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A review by paperwitches
Mister Magic by Kiersten White
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
MISTER MAGIC IS OUT TODAY!
↪Story Synopsis: Val has lived isolated on a farm for most of her life, since she lost all memory of her life before 8 years old. And then, a twist of fate reminds her she was once the star of a show called ‘Mister Magic.’ The fabled show that was once popular, but no evidence exists of it ever running. As the cast comes back together, they find memories that were best left hidden.
↪Length: 304 pages
↪Rating: 4.00
★★★★☆
↪Review:
First off, my thanks to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the complimentary advanced reader copy of, ‘Mister Magic,’ per my request. This review is being voluntarily given and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.
If you remember Hide from 2021, the abandoned amusement park thriller, then you’ll be happy to know about another horror by Kiersten White is being delivered and today is the publishing date! I was super excited for this release, and even more excited when I got the unexpected approval on a very hot AC-less day. A young Paperwitch grew up on 'Spookyrotini' AKA 'Creepypasta.' I still remember the ambiguous horror I felt as a teen listening to Candle Cove for the first time. If you've never heard of Candle Cove - it has a similar premise regarding a child TV show that has since become lost media. I expected a similar horror in Mister Magic, steeped in nostalgia and lost childhood and it delivered. Albeit in an unexpected way.
The story starts of very strong, there is a split POV format that mixes in pieces of media like Reddit posts, creepypasta forums, and Wikipedia. I was actually very impressed by how accurate these depictions of media were, I was even able to recognize Archiveofourown.org from one of the chapters - which totally gives bonus points to the author. The comment dialogue reads very realistic. Unfortunately, the format doesn't work very well on ebook.
Most notably, this book is described as a horror - and I very much disagree with this category. At most, this book had disturbing elements that had to do with emotional backstories to most of the characters. There were about two scenes in the entire 304 pages that actually elicited any dread in me, and one of them was a fake out. This did not have the same feel as the creepypasta's that inspired it, there is no ambiguous unnamed horror you feel. A lot of the time, any novel with elements of paranormal, unusual experiences, and scary descriptions are lumped into the horror category despite being 80% general fiction or even romance. Mister Magic makes only a handful of appearances, and he exists mostly as a omnipresent concept in the characters minds rather than the big baddie - which makes sense after reading the afterward, but overall affects the read for someone who is expecting a scare fest. You never fear for the characters because you never once are scared that they are in any real danger, which defeats most of the spookiness of those two or three 'horror' scenes. It has a feel good theme that cheapens the horror but makes it more noticeable this is in fact a deeply emotional fiction instead of a true horror novel.
This doesn't mean it wasn't a good read though - I quite enjoyed it!
This is very much a drama more than a horror, it relies on it's characters and their likeability - and they are quite likeable. This book deals with the themes of family, chosen family, and deep emotional trauma. The main character is extremely sheltered but intelligent, if very devoid of all emotion besides childlike wonder (which seems intentional and isn't too annoying, and impulsiveness. Within the first two chapters, she's ready to hop in van of people she doesn't remember at all that randomly know her name. She's so naïve in fact, that her would be kidnappers (if they weren't her childhood friends) actually warn her that it's super weird she is so gung-ho to leave. I appreciated that the character's were aware of how crazy this sounded, but it felt like a bit of a farce to allow her to go anyway despite how crazy the other characters thought she sounded. She also declares a clear lack of independence, despite the book hinting otherwise. You never see Val truly alone, and when she is she seeks out the circle. To me, this was representative of her childhood memory and nostalgia of ALWAYS being with a group. But the book tries to set her up as fiercely independent, especially while in childhood, only to have it be undone by this one fact. Besides this, it's understandable that someone sheltered would be monotonous - but she did manage to make her own life with what she had. She wasn't completely inexperienced, but so little character development happens over the course of 304 pages that you feel like Val was the exact same person as when she started. This doesn't make her unlikeable, as these characters are meant to be emotionally stunted by their experiences on the TV show and the emotional trauma and insecurities it brought. However, it doesn't explain away all the issues regarding this point. Val starts as very sweet, protective, and understanding - but the big twist that occurs happens because she STAYS very sweet, protective, and understanding. While I couldn't see Val without protectiveness, I expected her niceness and understanding demeanor to mature into the very clear revelation that she was being used the whole time. By her mother, by her friends, by her love interest, by the town of BLISS, and in the end by her sister.
The rest of the characters are equally likeable, but have two traits at most, one of which has to do with their identities - which can be a bonus or a negative. I feel like regardless all of them were written very well and even positively represented how it is to accept your own identity. As for the rest of the characters, they are very much still filling a role that is subservient to gender roles and social conformities. It made me disillusioned with Val as the main character, as I found the other characters backstories much more interesting. Once I had read the afterword, this point made a lot more sense as an allegory for Kiersten White's experience with religion. It's a brilliant allegory that actually ties very small seemingly unassuming parts together with the over looming sense of always being watched which can equate to the eyes of god or the church.
It took me a while to write this review simply based on how convoluted my feelings were, expecting one thing, and getting another. The ending is the biggest reason for this, after a dragging middle with lots of exposition it was a clear shock when the vibes go from ominous paranoia to regret and sacrifice. Which would be fine, if it had not rushed it's own ending. In under 3 pages a huge twist occurs, and the story ends so abruptly it leaves you with whiplash. This had so little impact, even while factoring in the epilogue, that I sat there for 10 minutes after loving every word in the book to suddenly becoming extremely disillusioned with it. Had it taken even only a few more chapters to wrap itself up, it would've been a five star read for me as it has all the potential and Kiersten White's amazing skill propelling it forward.
↪Bookish Pros:
👻Likeable side characters with interesting and differing backgrounds.
👻Diverse cast of characters who are learning to accept themselves.
👻A great allegory for the authors experience in Mormonism, and growing up under the iron fist of indoctrination, which makes it's ending that much more impactful.
↪Bookish Cons:
👻A quick, terse ending that dead stops the build up created by the entire story.
👻A very bland, if nice, main character who somewhat servers as more of a self-insert rather than an actual character of her own.
👻The story reads as YA, as opposed to adult just based on the simplicity of it's character's.
👻Mister Magic himself is more of a concept than a character, representative of the indoctrination they all face.
👻Some twists do not pay off, or work, or are quickly forgotten about.
↪I’d Recommend To:
♡ Creepypasta's lovers
♡ Fans of Lost Media genre
♡ Fans of drama fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
↪{Quicklinks}
Blog | Goodreads | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Twitter
↪Story Synopsis: Val has lived isolated on a farm for most of her life, since she lost all memory of her life before 8 years old. And then, a twist of fate reminds her she was once the star of a show called ‘Mister Magic.’ The fabled show that was once popular, but no evidence exists of it ever running. As the cast comes back together, they find memories that were best left hidden.
↪Length: 304 pages
↪Rating: 4.00
★★★★☆
↪Review:
First off, my thanks to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the complimentary advanced reader copy of, ‘Mister Magic,’ per my request. This review is being voluntarily given and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.
If you remember Hide from 2021, the abandoned amusement park thriller, then you’ll be happy to know about another horror by Kiersten White is being delivered and today is the publishing date! I was super excited for this release, and even more excited when I got the unexpected approval on a very hot AC-less day. A young Paperwitch grew up on 'Spookyrotini' AKA 'Creepypasta.' I still remember the ambiguous horror I felt as a teen listening to Candle Cove for the first time. If you've never heard of Candle Cove - it has a similar premise regarding a child TV show that has since become lost media. I expected a similar horror in Mister Magic, steeped in nostalgia and lost childhood and it delivered. Albeit in an unexpected way.
The story starts of very strong, there is a split POV format that mixes in pieces of media like Reddit posts, creepypasta forums, and Wikipedia. I was actually very impressed by how accurate these depictions of media were, I was even able to recognize Archiveofourown.org from one of the chapters - which totally gives bonus points to the author. The comment dialogue reads very realistic. Unfortunately, the format doesn't work very well on ebook.
Most notably, this book is described as a horror - and I very much disagree with this category. At most, this book had disturbing elements that had to do with emotional backstories to most of the characters. There were about two scenes in the entire 304 pages that actually elicited any dread in me, and one of them was a fake out. This did not have the same feel as the creepypasta's that inspired it, there is no ambiguous unnamed horror you feel. A lot of the time, any novel with elements of paranormal, unusual experiences, and scary descriptions are lumped into the horror category despite being 80% general fiction or even romance. Mister Magic makes only a handful of appearances, and he exists mostly as a omnipresent concept in the characters minds rather than the big baddie - which makes sense after reading the afterward, but overall affects the read for someone who is expecting a scare fest. You never fear for the characters because you never once are scared that they are in any real danger, which defeats most of the spookiness of those two or three 'horror' scenes. It has a feel good theme that cheapens the horror but makes it more noticeable this is in fact a deeply emotional fiction instead of a true horror novel.
This doesn't mean it wasn't a good read though - I quite enjoyed it!
This is very much a drama more than a horror, it relies on it's characters and their likeability - and they are quite likeable. This book deals with the themes of family, chosen family, and deep emotional trauma. The main character is extremely sheltered but intelligent, if very devoid of all emotion besides childlike wonder (which seems intentional and isn't too annoying, and impulsiveness. Within the first two chapters, she's ready to hop in van of people she doesn't remember at all that randomly know her name. She's so naïve in fact, that her would be kidnappers (if they weren't her childhood friends) actually warn her that it's super weird she is so gung-ho to leave. I appreciated that the character's were aware of how crazy this sounded, but it felt like a bit of a farce to allow her to go anyway despite how crazy the other characters thought she sounded. She also declares a clear lack of independence, despite the book hinting otherwise. You never see Val truly alone, and when she is she seeks out the circle. To me, this was representative of her childhood memory and nostalgia of ALWAYS being with a group. But the book tries to set her up as fiercely independent, especially while in childhood, only to have it be undone by this one fact. Besides this, it's understandable that someone sheltered would be monotonous - but she did manage to make her own life with what she had. She wasn't completely inexperienced, but so little character development happens over the course of 304 pages that you feel like Val was the exact same person as when she started. This doesn't make her unlikeable, as these characters are meant to be emotionally stunted by their experiences on the TV show and the emotional trauma and insecurities it brought. However, it doesn't explain away all the issues regarding this point. Val starts as very sweet, protective, and understanding - but the big twist that occurs happens because she STAYS very sweet, protective, and understanding. While I couldn't see Val without protectiveness, I expected her niceness and understanding demeanor to mature into the very clear revelation that she was being used the whole time. By her mother, by her friends, by her love interest, by the town of BLISS, and in the end by her sister.
The rest of the characters are equally likeable, but have two traits at most, one of which has to do with their identities - which can be a bonus or a negative. I feel like regardless all of them were written very well and even positively represented how it is to accept your own identity. As for the rest of the characters, they are very much still filling a role that is subservient to gender roles and social conformities. It made me disillusioned with Val as the main character, as I found the other characters backstories much more interesting. Once I had read the afterword, this point made a lot more sense as an allegory for Kiersten White's experience with religion. It's a brilliant allegory that actually ties very small seemingly unassuming parts together with the over looming sense of always being watched which can equate to the eyes of god or the church.
It took me a while to write this review simply based on how convoluted my feelings were, expecting one thing, and getting another. The ending is the biggest reason for this, after a dragging middle with lots of exposition it was a clear shock when the vibes go from ominous paranoia to regret and sacrifice. Which would be fine, if it had not rushed it's own ending. In under 3 pages a huge twist occurs, and the story ends so abruptly it leaves you with whiplash. This had so little impact, even while factoring in the epilogue, that I sat there for 10 minutes after loving every word in the book to suddenly becoming extremely disillusioned with it. Had it taken even only a few more chapters to wrap itself up, it would've been a five star read for me as it has all the potential and Kiersten White's amazing skill propelling it forward.
↪Bookish Pros:
👻Likeable side characters with interesting and differing backgrounds.
👻Diverse cast of characters who are learning to accept themselves.
👻A great allegory for the authors experience in Mormonism, and growing up under the iron fist of indoctrination, which makes it's ending that much more impactful.
↪Bookish Cons:
👻A quick, terse ending that dead stops the build up created by the entire story.
👻A very bland, if nice, main character who somewhat servers as more of a self-insert rather than an actual character of her own.
👻The story reads as YA, as opposed to adult just based on the simplicity of it's character's.
👻Mister Magic himself is more of a concept than a character, representative of the indoctrination they all face.
👻Some twists do not pay off, or work, or are quickly forgotten about.
↪I’d Recommend To:
♡ Creepypasta's lovers
♡ Fans of Lost Media genre
♡ Fans of drama fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
↪{Quicklinks}
Blog | Goodreads | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Twitter
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Cursing, Classism, Kidnapping, Biphobia, Body horror, Homophobia, Sexism, and Religious bigotry
☾grief and loss, implied death of child, cult themes, kidnapping, religious overtones