Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

34 reviews

abbiexhope's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I can’t believe it took me until the final page to realise the whole thing was a religious allegory 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Abandonment and Death of parent

karapillar's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Stalking, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Vomit

spacemonkey25's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Death of parent

vibingandy's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I think I would’ve enjoyed this more if I read it as a physical book. No shade to the narration, I think some of the horror aspects just didn’t do anything to me over audio. Interesting premise, felt like a mystery above all else, I really liked the set up but I feel like the ending didn’t really satisfy me in terms of what the story was seemingly leading to. I am still not fully certain how to feel about the ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

graceheartsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.75

I’ve been reading a lot of historical fiction lately so I needed something different to shake myself out of a reading slump.

And this book was very much needed. I’ve never read Kiersten White before so I wasn’t sure what to expect but I loved the writing. From the moment I opened the book I was spell bound.

I also loved the way this book talked about trauma and religion and grief—it’s all super important and super needed to talk about. But I can also see why some would give it a lower rating (ironically a lower rating made me want to read it lol) as the ending is bittersweet: almost everyone gets out/has a happy ending but there needs to be a sacrifice before that.

My only slight criticism is that there’s a lot of exposition near the end but it’s not terribly egregious.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Abandonment

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Child death

Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

nbreezy17's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Confinement, Death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Murder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Grief

unluckycat13's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'm mixed because I really enjoy the story of this book, ambivalent about the characters, and hate the prose/delivery. 

There were parts that were strangely emotional, which is really rare for me. I enjoy the surrealism though it was badly balanced with attempts to make it plausibly non-magical for far too long. 

There we parts that came off gender essentialist which I don't think was the intent. As the author says in her note though, it takes us a long time to fully untangle our toxic beliefs. I don't have a problem with the authors note. Authors are allowed to write about things personal to them, then describe how and why it's personal to them. 

Overall the novel has cool creepy vibes that are reminiscent of a lot of cool stuff. I think it will hit hardest if you're in your 30s and/or had a rough conservative leaning upbringing. 

I did appreciate the nod to not needing a romantic partner even though most of the cast paired up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Child death, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Homophobia, Body horror, Religious bigotry, and Domestic abuse

phantompansy's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Homophobia, and Grief

Minor: Kidnapping, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Colonisation, Sexism, and Gore

santinasimile's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I'm a big fan of Kiersten, but this one just was not my cup of tea. 
The story and intrigue started out strong, but once the fantastical elements came into play, the whole story just didn't seem to fit together anymore. 
Once it clicked that this was about religion and trauma, I found myself having trouble staying engaged. 
I respect the immense amount of work put in to tell this type of story, and the author's note gave a better lens. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Toxic friendship, and Emotional abuse

heather667's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child death and Fire/Fire injury