Fairy Tale

I always enjoy a good Stephen King tale, but this probably the easiest 5 stars I've given in a long time.

Charlie is a good kid who's had a difficult life. His mother died when he was young, and his father drowns his grief with alcohol, so Charlie has become the adult in the family. He ends up befriending the elderly town hermit Mr. Bowditch and his dog, an aging German Shepherd named Radar. There's this weird shed out back, and there's weird noises coming from it, but Bowditch says to ignore it so I'm sure it's fine, right?

When Bowditch dies, Charlie discovers that no, everything is not fine. And what he finds in that shed will lead him into an entirely new world that is inextricably connected to our own, and if Charlie doesn't do something, our world could be destroyed. Oh and there's a sundial that can reverse time, but surely no one is interested in that.

I read this book a few months after my beloved dog Zoe died. I always jokingly referred to her as “my firstborn” and her loss hit me like a ton of bricks. Reading this book, it was so easy for me to relate to Charlie and the lengths he went to. I would do anything, absolutely anything, to have puppy Zoe back with me again. Oh, there were so many tears reading this book.

If you're a dog person, or just a pet person, I think you'll love this book. If you like to cry, I think you'll love this book. If you like Narnia-like stories of hidden fairy tale worlds, this is for you. But if you want a more stereotypical King horror/thriller, then you'll probably be disappointed here. While there are certainly monsters, this is not Pet Sematary.

I strongly recommend it; this book will always be a favorite.