Reviews

The premise of this book hooked me immediately. A group of adults who, as children, starred as “the Circle of Friends” on the beloved show “Mister Magic.” Or, at least, that’s what we think the show is called. After production was suddenly stopped due to an on-set tragedy, no one can quite remember what the show was about or who Mister Magic was. There are no surviving tapes. No interviews. No production companies to claim the show. The Circle of Friends also have sparse and conflicting memories about their time on the show. But 30 years later, the Friends are brought together at a remote and strange location for a reunion podcast to talk about the show. Allegedly. “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. . . .”
Creepy potentially supernatural horror/thriller novel about a children’s show? Sign me up.
However, that’s not what this book turned out to be. First, the writer has a habit of telling, not showing. A lot of information is just dumped on the reader without any real attempt to build upon it. Second, nothing really happened for about the first 70% of the book. Third, Val, the main character makes some pretty ridiculous decisions - she doesn’t remember anything about her past but happily gets into a car with three strange men (!!!!) on the day of her father’s funeral, asks question after question and never really gives anyone time to answer them (not that they would, really), and continues to stay in this creepy old house despite everything in her telling her to leave. Like, girl, cmon. Fourth, a lot of this book was kind of confusing and hard to follow and really only came together and made sense after the 65% mark and then after reading the author’s note at the end. So there’s that.
I will say: the premise was great and the mixed media (Tweets, Wiki pages, Reddit threads, message boards, etc.) was fun.
But this was ultimately an allegory about religious trauma that was sort of clunkily disguised as a horror/thriller novel. Which is fine. I’m all for the allegories and working through issues - but it was not what I signed up for or was expecting when I started this “horror” novel.

reading_with_dej's review

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

2.5

carinthepipe's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

lexitrumble's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

10 stars. Ten glowing, shimmering, ephemeral edge-of-reality stars. This was a PERFECT story.

It’s weird, and meta, and abstract and larger than life and it glistens just out of reach for some readers, certainly. It’s allegorical and deeply symbolic and will undoubtedly resonate loudly and clearly for anyone with any degree of religious trauma or indoctrination. It’s worth the investment of time and pain and tears it will take to get through it.

I loved it so deeply and so powerfully and I am so thankful for the healing it brought me. I didn’t know I still had healing to do. I think I always will.

kerasalwaysreading's review against another edition

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4.0

This is one I struggled to connect with at first, and was lucky enough to have multiple formats. Upon trying the audiobook I found that I was able to connect to the story much, much more. It gave the story a little more depth to work with.

I felt adrift in the beginning. We are introduced to our main protagonist and without any semblance of backstory, we are thrust into this vague mystery. She doesn’t remember this group of people who show up looking for her, but goes with them willingly on a hunch. Through almost the entire story, she stuck in this limbo state of memory, where things she did and things done to her were out of her control, though she is blamed for it.

By the halfway point I finally started to see where this story was going, and was intrigued by the route it takes. This mixes religious trauma with this eerie paranormal aspect. There is a level of emotional distress felt between the characters. They are all trying to get back to something. To get back to a time when things made sense, but their memories are blocked to the true answer to what they are seeking.

The idea of this story was incredibly intriguing and I can’t imagine the complexities of what went into coming to terms with leaving a lifestyle and religion that you were raised only to know. This seems like a very deeply personal story to Kiersten White and I applaud her for telling it in such a unsettling and artistic way.

songcatchers's review

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4.75

'Your favorite childhood television program feels like a fever dream.'

Who is Mister Magic and why is everyone obsessed with a kids show from 30 years ago? This is strange and surreal. It got under my skin. I felt a strong sense of unease reading this and it totally worked on me!

'It was never just a show.'

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