Acts of Violet served with Magic Bars

Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore and served with Magic Bars 

I listened to this one on audio because I read the narration was outstanding.  That is true! 

This story is told through a series of Podcast, articles , letters and other documents.   The narrators do a great job and some of the time it really felt like I was listening to a true crime podcast!   This is the story of Violet Volk a magician who disappeared.  It is the story of her rise to fame as the most famous female magician ever, her relationships and then her sudden disappearance during a stage act.   We are now at the 10 year anniversary of her disappearance and her sister Sasha is still dealing with the aftermath.  But strange things start to happen to Sasha which she can't explain.  She is at a breaking point and not sure what to do.    We get to hear from her daughter, her therapist, Violet, Cameron the podcaster and multiple people who knew Violet.    

I thought this was super creative.  I wanted to know what happened and was totally invested in the relationship of the sisters.   My only complaint is that it dragged just a little bit in the middle.  I think we could have cut a few of the side characters who knew Violet.    Still, overall a great listen.  You do need to be willing to suspend belief because there is some magical realism here.   ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

I served this book with Magic Bars!   I mean who doesn't love a magic bar?  it is graham crackers, chocolate, butterscotch, coconut.  All the good stuff soaked in sweetened condensed milk.   What's not to love? 

Ordinary Monsters served with Dark Chocolate and Pretzel Bark

 Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro and served with dark chocolate and pretzel bark 

Wow!   Didn't expect this one.  This book is so far out of my normal comfort range.  It is horror/ suspense/fantasy and really long (650+ long)  but it was so good.   

It's 1882 Victorian London and we have 2 agents hunting for "Talents", children with special talents.  The story move through London, Mississippi, Tokyo, Scotland. We see the extreme poverty of the time including children living as street urchins.   The story primarily focuses on Charlie and Marlowe, 2 of the children.  But we also have several other kids introduced, a drughr (creature of shadow, neither dead or living) a litch (zombielike servant) , Miss Davenshaw (the blind teacher) and Mrs. Harrogate (the widowed middleman helping to find and protect the children)   It is a large cast.  

Hard to explain this book but let's just say it isn't clear who is bad and who is good.  BUT the litch scared me and I felt genuine fear for the kids.   I've seen a few reviews that compared this to Umbrella academy, Mrs. Peregrines and Harry Potter (The boy who lived reference) .   

I loved the relationship between Marlowe and Charlie.  I also loved that the strongest characters were the women!  Alice, Brynt, Mrs. Davenshaw all kick ass!  it is pretty awesome.  I highly recommend this if you want a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat.  These characters will stick with me for a while.  It also is book 1 in a series and it ends setting the reader up for book 2.   Can't wait!  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

there isn't a lot of food in this book and I knew I wanted to do something with dark Chocolate.  The book is pretty dark and chocolate is definitely comfort food for me! 

I made a dark chocolate pretzel bark.  I did a bag of semi sweet chips and melted them in the microwave.  I took a cup of pretzels and crushed them.  I combined most of the pretzels into the melted chocolate and then poured it onto a Parchment covered cookie sheet.  I sprinkled the remaining pretzels on top and with a small amount of sea salt.  I put it in the fridge to cool and harden and then I broke it into small bit size pieces.   Turned out pretty good.  Next time...  more pretzels and more sea salt.  

Enjoy!