You have been warned.
"In early summer, the Hastings - Phil, his wife, teenage daughter, and eight-year-old twin sons - move into the Old Kessler Place on the edge of a densely wooded parcel known as Erl King Hill. The twins, Sean and Patrick, are the first to feel emanations of evil and danger, even before they hear odd tales of the woods - missing children, peculiar lights, eerie music. In the following months, disturbing and often terrifying scenes are witnessed and strangely forgotten, desires inflamed, and fear and dread raised as the evil purpose of the Erl King, ruler of the Dark Lands, is carried out."
There is little that I can discuss regarding this book without spoiling the story, other than I really don't think this book should be read by children. If you haven't read the book and don't want to know the story, please don't proceed in reading this review. On to the spoilery parts..!
The first 100 pages or so of Faerie Tale bored me slightly. It took me quite a while to get into it, and I wasn't really enjoying it. However, while the word 'regarded' was considerably overused, I did actually like the writing. After the beginning, it really picked up and the middle in particular was quite fast-paced. I have read quite a few reviews saying that the characters were poor and the writing was disappointing, but I personally quite liked it. I thought the characters were fairly strong and clearly defined, and that the writing portrayed the story really well. I really didn't have an issue with that part; it was the concept I had a problem with.
The general idea for the story is a classic, I guess. A family moves to a big, old house in the middle of nowhere. There's sense of danger as evil 'spirits' take over the place and takes a fancy to the people inside the house. Something big happens, someone is hurt, they have to save the family, yada yada yada.
The main thing that made Faerie Tale different was that it used a species and characters that you already know of and don't associate with bad or scary things. Some of the characters from Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream were used, and these aren't really connected to evil doings. I did like the idea of the story; it was quite interesting to read about a different version of things we've come to accept as a certain thing. Faeries have generally been thought of as creatures of goodness, and I think many people think of them in a nice way. This story completely turned that around; it was like everything we thought we already knew was completely out of the picture. I did like this aspect as it made an interesting read.
The big issue I had over this book was the sexual aspect of it. This isn't something I have a big problem with in most other books, as it's used appropriately and for a valid reason. Even when characters in books are sexually abused, it's told in a way that doesn't glamorise it and shows it to be a bad thing. Faerie Tale didn't do that. In the book, the faeries have a sort of power over humans which makes them 'desire' things they wouldn't normally think of.
When Phil's daughter, Gabbie (who was an adult in the story), found herself seduced by one of the faeries, it took a while for her to come to her senses and realise that she didn't want what was happening, so as the faerie disappeared and Gabbie was discovered, the case was recorded as an attempted rape.
When Gabbie was talking to family friend Mark about the situation, a big deal was made over the fact that it was as if she had actually wanted to be abused and raped, which wasn't the case at all. The way it was done and approached made it seem like the author's view was that rape isn't such a bad thing and that the girls often want it to happen.
My bigger issue, however, was the way Phil's twin sons were affected by the faeries. When the Erl King entered the twins' room at the middle of the night to kidnap and possess them, despite Sean wearing the 'protective necklace' which stopped him from being possessed, he was still made to 'desire' and react accordingly to things no child should have to face. It was really quite disgusting. But it didn't stop there. Patrick wasn't protected so was able to be 'possessed' by the faerie creatures, which, when he was taken to hospital, left him acting in a very un-childlike way. I'm sure I'm not the only person who sees a problem with an eight year-old boy taking his 'desires' into his own hands, or attempting to rape a grown woman. It was just wrong. And again, while the characters were disturbed by this, it was written in such a way that made it seem like the author didn't have an issue with it.
On top of this, it seemed that every female faerie was depicted without clothes, and a big deal was made over their bodies. It just felt a little sexist to me. I don't know if Feist was portraying his own views or not, but I wasn't a fan.
Other than that factor, I did like the story. I wasn't a big fan of the ending or the whole 'quest' aspect since it seemed as if it should have been from a completely different book and it really didn't seem to fit with the rest of the novel. Nevertheless, I didn't hate it!
Overall, I enjoyed the writing and characters Faerie Tale, however I felt parts and aspects of it were just disgusting, which is why I would only give it 2.5 stars. I wouldn't recommend this book to many people, especially children, because it wasn't pleasant, but if you do like this type of book, then I don't mean to offend you in any way; it's all down to personal opinion.
That's the end of this review. I should be back for more soon but until then, au revoir!
Charlotte xxx
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