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eggcatsreads 's review for:
Mister Magic
by Kiersten White
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I love creepypastas and r/nosleeps, so this story immediately drew my attention with similarities to the creepypasta Candle Cove. Instead of a group of strangers reminiscing on a children’s show that may or may not have existed, however, it’s a reunion of the last set of child actors. There’s a kind of cult classic feel to the hype for the show, as people seem to remember it but they can’t quite remember exactly what they watched nor can anyone find evidence of it online. It’s a mystery, and so once word gets out about the last cast getting together to do a podcast about the show - it’s all over the internet.
This book does a great job of bringing that feeling into it - it includes blog entries, discussion boards, Wikipedia articles, etc - with the rest of the world’s opinion and feelings towards Mister Magic and the cast reunion. I loved this, as it really brought a sort of “reality” to the novel. It’s not just the main character or the previous cast who are both obsessed with the show but also can’t quite remember anything specific that happened - it’s the rest of the world too. It really gives a solid foundation to the almost eerie feeling of this show that was a part of everyone’s childhoods - but yet no one can find evidence of it online.
The main character, Val, was apparently a cast member as a child on this show, but she has absolutely no memory of it. Her father brought her to the farm that she’s lived on for the past 30 years, keeping her hidden from anything that could identify her - but why? Does it have something to do with the show Mister Magic? What’s wrong with the show if everyone who remembers it only has positive memories attached?
We kind of wander in the dark, trying to figure out what’s exactly going on - all the while, an omnipresent uneasiness fills both the reader and Val, letting us know that there’s something not right going on. Why did her father essentially kidnap her, and never tell her about her past? What’s going on with the house they supposedly filmed Mister Magic in? And who exactly is the podcast narrator? We don’t know the answers to any of these questions, and neither does Val. From the start, Val can sense a feeling of wrongness about everything that’s going on, but she needs answers to these questions as well.
There is a very strong (and explicitly stated) theme of religious trauma in this novel, that lends an entirely other aspect to the horror happening. Once the reader can start to connect the dots between the events of the book, and the real-life abuses inflicted by the LDS church, it brings everything that’s happening into a new light. The ending might not be satisfactory to some, but I felt - with the context of this being a novel by White to confront her religious trauma from growing up in the LDS church - that it made sense. There’s never an easy answer or an easy solution when you grow up and move on, and there shouldn’t have to be.
If you, like me, read Candle Cove years ago and wanted more out of it - I recommend this book. It’s obviously not the same as Candle Cove, but it incorporates a lot of the things I loved about the creepypasta into this novel, all the while still being its own unique experience. (However, if you have issues with confronting religious trauma or cults, I would kindly suggest choosing another novel.)
I love creepypastas and r/nosleeps, so this story immediately drew my attention with similarities to the creepypasta Candle Cove. Instead of a group of strangers reminiscing on a children’s show that may or may not have existed, however, it’s a reunion of the last set of child actors. There’s a kind of cult classic feel to the hype for the show, as people seem to remember it but they can’t quite remember exactly what they watched nor can anyone find evidence of it online. It’s a mystery, and so once word gets out about the last cast getting together to do a podcast about the show - it’s all over the internet.
This book does a great job of bringing that feeling into it - it includes blog entries, discussion boards, Wikipedia articles, etc - with the rest of the world’s opinion and feelings towards Mister Magic and the cast reunion. I loved this, as it really brought a sort of “reality” to the novel. It’s not just the main character or the previous cast who are both obsessed with the show but also can’t quite remember anything specific that happened - it’s the rest of the world too. It really gives a solid foundation to the almost eerie feeling of this show that was a part of everyone’s childhoods - but yet no one can find evidence of it online.
The main character, Val, was apparently a cast member as a child on this show, but she has absolutely no memory of it. Her father brought her to the farm that she’s lived on for the past 30 years, keeping her hidden from anything that could identify her - but why? Does it have something to do with the show Mister Magic? What’s wrong with the show if everyone who remembers it only has positive memories attached?
We kind of wander in the dark, trying to figure out what’s exactly going on - all the while, an omnipresent uneasiness fills both the reader and Val, letting us know that there’s something not right going on. Why did her father essentially kidnap her, and never tell her about her past? What’s going on with the house they supposedly filmed Mister Magic in? And who exactly is the podcast narrator? We don’t know the answers to any of these questions, and neither does Val. From the start, Val can sense a feeling of wrongness about everything that’s going on, but she needs answers to these questions as well.
There is a very strong (and explicitly stated) theme of religious trauma in this novel, that lends an entirely other aspect to the horror happening. Once the reader can start to connect the dots between the events of the book, and the real-life abuses inflicted by the LDS church, it brings everything that’s happening into a new light. The ending might not be satisfactory to some, but I felt - with the context of this being a novel by White to confront her religious trauma from growing up in the LDS church - that it made sense. There’s never an easy answer or an easy solution when you grow up and move on, and there shouldn’t have to be.
If you, like me, read Candle Cove years ago and wanted more out of it - I recommend this book. It’s obviously not the same as Candle Cove, but it incorporates a lot of the things I loved about the creepypasta into this novel, all the while still being its own unique experience. (However, if you have issues with confronting religious trauma or cults, I would kindly suggest choosing another novel.)