Margarita Montimore flexes her full creative prowess in her third novel ... Sasha is a more persuasive, complex character than Violet, though perhaps Violet's inscrutability is inevitable, given her occupation as a magician. However, for readers who strive to connect with every detail of a story, a reread may be helpful ... Humorous but not disproportionately so, suspenseful but not frightening and emotional but not tearful, Acts of Violet offers something for everyone. A quick read with irresistible charm, it's a comfort book in every sense of the word, blending mystery, science fiction and family drama to satisfy a craving you didn't quite know you had. In the end, you'll be left with the inkling that there might be some truth to magic after all.
Montimore astonishes readers with her authorial sleight of hand in the twisty, genre-defying family drama Acts of Violet ... The story has the feel of a crime thriller by way of The X-Files, though Montimore gives it a serious core with reflections on the lot of women in the entertainment industry. The interspersing of interviews and media pieces creates a broader sense of Violet's magnetic personality and the time period, an effect reminiscent of Taylor Jenkins Reid's Daisy Jones & the Six. Montimore packs in dazzling tricks, but the complex and enduring relationships between the sisters brings the real magic.
... imaginative ... The patchwork way in which the story is told makes for a quick read ... The book's depth is revealed by what at first feels like a shallow dive into each woman's life. What the definitive story of an individual is – is hard to say. Is it what we say our story is or is it a culmination of experiences told by others? Or a mixture of both? Should we project our own expectations on others while asking others to not project their own on us fair? ... Montimore's novel is a combination of those questions, which the reader is left to contemplate long after the novel's end.
Mesmerizing ... Supplementing the straightforward prose with a slew of narrative devices that include tabloid articles, email exchanges, and podcast transcripts, Montimore achieves a thoughtful, panoramic portrait of larger-than-life Violet while underscoring Sasha’s pain as she tries to grieve under an unforgiving public eye. This spellbinding effort delivers its fair share of magic.
