A review by the_broadway_slasher
Mister Magic by Kiersten White

5.0

I bought Mister Magic because it sounded like a fun spin on Stephen King’s IT but it was so much more than that. For starters, the story of Mister Magic and the television show our group of protagonists were involved in as children instantly pulled me in and motivated me to try and read faster and faster so I could dig into the mystery at hand. The characters were richly written and many of them reminded me of my friends. I love that there were queer characters in the book who just existed and weren’t queer for the sake of a tired old queer storyline. Now… let’s talk about the third act. WOW. This is really where the book sets itself apart from comparisons to IT, as that book famously flubs its finale. Kiersten White writes one of the best finales I’ve ever read in any book, ever. Just when I found myself down to about 30 pages, I began wondering how she was going to wrap so many things up in such few pages but wow… I was truly blown away by how she was able to bring everything full circle and take the narrative beyond everything she’d established leading up to it. Incredible! Can’t recommend this darkly beautiful tale of friendship and childhood enough.