If you liked White’s last book Hide, then this book is for you! Mister Magic has such an original and interesting premise that I was grateful to receive an ARC copy! This book definitely had me confused at times and had some pacing problems, but overall, it was a very fun read. It kept me guessing and immersed til the end!

Mister Magic is a children's tv show that everyone remembers but no one can find.... Our heroine Val was one of the last cast members before the mysterious end of the show. When Val's dad dies and her old castmates show up at the funeral inviting Val to a reunion, we learn this children's tv show may not be so happy after all.

Super odd, speculative horror for fans of White's other novel, Hide.

Oh, Kiersten White. As a YA writer, I adore you. As an adult writer... you're a mess.

Let's be real - Hide was a mess. Narratively, it didn't know where it was going. However, I was hopeful when I was invited to read the ARC for Mister Magic. I was hopeful that some of the narrative issues were fixed and that what I was about to read was a solid book.

And that hope was dashed pretty quickly.

Don't get me wrong. There's some really great parts of the book. I loved seeing how Mister Magic had impacted people outside of our main characters - the fake social media posts were wonderful (even if the formatting was super bad on my Kindle) and added things to the plot. If only the whole book was written in that social media style. That would have been a fantastic story.

Instead, we got this one instead. This one focuses on Val (who may actually be called Valentine or Valentina? No one in the book seems sure so whatever), who is super fucking boring. Which makes the entire story really fucking boring. The first, oh, 50 pages or so are Val's background and general background info dumping that doesn't add anything to the plot (which is tragic in a book that's less than 300 pages to begin with). Then, somewhere around page 200, Val suddenly grows a personality, but at that point, it's too late and way too jarring.

The other characters are interesting, but it's not their story (which is tragic. Some of them were so much interesting than Val). Instead, we have Val and Mister Magic. And let's not even get into the mess that is the Mister Magic story/villain arc. Wrapping up a villain arc in like 5 pages is not a good choice.

Overall, if you liked Hide, you'll like this one. If you thought that book was a hot mess, then stay away from this one. Mistakes have not been learned from.

'Mister Magic' is a thrillerish novel about children who were on a maybe Mandela Effect kids show, where everyone watchiing felt like it was the show of their childhood. But there was no proof it existed. No tapes. No recordings. The circle of children on the show have limitless abilities to make imagination come true, and they're the happiest kids in the world ('happiest'), and they're taught songs about being polite and obedient. The show ends on bad terms, because of the circle members, Val, leaves the show, and leaves someone important behind.

The book itself starts with Val working on a ranch, with all memories of her childhood completely erased. When her former circle buddies come to get her for a reunion podcast, she has no issue going, even though she has no idea who they are, just a vibe that one of them is someone she cares about, and that she's been promised to meet her mother. The circle reunites, things get intense, and beyond is spoilers.

I had loved "Hide," which was about strangers that enter into a high-stakes game of hide and seek in an abandoned amusement park (think Hunger Games meets Squid Game). It's eerie and creepy and has such good characters working through big things, and I cared so much. It was one of my favorite books last year.

Everything I loved in 'Hide,' was not in Mister Magic, even through they were working in the same area of fiction. I had first been so excited by the premise, but it fell apart quickly. It felt like White needed a book to follow 'Hide' when it did so well, so she handed in a rushed rough draft, or she pulled it out of a pile of drafts to finish later. It was unclear and rushed, with very little nuance. After a few more rounds of edits, this could become magical.

The best parts were the short bursts of horror — the tv, the darkness, the children at the end (this could be interpreted like five ways, so it's not a spoiler) —and the unbound imagination on the show. The various snippets between chapters were brilliant. And there were more than a few lines I highlighted for beautiful language.

Like I said, there are good bones here. More plot and character development, and we'd be gold.

There is also very much a connection to extreme or cult-like religions (White notes in the back that this was on purpose, and she grew up Mormon). I liked it, I thought a lot of it was smart. Just again, no subtlety.

UPDATE, like three hours after this was posted: I just spent a good amount of time transcribing the quotes and beautiful writing I liked to have them together, and I had under-remembered how much i highlighted, and how beautiful it all was. The commentary on childhood and families is beautiful, even if the story itself isn't developed. This makes me go up from 2 stars to 3.

How quickly Val goes from not knowing she has a sister, to being obsessed with saving her, makes no sense. There's no time spent developing their their relationship, even if it was over emptiness, just a sudden reset of her entire self into 'I have a sister and I will stop at nothing to save her, nothing else matters.' It wasn't done in a way that shows grief or guilt or responsibility, it was done like someone thought 'this is how sisters work, no notes.'

I also have questions: Did we ever learn what the fire was? Why was Gloria dramatically running to the house if we never saw her actually arrive?

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

First, in my opinion, this did not at all read like an adult horror. It sounded very juvenile and YA so that to me was a disappointment. I knew Kiersten's writing from HIDE and was just ok with it, so I put a little more anticipation and hope into this one. It didn't blow me away, but wasn't that bad either. I had to sit for a few days on this review to see if my feelings would change, but sadly they didn't. I loved the synopsis of this book and the cover drew me in right away, but I was lost reading it until I read her acknowledgments. It explained some, but the story skipped so much more. It had a lot of holes throughout the story and left me a bit confused. I would've liked a bit more depth and background to the characters, it would've brought a bit more life to them. I did appreciate the story for the concept behind it and why it was written. The nostalgia with the old kids T.V. show was pretty cool and I enjoyed that. All in all, it wasn't a bad read, but it wasn't the greatest either.

Thanks NetGalley for this wonderful ARC. Mister Magic is a story of childhood trauma and how badly organized religion needed kids up. Specifically, in this case, Mormonism.

The story follows Val and a group of her peers that she doesn’t remember reuniting for a podcast discussing a show that they were all on as children. The show isn’t what is seems and the group are forced to face the things that happened to them as children and how it has shaped their lives.

My rating is hovering between 3-4 stars…I’m not entirely sure what I think about this book. 80% of it I had no idea what was going on, and if I’m honest I still don’t fully get it. But man it was propulsive. Once I got to about 60% I couldn’t stop and I needed resolution. Did I get resolution? Eh…not really. The acknowledgments shed more light on things. But ultimately this book is a whole lot of chaos in my brain that I’ll be thinking about for a while. I feel like anything more that I say would be spoiler adjacent, so I leave it that.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Imagine your favorite TV show as a child disappears without a trace. There’s no past footage. No way to reminisce about the show. When the cast from the show get together for a reunion there are a lot of questions that need answered.

If you read Kiersten White’s Hide and liked it, I think you will like this. It is not gory like Hide but there is a lot of mystery. A times I did feel like some plot points were confusing. I felt like maybe this was an allegory for something else and the authors note at the end does help bring some things to light.

I felt like at times it wasn’t as propulsive as I would have liked. I was really interested in what the answer to the mystery surrounding the show was.

You know when you read a book that just has that indescribable quality about it? This book was so unsettling in all the best possible ways. I read it in a day because I was HOOKED. I needed to know more, I wanted to discover the past as Val finds the little crumbs leading to answers. This book is eerie, unusual, and filled with love (like a shocking amount of it considering how you feel for most of the book). Worth the read for sure.

I want to start by saying that this is an author that traditionally I absolutely love. Her previous fantasy series are some of my favorites. Last year when she released her adult/horror debut I was pretty excited for something new and fresh, but it just wasn’t well executed. And I was really hoping that after the feedback from her last release, improvements would have been made to her work in this genre. But sadly, I was wrong. This one, yet again, didn’t do it for me. Yet again another book that is not developed nearly enough. It’s surface-level at best with its characters. The pacing and sequence jumps around a lot. I kept feeling like I missed something but no it actually just skips right over it. I didn't really get what was going on, it just wasn’t fleshed out well. This reads like an author's rough draft journal of random scenes without actually fitting them together nor adding in the necessary details. It’s a skeleton of a book, without the meat. I wanted to like it… but I ended up DNFing because unfortunately I just really didn’t.

I started to see Mister Magic by Kiersten White recommended by readers that I follow, with the advice to read it ASAP and not to read any summaries or spoilers going in. I headed over to NetGalley (thank you! and the publisher!) to grab an ARC and I have no regrets. This book was a page turner, and I enjoyed every minute of the reading experience. I agree that the details probably come together going in blind so I won't tell you any specific details, but I will recommend that you read this book.

I heard about this book from Meredith Monday Schwartz on a patreon podcast for Currently Reading and she seemed to really love it and said we should read it before hearing anything about it - go in blind. I was so excited and thankful to get an advance reading copy from NetGalley and I inhaled this book in a couple of days.

I cared about the characters, who are gathering together for a 30-year reunion for a children's TV show they were all on and they meet at a house that is creepy and dripping with scary atmosphere.

I kept hoping the book would make sense but it was so confusing - and I know why now and what it all means only from reading the author's note. I don't want to give it away for those interested but you can catch on by reading other reviews. I prefer more straightforward stories but grateful that I understand it now with that author's note otherwise I would have always wondered.

Mister Magic was my first book by Kiersten White and sadly, it just wasn't for me. The premise sounded so promising and I'm obsessed with the cover but the actual plot wasn't my favorite. I am sure this book will be highly received by the right audience, so take my review with a grain of salt.

The writing was great but the story was executed in such a way that felt too convoluted and abstract for me. The characters felt very immature but I continued reading because I had to see where things would go. I will say, that after finishing the book and reading the author's note the plot made much more sense.

I'm glad White was able to write this book and it was clearly an important step in processing her trauma. It was definitely a unique allegory that I believe will resonate with certain readers. I wasn't the right reader for this one but I think many others will enjoy it!

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book; all opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader.

Mister Magic: a children’s show filled with awe and wonders. A targedy strikes causes them to shut down production. The “circle of friends” reunite after 30 year, but strange things start to happen.
This was a strange book. It was a bit confusing and muddled to get through. I enjoyed the premise of the book, but it just didn’t hook me like I hoped. The characters were all adults but acted like a YA. I had to reread a few parts just to understand what was going on. A decent read, but definitely not one I would read again.

Review in progress and to come.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

What an interesting book. I kept thinking about the scene in Nope where there’s an incident that happens live on a show… I know that’s not the whole movie but I couldn’t get it out of my head!
This book started really strong and sucked me in but I felt like the last few chapter were lacking. I was a little confused on what was happening and didn’t feel like it was fully explained enough. I also had a hard time deciphering who was who with the 3 other male actors, I don’t feel like they were described enough.
Overall good story

This book gave off total Death to Smootchie Vibes with a cross between all the other creepy kids shows we were forced to watch as kids. I liked that this story was super unique and it held my interest until the end.

This book was okay? I wanted a little more back story, and depth, it felt like the author was too wordy but then didn’t get across what words they were meaning to in an accurate manner. I do love the more open talk of how this all ties into the trauma of growing up Mormon and the oppressive ideals/views and helping bring to light those issues that are happening in regards to that religion becoming more open/public. But as a whole I don’t think I’d recommend the book to a friend.

Second book I have read by White and they are so different from the ordinary, deeply original, compellingly imaginative and incredibly engaging. I will continue reading everything she writes! This book will stick with me for a long while, and I will be recommending it to mystery/thriller/horror book lovers! I gave this book 4 stars, but it might go up to 5 stars as it ruminates with me.

I have hazy memories of a show I watched as a young child, something that played early in the morning, before any of the normal cartoons came on. There was never anyone else up with me flipping channels before the sun rose, so I can't ask and I can't remember enough details to even try an online search. Mister Magic captures that feeling perfectly. It was a show that ran for years, but there are no recordings or written records. No one knows who produced it or what channel it aired on. The adults who watched it as children can't agree on exactly what Mister Magic looked like, whether he was a puppet or animation or a live actor. They do agree that a tragedy ended the show and a few claim that they saw the episode where it happened. Now the members of that last Circle of Friends, the children who participated in the last season of the show, are reuniting. Online rumors are flying fast.

Val has lived on an isolated ranch with her father since she was eight years old. She knows that something awful happened when she was a child and has always feared that she was responsible, but she doesn't know who they're hiding from. When two strangers show up at her father's funeral, thrilled to have found her, she learns about the show that she'd completely forgotten. And the reader starts to learn about it through her eyes.

I absolutely loved this book. There's something dark lurking behind all of those childhood memories and it takes a while to get to what it is, but it all comes together into a creepy and satisfying conclusion.