Kiersten White is one of the few horror writers working today who consistently gets me to shed a tear while also trying to stave off nightmares -- she's doing some sort of scary sorcery, that's for sure. MISTER MAGIC is a remarkable novel that plays with so many well-established horror tropes (uncanny valley, heroine can't remember her traumatic past, scary desert, 'it's a house but Wrong', putting the cult in culture, etc.) and does so like a PRO. Val is such a fun heroine, strong and smart and impossibly herself while also learning who she is in so many interesting ways. Everyone is kinda gay and traumatized, and the plot zips along at a good pace. I'm a voracious haunted house book reader, and this desert home shook me all the way to my core. Who could've known that "none of the bedrooms have doors" could make me break out in a cold sweat?! On top of White's brilliant horror chops, which are on full display, MISTER MAGIC also provides a poignant look at what it means to 'lose' ones childhood.

Mister Magic is a WILD ride. I spent that first half of this book without a clue where the story was going, and I definitely did not guess the ending. This was my first book by Kiersten White and I will definitely be picking up Hide after this.

It's rare that I'd recommend going into a book blind, but this is one story where you definitely should. If you're a horror/thriller/suspense fan, pick this up and don't look up a single thing about it!

It was fun to guess the author's inspiration for the novel - what beloved children's show helped her to come up with the concept? I was getting strong Barney vibes, though the setting screamed Teletubbies. I will be buying this on pub day!

Mister Magic is the newest horror novel from Kiersten White, 30 years after an accident on the children's show Mister Magic the cast is coming back together however there is no record of the show ever existing though some people remember it. Val has no memory of her time on the show and is using this reunion to find out what happened and why she forgot about it. The vibe that I got about what Mister Magic as a show was Barney mixed with the friend group of Are you afraid of the dark with a sprinkling of analog horror elements such as Candle Cove.
As a reader you are on the journey with Val as she struggles with learning what really happened and the cult that is involved. As we get to the ending it gets more confusing with what seems to be a rip in reality that a god/demon resides in that the cult uses to create the show and the children help control how the show manifests. The cult wants to use the show to impart specific ideals and values to the viewer but they need to use their own children as essentially sacrifices to get it done. Val figures out that the only way to stop more people from getting hurt is to take over Mister Magic both the character and the show.
Overall I enjoyed this book but at times it felt like I was never going to understand what was happening. After reading the authors note that explained that Kiersten White was raised Mormon you can see that this book specifically is her way of working through her experience/trauma with the church through fiction.

I requested this from NetGalley because of how much I enjoyed another of Kiersten White's novels several years ago, but alas this did very little for me.

Readers familiar with internet creepypasta will recognize the premise of Mister Magic as a take on the "Candle Cove" story—an old children's show that sticks in people's memories but isn't well recorded, sinister or just plain strange depending on who is doing the remembering. Like many scary stories, its strength is in its ambiguity—attempts to expand or conclude the story fall flat, especially because they take the tone from understated realism to explicit fantasticism. The possibility of horror is more effective than any horror in particular.

While I wouldn't say White's take is unambiguous—I was pretty confused about what was going on pretty much the whole time—it fails in similar ways. Frankly, it just wasn't very scary. I wish White had either kept the tone more grounded and let the horror elements hide in the background or else embraced the horror-fantasy concept and ditched any attempts to ground the story in believability. As is, I felt very aware that I was reading a story and that the story wasn't very good.

Atmospheric and creepy. I wasn't fully satisfied with the ending until I read the author's note and learned about White's religious trauma and how the book was a sort of parable in dealing with that.
The characters themselves were quite flat, but the world around them was rich and unsettling -- a trade off I was willing to go with.

This is an odd one to review.

I have to start by saying horror is totally subjective and individual, but for me this wasn't a horror novel in the slightest. I wouldn't market it as such, personally. Do not go into this book expecting jump scares of scene to keep you up at night with the lights on for fear of what's in this dark. This didn't make you afraid of your TV like Poltergeist did. This is an allegory for aging out of religion and the troubles that come with that when you were raised under a very specific type of religion (I don't want to get too detailed, but read the acknowledgments at the end for further clarification).

Beyond being mis-marketed, I think this is a book working through trauma & while that's important and necessary, it didn't make for a compelling story. For being such a short book, it felt incredibly long and (dare I say) directionless. After finishing it, I feel like there were things left unresolved that were introduced OR I simply glazed over the explanation because the story just wasn't holding my attention. So many characters seemed undeveloped and flat and while that can be blamed on the narrative following Val's perspective and herself not knowing the characters, as a reader it makes for an unattached reading experience.

I think there's something to this concept! I just think this final copy isn't where I wanted it to be/go which could be a result of the material being too personal & unresolved for the author.

Thanks go out to to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Del Rey for granting me access to an early digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a mix of thriller and horror. I'd say it still falls under the thriller/mystery category, but I think many readers will appreciate the elements of horror. That's also what's left the bigger impression on me, by the way.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

The book is about a kids show in the 90's (but that seems to have been long-lasting until it suddenly stopped being broadcast). For a podcast organizing the reunion of the kids that were in the cast, five of them are found, including Val, who has no recollection of her life before her father isolated her in a rural area where no one would be able to find her. It's coincidentally (or not so much) when the show was dropped, after all, without her, the circle of friends was broken and magic could not be invited again.

Wanting to find out more from her past now her father is dead, Val joins them and go to a house in the middle of nowhere, where they say their parents used to live. The house was actually what first clued me in this would be scary. More than amnesia, the circle of friends thing, the 'no one knows anything about the show because anything is immediately deleted from the internet' thing. It's a very weird house.

I found a part of the dynamic among the "friends" a little boring. I know it's intentional that we shouldn't fully trust them, that we should find Jenny a pain in the neck, etc. But well, feeling all that isn't a good feeling. Again, it's fully intentional, so I decided to bear with it. I'm not even sure what I so wanted to know as I turned the pages at this part, I just had to know more. Eventually, Val learns enough for us to see that yes, there are questions we need the answers. So, I turned the pages even quicker.

It's not the perfect read though. To be honest, the explanation felt lacking. It did explain everything, but in a manner that made me raise my eyebrows and say, "Is that so?" The ending wasn't exactly bad, but for what it was, it got too long. I'd prefer something shorter if you're not going to be more creative about it; I can imagine the rest. And again, the relationship among the main characters, it was awkward, and the author wasn't able to go past how she needed each of them to be and develop better, more swiftly, the bonds that she wanted to.

About the TV show, let's say her description of it and the way she showed it, it made me think back to all the shows I've watched as a kid to try to find if there could be any as weird as this one.

This is a read I'll be recommending to anyone who enjoys a thriller mixed with horror. It might not amaze you, but I'm sure I'll be haunted by it.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

3.5 stars, rounded up because the ending made me cry.

Mister Magic follows Val, a woman in her late 30s who has lived her whole life on a ranch in Idaho. Upon her father's death, she is confronted by a past she doesn't remember, one in which she was a cast member on a long-running children's TV show called Mister Magic, which was cancelled due to an incident on the set. With no memories of her own, and no information about the show available anywhere online, Val sets out on a journey to find out what really happened on set and what her father was trying to protect her from when he brought her to the ranch all those years ago.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Mister Magic. I think this is a particularly fun horror book, and I found its themes compelling. The book contains discussions of purity culture and the damage done by organized religion trying to force its ideas of "good" and "right" on others, no matter how well-(or ill-)intentioned. This was clearly a book whose topic was very close to the author's heart (this is also mentioned in the author's note at the end), and I think that really shined through here.

My main complaint here is that the characters besides Val felt fairly flat to me. There are 4 other cast members who are major characters, and I don't think we got enough time with any of them for me to really understand them and their actions and motivations. They all seemed to fall into an archetype (this seems at least somewhat deliberate because of the children's show element), and I don't think they successfully transcended those archetypes. Val herself felt kind of waffle-y, as she kept making plans and immediately abandoning them, and jumping back and forth between trusting certain people and then not trusting them and back again. As a character-driven reader, this made it a little hard for me to get invested in what was going on.

That being said, I think the mysteries that are set up here are really fun and interesting, and the answers are truly unsettling.

I didn't love the ending, as I think the solution is too close to another possibility that gets rejected, and it undermines part of the book's message/theme. However, the epilogue hit me right in the heart. I loved the closure we got for the characters and the way the epilogue brought everything full circle, and I finished this book with tears in my eyes.

Overall, I had fun with this one, and would highly recommend if you're looking for a quick horror read, or if a creepy children's show sounds like something you'd enjoy.

4.25 stars!

I don't know what it is about me and Kiersten White but we get along really well. I was definitely in the minority of people who enjoyed Hide by Kiersten White last year, and I was delighted by the fact that I once again enjoyed her 2023 release.

Mister Magic follows the reunion of a group of five children who were on the TV show Mister Magic. The only question is why is there no footage of this TV show? And although many people seem to remember it, why are there no records online? When the five children, now grown up and adults, happen to reunite through a podcast reviewing the show, they have to understand what exactly happened to this "Circle of Friends" in their past? And why does it feel like there's some eerie atmosphere still following them?

This book was only 288 pages but it made me feel so much. I was rooting so hard for some of these characters, and they truly felt like real people. I liked the inserts of gossip forums about the TV show and it felt like the Mandela effect in real life. I think some people are not going to enjoy the commentary aspect of this book, but I found that extremely touching especially after reading the author's note at the end of this book. I was definitely confused at times, creeped out at other times, and compulsively reading at all other times to the point that I finished this book in one sitting. I will definitely keep reading Kiersten White in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

This story of kid's show that was magical and also super creepy could've spent more time actually talking about the show; the disturbing Mister Magic and the enchanting yet unsettling adventures of Val and Co. were much more interesting to me than the mildly repetitive thoughts and feelings of the adults, lured back into their childhood memories by the hook of recording a podcast. I wearied in particular at Val's total lack of childhood memories plus the insistence of her friends on telling her absolutely nothing, a device which doesn't do a plot any favors, and as always, the use of present tense. But three stars since I'm happy that White was able to write a hopefully cathartic book about her Mormon upbringing, and also because I'm a curmudgeon in the mother of all reading slumps and anyone else is probably primed to like this book more than me while I'm in this condition.

Mister Magic plays on the Nostalgia that millennials feel when they think of or watch an episode of that childhood tv show they watched when they were younger. The turn in this book is the potential dark secrets and hidden agendas of said shows.

While the book starts a little slow to introduce its main character and supporting “cast” members, the mystery of the “Magic Man” tv series raps you in immediately for a fun perspective on children’s tv programming, while delivering a strong viewpoint on how adults want/force kids to be.

I loved how this book ended and how great of a group of characters that were developed. This book is great for those growing up watching Barney and bananas in pajamas, but also had parents who wanted them to be something they weren’t.

White does an excellent job of creating an unsettling, sinister atmosphere. This feeling is enhanced by the characters questioning the reliability of their childhood memories, and the interstitial social media posts throughout where people wonder if their recollection of the Mister Magic show is real or a result of the Mandela Effect. I think it’s best to go into this book knowing as little as possible: it contributes to that off-kilter feeling that is so satisfying in a mystery/thriller, and lets the imagination go wild with trying to concoct theories of what’s really going on as the truth is slowly revealed.

Oh my god I absolutely loved this book so much! It has the perfect mix of heart and horror that Kiersten’s adult books have weaving throughout. I’ll probably have nightmares about the interviewer for the next few months.

Thank you Del Rey Books for my Netgalley copy of MISTER MAGIC by Kiersten White, out 8/1/23.

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 dark supernatural thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hide (which is now on my TBR!!!).

I loved this book a lot, which is funny because I was utterly confused just about the entire time I was reading it! Even when you finish, you find yourself a little lost in processing it. You’ll probably think you know the metaphor behind it, then you’ll read the acknowledgements and understand completely. The format is choppy and fast, and includes formatting choices that keep you on the edge of your seat (blog excerpts, reddit threads, podcast transcripts and more!).

I think this book is best when you go in blind, don’t memorize the synopsis and don’t look anything up until you finish! It’s one of the most unique, eccentric, complex, weird and invigorating books I’ve ever read and it’ll probably top my ‘list of best reads’ for the year!

Thoughts

I loved the creep factor in this one and it very cultish which I enjoy. Plus, looking back on childhood shows and imagining them as creepy brainwashing magic stuff is... well creepy.

I just didn't think the characters were well developed. And the whole we can't tell anything line just really gets on my nerve in books. But that's a personally thing and has nothing to do with the book.

I think a lot of people will love this one.

Mister Magic follows the reunion of cast members of a popular children’s show that no one can find any record of anywhere after it stopped being telecasted three decades ago but weirdly everyone seems to remember it. This was such an interesting premise for a creative mystery but it didn't really give any horror vibes that I expected from it. Val is suddenly uprooted from her routine ranch life to a weird show which kindles her memories of her life before she left the show and these memories in turn unravel more secrets about her past and family. The house and the interviewer for the reunion podcast was the most creepy in the plot and that voice would have been great on an audiobook for sure so given a chance, this would have been a better audiobook. Overall, a definitely compelling and weird plot!

I loved the concept, but liked the end result a bit less. The cult was cool and sufficiently dark and esoteric, but the end felt a little too metaphysical.

That being said, I loved the way the author sprinkled the asides about the show from those who had watched it throughout the text and how much it meant to them. She tapped into a longing that so many of us have to go back to a place where we loved to be, while examining how expectations of us as children can impact us later in adulthood.

A haunting and mysterious story about religious trauma and escaping a cult. The story was so well written, I could tell it was personal to the author. It had all of my favorite elements: fast paced, humor, mystery, relatable characters, a creepy house, and of course… cults!

“This place taught me I would only have value if I did what I was supposed to”

4 stars. This book had fantastic pacing! White unwound the mysteries slowly and deliberately, adding new nuance with each layer. As a fantasy reader more than a horror reader, I really appreciated the spooky atmosphere and horror elements without it being incredibly terrifying.

“Mister Magic” follows a group of 5 people, 30 years after the TV show that they were on in the 90s abruptly ends in a mysterious disaster and is seemingly erased from existence. Our main character, Val, has no memories from her childhood prior to arriving on the Ranch where her father insists they stay hidden from public eye. When Val’s father suddenly passes away and details of his service end up on social media, Val is confronted by a group of people claiming to have been cast together with her on this mysterious TV show. Val finds herself suddenly thrown into trying to uncover memories of her past, as well as figure out what is bringing this group back together now, after 30 years.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters snuck up on me (my favorite was Javi, the mischievous jokester of the group) as I learned more about each of their pasts and saw the dynamics that they had with one another even after all this time. There are strong found family vibes, but also a healthy dose of skepticism as our main character has no real recollection of any of these people and isn’t sure who or what to trust, and after all nobody that she encounters can put words to the disastrous ending that had occurred 30 years prior.

This book seemed to get more surreal the further it went on, exploring themes of nostalgia and childhood imagination, but through a darker lens with the sense that something sinister was behind it all. The characters are forced to face their own disillusioned childhood memories as well as work through several traumas that have occurred along the way. Parts of the book read like a dream, which in my opinion helps to capture the vast imagination of children and how the further into adulthood we get the harder it becomes to just accept the surreal and magical without question.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read and review.

*A public review will be posted to my tik tok account (@readwithlys) on July 25th, two weeks prior to the anticipated release date.