Customer Reviews
Dire - because it just is - By: Kaela, 04 Jan 2009 
When I first attempted to read this book, I gave up & thought I simply wasn'tin the mood. However, on my second attempt at reading I discovered it wasn't my mood, it was the book.
It starts off promising but then simply turns to be disappointing. The existence of the fairy world is barely explained & what is explained is so convoluted that I can't help thinking the writer just wanted to say 'because they just do'.
The use of sex is pointless & brings little passion; it's not erotic as saidin the blurb, it's simply sex which is completely different. And the relationships that do occur just seem like two characters flung together & only love each other 'because they just do'.
I never get the feeling of the character beingin any real peril & half of the perils he gets himself into are just a bit stupid. For instance, if there was evil magickin the world & you knew there was a witch after you, would you open a strange jar that appeared on your doorstep? The answer is no, no you wouldn't. You,in actual fact, would simply chuck it. On another note, the witch is the baddie & has a magpie for a familiar - how unoriginal & you find it out far too soonin the book.
This book is unoriginal, poorly put together with very little construction (and it seems thought) & was very hard to read as a result. I hope his other books are not as bad as this as it would deeply irritate me that a writer this bad (based on this book) could become an international bestseller & get paid for writing such drivel.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone & if I could I wouldn't even have given the one star. I've read many, many books but none were as torturous to read as this one.
Not what I expected. - By: Lillybelle, 19 Oct 2008 
Ok so basically I'll be honest & say that I've not read the entire book yet so it may get better, I'm only half way through, but I just have to make a comment.
I love the general theme about the book about fairy tale creatures being real etc, but I do think there are way too many descriptions & it's not as good & magical as I expected it to be.
Another comment I really have to make is that I really do believe there is too much sex within this book & it's really not necessary, I think the story has got lost through all the sex stuff, really disappointed with this I have to admit.
Haunted Fairy Tale - By: Martin Belcher, 19 Sep 2008 
This James Herbert novel is very different to many of his others & introduces us to Thom Kindred who after a serious accident returns to his childhood home of Little Bracken set deepin the mysterious forest surrounding the stately home of Castle Bracken.
The narrative sets up quite a spooky feeling about the setting & also the both houses. The Characters of Hugo Bleeth & Nell Quick are not who they seem & then we find out that the forest is populated by a whole host of incredible mythical animals & elves & wicked evil creatures from our nightmares & fairy tales that interact with Thom.
The story is very original & sometimes erotic, sometimes menacing; I wouldn't exactly call it Horror, more a good old fashioned haunted love story. Very good none the less.
Hopefully just a blip.. - By: M. Gidden, 05 Jan 2008 ..but this is by far the worst of Hebert's books that I've read (and I've read most). It starts off as well as any other of his tales, but as soon as the fairies appear, it really does spiral into total drivel.
I was pretty dubious about the whole fairy idea to begin with, but I didn't realise quite how unlikeable they would turn out to be - it got to the point where they made me feel quite nauseous.
I can't imagine what JH was thinking when he came up with the idea for this book, but I share another reader's suspicion that he was suffering from writer's block - an example of his lack of imagination is when he throwsin two almost identical & equally mind-numbing scenes with spiders.
However, I do think this is just a blipin JH's career - the excellent 'Others' & 'Nobody True' make this seem likely.
Read these instead & if you want fairies then read Peter Pan.
Fun but Forgettable - By: C. Cubbin, 29 Dec 2007 The basic premise of this book is a good one - that traditional childrens' fairy tales can be spiced up to make them appeal to grown-ups. The Grimm Brothers' tales make sinister enough reading & it was a good idea to tweak some well-known images from childhood stories to turn them into disturbing adult fiction.
However, despite some graphic sex scenes & fairly shocking horror (you would expect no less from Mr Herbert) the story never quite grips the reader enough. The characters are a little, well, normal & both good guys & bad guys seemed decidedly hesitant to act with any decisiveness or even subtlety. They're all a bit nerdy to be honest. I found myself wondering why the hero doesn't just take a good piece of 2x4 to the bad guys & lamp them one. When the reader feels able to out-think, out-fight & basically out-hero the hero (with nothing more than stout timber) then something has probably gone wrong somewhere. It all seemed a little rushed & not particularly well thought out.
Having said that, 'Once' has a unique feel to it & is skilfully written. I found myself interestedin the story & felt only faintly disappointed that a very good basic plot & flavour was slightly spoiled by the characters & their actions (or lack of). It's worth a read, but the title probably describes how often you'd want to.
