Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore

November 11, 2022

Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore

Ten years ago, famous magician Violet Volk disappeared in the middle of her stage act. Violet always had magic tricks that seem beyond rational explanation, even to other magicians. No one has seen or heard from her in ten years, not even her sister Sasha, although rumors of Violet sightings run wild on the Internet, creating a cult of Violet fanatics. Unlike her sister, Sasha has led a quiet life in their hometown of Willow Glen, NJ, with a husband, daughter and business. To protect her family, Sasha tries to avoid all the misinformation about Violet. But now the ten-year anniversary of her vanishing is approaching, and the uproar is increasing to new levels, with a podcast series in addition to the annual vigil. As Violet mania intensifies, Sasha begins to wonder if she is losing her mind.

This started out as a decent missing persons story, and I would have been happier if it had stayed that way without the magical realism slant. Although some readers may find it annoying, I liked the combination of narrative mixed with podcasts, emails, and interviews - it worked quite well in the audio format and reflects how we get information in the 21st century. Sasha also talks about the horrible things that people do today, like throwing a Molotov cocktail through the window of her business because someone didn't think she was grieving properly (again, a reflection of the times we live in).

But then the ending just falls flat. Instead of finding out what happened to Violet, the reader is led to believe that she transported to some higher plane or alternate universe, and that maybe Sasha wants to go there, too. This is the second book by Montimore that I've read - the first one was disappointing, but I decided to give her another try. This one was disappointing too. It's like she gets her characters into a situation and then can't figure out how to get them out, without "magic."

A female magician with her male assistant - there are plenty of female magicians out there