Goodreads

Release date: July 5, 2022

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis:

Nearly a decade ago, iconic magician Violet Volk performed her greatest trick yet: vanishing mid-act. Though she hasn’t been seen since, her hold on the public hasn’t wavered. While Violet sought out the spotlight, her sister Sasha, ever the responsible one, took over their mother’s salon and built a quiet life for her daughter, Quinn. But Sasha can never seem to escape her sister’s orbit or her memories of their unresolved, tumultuous relationship. Then there’s Cameron Frank, determined to finally get his big break hosting a podcast devoted to all things Violet—though keeping his job hinges on an exclusive interview with Sasha, the last person who wants to talk to him.

As the ten-year anniversary approaches, the podcast picks up steam, and Cameron’s pursuit of Sasha becomes increasingly intrusive. He isn’t the only one wondering what secrets she might be keeping: Quinn, loyal to the aunt she always idolized, is doing her own investigating. Meanwhile, Sasha begins to experience an unsettling series of sleepwalking episodes and coincidences, which all lead back to Violet. Pushed to her emotional limits, Sasha must finally confront the most painful truths about her sister, and herself, even at the risk of losing everything.

Alternating between Sasha’s narration and Cameron’s podcast transcripts, interspersed with documents that offer a tantalizing peek at Violet herself, Acts of Violet is an utterly original, propulsive story of fame, deception, and forgiveness that will make you believe in magic.

Review:

I really enjoyed the fresh concept here, I’ve not read many books about magicians and definitely not many about one that disappears, and NOT as part of their act. So this one had me interested before I even started listening and it kept me engaged initially, but my interest waned as things progressed. Let me back up and speak to the audio version because it was really outstanding. You have a full cast narrating and since there are podcast episodes those were really well done. I think this format on audio really served to reel me in and as my lack of interest in the plot itself continued to decrease, I was so impressed by the narrators performances I felt like I had ti keep listening. In the end I struggled with wanting more, I was left feeling unsatisfied and that’s never the way I want to feel when I finish a book. So overall mixed feeling here, if you decide to try this yourself I highly recommend going the audio route!

Overall rating: 3.5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.