Mister Magic by Kiersten White

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

My Rating: ★

I received a copy from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine - Del Rey through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It’s been 30 years since the fun and creative kid’s show, Mister Magic, ended. Not a single episode has survived, and no one knows who ran the show, but everyone remembers the final cast known as the Circle of Friends. Now that the cast is reuniting for a special podcast, long-time fans are excited. Everyone but the Circle of Friends, a group of jaded adults who have been living with the horrors that their time on the show has left them with. Who exactly was Mister Magic, and why are they terrified of saying his name?

We follow Val, a woman with no memory about her life before she started living with her dad on Gloria’s property. She’s extremely sheltered and has spent her life living by her dad’s obscure rules meant to keep her safe. The only problem is that Val is convinced that he’s really keeping the world safe from her, but she can’t remember why. It’s just a feeling she has. After her dad dies, it turns out that her dad hid a lot from her and she’s now furious because they could’ve been living an entirely different life.

Of course, this meant that Val tries to avoid a Mister Magic reunion while also trying to get as much information about her past as she can. We get to meet the rest of the surviving cast members, only we never truly get to know any of them. Their roles in life are the same as their basic purpose on the show. Every time we get a glimpse of who they are beneath the surface, Val jumps back because they are suspicious in some way. However, she knows they were all close friends and that she can trust them. It’s just a feeling.

Honestly, I wasn’t feeling this book. There’s a lack of depth and character growth for the characters, which hinders the story as we get deeper into the story. It was also presented as a mystery, horror, and thriller novel. The mystery was there for sure, but I personally wouldn’t call this a horror or thriller. If anything, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop only for it to never happen. Sure, there were some light horror elements, but not enough to make the story fall under horror for me. Plus, there was a weird almost romance that was just beyond out of place and lacked chemistry of any kind. It was strange and felt predatory, though I’m still on the fence about whether or not this relationship was meant to be taken that way.

It also seemed like there was a huge piece of missing information all book long. I kept feeling like I was missing something while knowing that whatever that may be wasn’t actually shared at any point in time. When I got to the author’s note at the end of the book, I finally knew what that piece of missing information was. It turns out that this was a fictional representation of the author’s childhood religious trauma and lifelong healing journey. The book makes so much more sense once one knows this, which is why I wish there was an introduction that talked about this.

I wish I liked this book more; I really do. However, it was just confusing at times, lacked character depth, and even what little character growth that occurred was framed very strangely. I’m still not entirely sure what this book was trying to be, but it’s ultimately a fantasy mystery that was very disjointed at times. If you plan on reading this book, I highly recommend reading the author’s note at the end before starting so that you don’t also feel like a big chunk of information that’s integral to the story accidentally got left out as you read.

Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa

 
Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa
My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a huge fan of fairytale retellings, and last year, I learned that there are retellings of various classic novels. So here we are with an LGBT remix of Pride & Prejudice. I’m a fan of the original book, so of course I was all over this retelling the second I saw it. We follow Oliver Bennet, a transgender man living in London. It’s 1812, and he’s forced to pretend to be a woman among the majority of his family as well as the world during family outings in society. Oliver savors every second he is able to live as his true self rather than being forced into corsets and dresses and go by a name that was never his.

One of the things that I love about this book is that there is so much depth to the characters. While I’m a fan of the original story, I always preferred its movie adaptations because I always felt that the book was lacking in a few ways. However, this retelling gave me what I always felt was missing and then so much more. Oliver and Darcy are the two characters that we know the best throughout the story. I truly felt for Oliver at every turn, especially as we watched him struggle with the prejudices against him and anyone in the LGBT+ community. One of the most heartbreaking things was to watch him deal with the fact that he may lose some of the family members he cared so much about once they learned he is a trans man.

Generally, Darcy is a very closed off character, so it was nice to see him given so much depth. I could really see how and why Oliver falls in love with him. I could also see and understand why Darcy appears to be extremely closed off and stand offish to most people. It was extremely  exciting to read Gabe’s take on Darcy as well as his budding friendship and romance with Oliver.

While it would’ve been nice to see more time devoted to getting to know more supporting characters, I am satisfied with the other supporting characters. Jane is extremely supportive of Oliver and every bit the kind and caring character she’s always been. There are a few other characters who accept Oliver from the second he trusts them to see and know his true self, but I don’t want to say who they are because that’d be a smidge spoilery. That said, I absolutely loved Gabe’s take on these characters even though we didn’t get to see much of some of them beyond the surface.

The overall story is absolutely excellent. I breezed through the book because I didn’t want to put it down. A few of the characters are not harmless like they are in the original book, and it was interesting to see what happened with them as their plots came to an end. I will say that one of those characters does impact one of Oliver’s friendships, so it was kind of strange to see that loose end left completely in the air even through the epilogue. I think that’s the only complaint I really have because it’s a pretty major loose end that crops up right at the end of the book and then is left in the air as if that friendship was suddenly long forgotten. Otherwise, this is a truly excellent book and I look forward to checking out the author’s other work.

The Devil Is a Marquess (Rescued from Ruin #4) by Elisa Braden

The Devil Is a Marquess by Elisa Braden

My Rating: ★★★★★

Charlotte Lancaster has gone through five humiliating seasons trying to please her father by landing a husband with a title. The problem? She hasn’t had a single suiter and feels like an outsider as the extremely tall and accident prone American heiress. Just when she thinks she’ll finally be in control of her life, her father appears with news. She is to marry the extremely broke and disgraced Benedict Chatham, who has accepted the terms of their marriage agreement. Chatham is to remain sober as well as devoted for a year, and he will receive her huge dowry. Produce an heir, and that sum will be doubled. Will the seemingly mismatched couple make it through their first year of marriage unscathed, or is love in the cards for the pair?

I think this might be my favorite book in the series because I don’t know if anything will top this! Charlotte and Chatham’s chemistry is fire, but I like that it’s a slow burn for the couple. They go from a disgruntled arrangement to reluctant friends before their romantic chemistry bursts out of the fireplace. One of the things I like about them is that they start off as odds with each other before slowly becoming friends who are married. It’s interesting to see them strike up a deal and learn that there is so much more than meets the eye. The romance slowly sneaks up on the both of them, but it makes complete sense and is truly sizzling.

Like always, we follow the main couple the book focuses on. In this case, it’s Charlotte and Chatham. I knew that Charlotte would be getting her own book the second we met her in the previous novel. I absolutely loved her from the start. She’s such a great character. I love how we learn about how intelligent she is and how she’s braved each season knowing that no one is interested in her. It’s easy to identify with her low self-esteem due to how others treat her over her appearance and other things that are purely on the surface. I’m glad that she finds her happily ever after with someone who not only finds her absolutely beautiful, but also loves and respects everything about her as a person. It’s a far cry from what she’s used to and she deserves that kind of love!

Now, we’ve seen Chatham before and I was wondering when we’d eventually see him settling down in one of the books. It was really interesting to learn his backstory and see him grow as a character. We’ve known him as a scandalous and untrustworthy man, but then we learn that the person he’s been for years was born from Chatham’s need to protect himself. No one can hurt you if they can never get close enough, right? That’s him in a nutshell, but his background turned out to be quite interesting.

Plus, there’s a great cast of supporting characters. We meet some new people, and it’s very clear that some of them will get their own books in due time. I enjoyed getting to know many of them, so I look forward to seeing them again in future books. It’s also fun to continue to see characters from the previous books pop up. It’s one of the things I like about this series. We never say goodbye to the characters and we get to see how they flourish after a book is focused on them. All in all, this was an excellent read and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.

Hide: The Graphic Novel by Kiersten White, Veronica Fish, Andy Fish, Scott Peterson

 
Hide: The Graphic Novel by Kiersten White, Veronica Fish, Andy Fish, Scott Peterson

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Ten Speed Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Most people would jump at the chance to win $50,0000. In fact, some people would do anything in their power, even if it led to someone else’s demise. When 14 people are offered the chance to win big money, they’re each in it for different reasons. People, like Mack, are looking at the money as a chance at a new or better life. Others are hoping it’ll launch their brand into the limelight. Then there are the people running the competition who are willing to kill to get what they want. However they are involved in the competition, they’re each about to be tied to an old and abandoned theme park for the rest of their lives.

I read the written novel last year, so I was extremely excited when I saw that a graphic novel adaptation was on the way. I could see how the book would translate very well as a graphic novel, so of course I had to check it out. I’m excited to confirm that it does work very well as a graphic novel! This time around, we watch the 14 contestants along with those running the competition come to life through the colorful artwork. Plus, the art style truly brings the story to life with its vivid colors and beautiful drawing style.

Like before, we follow an interesting cast of characters leading up to the competition until its end. We get to know some characters more than others, but we follow Mack the most. There was less suspense this time around, and the Seeker is no longer visually scary. However, I think it still worked out great for its graphic novel format.

Overall, this feels more like a young adult version of the story because there wasn’t much of a scare factor and it lacked suspense. Despite that, I really loved the story. If anything, I actually like that you can choose how scared you want to feel and then choose which version of the story you want to check out based on that.

Desperately Seeking a Scoundrel (Rescued from Ruin #3) by Elisa Braden

 
Desperately Seeking a Scoundrel by Elisa Braden

My Rating: ★★★

Sarah Battersby is in a bit of a bind. In an attempt to escape an unwanted marriage with a creepy suiter who keeps ignoring her blatant disinterest in him, she claimed she’s already engaged. The only problem? Not only is Sarah not engaged, but there isn’t a single other suiter in sight! Then Colin Lacey entered the picture. He may be bruised and battered, but he’s the perfect person to pretend is her betrothed. Now she just has to get him on the same page as her before he flees the area before he’s caught by the man he’s running from.

I’ve been loving this series and was so excited to start this one. Colin? Finally falling in love? I had to see this in action! Unfortunately, this turned out to be my least favorite in the series, but it doesn’t mean it was a bad book! It’s just as fun and enjoyable as the previous books in the series. Sarah and Colin just didn’t draw me in that much. I actually felt that Colin didn’t seem himself for the majority of the book, which is part of why I just couldn’t get drawn as much as I was in the previous books. I also found that I was far more interested in the supporting characters than I was with Sarah. I just found them more lively and interesting than her, which is why I’m excited to see one of the newer supporting characters get their own book in the future!

That said, there was some good stuff about this book! I really enjoyed the world building as well as meeting newer characters. It was also really exciting to see some of my old favorites make an appearance! I liked learning more about Colin’s background and how he and his siblings reacted so differently to how their father treated them. One of the things I like about Colin is that he doesn’t make excuses for his actions, nor is he looking for forgiveness. He’s taken that guilt and is using it to become a better person. It’s something that’s rare to see, even in reality!

Overall, the story is pretty good. The romance wasn’t fire like it usually is, and I had a hard time believing the two of them were in love, but it was still good. I loved meeting some of the new characters, one of which I recognized as someone who will have their own book in the future. I highly recommend checking it out, but I will say that there are some trigger warnings for this book that do not apply to the previous ones. The opening of the book has a short torture scene and there are two sexual assault scenes later in the book. 

A Catered Halloween (A Mystery with Recipes #5) by Isis Crawford

A Catered Halloween by Isis Crawford
My Rating: ★★

When Bernie and Libby take on a catering job at a haunted house, they never expect it to produce scares that can’t be undone. It doesn’t help that the location is rumored to be cursed, putting Libby on high alert. However, they need the business, so the sisters continue with the haunted house. Bernie loves Halloween while Libby hates all things scary. What could go wrong, anyway? Finding the beheaded Amethyst Applegate was certainly not on the list of things that Bernie or Libby thought were ever a possibility.

I know that I’m starting with the fifth book in the season, but now that it’s September, it’s time for some books with a Halloween theme! I was excited to pick this up, and it started off pretty strong! Unfortunately, it took a bit of a dip after that, but I found the overall plot pretty promising. We follow, well, too many characters! Bernie and Libby are the two main perspectives we follow, but we also follow Sean. While Bernie and Libby are likable characters, Sean is the exact opposite. Not only that, but his POV chapters don’t really add much to the story. If anything, every time he has a chapter, I’m left wondering how most people don’t flee from him and his bad attitude.

That said, I really do like Bernie and liked Libby as well. Bernie is funny, caring, and relatable at times while being very concerned with her appearance. She doesn’t always think ahead of things and often leaves her sister to pick up the slack while she’s off doing her own thing, but she means well. Meanwhile, Libby is very self-conscious, sensible, and anxiety riddled. She’s often irritated with her sister, but they’re very close, and she’s often left to be the responsible one with their business. The sisters are opposites, but Libby can be a little overbearing at times with being overly whiny or irritable. However, given how many times Bernie left her to do all the food prep, I could understand it at times.

I think the story had a lot going for it. The mystery plot was really interesting and I really thought it was a character that none of the characters ever suspected, but it seemed like a possibility. It turned out to be someone else who makes a lot of sense, especially given the huge bit of backstory that we learn about the ghost much later in the book! I did think that there are too many characters coming in and out of the story at all times, which takes away from the story. I also think that the paranormal aspect of the book was touch and go for quite a while, especially with how everyone was treating two characters about being ghost hunters. Given its importance to the story, I wish it leaned more into what Libby and Bernie are capable of on a paranormal level. It’s also extremely dialogue heavy, which made the story very clunky.

Right now, I’m on the fence about whether or not I want to give this series another chance. The story has a lot going for it, however, it needs to be tightened up to be spectacular because the overall writing and plot was pretty good. However, it’s dialogue heavy, Sean’s chapters don’t add anything to the story other than letting us see how unlikable he is, and there are way too many people popping in and out of the story at all times. That said, I really liked some of the characters, the overall plot, and how interesting Bessie’s story is as well as the paranormal touches the story has.