What do you think?
Rate this book
Mairead Muller's Weird Life
Haunted by the trauma of a high school classmate’s unsolved murder, Mairead Muller sets off on an art scholarship to rural midwestern Thelemite College in the fall of 1985. There, she finds herself bound to the whims of her unscrupulous benefactress as she is forced to create a new version of each card in the tarot. Was her star-crossed fate a result of dabbling in the darker side of the occult as a child? And will Mairead ever escape the velvety ropes of black magic to find peace, and maybe even love?
Find out in this new dark academia novel from Colleen McManus Hein.
Find out in this new dark academia novel from Colleen McManus Hein.
- GenresFiction
409 pages, Paperback
Published November 29, 2025
About the author
Colleen McManus Hein
20 books115 followersColleen McManus Hein is a lover of books. When not reading, writing, or playing with dogs, you may find her turning tarot or holding a seance by candle light.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Read
August 13, 2026I grew to love Mairead and found parts of this book to be actually frightening, probably because I cared about the character.
November 18, 2025
I really enjoyed reading this book and could relate to Mairead growing up during the same time I did. It would benefit from some proofreading though.
July 10, 2026
Mairead Muller’s Weird Life is about just that. Follow Mairead Muller from her earliest encounters with the supernatural all the way to the spooky college of Thelmite, where she both gets an art scholarship and finds herself in over her head with the couple responsible for it. From there, she must grapple with the reality of what happened to her and find her own way to heal, while struggling to find a way to live a life that she truly wants.
The book actually starts with a tantalizing hint of a murder mystery before taking an abrupt turn into Mairead’s childhood. In many ways, this book is nostalgic, a love letter to growing up in the 70s and 80s. It can be a jarring switch from the prologue’s juicy murder mystery to suddenly find your protagonist is a young girl learning about the supernatural for the first time. I personally found these chapters interesting, but many of them had little to do with the plot (which largely occurs at Thelmite College, some 150 pages in).
The supernatural, new-age aspect of magic is present throughout the entire book, but the dark academia only comes up in some of the latter half. The main plot is set in Thelemite College in 1985, and includes some especially dark happenings behind the scenes. I feel that it does follow the Dark Academia tradition of criticizing the rich elite and how they take advantage of others, but from the perspective of a victim rather than a participant. Fair warning: this book gets dark in ways you would not expect from watching little Mairead grow up. It doesn’t give much detail on the murders themselves, but it does go into on-page specifics about what Mairead suffers in detail. It deals with addiction and rape in the most detail, so reader be warned!
An especially interesting tidbit is that the book has a secondary narrator: Mairead Muller in the present, and Mairead Muller the adult at the end of the book. It takes originality to have the adventure within a book be simultaneously commented on by the main character, but in the future. I found adult Mairead’s contributions to be an interesting addition! If you like dark, speculative fiction, books that focus on the main character, and you enjoy slice-of-life stories, Mairead Muller’s Weird Life could be for you.
The book actually starts with a tantalizing hint of a murder mystery before taking an abrupt turn into Mairead’s childhood. In many ways, this book is nostalgic, a love letter to growing up in the 70s and 80s. It can be a jarring switch from the prologue’s juicy murder mystery to suddenly find your protagonist is a young girl learning about the supernatural for the first time. I personally found these chapters interesting, but many of them had little to do with the plot (which largely occurs at Thelmite College, some 150 pages in).
The supernatural, new-age aspect of magic is present throughout the entire book, but the dark academia only comes up in some of the latter half. The main plot is set in Thelemite College in 1985, and includes some especially dark happenings behind the scenes. I feel that it does follow the Dark Academia tradition of criticizing the rich elite and how they take advantage of others, but from the perspective of a victim rather than a participant. Fair warning: this book gets dark in ways you would not expect from watching little Mairead grow up. It doesn’t give much detail on the murders themselves, but it does go into on-page specifics about what Mairead suffers in detail. It deals with addiction and rape in the most detail, so reader be warned!
An especially interesting tidbit is that the book has a secondary narrator: Mairead Muller in the present, and Mairead Muller the adult at the end of the book. It takes originality to have the adventure within a book be simultaneously commented on by the main character, but in the future. I found adult Mairead’s contributions to be an interesting addition! If you like dark, speculative fiction, books that focus on the main character, and you enjoy slice-of-life stories, Mairead Muller’s Weird Life could be for you.
May 8, 2026
I read this book in just a few days - I wanted to find out what happened next that I couldn't put it down.
When I was about 9 years old, I was fascinated by witchcraft and read just about every book I could find on the subject. All this to say, that I loved the development of Mairead Muller as a young girl discovering magic. I also loved the wonderful relationship the character had with her grandmother. Events and relationships kept me hooked through the very end! What a great experience - even when things became dark and disturbing.
I have long been a fan of Colleen McManus Hein's poetry and now I look forward to reading more of her prose narratives.
When I was about 9 years old, I was fascinated by witchcraft and read just about every book I could find on the subject. All this to say, that I loved the development of Mairead Muller as a young girl discovering magic. I also loved the wonderful relationship the character had with her grandmother. Events and relationships kept me hooked through the very end! What a great experience - even when things became dark and disturbing.
I have long been a fan of Colleen McManus Hein's poetry and now I look forward to reading more of her prose narratives.
August 12, 2026
I cannot believe how slowly I read this 399 page book, but that’s chalked up to outside circumstances rather than the book itself because I found Mairead (don’t fucking autocorrect me, phone) Muller’s Weird Life to be such a charming and enjoyable read. I don’t even really want to analyze and review it; I just want you to read it for yourself, and I want to read it all over again! I came to genuinely love Mairead throughout my time with her. Don’t sleep on this little gem!
January 15, 2026
Weird... Definitely spooky vibes. But kinda plotless? Was a blind read and I'm not sure how it got on my TBR, but I didn't care for it and would recommend to anyone in my circle.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews