader and devoted fan, but this mediocre book is easily forgettable."

"It’s just that [the story] left me not even as much bored as quite indifferent, and that’s a cardinal sin for a book."

"2 1/2 stars. This was... fine."

"[the main character] ends up on his own little fantasy adventure story, which is... pretty much like any fantasy adventure ever"

I wish I had given up on it sooner. I spent almost six hours reading it for no payoff. Oh well, on to the next book.