I was so excited to get this because I really enjoyed Hide by this same author. Mister Magic was a little disappointing but still a solid mystery/horror/creepy read.

The premise is a reunion for child actors on a beloved children's show called Mister Magic that went off the air decades ago. The show itself is cloaked in mystery - the narrative includes snips of news articles, reddits, interviews, etc. on this topic woven with present day activity and no one can remember anything specific about what "Mister Magic" looked like, nor are there any clips anywhere from the show. There is a lot of disagreement online about the show, and no one can seemingly remember anything precise about the characters or format. All remember they loved it. All know it ended due to some sort of tragedy, but no one remembers what it was.

These pieces of media are interwoven with our MCs, the "Circle of Friends," and their narrative as they come together once more and piece together their own sparse memories of their time on the show and the mysterious tragedy that ended its run.

The book starts out with a great, creepy, and mysterious vibe. As the story unfolds and the plot points become more clear, things get a bit convoluted. Not everything makes sense or lines up. The characters aren't particularly well developed and feel more like caricatures...but I feel that was done on purpose - they are living out their roles on the show even in their adult lives. I see some reviewers didn't like this and noted the characters are all emotionally stunted. I think that's the whole point. They ARE emotionally still children. They have never grown past the roles the show squeezed them into. They are incomplete.

I both liked and disliked the ending - I still have conflicting feelings a week after finishing the book. Initially the creepy vibe turns dark and rather sad, almost. It's odd. It just ended up feeling less fun to read as it went on. Horror can be fun or it can be truly scary. This was just both but also...sad.

The author note after the book was enlightening. Once you realize this book is an allegory, and understand that context, it all is pretty brilliant, even the murky parts. However, while it did enhance my appreciation of the book, the fact remains that the story wasn't quite as enjoyable to read as I had hoped. That all said, I do recommend this and think it is really insightful as an allegory. It's just not as fun as Hide.

Mister Magic is very reminiscent of an older creepypasta titled "Candle Cove" so it instantly had me hooked. I was thrown right into the story within the first two chapters and Kiersten White put the pedal to the metal and got straight into it. Her characters were well developed and made you cheer for them while not being able to trust them at the same time. Throughout the story she dropped pieces of the puzzle like breadcrumbs at exactly the right moment and you never really knew where your favorite characters were gonna end up. I got major "IT" vibes throughout the story. Kiersten White really wrote a book with a wonderfully creepy atmosphere and made me anxious the entire time, My only complaint was that the book read like a YA novel when the characters were meant to be nearing 40 but considering what has happened to the main characters in their younger years there can be an argument that it was written that way entirely for that reason. Thank you for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Read the authors note at the end. This is a deeply personal book for the author and explores a lot of themes and highlights some universal truths not just about religion but societal structure and expectations. Like Val, I am not a parent myself, but that doesn't mean there isn't a whole lot of unpacking of messaging we received as children and how it gets passed down either passively or intentionally.

There's magic, there's hope and if Inside Out was an adult novel with some serious reckoning (not that it didn't also very much deal with these themes) it'd be this.

I was over the moon when I got approved to check out Mister Magic!

The premise is right up my alley. If you ever watch clips of old kids shows on YouTube you know they could be very disturbing. The shows we watched as children also play huge roles in how we grew into adults.

I loved how each character had their own strong personalities. No one was weak or timid. I loved Val and her relationships with the other characters.

The story is creepy without giving you nightmares and the deeper message is something I think a lot of readers can relate to. Make sure to read the acknowledgments after to see what inspired the author to write this.

If you loved the show Channel Zero season one, I highly recommend reading Mister Magic by Kiersten White. Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this. I have written my review voluntarily.

This book is so surreal I don't even know how to describe it in words. White does a great job of twisting reality through childhood memories that make the reader question everything about their younger years. Creepy, macabre, and all around uncomfortable, White has an uncanny ability to put her readers at the heart of their worst nightmares. Built around a childhood TV show called Mister Magic, it takes you to a journey so familiar and yet unlike anything you've ever experienced. I couldn't help but want to continue reading even though I could feel the story nesting underneath my skin. I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking to be uncomfortable but in the best way.

Yikes, ok…

Fair warning: I read this to be a mashup of the Candle Cove creepypasta and Ronald Malfi’s “Black Mouth”. While I really enjoyed both of those original works, Mister Magic was a “no” for me.

This final product produced an overarching feeling of just “uh, wait what?” I had more than a few issues with the execution of this story: Part of the plot (the interesting part) was heavily borrowed from Candle Cove and was only presented in small snippets at the end of each chapter. The other part was a half-hearted attempt at depicting relationships in a genuine way (which all felt very forced). Something about her writing style can’t get me to shake the overall YA feel of White’s “adult” novels, and that general feeling is omnipresent in this one as well. The delivery was rather ham-handed and too sitcom-y for my tastes, and all the cutesy childhood jingles that a bunch of 40-yr-olds are still obsessed with for some reason were really eyeroll-inducing. These characters were all written through an adolescent gaze, like a tween envisioning how adults interact with each other.

The vagueness and secrecy embedded in the story were necessary to further the plot, but instead of it being mysterious and interest-piquing, it was convoluted and annoying. Every chapter was just more of the same— blocked out memories, things the characters can’t talk about, etc. There is such a thing as not giving your readers enough meat to chew on, or enough substance to sustain us, and that’s regrettably what happened here. There weren’t enough small payoffs for us to swallow along the way, so the story was dead on arrival.. It was asking us to solve a mystery that no one cared about in the first place (and one that was fairly easy to guess). I think that had to do with how the characters were written—all archetype and no real soul behind the eyes.

I had no idea what was happening most of the time. White continually beat us over the head with cryptic allegories, and while I respect the religious trauma this novel was meant to exorcise, the world she built just wasn’t interesting.

"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."

Mister Magic is a story reminiscent of Stephen King's IT, following characters who come together as adults decades after the experience they share as children. A bit slow and repetitive in the beginning. The main character seems to struggle with the same internal dialogue over and over. The plot materializes as she fills in gaps of memory she has of the past, along with the reader, to discover who the characters are and out they relate to each other within the story.

Narrowing focus and picking up the pace, the climax and ending carry specific themes speaking to the author's life experience. Religious undertones are easy to pick up throughout the narrative but don't seem to overpower it's trajectory .

Nostalgic for millennials who remember growing up hearing contradictory and problematic messages from family and media, this story has suspense and character. It is a fresh and unique depiction of resilience in children, finding themselves in an uncertain reality.

I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey and NetGalley for sharing a copy of this title with me.

4/5 Stars. I have been a fan of Kiersten White for years and have yet to find a book I dislike by this author. I found this 2023 adult horror intense, and I could not put it down. I liked how unique the story was with the mixture of paranormal/fantasy with contemporary. Plus, the cover is stunning!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.


Val has no memories of her life before the age of 8, but when some friends from her childhood give her the opportunity to revisit her past, she uncovers a force more powerful than the magic of childhood.

This is one of the strangest books I have ever read. Once I understood what the author was alluding to, it made a lot more sense and I was able to appreciate the story she was trying to tell. I will be thinking about this story for a long time to come.

As far as a horror novel goes, this one was pretty creepy. I also liked that it ended on a slightly disturbing note. I enjoyed the storytelling, though I found the relationship between Val and Isaac to be a bit strange.

I'll be honest. This book was not my favorite because I found it to be super triggering. The underlying messaging dealt with parental abandonment, moralism, cults, and brainwashing. I am against abandonment, cults, and brainwashing.

What I find triggering is that I don't find moralism to be an inherent evil. Morals keep people from killing, raping, lying, and all kinds of legitimate evils. I would agree that trying to squash someone's nature and their spirit is also wrong. There's a fine line. The author is careful at points in then story to specify that it is the arbitrary rules and expectations that are harmful, so I appreciate that. I just get a bit anxious and cagey about it. I know it's just a me thing.

The authors note communicates that this book stems from her own personal experience. I'm happy that she did what she thought was best for herself and family by leaving the cult community she belonged to. Leaving a cult is super difficult because you most likely have to leave the good along with the bad, mainly relationships with close friends and family.

I do think this would be a great book for discussion of beliefs.

Thank you to Random house and netgalley for the ARC

3.8
Trippy and atmospheric with just the right tension...until it wasn't. Something shifted toward the end and it felt a bit like it lost its sense of itself, which was the big thing it had going, so.

If you loved Hide, wait until you hear about Mister Magic .

Once you’re finished gawking over the cover (as I did) I will tell you a little bit about this showstopper .

Here we go….

Having read Hide I should have known that this book would blow my mind although the title threw me off a bit . Hmmm. Mister Magic? I think my head went to John Wayne Gacey and some kind of creepy clown.

Wrong

So this book is super creepy . I’m not typically one for the supernatural/paranormal kind of thing but White executed this plot with such precision she has definitely made a fan out of me .

White has become an auto buy author for me and I’m praying she doesn’t make me wait to long to release another hit . My heart bleeds for these books .

Five Stars, easy

Teaser:

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. . . .

3 stars

While the premise was good, the story felt a little disjointed and fell a bit flat for me.

I've loved seeing White become this horror novelist after her days as a YA author. The concept of HIDE had me thrilled but I felt the actual book fell a little flat. I was still excited about Mister Magic - the idea of a TV show that is scrubbed from the internet? Sign me upppp.

Imagine if your favorite 90's children show was actually something more sinister. More mysterious. And no one on the internet could find proof it actually existed. The only evidence it existed are your own memories and the therapy you received after being traumatized by the final episode that resulted in the show's sudden cancellation. That is until a reunion podcast is announced after 30 years.

Val, former star of the Mister Magic show, has no memory of her childhood or the show she was a part of. But her former co-stars find her and ask her to join the reunion show to help them find closure that they didn't get after her sudden departure from the show shortly before it suddenly ended.

I found myself compulsively reading this just to find out what Val remembered and what happened to her and Kitty.

This novel isn't subtle in its themes or ideas. This is a literal and fierce interpretation of White's own life experiences and influences. I really enjoyed how she twisted this into a relevant and relatable idea.

I loved the creepy atmosphere of this book. It had a great way of making you feel afraid of the dark. I thought some of the characters felt a little flat but the ending really messed with my head for a few days. Overall a very original and creepy book!

Absolutely loved this book. Wonderful read, building a world of the haunting creepiness nostalgia can bring and societies and shame. Also, loved the after section about the author's parallel to growing up Mormon.

This story focuses on 6 friends (Val, Isaac, Javi, Marcus, Jenny & Kitty) who were on a children's program called Mister Magic as kids. The show was magical and wonderful until the day that it wasn't. It is not 30 years later and a reunion is being planned for the cast. The public was in love with the show, but there is no one to contact, no studio, not even any video floating around the internet from the show. Did this how really take place? Who is Mister Magic? Why does one of the cast members have no memory of the show at all? Sounds good right? Well…for me it wasn’t great.
The writing is good, but the narrative and pacing was slow, disjointed, and though there was a general sense of unease about the plot, there was a lack of suspense and understanding. I honestly had a hard time connecting the dots, not moving in the dark. The unreliable perspectives of the characters, wobbling pacing, more creepy and mind-bending scenes made me even more confused! Think Stranger Things 11 mind scenes at the lab with constant flashbacks and no explanation. I think this had a lot of potential but taking until 85% to get some clarity just isn’t working.
Thankfully, the author's note was explanatory enough to understand what the was happening in this book! I appreciate that White wrote this book in response to her experiences as a Mormon and leaving the Mormon community.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Del Rey for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Kiersten White weaves such a feeling a mystery and foreboding into this book. You aren’t sure where it is going, but you know you don’t want to be there (while also desperately needing to know what is happening). The interstitial blog posts, Reddit threads, and emails add so much to the world and to the history of those mysterious Mister Magic show.

I remember seeing the cover for Hide last year, reading the synopsis, and knowing I had to read it. Did I love it? No. Do I still love the cover? Yes. Well, we have an exact repeat of that situation with White’s new book. I can appreciate and understand that this was a deeply personal story for her to share (read the Author’s Note after if you read this book). Some stories we just need to get out and I do love that it was so different from anything I’ve read. While I can respect her reason for writing it, I just don’t think her writing is for me. I was yearning for more of a horror element and I could not stand the characters. They’re in their late 30s/early 40s and literally read like teenagers. Which actually might’ve worked in this story if I didn’t already have the same issue with Hide. I think she might be better off sticking to the YA genre because both of her adult horror books just completely missed the mark for me. Such a shame because the synopsis for this one was absolutely fantastic. I loved so many elements of this book and wish they blended together better.

If you liked Hide, then you should absolutely read this book. It doesn’t take place in a theme park obviously but the writing style was very similar. If you grew up with a religious upbringing that you resent now, you might also want to give this a shot. Even though I didn’t love it, I’ve seen a lot of 5 star reviews for it so there’s definitely an audience this will appeal to.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 3
Pace: 2
Plot development: 3
Characters: 2
Enjoyability: 3
Ease of Reading: 3

Overall rating: 3 out of 5