Val is 38 years old and can’t remember anything from her childhood. She has been isolated from the world by her father for something terrible she thinks she did. She is approached by a group of adults who tell her that she was in a mysterious and popular children’s show called Mister Magic. People remember this show but there is no trace of it online and mentions of it keep disappearing.

This set-up intrigued me so much and I had high expectations, knowing that Kiersten White is a popular and prolific author. However, I was disappointed, even though in the end it turned out to be thought-provoking and unique.

At first, the plot seemed to be about the magic of childhood, and things from our past that haunt us. Very “It” (S King) vibes. It was quite slow and repetitive but I kept reading. At 25% I noted that I felt that nothing was happening, so the pacing was not working for me. There was only a slight sense of dread from time to time, so this did not work as horror. When I got to the end and discovered what it was really about, I felt a great sympathy for the author but unfortunately, this book didn’t succeed for me as an allegory, which was her intention. If it had been shortened to a novella with better pacing then I think it would have been more enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one. Mister Magic is about the last cast of a long off the air, unusually magical children's program having a reunion. I love the "lost episodes" internet horror trope and creepypastas, so I was very excited about this one. The book starts out a little slow, in my opinion. After that, it kept a steady pace for me and sped up a lot towards the end. This plot, while dancing around with bits of the lost episodes trope and how the internet treats them, is definitely unique. I really loved all the ideas. It was a very fun, enjoyable read. I would've chosen a different ending, but I didn't hate the ending.


A lot of existential horror here. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

Wow! How can a book be both horrific and beautiful at the same time? I devoured this book in two sittings. I loved “Hide” by Kiersten White, so I had a feeling this would be as good. It was much different though than “Hide”. This book is about a girl named Val who meets strangers who claim to know her from a television show they all were on when they were younger. Val has no recollection of the show or the people. But she takes a leap of faith and goes on a reunion journey with them to uncover the past. A seemingly fun 90s theme, but with so much more to it than that. I’m glad for the acknowledgments at the end to really tie it all together about the deeper meaning. I loved that the ending wasn’t where I thought it was going to go. Not cliche. It was wonderful.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine publishing for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review. Mister Magic is out in a few weeks, August 8, 2023!

I was really intrigued by the premise of this one - a children's TV show that magically vanished without a trace, and they're bringing back the (now adult) child stars for a reunion special!? Heck yes, sign me up. It sounded SO good, and it was so confusing to read. A few things just didn't make sense as I was reading - I wish there almost would've been a disclaimer explaining things rather than an author's note at the end.

First off, I thought I was walking in to a random amnesia storyline, because it was said that Val couldn't remember anything about the show - she has virtually no memories, but she just blindly goes with these people that she once knew? Over the course of the book, she's pegged at being the leader of the gang from Mister Magic, yet she just blindly follows these people in every decision.

Secondly, the actual supernatural/abstract portion of this just didn't work for me - I'm finding that as a reader, I don't mind a bit of paranormal, but with this one, I figured it was moving down a more organic explanation, and it left me feeling really confused.

I did appreciate that the author shared that this work is an expression of some of the experiences she's had in her past, and it did give me a new understanding of the why behind some of the choices in this book. I found the correlation to make sense once I read the note, but I wish I would've known that's what the author was going for at the start of things.

Thank you again NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC - release date is coming 8/8/23.

Mister Magic tells the story of a fabled children’s television show that people are not sure really ever existed. It definitely plays into the Mandela Effect where people insist something has happened/exists that hasn’t or doesn’t. This story starts as a bit of a slow burn and really takes some time to unfold what is really going on. I enjoyed this for the most part but the explanation seemed to come a little too quickly and then the book ends. It left me wanting more.
Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House publishing for the opportunity to review this book!

⭐️

Pros:
-Gorgeous and fun cover
-Some quotes were definitely funny
-The newish concept
-Quick read, really wanted to know the mystery

Thoughts:
This plot reminds me of a mash-up of Are You Afraid of the Dark (more specifically that Floor 13 one!) and Twilight Zone, I just wish it was easier to absorb. Most of the time it felt that the story went all over the place, repetitive, or didn’t make sense. Sometimes the characters themselves did things that didn’t make sense for the scene or character personality. A lot of my comments I wrote whole reading were “what???” I really don’t like writing negative reviews, but honesty is valuable. Reading the epilogue made things a lot clearer as to why or what the intention was behind the book, but it didn’t make the whole story make sense in itself. The ending felt lackluster and bland. I would not recommend this book to anyone unless it was edited to make more sense and have a better flow.

God, this was the most heartbreaking, soul-wrenching, emotionally devastating “horror” novel I’ve ever read. It’s going to take me some time to articulate my thoughts. I’ll come up with a full review by release date. But wow. This broke my heart so much. I haven’t cried like this in a book in ages.

First of all: thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read an uncorrected proof of Mister Magic!

When I saw that Kiersten White wrote a book about a creepy kids show, I was ALL in.

5 adults, former stars of the kids show Mister Magic, come together for a reunion. Sounds interesting, right? Okay, but there are layers of mystery to Mister Magic - for instance, what does Mister Magic actually LOOK like? No one can remember. Is there any footage left of this super popular show? None to be found.

This book is a mix of psychedelic weirdness and 90s pop culture throwbacks. I personally love the use of unreliable characters in books; there is always a fun twist!

One big issue I had with this book was due to it being an uncorrected proof, my Kobo e-reader couldn't handle the "Reddit"/forum style chapters; instead of getting readable chunks
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I'm totally assuming this will be fixed with the final print.....but juuuust to be on the safe side, I'd maybe stick to a print/physical copy.

Apart from the tech errors (and my inability to read certain chapters of the book), I kinda guessed the "point" of this book halfway through. I won't post it here to avoid spoilers (although it's all over goodreads so *shrug*) but I wasn't surprised with what was actually going on the entire time.

I enjoyed this more than "Hide"; it's a bit wackadoodle, but I did really enjoy the multiple views of what was going on (via the forum style chapters vs the main characters). You won't be terrified by this horror/thriller, but you should enjoy the ride.

4/5 stars - worth a read, especially for my fans of Matrix-like weirdness.

Note- good to know; this is a story about sexism, racism, and homophobia. As well as puppet weirdness. (think Barney but....not). fyi.

I absolutely adored this one. Kiersten White will be an auto-buy author for me from now on. Twisty and turny and spooky and heart-wrenching.

** I'd like to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review **

rating: 3 /5 ⭐️'s

I'll start out that I haven't read a Kiersten White book in a very long time. I started out with And I Darken and have not seen any of her work after that, but I found that Miss White was able to somewhat successfully shift genres from Fantasy to Horror quite well.

Anyways, onto the review.

This whole book was one giant mindtrip and suffered a few faults that are hard to ignore. While it has a unique, distinct premise reminiscent of things like FNAF, IT, and a tinge of Creepypasta, it ultimately falls a little short of most expectations and ends up like nothing you've really seen before.

The first place it falls short is in its dialogue and presentation. These characters hardly seemed like they were in their late 30s and I think White's previous YA writing becomes apparent through how they speak. The way they express emotions also feels very teen-ish and I suppose that's there for new adults to relate to. I don't know, I just hardly felt a connection to the way these characters spoke or acted and that unfortunately dims the readability of this book. I understand being trapped in youthful feelings, but come on, you've had 30+ years to develop a different attitude.

The other place that falls short is the overarching story itself. When I picked up this book, I expected a legitimate creature at the end, not the...*whole* thing it ended being. The writing was jumbly, meant to throw you off from reality and fiction, but it eventually just hurt my brain to read by the end. Truthfully, a chunk of this story could've been cut and things would still make sense to a point. Now, I totally see how this is an allegory for religious influence (author stated) and how you can get consumed in it without even realizing how detrimental it was. These people had felt that they were supposedly happy in the show, but it was really quite the opposite. Mister Magic is the overarching Bad Man, the cult leader, the man who leads prayer every day. That much is apparent. But, I'm not sure if that story foundation really fits what this book was described as. I thought this was going to be IT-esque (going back to a place years later and facing a fear) and it was really nothing like that at all. There were a few grotesque moments that made me squick, but I'm not sure I'd classify this as horror itself.

In the end, I found myself confused and feeling a bit cheated. This story did have some good parts, such as the creepy moments and mild character growth, but I wouldn't mark this as something perfect. It's an author's catharsis with religious trauma (primarily LDS) and so, to a point, it is more likely to be successful with other people who've left their churches and are seeking their own catharsis. That is not me in this case.

Regardless, what I've critiqued may be someone's bread and butter, so never be afraid to give the book a chance if you really want to!

Happy reading!

I have to admit, I didn't understand at all what this book was trying to say until I got to the end and read the author's note that really ties the entire story together, making me look on the whole reading experience in a different light. It's a bit more personal than an average horror and I think anyone who has experienced any sort of religious trauma will be able to connect with this book on another level.

Aside from it's important themes, this is such a unique idea and I haven't read a story quite like this before. This centers around the former stars of a children's show that the world seems to have forgotten about, literally no record of this show ever existing anywhere, only discussed in forums on the internet where people share theories and memories they have of watching the show. The friends from the show are reunited to be interviewed for a podcast which forces them to confront their past and get answers.

This wasn't my favorite, sadly. There were times reading it I found myself losing interest because I just couldn't connect with these characters. I felt like they didn't have enough depth, though this is a fairly short book and not enough pages to bring 5-6 characters to life. Kiersten White is one of my favorite authors and I'll read anything she writes regardless.

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for the eARC of Mister Magic in exchange for my honest review!

This was really strange, that’s not to say it’s bad, but it was really weird. I felt like I had a hard time following this even though the premise was extremely exciting. As someone who likes FNAF, this felt like it would be right up my alley! I was kind of lost a lot, but I did like it. It’s hard to explain, much like the book.

I feel like I’ll read this again around spooky season and probably be more involved in the story!

Many, many thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for the Arc! This is a book that I have been looking forward to since I first heard about it last year. While I'm not always a huge fan of Ms. White's books, they are always well written and actually add something to the literary world.
I highly, HIGHLY recommend 'Mister Magic' for all my thriller, horror loving fans of 90s nostalgia. This book worked perfectly for me. It reminded me of this dream that felt like a movie (maybe it was a movie, it was in technicolor) that I had repeatedly growing up. No one has ever able to verify it's an actual thing to me, so I stopped telling people about it to not come off as a weirdo. Now I feel like I should, maybe it wasn't a dream?? 😂
Anyways. This book had me at tears at the end, and many times throughout. Sometimes you just read a book at the right time, and it reminds you that Mister Magic was inside you the whole time. Just waiting to come out...
So, this review may sound like a whole bunch of nonsense, but you'll understand it after you read the book. Maybe you'll even ask about my maybe not a dream/movie/dream? 😁

While confusing at times, I really enjoyed this book. There were several twists that I did not see coming. Mister Magic had just the right amount of "creepy" to keep me interested. Kiersten White will now be a "must buy" author for me.

Woah. This was QUITE the story. I read it in a combination of audio and ebook just to try to fit it in where I could, I was so curious to figure out where it was going!

Mister Magic is the world’s longest running children show - there isn’t an adult alive who doesn’t remember the show, the singsong rhymes, and the etiquette rules they learned. But if it’s so popular, why is there no current evidence that it ever existed? And how is Val, a quiet girl whose father raised her on a ranch, connected to this mysterious children’s show?

This was not my usual type of story but I really enjoyed being taken out of my norm for a bit. I was intrigued by the story and the mysterious yet descriptive writing style, and really not having a clue as to where it was going!

Definitely requires you to suspend disbelief, but this supernatural thriller/horror comes out this summer (August 8th) and is a real page turner! Full review on my IG @manis.and.manuscripts prior to pub week!

Thank you to NetGalley, Del Rey and PRH Audio for my gifted copies!

Five former stars of a popular TV show reunite for a podcast. However, things are more nefarious than they seem for Val, the protagonist.

This was a book of two halves more. First half: I was in; I was like yes, creepy vibes, Get Out style. I was excited to see where it went. Then the second half… it became a weird religious cult thing about teaching children purity culture?? It just veered away from what I thought could’ve been really spooky. I also thought based on the trap description in the synopsis that they literally would become trapped in the house. There was definitely potential here, but for me the second half didn’t match what the first half accomplished.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

As soon as the heard the premise for this book I knew I wanted to read it. I liked Channel Zero/ Candle Cove and that was the vibes I got. I thought this book had creepy elements, nostalgia, and I really liked the dynamic between the characters.
It wasn’t exactly what I thought it was going to be but I liked the direction it went.
Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC!

An attempt to read another Kiersten White book, “Hide,” did not go nearly as well as this. (The tone of that one just didn’t vibe with me and had too many characters to keep up with.) But “Mister Magic?” Like night and day. This book was such a great experience. It felt like an unsettling dream mixed with an attempt to recall sparkly memories from childhood that are eluding you.

The character work here is so good. They each have a unique personality, specific mannerisms and QUALITY DIALOGUE THAT IS NOT CRINGE. (This can be surprisingly rare when you read a lot of horror.) I actually cared about these people, especially Val, who was super likable. For some reason, I cast her in my head with the actress that played Piper in “Charmed.” It just seemed to fit. The characters have a great dynamic, similar to the kids from IT. You really believe in their friendship.

The story overall reads like a Creepy Pasta that’s actually good. If you've ever seen the series “Channel Zero” on SyFy, this gave me very similar vibes. A primary setting for much of the novel had a strong liminal spaces feel and it greatly added to the nightmare feeling. The book also utilized varied formatting. There are some sections that are written as articles or Reddit type forum posts. (Although, I do want to mention this: I don’t know if it was just the Ebook I had or what, but some of the online forum comments were written entirely in a single straight line down the page and were very difficult to read. If that was on purpose, it may have been a bad choice.)

Another strange thing: the tone of the writing feels almost like summarizing in places, sort of like when you're reading a detailed movie treatment. It's difficult to properly describe. Almost like the narration knows a bit too much about what all the characters are thinking and feeling when the story is supposed to be focused specifically on the perspective of Val? It's not a huge detriment to the book but it's worth noting because as someone who writes detailed outlines for things I'll probably never get around to writing, that's what this reminded me of and it was weird. However, the benefit of this is that White really knows her characters well and they are vivid, dimensional people. Nothing about them feels cliched.

I did think the mystery was drawn out a bit too long. All of Val's wondering and questioning got a little repetitive after a while. I do understand that that was the point of the story, though, so I get why nothing big was really resolved until the end. This was probably a "me" problem, but I didn’t fully understand the explanation of what Mister Magic is and how he functions. It didn't stop me from thinking his whole aesthetic/design sounded interesting. (Though I wish there was more of him in the story in general. I feel like that might be a comment that a lot of people end up having, but I could be wrong. He's a fun concept and I think he was underutilized.) In the same vein, I know the whole point is that the episodes were all lost, but I really liked what glimpses into the show we were able to get, and I would've loved to have seen more "clips." The concept of the children building this world with their imaginations and their friendships was so entertaining. And a great contrast with the equally cool creepy stuff that was going on! There is a big metaphor/message at the end of the book that is a tiny bit heavy-handed, but it didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the story. The author confirms with an afterword that everything is indeed taken from her life and basically a very personal metaphor. If you don't like that sort of thing in your horror, you may not enjoy this. But I had a great time with "Mister Magic" and will be giving Kiersten White another chance in the future for sure.

After really enjoying Hide and The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by this author, I was immediately intrigued when I heard she was coming out with another book, but even more intrigued when I heard the premise. I am someone who grew up in the early 90's age of children's TV shows (Barney was my boy), so the premise revolving around a childhood tv show where they can't find any documentation or recordings of it now and the way it mysteriously ended abruptly-I was hooked.

This book was weird, creepy and slow moving but kept me intrigued with the premise that I didn't notice the pacing as much. If you like books with unreliable narrators that freak you the hell out but have something to say at it's core, definitely pick this one up. The author note at the end was a huge part of rounding up my rating and truly gave me a whole new perspective on the story.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Random House for my review copy! Publishes August 8th.

What a hit from Kiersten White! I read Hide last year and loved the concept but not the execution, so I am beyond thrilled to find her newest release one of my favorite horror reads this year. Horror books don't really scare me ever, but I found myself contemplating if I should be reading this one late at night, with some of the scenes in the house. The ambiance is great, I enjoyed our cast of characters and their relationships to each other, and I appreciated the religious/deconstruction metaphors and undertones that were present if one wanted to contemplate them, but not a central element of the story.

My biggest downside to this book - the only downside, really - was that I had no idea what the hell was going on during the climax of the story. I got enough out of it to get by, but descriptions felt a little confusing there. I also feel like there were some elements that weren't wrapped up or explained as well as I would have liked, but that might not be true upon a reread.

If you're into the concept of the Candle Cove creepypasta meets Stephen King's It, I think you'd really dig this one.