Margarita Montimore

3.5 because the audiobook cast is great, but the ending keeps me from rounding up.
I was pretty entranced by this plot and the mysterious life of Violet Volk up until about the 85% mark, then I realized how little was left in the book and thought, "How on earth is this all going to wrap up in time?!" And while the book does ~ try ~ and answer most of the questions, the ending is the most disappointing part of the whole story, which really kinda stinks because there is soooo much build-up to this point! If the ending was different or even just gave more satisfying answers then "Acts of Violet" could have been a real showstopper, but I felt tricked at what we as readers are given at the end.
I will say, if you do decide to read this, the audiobook has a delightfully packed cast with plenty of narrators and really brings an extra dimension to the story. I read almost all of this via audiobook and the teeny bits I read in print definitely lack the charm the story needs to bring some life into it. Kudos to the narrators on this one!… (meer)

DNF @ 65%

Recommended: not really, but maybe for you
For folks who love a story that suits audiobook format really well, for folks who love investigative reporting, for folks who enjoy lots of short-form formats mixed together (this is an easy book to read in small chunks because of the natural breaks)

Thoughts:
After not coming back to this for about a week, and forcing myself to pick it up for about 20% prior to that, I am finally calling it on this book for me.

I think this might be a better experience as an audiobook, particularly as I've read a few audiobook reviews that said the production value was great with unique narrators for characters and such. Considering about 30% of the writing is from a "podcast" style, this makes a lot of sense to me that it would be effective to be read aloud.

While I usually appreciate having multiple genres of text in a story, this one felt like a little too much to capture me. There was the podcast, letters, novel-style narration, news articles, emails, Instagram comments, and probably one or two other little one-off chapters that I'm forgetting. Overall, most of those felt not effective to me because they were used so frequently. Most of what I read seemed to be from the "podcast" format, though maybe that's the sense I get because it tended to drag for me. Ultimately it felt like most of these formats ended up being in a tell-not-show style since they were largely just passing on rows of facts about situations. Regardless, it took me out of it and made me hesitant to go back each time I stopped reading.

I also got tired of switching between each format. Right as I was settling into a rhythm, it would change. When I was in the flow, I was into the story, but then I was jarred out of it and had to start from "meh" again. And at 65%, there wasn't actually much story beyond a character study as far as I could tell. The main driving force for me was curiosity about the creative magical acts described, and whether or not Violet was performing true magic or just really fucking talented at faking it. But that alone wasn't enough to keep me carrying on through this.

Maybe I'll give it an audiobook try, or maybe I'll just read some spoilers and see if the latter half of the book sounds like it's worth the journey for me. 

Things that were interesting:
- the creative examples of magic
- the Russian cultural tidbits we get, like the superstitions that carried over
- some of the side characters are truly delightful … (meer)

A quirky novel about Oona who on Jan 1 of each year (her birthdate) beginning at age 18, she leaps to a different year. Sometimes she?s older than herself and sometimes younger. It is quite a ride. Kirkus: What would you say to your younger self if you could give her advice??Wise beyond their years? is an expression we?ve all heard before. But for one Brooklyn teen, that saying becomes all too real when an unexplained event causes her to begin living her adult life in random order. On New Year?s Eve 1982, Oona Lockhart is about to turn 19. Change is on the horizon, as she must decide whether to leave school to tour with her band, Early Dawning, or quit the band to continue her studies in London. Does she follow her loving boyfriend and band mate, Dale, or does she make a stable, independent decision for herself? Almost as if standing on a precipice between past and future, Oona finds it important to tell herself: ?Remember this party. Every second of it. Every person here.? When the clock strikes midnight, she opens her eyes to a reality far different from the one she'd been experiencing¥and decades later. The abrupt shift sets the pace for the rest of the bookÂ¥it turns out that even when you?re living life out of order, time passes just as quickly. Right as you settle in with one version of Oona, whether it be free-spirited, club-going Oona or middle-aged investor Oona, it?s almost New Year?s again. The effect is something like narrative jet lag, making it impossible to feel grounded in time. Which is, no doubt, the point. Montimore (Asleep From Day, 2018) is not afraid to wrench Oona from one season of life to another, satisfied with ending a year in a fashion as incomplete as this: ?She didn?t get a chance to finish her sentence.? These vignettes, removed from linear neatness, celebrate the unpredictability and imperfect nature of life. Even when Oona has the opportunity to leave notes for the next version of herself, it doesn?t always mean she?ll follow her advice. With each temporal shift, Oona is left longing for what came before, but supporting characters like Oona?s mom, Madeleine, and confidante, Kenzie, serve as talismans that guide her back to the present. In the end, we must give credit to Oona for finding joy and even humor in her situation and to Montimore for developing a complex narrative held together by simple truths. Read this to get a bit lost, to root for a character with a strong love for herself, and to connect on a deeply human level with the fear of leading an incomplete life.A heartfelt novel that celebrates its implausibility with a unique joie de vivre.… (meer)