Review: Mister Magic by Kiersten White

Rating: 9.9/10

Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Who is Mister Magic? Former child stars reunite to uncover the tragedy that ended their show—and discover the secret of its enigmatic host—in this “skin-crawling story of pop culture fandom and ‘90s nostalgia” (Melissa Albert, author of The Hazel Woods) from the author of Hide.

“[A] propulsive, exciting, often genuinely scary, endlessly compelling mystery.”—Terry Miles, author of Rabbits

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: PopSugar, Polygon, Chicago Public Library, CrimeReads

Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children’s program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast, known as the Circle of Friends, have spent their lives searching for the happiness they felt while they were on it. The friendship. The feeling of belonging. And the protection of Mister Magic.

But with no surviving video of the show, no evidence of who directed or produced it, and no records of who—or what—the beloved host actually was, memories are all the former Circle of Friends has.

Then a twist of fate brings the castmates back together at the remote desert filming compound that feels like it’s been waiting for them all this time. Even though they haven’t seen each other for years, they understand one another better than anyone has since.

After all, they’re the only ones who hold the secret of that circle, the mystery of the magic man in his infinitely black cape, and, maybe, the answers to what really happened on that deadly last day. But as the Circle of Friends reclaim parts of their past, they begin to wonder: Are they here by choice, or have they been lured into a trap?

Because magic never forgets the taste of your friendship. . . .

Review

I love the cover for this one, and I’m all for the found footage vibes, so I’ve been meaning to get to this one for far too long. I’ve read Hide by the author, which I did enjoy, but it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. MM on the other hand, was right up my alley. The narration by Rebecca Lowman was fantastic, perfectly embodying the hidden strength beneath Val’s memory losses.

Mister Magic, the beloved adult lead on the now impossible to find children’s show, has been missing since the 90s. The show met an abrupt end, and just like that, it was all gone. While many of the world’s children remember, even still scouring forums and late night chats hoping for info, Val knows nothing of it. She may remember nursery rhymes and little idioms, but for the most part her childhood is a veil. Living out the better part of the last 30 years working on a ranch, the death of her father closes one door in her life, but opens others in a multitude of ways. Cast members from the show make an appearance at the funeral, bringing up memories of their past, and even a proposition. A new podcast, aiming to bring the cast back together, is the first glimmer of hope people have found in all the years since the show’s ending … but what’s the catch?

Wow. I mean, this had me hooked from like the first sentence. Partly due to the narrator performance, but also the way it was structured. The opening hints something at least semi-sinister, then you jump right into Val at her day job, then Val losing her father. I particularly loved how chapters would end with a switch in focus, giving the reader more of the lore of Mister Magic through email threads, reddit forums, and online articles. The author’s use of the in-world peoples’ lack of knowledge really helped to hammer in the mystery. The show just disappeared. Even the cast is super shady on its ending.

Mister Magic, a cloak-toting shadowy figure, brings to mind something a little different for almost everyone. For me, the show and character made me think of the film Mr. Crocket, with its invitation to keep kids “safe,” the film I Saw the TV Glow, both for the TVs faint glow at night as well as the show feeling more like real life than television, and then for some reason I was thinking of these two as if they were hosted by Jack the Donkey from the movie Hokum. While the world seems to revere him, and the cast remembers life as much better with him, the looming mystery overhead had me thinking this guy was fishy from the jump. And it was super creepy, the fans’ near-cultish behavior surrounding it.

I thought Val worked well as a lead. She’s clearly strong, but her memory loss or suppression makes it so that nothing is a surprise for the reader. Well, in terms of her decision making! (The novel has plenty of twists and turns). Whenever something is revealed, you’re forced to wonder if she’s remembering it or experiencing it for the first time, and even if the memory is buried, that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t impactful in some way that’s formative for her. She was the cast’s leader, a protector, a guide, and there are traits of this on display throughout the novel long before the story makes this known.

I really enjoyed this cast of characters. I love how the “circle of friends” members each signified a form of regret, neglect, and nostalgia. Because that’s really what this is about right, nostalgia? Who doesn’t look back on their childhood years with a fond, teary eye? Who doesn’t remember turning the TV on at all hours and finding their favorite reruns on cable? For my part, various notes of this reminded me of Barney, Power Rangers, even Spongebob—that trusty sidekick of a show that was always on for us. Now I’m not sure I ever wanted those memories to bear the slight tilt of creepiness that they will now due to this novel, but I’m sure these characters never wanted to return to things just to realize the facade was pitted and scarred either. Alcoholism, drug addiction, work addiction, staying closeted, even being an overbearing parent, are all things that make their way to the surface as these people wish for “the way that it was,” but the thing that makes nostalgia such a bitch is that those things can’t be replicated. When we try, when we truly remember them even, they aren’t always worth that effort.

This is a horror, thriller, and mystery for fans of taking nostalgia and turning the creepiness up. For fans of stories twinged with the supernatural, the culty, the unsolved and unresolved. I even really enjoyed how the author tied being raised mormon into the story itself—certainly worth reading the acknowledgements to fully understand, too. This one worked wonders for me.