Haunting and weird in a way only Kiersten White can pull off - while being personal and raw at the same time. I loved how eerie this book was and how much it made you wonder about all those random things you remember only vaguely from childhood.

This is definitely one of those books I wish were longer! I was interested in the lore and all of the relationships going on, and the ending made me a little misty eyed. I don't want to spoil anything, but I liked how the author incorporated a certain religion into the plot. I didn't have an expectation for this book, but I definitely recommend it!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Tell me that cover doesn’t immediately pique your interest, because it sure did for me! I loved the concept of this story based on a kids tv show series as the cast reunites again. There are so many secrets that are revealed, and many questions that come to the surface.

It had me guessing, and I thought the pacing was done well.

*many thanks to Randomhouse and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

3.5 stars
I enjoyed this books concept and most of the execution of the book. I liked the characters but wish they were fleshed out a little more. I also think that the reveals came a bit too early and could have been only hinted at so that the reader was left guessing a little more. I really enjoyed the inclusion of the message boards and other outside sources as it really helped set the scene and provide the differing perspectives. I also liked the play with nostalgia and the Mandela effect.

What an odd story but I found it super engaging and mesmerizing. This was unlike anything that I think I have ever picked up! Based on a kids tv series that has disappeared the cast reunites and searches to find out what really happened to end the show. Secrets are revealed and questions of who to trust come up! This one will have you reading on to figure out what happens. I thought parts of it were rather weird but that overall the book was good and suspenseful!

Giving it 4 stars but wish I could give it 3.5.

Mister Magic is a horror novel about a children's TV show that a lot of people remember but no one can find any evidence that it existed. Our main charter Val was an actor on this show but she has no memory of being on the show. We follow her as she joins a cast reunion and tries to figure out what secrets her forgotten memories hold.

I was super hooked from the first first page. That prologue gave me chills. The first half of this book was a great. I didn't wanna put it down and I loved the emails and forum posts at the end of some chapters. However I wasn't a huge fan of the ending of the book. I felt like this was a great concept but I just didn't get what I wanted out of the ending. I am so happy for the author and what she accomplished and what this book meant for her though. This book had a lot of social issues brought up just like in her other book Hide. Like religion and how the older generations want to mold children to be obedient and quiet and good.

If you liked Hide also by Kiersten White I think you'll also enjoy this one.



Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I don't mind stories being a slow burn but unfortunately this one was way too slow for me. I was really intrigued by the concept at the beginning and honestly slightly creeped out. There's something extremely off-putting about the idea of a cast of children being on a mysterious television show in a creepy secluded house. I tried a few different times to go back to this book but I just couldn't do it. Rating for the first 37% of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for the opportunity to give my honest thoughts in exchange for a review copy.

I'm not typically a horror reader, but a great recommendation got me to read Hide by Kiersten White. Based on my enjoyment of that novel, I was so excited to pick up Mister Magic. It seems to have generated very mixed reviews, but I enjoyed it. I was hooked from the start.

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.

There was definitely an uneasy feeling to the book, but it wasn't terrifying for me. I did not read the author's note ahead of time, but I could see the direction it was headed. Without giving too much away, I'll say that it's harder for me to wrap my head around the "unnatural" elements of a book, especially when it's set in a mostly "normal" world. So I may not have missed some elements of the story. Still, it was an overall good read for me. If you're looking for something that skews toward horror but isn't gory or overly scary, this may be for you.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #RandomHousePublishingGroupBallentine for a free copy of #MisterMagic by Kiersten White. All opinions are my own.

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7 days ago
Mister Magic by Kiersten White
Mister Magic
by Kiersten White (Goodreads Author)
netgalley-tbr-2023
TW: Language, death of parent, grieving, alcoholism, drug abuse, toxic parent relationship, gaslighting, misogynistic

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book: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?
Release Date: August 8th, 2023
Genre: Horror
Pages: 295
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Love the cover
2. The writing was good
3. I was sucked into this story

What I Didn't Like:
1. Predictable
2. Lot of plot holes
3. 100000 times being reminded that the episodes can't be found
4. Over the media/forums in books

Overall Thoughts:
For the most part I really enjoyed this book. The tone of the writing and the plot were on point though there a lot of plot holes. I like that it played into the whole belief of a show that was like Shazam (with Sinbad) and the Mandela effect to adults today in our current world. I thought that was a clever twist on the whole thing.

I love that Jenny is mad at Vale and even says that she owes them because she left. Dude, she was eight years old. It's not like she jumped in a car and ditched you all. Like seriously.

How huge is this building? There are six floors. That's insanely big.

Lot of things are weird. Vale talks about Isaac being hers like it used to be and this is such a weird way of thinking because she was eight at the time. And who thinks back like that when they're eight. I just thought that was like really weird. She gets in the bed with him because she can't sleep and she says this is how she's always felt relaxed being around him and she's his again. It felt kind of gross that eight years would think this romantically about each other.

Why why why would they suddenly want to restart the show and and pin a death on someone when they have zero proof that someone was killed. That's a dumb theory dude.

Ahhhhhh Vale being stupid that Issac has been ignoring all the calls she was getting.

Vale leaving the tape just sitting there

I just wanted to slap Vale because she says that she'll forgive Isaac because he never really prevented her from leaving, that's not even true he blocked her from getting the phone call she was getting. He always had a way for her to come back. He always suggested going back to the house. It's stupid because then they all admit that they tricked her into coming for the podcast so they could get things from Mister Magic.

Final Thoughts:
I am shocked that this is the same author that gave us Hide. Hide was boring and very off screen horror. I finished this book in a day because I could not stop reading . The author did a great job at keeping me hooked out what was going to happen. It had a tone of creepy elements too. Like wth with the string in her hand and she pulls out a magicians cape. Weird but what.

Ending just reminded me too much of Stephen King's It. They all group up and use their power of being together to battle this force. Plus it all just seemed over so quickly.

First off, I love the cover of this book. I would of bought it solely on that alone. Its so pretty! Buuuut, it's a great premise to a story, it just didn't capture the way I wanted it to. I was bored a lot of the time with it.

I'm a big fan of Kiersten, but this one just was not my cup of tea.
The story and intrigue started out strong, but once the fantastical elements came into play, the whole story just didn't seem to fit together anymore.
Once it clicked that this was about religion and trauma, I found myself having trouble staying engaged.
I respect the immense amount of work put in to tell this type of story, and the author's note gave a better lens.

Kiersten White is an automatic read for me at this point, and this one did not disappoint. Very much in the same vein of horror as "Nope." Overall a great read for the season.

The premise of this books sounded SO interesting. I was really intrigued with the mysterious past that our main character Val couldn’t remember a thing about and I wanted so badly to push through this book to find out what happened. Sadly I DNF’d 70 pages in.

The writing was very clunky. Scenes that should have been quick went on for pages and a lot of the dialogue made me cringe. The characters all felt the same; same mannerisms, sarcastic tones, etc. By 70 pages in I felt like I was wasting my time so ultimately closed the book.

This book was WEIRD and not in the creepy way that I was expecting, but in a confusing and poorly paced way. The narration was written in the present tense, which doesn’t normally bother me, but in this case made the book difficult to read. Another problem I had with the narration was that the book only ever presented factual information about the worldbuilding when the narration was outside of any character’s point of view. When the narration was through Val’s point of view, nothing was ever learned about the worlds which made reading from Val’s perspective feel boring and kind of pointless. The worldbuilding made no sense, so it was frusterating when the characters acted like the worldbuilding made sense. I always felt like I was missing information.

The only aspect of this book that I enjoyed or found interesting was the fact that it was an extended metaphor for growing up in a religious cult.

This book made me cry, especially after reading the author’s note at the end. Creepy kids tv is definitely my vibe and it reminded me a lot of the Candle Cove creepypasta. Overall really enjoyable and I hope the author does more in the horror genre.

Who is Mister Magic? Former child stars reunite to uncover the tragedy that ended their show—and discover the secret of its enigmatic host.

This book was just - weird. I really wanted to like it but couldn't connect with it. I really did like the cover, though. Maybe next time!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This is a book with elements that are way outside of my comfort zone. My brain typically outright rejects storylines that take place in any kind of liminal-ish space- other dimensions, dream worlds, rips in the space/time continuum, etc., and there is some of that here. BUTTTTTT given the source material that White is using in creating this story, how can anyone rate this less than five stars?? Holy cow!

I think this book is pretty dang special and using fiction to work through some hellacious trauma is so deeply personal and White just went for it. The context really matters when reading this book, and I hope readers take the time to delve into that, because I imagine this is a completely different (and inferior) reading experience going into it blind.

If I'm being annoying (and who am I if not annoying) I think things get a bit muddled toward the end, and while I found the end satisfying I can see how it will be divisive- but I don't think any of that outweighs the positives of Mister Magic. White's attention to detail with the creepy sound effects and really horrible (in a good way) little rhymes just make this a fun book. I will concede it's bizarre to call a book that has alarmingly disturbing religious undertones pulled from the author's own life "fun" but LOOK AT THAT COVER and tell me I'm wrong.

Okay this is a weird and rambly review TL/DR read this but sneak peek the context first.

I'm loving Kiersten White's foray into the horror genre! I really enjoyed her previous release, so I was excited to finally pick up MISTER MAGIC. Personally, I enjoyed this one even more. I can't wait for more books from this author!

This was an exciting thriller set in the aftermath of the shocking ending of a popular children's show. It's a story of friendship, love, and how these can be used and twisted against those you love. It's a dark story that turns a seemingly innocent children's show into a dark and macabre entity.

Mister Magic is one of the best books I’ve ever read! Keirsten White manages to craft horror novels with incredible depth, while always prioritizing the relationships between characters and touching on interesting concepts. In Mister Magic, she turns her deft hand to the topic of religious trauma. There are ideas and quotes from this book that will live in my bones they were so powerful! I cannot recommend it enough!

In fact, this book was number 2 for the entire year on my podcast Thirsty On Toon in the new episode: The Queer End Review