Since childhood I have been mildly obsessed with magician magic. I just had to have the Magic For Dummies book when I saw it at the bookstore and I carried it everywhere. So I was ecstatic to see Acts of Violet coming out by Margarita Montimore. I had listened to the audiobook of Oona Out of Order and loved it.

Acts of Violet tells the story of the world famous magician Violet and her sudden disappearance 10 year ago. The book started off so strong. I loved the format of telling Violet’s story through emails, podcasts, news’s articles and her sisters perspective. I was hooked. I listened to the audiobook and the full cast made it that much more captivating.

The ending however, was a lackluster let down. Such a strong beginning set me up to expect a grand finale worthy of the famous performer. And it just didn’t wow me.

Thank you MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for the advanced listening copy.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the early listen! Loved the format of this audiobook. Loved the podcast aspect. The story goes between the past and present, the present following a podcast and Sasha. The past looking into the sisters' lives growing up as children and young adults. Where Sasha begins her life and Violet goes on to be a successful magician.

This story is full of magic and mystery and illusions! The author did an amazing job with this story. Loved all the characters which the narrators (a full cast) did a great job giving them life. Will Sasha ever find closure when it comes to her sister Violet's disappearance during one of her magic shows?
Highly recommend!

One of the best reads of the year. Story explores the disappearance of famous magician Violet Volk. Audio version of this story was a wonderful experience to listen to. All the different sound effects, voices and format made it one of the best audiobooks I have listened to this year.

I am totally loving MM's writing. I loved Oona Out of Order and I totally loved Acts of of Violet. I'm also glad I got to enjoy this as an audio. It had a cast which is nice depending on how the book was written. This goes between a podcast, emails and the sister Sasha. This one definitely kept the mystery going and the ending wasn't cheesy which I appreciate in stories like these. Definitely goes into the best books of 2022.

This book will def land in the top 3 of best audiobooks of the year and on my list of books that are better on audio than in physical format. It was incredible and a true production - @macmillanaudio you have outdone yourself on audio books!! There were over 10 narrators, Brittany Pressley being the most recognizable.

I could not put this down!!! Completely engaged, ignoring my family, finding more things to clean and bake! I loved the pacing and the format of how this story was told - a large part through interviews and podcasts. I loved the mystery - did Violet disappear on purpose, did she mysteriously die, was there something else at play with her disappearance, and if she's still alive, where has she been the last 10 years?

Violet herself seems like this incredible person that you knew so much about without ever hearing her voice directly. I truly loved the first 90% of this and the back 10%, I just wanted more! I wanted a POV from Violet herself and just a little more from that ending. This was still incredible and will be recommending this but just wanted a bit more finality and questions answered!

Name of Book: Acts of Violets
Author: Margarita Montimore
Narrators; Brittany Pressley, Hillary Huber, Alejandro Ruiz, Amy McFadden, Dan Bittner, Fred Berman, Johnny Heller, Katharine Chin, Ramon de Ocampo, and Suzanne Toren
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Pub Date: July 5, 2022
My Rating: 3 Stars!


Violet Volk is a much loved magician/escape artist and ten years ago performed her best illusion and vanishes but hasn’t return!
Story is told with the POV of Sasha, Violet’s sister.
Although the audiobook was awesome with amazing narrators who were great in performed many characters through podcasts, letters, and emails. There were things I liked and some not so much (once again the nasty language always challenges my tolerance level).
I read a lot of thrillers so liked the idea of trying to figure out what did happen with Violet?

Want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio ~ a division of St. Martin’s Press for this audio eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 5, 2022.

Oona Out of Order is an all time favorite for me so I was so excited to see another release from this author! The audio version of this book was fantastic- I love a narration with a full cast and this story, primarily told through different perspectives on a podcast. was truly a perfect combo.

This story was unique and entertaining though I did mind myself losing a bit of steam during the last quarter of the novel...I think part of this may have been that the whole book had so much anticipation to the question, "What happened to Violet?" so I really hyped up all the "what ifs" as it built up to the ending.

I really enjoyed the complicated family dynamics, mysterious disappearance, and the unique character of a female magician! I did wish I could have heard Violet's perspective as well, but I understand why it was told this way because of the creative format.

The magical realism in this book worked for me and that some things were left up to interpretation, which also means this would make for a great summer book club discussion!

This was definitely a great choice for an audiobook and I am excited to see what creative story author Margarita Montimore dreams up next!

I read Oona Out of Order in 2020 and loved it. It was exactly the escapist fun that I needed at the time. When I saw that Margarita Montimore had a new book coming out, I knew I had to read it. Special thank you to Flatiron for an advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review.

Acts of Violet was FANTASTIC.

The format is a family drama story interspersed with podcast episodes, newspaper headlines, and interviews. It’s a bit like Daisy Jones… but less VH1 Behind the Music and more True Crime podcast.

The writing is compulsively readable. To me, Montimore’s writing is the kind of writing that pulls me out of a reading slump and doesn’t let me put it down. She is now an auto buy author for me.

I enjoyed this book a lot! The ending threw me a bit, but it didn’t change the reading enjoyment.

I was so excited to be approved for the audio of Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore!

First, the audio is full of an amazing cast of voices, 10 altogether. At first this was a bit confusing, but it quickly settled into the main character voices, the podcast transcripts, and the all the rest. Cameron the podcast host had a perfect voice. I feel like I have heard him on NPR somewhere! (Feel free to tell me where if you know!)

As with Oona, this is a magical realism family drama with a thoughtful exploration of heavier topics.

Quick synopsis is that Violet goes missing in a comeback magic show after years of success in magic and then self-help books. Her sister Sasha is left to deal with all the fallout, including a complicated history that leaves her less than enthused to participate in all the Fandom. A podcast following the 10-year anniversary of Violet's disappearance stirs up Sasha's anxiety and strange sleepwalking episodes that seem to keep leading back to memories and Violet.

What hit me as the primary theme is how we all want to be seen, respected, and loved for the amazing people we are and how we misinterpret others in our insecurities. The sister's competitive relationship and lack of communication further cemented this insecurity for both. How these unspoken hurts can fester and cause harm to those we love most is demonstrated in a somewhat bizarre way here, but that is what makes it beautiful! A look into grief and loss is absolutely given center stage as well, and the complicated feelings not avoided. I loved the ending and yet still felt like so much was left unfinished. I think this may be the point and to say more spoils it, so I will refrain! On a lighter note, the writing was so easy to follow and the I laughed so much at all the hilarity of Quinn, Sasha's daughter!

Simply put, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and as an audio, give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐! I do think the audio was a fantastic way to enter into this story and want to thank @NetGalley and @macmillan.audio for the opportunity to listen to it! July 5th 2022 is the day all will have access to this unique and delightful story.

Margarita Montimore loves to bend space/time continuum and I’m all for it. Oona out of Order was example of such bend in time and this one in space, taking us to next dimensions. I don’t know if I could finish this book any sooner while not wanting to end so bad.

Magician disappears in the middle of an act and her disappearance, even after 10 years, still manages to shake up the town she was raised in and lives of family members and her devout followers. Violet is gone but her sister is still treated as a scapegoat just because she doesn’t want to go on record or still visibly search for Violet. But everyone has their reasons, right? Just because someone’s public image changes your world and makes you think that she is the best things ever happened to you doesn’t mean that she is really that person. Convincing people on that, even the closest to her, will be Violet’s sister one goal before she can breathe again.

Im sure I would love this book if I was reading it. As I’m getting more accustomed to listening audiobooks, I have to say this was the best audiobook experience. Since some of the story was written as a podcast episode and some sections were more like oral history, I would definitely recommend listening to this book than reading (who am I now!? 😅)

Wow!!! 5/5⭐️!

The book on its own is fantastic - and this audiobook is spectacular! The performance felt like a broadway play and hands down is the best audiobook performance I have ever listened too! I cannot recommend this book and audiobook enough - packed with magic, mystery and family it’s a true gem!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance listening copy in exchange for my honest review.

What a pleasantly magical surprise! Heading into ACTS OF VIOLET I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I’m glad I decided to pick this one up.

Violet Volk is notorious for her successful career as a magician, but the circumstances surrounding her mysterious public disappearance has left her fans utterly baffled. Violet’s life is an enigma to those who followed her career, but even her own family can’t fully grasp who the real Violet is.

Much like Montimore’s debut novel, OONA OUT OF ORDER, her latest release is uniquely fresh and this genre-bending novel is difficult to peg down. While there is a solid mystery with elements of magical realism, at its heart this is a story of sisterhood and the repercussions of living in the limelight.

If you’re looking for an audiobook for those summer strolls, ACTS OF VIOLET will certainly deliver. The story truly came alive with a full cast audio recording. The podcast transcripts and background sound effects added so much to the story. I’d highly recommend this format!

ACTS OF VIOLET raises some interesting questions and aspects are left up for interpretation making this a fantastic summer book club selection!

RATING: 4/5
PUBLICATION DATE: July 12, 2022

A big thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Female magicians, a mysterious disappearance, complicated family dynamics, multifaceted and complex responses to grief and loss, chapters formatted and performed (the audiobook cast is really special) like a true crime podcast, and did I mention female magicians? There was so much going for this book. The audiobook really leaned well into the podcast sections and made it much more realistic. I think the best part of this book is the dynamic between the two sisters at the core of this book, and their very complicated relationship as one goes missing after years of contention between them. If you love stuff like that done well, I highly recommend this! I think it fell flat for me in the ending, as the sort of "magical realism" of the book was not really developed enough for me to enjoy it or get used to it within the overall story. Otherwise, this was really fun, full of magic, and I loved the mention of asexuality! And of course, at the end of it all, it simply being a story about family relationships.

Oooookay then! There's so much to say here but I don't want to give anything away so I'll try to be as vague as possible. From the author of Oona Out of Order, comes her second book, Acts of Violet!

So many good things about this one:

-Unputdownable
-Told in podcasts, letters, etc which makes it so readable
-Keeps you guessing til the very last page
-Full cast of narrators

There are definitely some elements I DIDN'T like but listing them off would be spoilers, so feel free to reach out to discuss after you've read it!

This would be perfect for fans of Cover Story or Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

Thanks so much to MacMillan Audio for an ALC of this audiobook. It was one of the best performances I've ever listened to! The sound affects made the transitions from podcasts to letters, etc. so easy to follow. I highly recommend this one on audio! This will be out on July 5th!

Acts of Violet is the kind of book that I found myself completely captivated by from basically the very beginning, speeding through the first several hours on audio without even realizing it.

This novel tells the story of a female magician who broke big in the 90s and mysteriously vanished in the middle of one of her shows in 2008. Because the story is told largely through a podcast being recorded in 2018, as well as other archival documents that support the present-day narrative, the story is really immersive—I started to wish I could Google the performances that were being described. This was especially great on audio. It’s so well produced to create a realistic experience for the podcast and various narrators, and so I’m really glad I read it in this format.

Because I got so wrapped up in the mystery of how Violet disappeared, at some point I started to imagine I was likely going to be disappointed by the end of the novel—not necessarily because it would be a lame ending, but just because all the lead up is so good that it’s hard to know what a satisfying wrap up will look like. Ultimately that was true, but it didn’t make the journey less enjoyable. I don’t want to spoil anything here, but I hope some people I know read this one so we can chat about it!

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC!

This was OK! There were things I loved and things I didn't.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my advanced audio copy of Acts of Violet!

I absolutely adored Margarita Montimore's previous release: Oona Out of Order and I cannot believe it has already been over two years since its release. If you haven't read Oona - please do.

What I Loved-

✨The Audio- This audiobook was a true production! Macmillan went all out with this one. There were ten narrators including Brittany Pressley who brings the character Sasha to life. Everyone did an amazing job - Brittany is the one I think listeners will be able to recognize the most.

✨The Mystery- I just had to know what happened to Violet. Where did she go? Was it on purpose? Is she coming back? I had so many questions!

✨ The Characters- Specifically Violet. I love how Margarita Montimore built her character through other people's perspectives. She seemed to be larger than life. The last time I read a character like this was Evelyn Hugo or Daisy from Daisy Jones and the Six. Not saying that any of these characters are anything alike.
I also enjoyed getting to know Sasha and her family. The ones that were left behind and kind of had to deal with the aftermath.

Why This Book Lost Stars-

I just wanted more.
I felt like my questions were left unanswered.
I wanted Violet to have her own POV.
I feel like so much more could have been done with this story.

Overall- Still recommend. I look forward to reading more by this author.

I really like how this is formatted, with podcast episodes woven throughout the story. I also like the premise of a magic act gone wrong and found the description as well as the beautiful cover to be huge draws to the novel. The story consists of a lot of build-up to a reveal at the end, a style that I find works best with a lot of suspense and a killer finale. I felt myself checking out a little bit during the book, but a great ending would’ve won me back. Unfortunately, the conclusion left a lot to be desired and made me roll my eyes so hard.

I listened to an audiobook of this novel. I liked the little sound effects that were used to distinguish podcast episodes from narrative parts and thought the narrators did well. It sounded like one of the narrators had a slight echo that made it somewhat difficult to comprehend their speech above 1.25x speed. Also, the warped voice used for an anonymous guest on the podcast was near impossible to understand.

Violet Volk was the most mystifying magician in the world, but no one has seen her since she disappeared in the middle of her live show 10 years ago. Literally no one — and definitely not her sister Sasha who never was that big into her sister's passion. Even a decade later, Violet is a hot topic for Sasha with her husband and her daughter Quinn, who's especially interested in Violet's legacy. When a podcaster named Cameron reaches out with an interview request for Sasha, she promptly declines. But as the podcast ramps up and Sasha's curious sleepwalking returns, her interest in her sister's disappearance gets piqued.

This book is 100% one of my most anticipated reads for 2022. I want all the books from the mind that created Oona Out of Order, and this one did not disappoint. I loveeeeed Sasha and learning about Violet's magic in all the different ways — there's the podcast transcripts, old magazine articles, emails, and letters. Also, a PSA that this one takes an interesting sci-fi twist that I was not mad about at all! I could see this book becoming an incredible movie.

The full cast of this audiobook is ABSOLUTELY incredible. I loved the production. Brought the book to life for me!