Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

12 reviews

gabgon2597's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Gore, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Child death, Body horror, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Child abuse

wynberries's review against another edition

dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Child death

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

mynameisrebecca's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Body horror, Homophobia, and Child abuse

Minor: Religious bigotry, Racism, and Torture

blacksphinx's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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

5.0

I picked up this book expecting an entertaining creepypasta-flavored romp through cosmic horror. Instead, I cried my eyes out and felt like some wounded piece of myself got picked out of the darkness and bandaged. (And I lack the Mormon religious trauma this author is digging into!) I am tempted to push this into the hands of every millennial I know. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Confinement, Body horror, Abandonment, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Homophobia, and Misogyny

Minor: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, and Religious bigotry

fairytalefootnotes's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Child death, Homophobia, and Confinement

aileron's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, Body horror, and Confinement

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Racism

huntress's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Homophobia, Death of parent, Classism, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Gaslighting, Racism, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, and Child death

Minor: Alcoholism

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Review:

I’m a sucker for an interesting premise, which is why I eagerly picked up Mister Magic by Kiersten White despite having a mixed track record when it comes to horror/thriller books. The concept of this book is delightfully original, and White uses it to its fullest extent to explore interesting themes of childhood, indoctrination, nostalgia, and more. I especially enjoyed the use of “mixed media” such as Reddit, Wikipedia, etc. to underscore the weirdness and fascination with the Mister Magic TV show. The characters, while not the most well-developed, are interesting and engaging enough to pull the story along, especially as we learn more about their relationships with each other. 

 

My hangup with horror novels and thrillers is usually the endings, and I was both pleasantly surprised and disappointed with how this book ends. I think White does an excellent job crafting an ending that does justice to the plot, the characters, and the themes. She doesn’t spend a whole lot of time discussing the logistics of everything that goes down, instead focusing more on the story as a vehicle for thematic discussion. For more literal-minded and detail-oriented readers, this might be frustrating, but I prefer horror books that lean more into the metaphor rather than precise explanations. Despite everything that I liked about the ending, White’s admittedly heavy-handedness in regard to the book’s themes turns into a sledgehammer at the book’s climax. I was able to put up with some preachiness in the earlier parts of the book because the metaphor could work in so many ways, but by the time I finished the book I was exhausted by the repetitive, insistent way White underscores her message. I felt slightly disrespected as a reader, like she didn’t think I was smart enough to grasp the metaphor. I’m also not sure of the extent to which I agree with her book’s central thesis (or perhaps I have more of an issue with the confidence with which White offers it as an original and near-perfect solution). I wish she let the reader make connections and draw conclusions for themselves.

 

Side Note: If I had a nickel for every horror book that involves mentions of a particular place/show being deleted from the Internet . . . don’t authors realize how difficult it is for someone to monitor the ENTIRE internet and social media for something, and how difficult it would be to delete things they have no control or ownership of? Both Dead Eleven and Mister Magic have something like this going on, and it has left me scratching my head both times. I get that it adds a cool level of spookiness and mysteriousness to the story, but it’s also not believable at all!

 

The Run-Down: 

You will probably like Mister Magic if . . . 

·      You’re a millennial who needs to go to therapy but reads books instead

·      You like themes of nostalgia, childhood, escapism, indoctrination, and generational power/trauma

·      You want a fun, entertaining read with strong thematic elements

 

You might not like Mister Magic if . . . 

·      You’re looking for a scary book 

·      You hate it when characters make stupid decisions in horror books (our main girl Val is smart and strong in her own way, but makes some seriously questionable choices)

·      You have a low tolerance for preachiness in books

·      You dislike paranormal elements 

 

A Similar Book: The Circus of Stolen Dreams by Lorelai Saveryn. Similarities include . . . 

·      A plot centered around a tantalizing and dangerous supernatural escape from childhood trauma

·      Long-lost siblings

·      A main character who forgets key aspects of their childhood

·      Exploration of trauma, grief, escape, and childhood

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body horror, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

frmeden's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-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

this book was so fucking weird but somehow kiersten white always seems to hit on the weird little sub-genres of horror that i love? her work is compulsively readable and a little abstract but always very gay and very fun

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcohol and Alcoholism