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A review by evanaviary
Mister Magic by Kiersten White
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Kiersten White stays writing horror novels that are completely polarising. I came into Mister Magic with low expectations because I did notttt enjoy White's first entry into adult horror, Hide. There were too many characters, the plot was messy, and the pacing was all over the place. I didn't know if I was going to pick up this book, but the synopsis was just too good. I had to. And what a wild ride it was.
I'm glad to report back that Mister Magic is SUCH a huge step up from Hide. The story feels more concentrated, and because the cast size is remarkably smaller, White is able to tell a better story with fewer characters. The setting is creepy. I love lost media and the urban legends we create around it, and White inserts a variety of correspondences, from Reddit posts to Twitter threads to forum archives that so expertly wordbuild this fictional show. I kept wanting to look up Mister Magic and had to keep reminding myself that it's not real. (Probably.)
Parts of Mister Magic felt reminiscent of the first season of Channel Zero, where a strange television program that only children can see haunts a small town. White's novel is more concerned with the commercialisation of nostalgia and the erosion of childhood innocence, but I actually don't think this is a horror novel. Mister Magic, while creepy at the outset, derails into something more metaphysical.
The explanation in the book's second half is a little wacky and everything from there on out loses the creepiness of the book's initial half. It's a little far-fetched by the end, and falls into some of the same mad-dash-to-the-end tactics that White used in Hide. The entire third act goes off the rails, but it's okay because I'm fascinated by how White creates elevated horror/mystery that's anchored in specific research inquiries. Her work breaks free of traditional thriller boilerplates, and so even a messy third act is still incredibly interesting BECAUSE of the narrative risks that White takes as a writer. If the third act had maintained the initial horror tone, I probably would have liked this more. My bottom line is: read this even if you didn't like Hide. I found the story structuring to be more mature and the character development more thorough.
Mister Magic was a real show. You can't convince me otherwise.
I'm glad to report back that Mister Magic is SUCH a huge step up from Hide. The story feels more concentrated, and because the cast size is remarkably smaller, White is able to tell a better story with fewer characters. The setting is creepy. I love lost media and the urban legends we create around it, and White inserts a variety of correspondences, from Reddit posts to Twitter threads to forum archives that so expertly wordbuild this fictional show. I kept wanting to look up Mister Magic and had to keep reminding myself that it's not real. (Probably.)
Parts of Mister Magic felt reminiscent of the first season of Channel Zero, where a strange television program that only children can see haunts a small town. White's novel is more concerned with the commercialisation of nostalgia and the erosion of childhood innocence, but I actually don't think this is a horror novel. Mister Magic, while creepy at the outset, derails into something more metaphysical.
The explanation in the book's second half is a little wacky and everything from there on out loses the creepiness of the book's initial half. It's a little far-fetched by the end, and falls into some of the same mad-dash-to-the-end tactics that White used in Hide. The entire third act goes off the rails, but it's okay because I'm fascinated by how White creates elevated horror/mystery that's anchored in specific research inquiries. Her work breaks free of traditional thriller boilerplates, and so even a messy third act is still incredibly interesting BECAUSE of the narrative risks that White takes as a writer. If the third act had maintained the initial horror tone, I probably would have liked this more. My bottom line is: read this even if you didn't like Hide. I found the story structuring to be more mature and the character development more thorough.
Mister Magic was a real show. You can't convince me otherwise.