Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! I wanted to really love this book. It's a solid book and not bad and not knock my socks off. I really didn't understand the "horror" in the house, because none of it seemed particularly horrifying, just strange.

Like the cold and the lack of doors. Like, yeah strange, but is it just in the book because those are traditionally scary tropes, or because they had something to offer the story?

There was also no follow through with whatever her father told to the lady who owned the ranch. Yes she gets several frantic calls warning her, but the way it made it sound was that this was a matter of life and death rather than a creepy cult wants to use them. Yes, the cult is terrible and their message icky, but looking through all the religious documentaries on Netflix, it's kind of par for the course.

I thought there were positives as well, I liked White's writing style and the sense of unease and weirdness made me want to keep reading. In no way was this a bad book, I wish it would have lived up to the amazing premise.

"Adults are children with both more and less autonomy."

The above quote was early in the book and stuck with me.

We meet our main character, Val, at a ranch owned by her father. It's unclear why she's there. There is a lot of mystery around her childhood and her father. Her father was the controlling type, but we discover something else as we delve deeper into the story.

I grew up where most of the book is set. I was an outsider looking at the LDS(Mormon) faith. I picked up on her innuendos that maybe others may not have seen.

But I'm getting sidetracked.

Val meets her friends Isaac, Marcus, and Javi early in the story. They inform her she was once a part of a TV show.

She leaves the only life she's known to discover what she may have lost. There is a stream throughout the book about losing things and about trauma. It's on how they talk about the show and won't say Mister Magic's name. This thread runs throughout the book.

This book has a lot to say about faith, religion, cults, and trauma. It may have been me reading into it, but I found the descriptions of how religion wants their kids to be a certain way. How they will do anything to make sure their kids behave, don't talk back, and don't use profanity. It felt like the life I watched friends grow up with while I stood outside the LDS faith.

I don't like to give a book report or go chapter by chapter. I've done that. It doesn't feel right to me as a reviewer. I'd rather put my personal touch on reviews, which is why I stated the above.

The author knows her way around the subject without bludgeoning the reader.

Sometimes I read a sentence or paragraph and was like, yep, I remember that. The way people talk about how when a woman isn't married by a certain age, there might be something wrong with her. My wife dealt with that. I watched family members marry early only to divorce later. It's prevalent in Utah culture to marry out of high school, especially for women. If you don't, something is wrong with you, or so they say.

The idea of a secret. Of something being held back from one another, a certain trauma coalesces at the end of the book. We never remember our childhood perfectly. There are bumps.

In the end, we want what's best for our kids. The hope that our kids have better childhoods than our own. That we give them something better than we had, that's the hope of every decent parent.

I hope you enjoyed this review. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments. I'll be posting this on my substack as well. Happy reading.

The premise of this book is really intriguing. A mystery childhood show that some claim is a product of the Mandela effect. Many children remember it airing but there's no real evidence the show existed. The children that were ON the show barely even remember it. And then the show ended under tragic circumstances, rumors swirling that one of the cast of children died during filming.

The chapters of the book are parts of a nursery rhyme. The theme song of the show is dark and creepy (and probably could have never actually aired).

Unfortunately the way this is written makes it difficult to follow. I think the author was going for an air of mystery for at atmospheric type feeling, but it just left me kind of confused and I never really understood the plot enough to enjoy it.

Thank you netgalley and Random House Ballantine for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

this was wild. let me start by saying - this book will not be for everyone. However, I lovveeeddddd it!

Mister Magic was the longest running children's TV show, but after a tragic accident, the show is shut down for good. Thirty years later, our story follows Val, a former child actor on the show, as she tries to piece together the mystery and reunite with the other children from the show in order to uncover the memories she has repressed....

I am a huge fan of books, movies, etc. with this premise - kids being apart of creepy things and growing up to forget all about it. The further we go into this book, the deeper the mystery gets. This book had me feeling so unsettled and so freaked out while reading it - but in the best way possible. I also really enjoyed the mixed media aspect of it. Not only is there a podcast element, but we also get a bunch of social media postings of people falling down the Mister Magic rabbit hole. I mean, imagine if your whole generation had very clear memories of watching this children's show... yet, there is no proof it ever existed. Wild!

It got strange and weird and magical at the end and that's why I say this book may not be for everyone. However, I am definitely a fan of weirdness and loved the way this book went. I think it truly came down to how fun of a reading experience this was for me and the freaky and unsettling atmosphere & imagery that the author was able to create. There is also a bit of commentary on religious camps/outdoor wilderness camps and how harmful it is to children to push such extremist ideas on them, which I really enjoyed.

I would recommend this to people who enjoyed "Whisper Down the Lane" by Clay McLeod Chapman. Also, if you are a fan of The Nightmare on Elm Street & Silent Hill movies. And anyone who has ever fallen down a creepypasta rabbit hole.

Thank you for the ARC! I really struggled with how to rate this book. I had very high expectations because the blurb was so promising. The first 50% of this book was absolutely fantastic. I kept thinking that this would probably be my favorite book of 2023. It had the perfect analog horror thing going on. It was like reading an extended version of ARGs like Welcome Home.

Then we get to a little more than the halfway mark and things just don't really follow. I don't think it was necessarily confusing, it's just that it didn't seem to be as compelling as the first half. The ending wasn't so bad as to ruin the entire book but it felt a bit contrived. I will say that the author's note at the end ties up a lot of loose ends and I really appreciate how personal this story was. Anyway, that's all I have to say. It certainly wasn't bad but it didn't live up to my expectations.

I will admit I was nervous about picking this one up since the last Kiersten White book was hard to follow for me. I will say this book is AMAZING!!!! It is a wild ride and I plan to go buy a physical copy the second it is released on August 8th!!! I want to read this again and really see the things I overlooked on the first read but now know. I highly recommend this book and say Bravo Kiersten, you hit a homerun with this one!!! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

This one gave me nightmares. I LOVED it. It was so creepy and funky and I COULD NOT figure it out. I was guessing the whole way through. Love love love.

Huge thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review!

Kiersten White’s 2022 release “Hide” was a bit polarizing; I only heard of people either loving the concept and execution or being really disappointed. I do feel that the same people who enjoyed Hide (me), will enjoy Mister Magic. It hits a lot of the same points: on the shorter side in terms of page length, a social commentary theme that steadily becomes more obvious until it clobbers you over the head by story’s end, a side romance, and a group of characters that you follow (although in Mister Magic there are 5-6 and Hide starts with 10+).

I do think that Mister Magic’s plot suffers somewhat from the greater commentary White is trying to make in that characters do not question virtually anything happening around them. Our main character Val has a sort of placid acceptance of the fact that she doesn’t remember an enormous chunk of her childhood in which she starred on this TV show. People show up claiming to be her co-stars, she finds out she has a family member she didn’t know she had, characters react to her with animosity and grief, etc. etc. and she doesn’t ask enough questions about any of it. There is a part of me that thinks perhaps this is warranted based on the social commentary present in the story (something that people are in general not supposed to question), but Val does at some point out of the blue start actively fighting against what’s going on. It causes a bit of whiplash because until then she has just been plodding along with all the weirdness happening.

I loved the interstitial mixed media pieces between chapters (also: pay specific attention to the chapter names - I thought it lent a creepy touch to an already unsettling story) and wish the story had delved even further into the Mandela Effect phenomenon that this Mister Magic show had on the world as a whole.

I do like that similarly to Hide, Kiersten White’s dedication gives you a kind of hint as to what the greater commentary of the story is going to be and then her author’s note/acknowledgments at the end explain her choice for that commentary and give you further background on her choice to write a book about it. I am all for the criticism this story’s message brings to its theme and found myself texting a lot of my friends about what the book was doing (i.e. “Get this: this haunted Barney book is actually about ____!”)

Overall, there are some great aspects of “Get Out”, the ARG website “Welcome Home”, and other pop culture references (i.e. Berenstein Bears vs. Berenstain Bears). And the mystery ramps up well and kept me turning pages to figure out just what the heck was going on.

Members of a beloved children's show come back together to share their memories for a podcast in this latest creepy thriller from Kiersten White. The more they share, the more they wonder how much of their memories were real, imaginary, or just out of this world.

This was my first book by Kiersten White, but it won't be my last. Mister Magic kept me entranced until the very end. Where I was left with a lot of WTF moments. Who doesn't love a horror, thriller that has a lot of those moments? Since the characters haven't seen each other since they were children, their memories are not as reliable as they seem, making it all the more intriguing. The town where Mister Magic is filmed along with the location of the podcast recording help to give a locked room feeling since there are few people to help them if something goes awry.

Mister Magic also used different forms of media to help build the story of nostalgia, which a lot of us have craved in the last few years. I know I've talked with many people about the shows I grew up with and tried to find clips on YouTube.

If you're looking for a slow building thriller that will make you stay up reading until the end of the night at the end, pick up Mister Magic.

Thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for my review.

Technically I gave this 3.5 stars, but since GoodReads doesn't allow half stars still. This book was a ride, I could definitely tell about 1/4 of the way in there was an underlying story to what was being presented. Mister Magic does a great job of taking what the author was trying to say about growing up in the Mormon religion and making it a digestible piece of "fiction" I loved the mystery throughout the entire book, and following Val as she learns about her past. The spooky cult-like vibe of the injections into the story of "message boards' and "blogs" about a show that existed but has no evidence of being real just made it better. There were times when I felt like it dragged and that some things just felt unresolved, almost like I wanted more from the story.

Okay.... I have to admit that there were times that I literally had ni idea what was going on, and for some reason, I was still kind of confused by the time I finished reading this one...you definitely have to be able to suspend rationality and disbelief for this novel, and I don't mean that in a bad way. The author did a fantastic job of painting a picture with her words. At times I felt claustrophobic and didn't know who was friend and who was foe.... although this isn't like anything I've ever read before, I quite enjoyed it. I do see myself recommending this, as well actively searching for other books in the same vein. 4.5 stars, rounded to 5 for Netgalley's review sustem.

A HUGE THANK YOU to NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I read this book in five hours. Not because it was short, but because I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN. It was amazing, creepy, borderline scary, and honestly gave me nightmares that night, but boy was it worth it. I absolutely loved the story, the character were super interesting, and I couldn't predict anything that was happening, it was so chilling and mesmerizing. Forever a fan of Ms. White's horror!!!

This book.

This. Book.

I was so confused at first. Did this show actually exist? Why would there be so much scrubbing of it off the internet if it did? Why so much secrecy? Why is our main character missing such a chunk of her childhood and why was her father so secretive? Just why, why, why. And as each chapter unraveled it unnerved me.

Mister Magic seemed less magic and more sinister. And a town called Bliss? Just creepy. This book gave off such creepy vibes.

And by the end, I was emotional and i had no idea why. Then that authors note. And it all clicked and made so much sense.

This was a beautiful and heartbreaking book. I think what the author has done with this and how she parallels it to her own past...*chefs kiss*

I can't wait to reread this in the future knowing what I know. It'll definitely hit different.

Mister Magic by Kiersten White is a mystery/sci-fi/drama following a five adults as they grapple with the biggest mystery of their youth. What they know for sure is that they were child actors on a show called Mister Magic. It was wonderful, until it wasn't. There is no trace of the show anywhere aside from the pixelated, sparce memories of children who watched it. And the great tragedy that ended the show? Well, no one can recall exactly what it was.
I received an early edition before it's release on August 8th 2023. I was intrigued by the plot and thought it sounded unique and interesting. If you're a fan of Black Mirror, this entire book felt like an episode of Black MIrror.. In the BEST way. I could NOT put this book down. The plot was fast paced without feeling rushed or lazy. There were religious themes, cultural takes on parenting and childhood, and this extra layer of mystery and 'uncanny valley' that keeps you intrigued the whole way through.
If you like abstract, layered, or some magical/fantastical elements, you will more thank likely really enjoy this. There were some parts that for sure bent my brain slightly, and I wasn't sure that every question that I had was fully answered by the end.
I really, really enjoyed this book overall and would absolutely read more of Kiersten White in the future!

Mister Magic is like an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? by way of Stephen King’s IT. It’s also the story of religious trauma, childhood trauma, and overcoming both of them. Kiersten White does an excellent job of weaving an atmosphere of eeriness and dread throughout, while keeping you just off kilter enough to wonder what is real and what isn’t. I enjoyed the sort of abstractness and questioning of reality that our main character Val is dealing with. Beyond the layers of trauma that are reflected here, there is also a fun dose of nostalgia that will make this weird cult-like children’s show feel just that much more familiar, as if you too could have been a member of the circle and just need a little push to remember. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the early review copy.

Mister Magic is about Val and her friends who were all the cast of a now canceled children's show called Mister Magic decades earlier. There isn't much information about the show on the Internet aside from adult millennials speculating on forums about watching it when they were younger. The show has almost become something of a questionable myth because of this. After years of separation the cast are called back together for a reunion type of interview on a podcast in a remote town in Utah. Longing for answers to long lost questions and to feel some magic lost with childhood they find themselves back where it all started… and where it all ended.

This book was great! I would call this horror/ mystery with a heavy dosing of the mystery aspect. Mister Magic subgenres a lot; It's cosmic, it's existential, it's coming of age but the kind where getting to the age wasn't wholesome by any means. It's a fairly short read but meaningful in its content. Excellent usage of words and easy to get lost in. I read this in two sittings and am generally a slower reader. The build up was at a satisfying pace with a cast of characters that are easy to love and easy to relate to and it all winded up to a satisfying end. In the second half you will notice a lot of similarities to negative experiences had by people in cult type religions and it plays so well with the narrative. There was an Homage to Stephen King's IT sprinkled in and it was done in a unique and tasteful way. Again, this book was great, I absolutely loved it. I've been thinking about it for days and it has imprinted a couple of existential nightmares into my dreamworld over the last few nights. Pick this one up, you will not regret it!


I received an ARC for Mister Magic by Kiersten White courtesy of Netgalley and Del Rey Random House publishing in exchange for an honest review.

I have never read a book like this. First off, I want to mention that I absolutely loved the authors writing style and there were so many beautifully written lines. I will definitely be purchasing this book when it comes out.
Mister Magic surprised me in so many ways as a reader. The main character, Val, has lost her memory prior to when she was 8 years old. The old children’s tv show, Mister Magic has no physical evidence online or anywhere. Thirty years after the last episode aired and there are all kinds of conspiracy theories about what happened to the show, with some wondering whether or not the shows even existed at all.
Val doesn’t remember being on the show, but goes with others that were on it with her to a reunion for a podcast. She’s hoping to find answers about her own past. It’s an exciting ride as we, the readers get to experience with her as she unravels the mystery surrounding this elusive children’s show.
It was mysterious and intriguing with several parts of the book being downright terrifying. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys mysteries, especially if you like sci-fi/paranormal tie ins.
So wonderfully done.

4.25/5

A compelling quick thriller about a mysterious children’s show and the 6 now adults who starred in it 30 years ago. The show seems to have been wiped from history, no evidence to be found but lingers in the hearts of many as a beloved childhood experience. On the verge of the reunion Val, the star child who disappeared causing the abrupt end to the show, is found with no memory of her past life. The more and more she learns about the show and her childhood, the more magical and sinister it seems.

Solid story, a little predictable but kept me interested

Who is Mister Magic?

Its been thirty years since a tragic accident shut down the production of the classic children’s show Mister Magic. The five remaining members of the cast have tried to move on, but they are all gathered back at the place of the show for a reunion of sorts. There are no surviving videos, or even proof the show existed, but they all know and have plenty of memories. They all hold a piece of the circle that held them together and created the show. As they reclaim their pasts, they begin to wonder if they are gathered by chance or have, they been lured into a trap?

AH! I love a good horror book and those with religious undertones are always fun – as was the case here. This book was so much fun. It was a thriller with horror vibes, and it was so much for me. I loved the premise – a creepy children’s show that no one can remember. Listening to this one on audio was everything. The narrator was absolutely perfect and brought the words to life in an amazing way. I felt like I was right there in the story as it was happening to the characters. I think listening to this one only amplified how creepy it was. This was my first book by this author, but it definitely will not be the last. I’m off to find her other books now.

If you are looking for a wonderfully creepy and delightful book, then I hope you check this one out.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine – Del Rey, @DelReyBooks, as well as @PRHAudio, and Netgalley, @Netgalley for an e-arc and ALC copy of this book. It was simply a lot of fun.

Additional links will be added once posted.

Wow, coming into my reading of Mister Magic (soon to be published August 8th by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine), I was unaware of author Kiersten White and her work, but consider me a FAN now.

Mister Magic weaves together elements of Stephen King, The Stepford Wives, Don’t Worry Darling, Stranger Things, and Yellowjackets, to create an engaging modern thriller / horror narrative that pulls the reader in and never lets them go.

The story follows the experience of six main characters who starred on a famous children’s television show in their youth until that show was ended after a tragedy that remains unexplained and mysterious. Those six character are adults now, and a podcaster pulls them together for a set of reunion interviews, and uneasy details start to be recalled, while the characters also learn that all evidence of their hit show has been systematically wiped from existence.

Definitely a great read for fans of modern horror, supernatural thrillers, and interesting characters thrust into unusual situations. Interesting insight into social dynamics, cult like behavior, and the burden of expectation placed on children. I, for one, will definitely seek out more of White’s writing.