Mister Magic is a magnetic thriller, twisted up in neon, nineties, VHS nostalgia and the creeping sensation of forgotten core memories.

I’d call this novel a coming-of-age story, but the lead characters are in their late 30s. Then again, maybe we come of age many times in our lives.

Mister Magic was a television show in the 1990s – your favorite show when you were a kid, sitting on the living room carpet with your eyes glued to the tv – until it stopped airing after a studio accident no one can quite remember. Now, 30 years later, there is no cast list, no recordings online, no official record of it having existed.
That is where the novel begins, with the call for a reunion podcast of the now-grown child actors, the Circle of Friends. Most of the friends have treasured their memories as they grew older, but one forgot entirely.
Capable and stubborn 38-year-old Val has lived most of her life on a secluded ranch, and remembers nothing of her life before that. Until she meets these familiar strangers, and realizes they’re the only friends she’s ever had, and joins them on their reunion in the desert.

The chapters are interspersed with worldbuilding “found documents,” like fan-written articles, reddit posts, or twitter threads. The inclusion of this epistolary element really helped to build the mythos of the Mister Magic in-universe lore.

Like the titular cloaked enigma, reading this novel felt like being wrapped up in the unsettling blanket of childhood memories, fuzzy around the edges, like the weird sensation of looking at an old photograph of yourself and having no recollection of the moment it was taken. I devoured this book in two days, which really emphasized the dizzying storyline.

I’ll keep spoilers from this review, but I admit it’s a little tricky! (Isn’t the best part of a thriller the fact that it’s not what it seems?) Safe to say, Kiersten White sticks the landing. I was stunned by the ending, and I really loved it. I was even more stunned by her authors note at the end, and I truly appreciate the time and vulnerability it took to write afterword. Highly recommend reading that once you finish the book.

Content warnings: memory loss, death of family member, child abuse, trypophobia, religious metaphors

I really enjoyed this book. I love to get sucked into a thriller, but often read ones that are fun yet don’t hold much substance. Re-reading my highlighted sentences from Mister Magic, they hit harder with my knowledge of the whole story.
I appreciated that a book so focused on the fragility of childhood is not wholly about growing up, but about what happens when you do grow up. White writes with an openness and a tongue-in-cheek sarcasm that I found wholly relatable as I recently entered my 30s. It’s funny to read a book expecting an enjoyable thriller romp, and then to be seen so entirely and realize, Oh, I’M the demographic here. She really got me.

I’m more familiar with Kiersten White’s fantasy books, and I’m really impressed with how seamlessly she’s transitioned into thriller novels. (I will definitely be reading Hide next!)
The way White offers specific details in character design – like Isaacs big eyes magnified by his glasses, or the subtle twitching motions we see in the characters – reminds me of the very specific character descriptions of a fantasy novel. I could see the scenes acted out so perfectly in my head, like watching a movie, very cinematic but also lending intimate thoughts of the characters.

Val in particular, beside her specific character design, has fantastically full-fleshed motivations and opinions, which makes her stand out as a character and not just a reader or author stand-in. I loved Val’s craving for stories, for secrets, to know people.

This book is a solid 4-star read for me, but not quite 5-star since I wanted a little more from the other characters. Val is an excellent protagonist, I felt like I really knew her and her small quirks and large fears. The other characters had motivations that I understood, but felt a little flat. (What do they do in their spare time? Sometimes it felt like they were only products of their trauma - which is perhaps the point, but I wanted to see glimpses of personality outside of their Mister Magic shared history.) Jenny is the second most developed character, I think, and I really appreciated her arc and relationship with Val.

One nit-pick, I don’t like that one character (not mentioning for spoilers) keeps saying “what I was” and not “who I was.” Feels weird and inauthentic, especially given the theme of not seeing children as objects.

This novel shares an issue pitfall with most thrillers, which is prolonged vagueness and many non-answers. In the beginning, I, too, felt Val’s frustration as she tried to get answers for her missing memory. But at the halfway mark and further, I was so annoyed that no one would give her a straight answer! Again, perhaps that’s the nature of thriller novels. But I felt in the dark for a good amount of the story, and wanted to see Val slowly piecing together memories without having to rely on the other characters’ answers.

The cover design of Mister Magic is simple yet effective — the nostalgic iconography of an old tv and a rainbow test pattern that is both nostalgic and unsettling on the stark searing magenta void. I think it’s a smart choice to choose a “cheery” pink instead of a black void for the background, falsely welcoming and magnetic. There’s something about the typed-out “Mister” that is weirdly upsetting to me, like “Mr. Magic” wouldn’t have been as creepy — another effective choice in the novel dressing.

I’d recommend this book to fans of nostalgic horror, especially millenials who still lovingly cling to their VHS tapes. The vibes are like Child’s Play and E.T. And IT. Yes, sure, E.T. isn’t technically a horror film, but the energy is there. If you watched Out of the Box as a kid, like I did, then you’ll get the vibes of Mister Magic.
I also recommend this for fans of horror author Riley Sager, particularly his haunted house novel Home Before Dark. As in Home Before Dark, unearthing childhood memories and incorporating a found-document element are present in Mister Magic, too.

Hello those who want to tackle religious trauma and or what it's like peeling yourself away from a cult, this book may be for you.
Val can't remember anything before she turned eight. After her father dies, a group of people claiming to be her friends show up and invite her to a tv show reunion, citing that she was a member of the cast. But the show, Mister Magic, is one that seems to only exist in the collective imagination. In the middle of the desert, Val and her friends grapple with what the show was, what happened when Val left, and what is the future of Mister Magic.
I enjoyed it, not as horror-y as I expected, but still wrestled with deep questions about humanity and the monsters we are capable of being/raising, all in the name of good.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Full review be posted here in August, and I have some things to say!

3.5 stars happily rounded up. I found this fun and addicting. My kind of weird.

Mister Magic by Kiersten White is an imaginative, new take on a suspense novel. Combine the friendly, fun vibes of Mr. Rogers with the eeriness of your favorite thriller and you’ve got Mister Magic. I am so completely obsessed with her writing- she’s so good at making dialogue fun and relatable. Each of the characters is individualized and brings a different element to the story. More so, it is obvious from the start that not only does the reader not have all the information, the characters don’t and its difficult to figure out who to trust, if anyone.
There is an overarching theme of perfection– being the perfect child, perfect person. I think many of us have experienced this, mostly from a more conservative viewpoint based in religion. We’re taught to be a certain way and don’t even question it until someone else or a specific experience challenges it. Kiersten White really charged forward with this idea of growing up with specific expectations and what it means to meet them and follow the rules taught to us from a young age, especially as women, even when they are not what is best for us.
This story never stalls, keeping the reader curious and wanting to know what in the world is going on. It’s a difficult one to figure out right away, which I personally REALLY enjoyed.
I won’t say much more as everything I want to gush about is a spoiler, but I highly recommend this book. To end, I’ll quote the theme song, something I imagine would be even more creepy to hear than read.

Take my hand
Stand on your mark
Make a circle
In the dark
Close your eyes
And wish with me
Keep them closed
And now we see
Magic Man!
Magic Man!
Magic Man!
He’s here for me!

Favorite quotes:

“It’s like finding the deepest, darkest hole, and sticking her arm in. Knowing something will take her hand. Knowing it’s been waiting for her to reach out and ask all this time. Knowing full well that when she does, she can’t control what answers on the other side.”

“Never leaving made staying easier.”

“She can’t live in the between anymore, suspecting but not knowing. It’s cowardly, and Val isn’t a coward.”

“New isn’t the same as perfect. Growing up isn’t inherently loss, it’s just change.”

This book was so far out! I loved the character development and the unexpected, imperfect ending. Very psychological.

A compelling read with hints of strangeness woven through the mystery. I would categorize somewhere between a horror and a mystery with religious allegory.

Thirty years after a tragedy ended a beloved children’s show, five former castmates reunite for a podcast to recount their experience. There is a lot of mystery and theories surrounding the show, Mister Magic, a relic of lost media. The show feels like a fever dream to those who watched, others swear they saw something sinister on the last episode. Nobody even knows if the character Mister Magic, a cloaked silent figure, was a puppet or a person.

As the five cast members return to the strange desert town that hosted Mister Magic, they are forced to question their memories from the show, what was real and what was just some made-up child fantasy. What happened to Kitty, the sixth member of the group? Why doesn’t Val, the protagonist remember the show and why is she blamed for its ending? Why did her dad hide away all those years? And why does this podcast seem like a setup?

This is a suspenseful read. There isn’t any action until the last quarter, but the whole time I was reading this, I was curious to see what would happen next. I like the mixed media and the relationship the characters had together. Their banter was fun and sweet and they felt like actual friends to me.

I expected this book to be menacing, but it wasn’t in the way I expected (which I enjoyed). About halfway through I realized this wasn’t just a simple horror novel, but a book exploring the horrors of religious trauma. Spooky!

Because most of the action happened at the end, it felt a bit rushed and at times I had to reread the pages multiple times to understand what was being explained, but overalled I enjoyed this book and will definitely check out other reads from White!

Thank you Del Rey Books for this ARC! Mister Magic is out on August 8th!

This book gave me Stepford vibes, but with children. I really enjoyed it. It was creepy and disturbing in the way that everything just felt "off" or not quite right. This is by far my favorite type of horror - seemingly normal situations that just don't feel right.

The incorporation of a long-forgotten children's show was great. We all have that one show that we can barely recall and no one else remembers seeing, and we start to think that maybe we just made it up?

I thought the characters were interesting and fleshed out. I didn't grow up in a religious household, so this book didn't resonate fully with me, but I appreciate it from a horror standpoint. I could tell that this book was deeply personal for the author and helped her work through her own trauma and I hope that it helps other people too.

Finally, the chapter titles are perfection. I love when authors have fun like that.

Mister Magic tells the story of a childhood television show that everyone remembers watching but no one can find evidence that it actually existed. It centers on the five last cast members as they come together for what starts as a reunion podcast but turns into a pretty creepy exploration of childhood trauma. This description doesn't do the novel justice, because there really is a lot going on and, if you think you know where everything is going, then you're probably wrong.

The book is full of a lot of well crafted tension and buildup, and Kiersten White expertly dropped spooky hints about what might be coming next. The writing sucked me in and I was tempted to finish the entire book in one day. Perhaps as a consequence of my fast-paced devouring of this book, some of the characters did start to blur together a little bit for me; I think I would have appreciated a bit more exploration of each of them at the beginning of the novel, so that they were more distinct entities by the end. As a bit of a side note, I also especially enjoyed the use of multimedia and actually found myself wanting more of that element throughout the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the arc!

Thank you to Random House Publishing/Ballantine and NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

This is one of those books that becomes very hard to sum up. It’s got bits and pieces of existentialism and horror, while also being a testament to the power of friendship. I was pretty much hooked from the start, and I read it almost entirely in one setting. There was an element of mystery throughout that had me tearing through this book with a desire to know what happens.

The unweaving of the story was quite well done, and I appreciated that it ended up being somehow an incredibly straightforward answer while also being completely surreal. I think what really made this book a home run for me was the way the mixed media elements were presented. The reddit discussions, blog posts, and other formats added such an immersive layer, and it pulled everything together in such a vivid way that had me completely envisioning the show as well.

I really enjoyed this book, and am really impressed at how so many different themes are layered throughout. It was at some points really heartbreaking in the way trauma is unpacked, but it ultimately told a story of healing. Definitely a 5⭐️ read for me!

**review available on goodreads and storygraph

I received a copy of this book through Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

I think you're either going to love or hate this book. I loved it. I was drawn in from the beginning - creepy children's TV show that everyone has "forgotten"? Creepy children's rhyme to go along with it? Maybe it's because I grew up only ever being allowed to watch Barney, and was thus very disturbed by all of the weird versions of Barney's song I heard in school, but I deeply related to the interest everyone in this book had in Mister Magic.

This book was confusing and hard to understand, and that's what I liked about it. I think the author's note really sheds some light on what this book is really about, but even before all that, there is an underlying thrum of intentionality behind every rhyme, every rule, and every lesson.

Mister Magic is not the kind of book you go into if you're expecting something light or easy, but it is a good book, and I highly recommend it.

Open the doors.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advanced copy of this novel.

All I can say is, “WOW.” Mister Magic first popped up on Good Reads, and then it was in my Audible recommendations. From there, it immediately went onto my TBR list. I had forgotten that I requested to read it via Net Galley, so when it came through, I was like …YES!

Reading the synopsis, I didn’t know what to expect, but I definitely wasn’t disappointed. This book gave me Chanel Zero [Season 1] vibes [that show on Syfy], but better.

Val [Valentina] doesn’t remember anything from her childhood, and the story begins when she’s eight years old. Val and her dad stayed on a ranch owned by his friend Gloria, only occasionally leaving to run errands to town. They didn’t watch any TV, nor did they have cell phones, but Val knew that she had to stay hidden because she had done something bad.

Val’s dad dies, and so do all the secrets of Val’s childhood. He only wanted to keep her safe, but that cocoon would start to unravel as Val’s old friends would show up at the funeral. Val doesn’t remember them, but something is strangely familiar about them all.

Isaac, Javi, and Marcus [and later Jenny] first met Val when they were kids on a television show, and Val can’t recall any of this. She would soon step out of her comfort zone and dive head-first into all the secrets that had been kept from her.

The strangeness of this book was awesome, and the cult-like following of the Mister Magic TV show was weird. Snippets are highlighted in Wiki-style posts and message boards as people share their fondness for the show. However, what was stranger is that all evidence the show ever existed has been erased from all web sources. No one can find any episodes, and there’s nothing on social media. What were they hiding?

The town of Bliss, Arizona, is where the show takes place, and everything about the town is a mystery. It seemingly popped up from nowhere, but several members of the show’s crew and most of the parents of the cast lived there. The residents of this small-town talk about Mister Magic as if it was a part of their lives, and their well-being and futures hinged this children’s show, and this cast getting back together for a "potential" reunion -- now in their 30s.

While the book is categorized as horror, it falls more in the thriller wheelhouse from my perspective. There’s anticipation, then it builds until you find out the truth, and that sets the stage for something much more sinister. There is no happy ending here, only what needs to be done, as Val finds out why all the doors to her memory are closed, the town’s obsession with Mister Magic, and why her friends really came looking for her.

This is a “must” read, and I really enjoyed this novel, and the anticipation was worth the wait.

LIVE ON GOOD READS [6/27/2023] https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5569248016
LIVE ON SPOTIFY [7/2/2023] https://open.spotify.com/show/6vVz2Cu5zNYRskIjMAKwii?si=f8ebd9c9bfce4132
LIVE ON LBW BLOG [7/7/2023] https://www.lifebywyetha.com/book-reviews-2023/

OH MY GOD I read this in one sitting. It is a sick twisted version of children's television nostalgia, mixed with horror and science fiction? Not quite sure how to describe it but wow it is so entertaining. I did not love the end, but I understood why it was the way it was. There are so many elements to this that are so enthralling, from the TV show to the cult town to the little internet posts included to create more intrigue
Also the allusions to Mormonism and the culture of "keep sweet" are so good - especially if you know the history
Thanks to the Publisher, author and netgalley for the ARC
4.75 stars

I was given an E-book copy of Mister Magic through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
What a ride.. I mean read. I loved every moment of this.
Within the first few pages, the first chapter, I was flashed back to a memory of my own childhood. Inspector Gadget (the old 80's-90's cartoon version) was a go to watch for the child me. If you have seen it you remember Dr. Claw as the villain and how we never saw more than his hand stroking his beloved cat or slamming a fist on the desk after being foiled again by our bumbling hero. I have a very vivid memory of there being one episode in which we actually see what Dr. Claw looks like. With childhood tv ominous music playing the chair spins around to show us that the Dr. Claw arm is indeed just a robot arm attached to the chair as we see in the intro to each show, also Dr. Claw himself being a small solid red imp or devil-like creature sitting in the chair with his feet not reaching the edge of the chair. I remember this as plain as day, yet I'm the only one. There is nothing online and no one I tell this story to has any memory of it either. Alas, I'm left to believe I dreamed it. But in the first chapter of this amazing story, this childhood memory was brought back to the center part of my mind.
Throughout the rest of the pages of the book you feel the claustrophobia of the story, it's palpable as it closes in on you. A story of a group of kids with a shared experience - thrown back together as adults to sort through the lives they thought they new. Very reminiscent of King's IT in the best of ways.
While there are many ways you can interpret the story told her, and in the author's note she tells you exactly how she meant the story (a feature I always love), I took from the story a note on parenting. How important it is to remember our own childhoods, never forget how to play and imagine, and never forget the importance of not dimming the light of others to force them into a box we believe they should fit.
If you are a reader of the supernatural, thrillers, coming of age storylines, this one is for you.

"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 "skin-crawling story of pop culture fandom and '90s nostalgia" (Melissa Albert, author of The Hazel Woods) from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hide.

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?

Because magic never forgets the taste of your friendship...."

"Try, try, try to understand, he's a magic man!"

Thank you to PRH, Kiersten white and Netgalley for providing me with an E-ARC of "Mister Magic" in exchange for an honest review *

This was creepy and honestly, really creative. I definitely won't look at children shoes the same way.

This book was fine! The idea of this magical children’s show that everyone remembers but can’t find any real evidence of was so interesting that it kept my interest for most of the story but the last 30-40 pages or so kind of lost me. It just didn’t answer my questions that way I expected and didn’t feel very satisfying to me. I’d like to read more from this author but this one probably won’t stick with me.

I liked the premise of this book. What it was trying to say about religious trauma. But the writing itself was often awkward, littered with strange similes that felt juvenile at best and ham fisted at worst. Or dialogue that was so unlike actual speech I had to read it through multiple times. I understand the popularity of such writing. High concept. Easily digestible for the most mediocre of readers. Pretty package. The success makes sense, but as a reader, it makes me sad to see such writing lauded. I’ve read three of White’s books now and felt the same way each time. This is the last time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for access to an eARC in exchange for my unbiased review!

After having Hide become one of my favorite reads of last year, I was massively excited for the chance to read Mister Magic and get another taste of Kiersten White's take on adult horror. And on top of that, there was something about the premise of Mister Magic that drew me even deeper into it on a more personal level. A few years back, I got really into an anthology horror series on Syfy called Channel Zero. The first season was all about a show called Candle Cove that the characters, now grown up, all watched as kids, and whether or not the show was ever really real to begin with even as it returns. With how much I loved both Hide and that season of Channel Zero, I knew going in that this book would be a win for me.

"Your favorite childhood television program feels like a fever dream.
You don't remember it at all until I start humming the theme song and then--oh, I can see it in your eyes. That wash of images, ideas, feelings.
Because that's what you remember. Not the title of the show. (Was it Mister Magic? The Magic Show? Magic Time? Everyone will tell you something slightly different.) Not any of the plots or individual episodes. Not even the names of the six children who were as real to you as your own friends.
You only remember how it made you feel."

A group of former child stars once famously known as the Circle of Friends on the hit show Mister Magic reunite years after the sudden and tragic ending of the show that tore them apart and cut the circle from six to five. Having had time to grow, to change, to lead their own lives, and in some cases to forget one another completely, the friends reconnect and gather together in a remote location to interview for a podcast reaching back through the years to dig into the massive internet mystery that is the lore of Mister Magic.

Following Val's perspective through the story as the one of the friends who has more or less completely forgotten not only Mister Magic but the rest of her old castmates, you as a reader get the unique chance to learn about everything that happened back in the obviously well established narrative in a way that makes sense, as you're learning alongside Val, and unlike in other books where teaching the main character can get a little boring, it never got old peeling back the next layer of horror and mystery with Val as she reclaims her relationships with the circle of friends.

Mister Magic was brilliantly written and exceptionally spooky, not only because of the paranormal horror aspect fed into the story by the looming figure of Mister Magic himself, but also because of the portrayal of the attitudes of everyone the circle meets throughout the story, their devotion to the show and to the return of the circle unsettling, to say the least. The characters--especially the core five members of the circle of friends----were fascinating and diverse and so, so fun to go on this adventure with. I was biting my nails anxiously more than once hoping they'd make it out okay. During the story, there were points when I did find myself wondering about Kiersten White's background, and finding out at the end through the author's note that I was correct only gave the story more gravity, too, knowing how much it all meant to her as she was writing it--how it was a chance to vent everything that she experienced and went through in a way that could also be used as a separation from reality.

All I know is that if Mister Magic ever actually found his way onto my TV, I'd be unplugging it right away. I was afraid of Barney as a kid--I definitely don't have time for Mister Magic.

**SPOILERS FOR HIDE AND FOR MISTER MAGIC**






The inclusion of Mack and Ava at the gas station with Mack wearing Brandon's nametag, effectively pulling them from Hide into the Mister Magic narrative literally gutted me and I don't think that I am ever going to get over it. I miss them.

The story itself: 3/5; nebulous and lacking the connection to make it meaningful. The story taken into context with the author’s commentary at the end: 4/5. This is where the story is.