Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the mysterious children’s program Mister Magic, the five remaining cast members are brought back together in a strange house in the desert, where they begin to realize their childhood is not exactly how they remembered it to be.

Sometimes it’s fun to write one star reviews, because the story is not at all what was said on the tin and then I’m annoyed to have spent time with it. Other times, it’s tough to write one star reviews, because while you see what the author was striving for and know they have put their heart and soul into it, it simply has not worked.

The premise drew me in, hinging as it did around the idea of a mysterious ‘lost’ children’s TV show. However, the story just takes a very long time to get off the ground, and then the mystery is laid bare with one fell swoop (it’s fundamentalist propaganda. It’s always fundamentalist propaganda), after which point all that’s left is to see things unravel. The theme of an eldritch horror and the elitist cabal that tries to use it for its own ends is explored to better effect in White’s previous novel Hide, but I couldn’t suspend my belief sufficiently to really believe it in Mister Magic.

The characters also felt flat and juvenile, even when you take their background into account. A major part of this book revolves around their friendship, but while there were flashes of banter and camaraderie between them, it couldn’t convince me in the end – and the less said about the touches of romance, the better.

Things picked up in the last 15% of the book or so, but by then it was just too little, too late. Do not recommend.

I had no idea what to expect from this book, except that it was by Kiersten White, and I knew it was likely to be good. And I was right! It's creepy, has a mystery at the heart of it that is pretty messed up. There are religious/cult undertones to what is going on, and that aspect of it is handled very well. I enjoyed the different characters and how they had different roles, and how those roles translated into the kind of adults they became. I liked the bits of "internet" lore/ephemera that were included between some of the chapters too; that helped round out the story and add to the mystery of what was going on.

I also just got thoroughly spooked when I was reading parts of this late at night, which I think is always a good sign when you're reading horror. It's more suspense/psychological horror, which I also appreciated, because I think that's usually scarier. Absolutely recommend.

this was not for me, the messaging i think is off and just did not gel well with me and made the writing feel very werid and forced.

I enjoyed this book overall. I thought the idea was something pretty new. The characters were enjoyable. It was orettt weird, but a good read. 3.5 stars.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing this e-ARC. I am anticipating reading this soon and reviewing on my socials.

"He's an impression more than he's a man."

You remember watching it, you remember everything about it as if it was just airing yesterday. And your not the only one, THE WHOLE WORLD remembers it as you do. Rushing back with nostalgia everytime you think about it. How it made you feel. How you found friends in the cast. How you wished you were in the show yourself. But there is no evidence it even existed...not even a little bit. Was it even real or did you and the rest of the world imagine the same thing??

White really pulls you right in. Grabbing your attention from the very beginning filling you with intrigue to keep the pages turning. Swept up in this fever dream like plot

The creepy podcast interviews, blog posts and article inserts giving a nice added little bonus

The fast moving, semi short chapters make this one easy to fly through in no time at all.

And although you have no idea what is happening a majority of the way through this, the mystery and unknowingness really is the beauty of it

One thing I would like to note/recommend before diving into this one. READ THE AUTHORS NOTE AND DEDICATION FIRST! I promise there's no spoilers and I feel reading it beforehand will give you a better understanding while reading and may highly impact your consumption

Thank you to @netgalley @delreybooks @penguinrandomhouse and Kiersten White for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my honost thoughts and opinions

I was immediately drawn to this book based on the cover and the description. The author did a really good job at creating a very unsettling vibe, which was just what I was hoping for. Overall I really enjoyed the plot, but I was left wanting a little more at the end. If you liked the show Channel Zero, specifically the Candle Cove season, and are interested in "liminal spaces" and "backrooms" vibes this book is for you.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey and NetGalley for an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this story as I could totally relate to the bizarre childhood shows I grew up with in the 70's. This was spooky and quirky with a totally unreliable MC. A bit of mystery and paranormal to keep you guessing.
Fun and scary!

First- Thank you to the publishers for sending me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Now- They can’t all be winners. I thought this book was going to be a fun magical realism story. Instead this book was a 200+ page story that in the end says “don’t believe in any god of any religion” to quote the author in her acknowledgments “fuck that.” 🥴 All of this is based off of trauma for her experience in a Mormon cult. Writing a book with those experiences is one thing using that to encourage others to dismantle their faith in anything other than themselves….vile. This was riding as a solid three star book until the ending and then it was a 2…after reading the acknowledgments and learning about the intent of this book 0/5 stars.

Overall, it was a bizarre but also exhausting, existential, weird ride. It was something different from what I normally read and from what I've come to expect from this author. It is not my favorite work of the author, but it was very different and I'm sure that there is definitely an audience out there for this book who will love it because it is truly unique.

This was so unique! Definitely kept me interested and wondering who to trust and what was going to happen next. The author's note at the end also really made me rethink a lot of what I read- I'm not sure if I would have wanted that information before reading though?

Culty, creepy, shocking, and sad. Really loved this book gave me IT vibes along with nostalgic fear of child shows. I truly never liked Barney he always scared me. Would highly recommend -a true page turner and the audiobook was fabulous as well.

Childhood stardom is everyone’s dream, but what people don’t know is that behind this popular tv show things might have been more real than they seemed.

When the main characters father dies she is found by her old circle of friends, her castmates on mister magic, a show she has no memory of. Trudging through childhood trauma and make believe readers soon discover the truth, and nothing is quite what it seems.

This was a pretty neat mystery/thriller which also bordered on scifi/fantasy and a bit of horror to me.

I found most of the characters likable and even the one I wasn't crazy over it was discovered their actions had good reasons. Mister Magic himself was an enigma and the entire premise of a show everyone remembers but no one can find proof of was interesting to me. I enjoyed reading how our main character, Val, had to decipher her own memories and figure out how she fits in with the memories of others. Memories she does not have.

I read this one pretty quickly and I recommend checking it out.

The cover frist drew me to wanting to read this book. The beginning had me hooked, I didn't want to put this one down. As the story developed, it got confusing and muddy for me. I really enjoyed the inserts between chapters with the Wiki page for the show and online discussions from fans 30 years after the show. There are definitely creepy parts to this story and you feel uncomfortable, not scared though like horror. After reading the Author's Note, I see this book was therapy for her, it was very personal to her. I am glad I read the book before the Author's Note so it did not have me looking for more in there other than the story being told. Do not skip the Author's Note but I don't recommend reading it before reading the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC of this book

i wasn't a huge fan of kiersten white's other adult horror novel, "hide," but i thought based on this one's premise that it would be better--i was sadly disappointed. this is a textbook example of incredible idea, poor execution. many of the characters felt very surface level and white has a tendency to tell instead of show. additionally, most of these characters are meant to be around 40 years old but all read VERY immature with the way they speak (this just may be because of the author's experience with YA). i understand that the text was a big religious allegory and i feel like i would have rated this at least 3 stars if i went in knowing that was the direction it was going to take. i'm glad the author was able to use this text as a means of healing her own trauma, but this one wasn't for me. if i knew it was going to go that route i probably wouldn't have read this one.

I tried. While this book had a lot of promise because I am a big fan of horror, ultimately id didn't land for me and I DNF'd it for a number of reasons. As I started reading, I realized I just wasn't that interesting in the characters. The whole setup was a bit strange and I think premise of child actors reuniting after the death of someone in their orbit just didn't interest me that much. Adding to that, I didn't really like the characters and I wasn't compelled by one of thee main character'a alienation from the group and subsequent strange behavior; Bottom line, it was a little too weird for me and I couldn't get invested in the storyline.

I’ve truly never read anything like Mister Magic before. Riveting, mysterious, and creepy, this was a world—and a book—that’s one of a kind.

It was a little confusing at times, and I’m still not entirely sure that I know exactly what was going on, especially toward the end of the book. I’ll likely reread this for both a little extra clarity, and also because this story was uniquely mesmerizing.

I loved this book until about 65% of the way through. I don't mind a book ending with some unanswered questions, but I truly have no idea what the heck happened in the last third of this book. I like mysteries and supernatural twists on things, but this one just seemed to get more and more confused with itself, until it couldn't even start to explain to the reader what was happening. It got so complicated that it actually ended up being a bit boring. This was not my favorite.