This is a very dark book. The writing is so beautiful. I did find it hard to connect with the characters as they are unlikeable.
A very depressing book

This was very slow to start and I found myself becoming quite bored and almost giving up, but then there becomes a point where everything starts to happen and I was gripped from that moment on.

I had a few download issues with the book and by the time it was sorted, the file had unfortunately been achieved. Happy to re-review if it becomes available again.

Goodness me. This is the slowest of slowest burns that ends up setting a fire (literally) and burning down the house. So many emotions, all the emotions. Definitely intrigued by Abbott! Loved the ballet school. (You probably won't like this if you really have a hate hate thing going on for feet :'))

Thanks to NetGalley, Megan Abbott and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

CW for suicide.

The Turnout was absolutely unputdownable. Read it one sitting. Tense, full of intrigue. Beautifully written it is a stunning book.

This one started a little slow for me and I also found it slightly strange... but actually I was intrigued and wanted to keep reading... so I did. I wish the whole book was as face paced and intriguing as the last 50 pages.

I found this one a little bit difficult to rate.! The story is somewhat disturbing and dark which isn't usually something I would recommend. BUT it was also engrossing and a book that I shall remember for a long time!

The world of ballet as the environment for a dark thriller is, in my opinion, a perfect match. Personally I have always found a particular type of discipline, competition and intensity found in elite ballet companies, which is unmatched in any other setting. Abbott exploits every dark aspect in ‘The Turnout’; an original and intensely gripping novel.
The story centres around two sisters, Dara and Marie Durant who have lived and breathed ballet their whole lives. The two women have an unbreakable bond which isn’t even matched between Dara and her husband, Charlie. Together the three successfully run their dance school and with the impending annual performance of ‘The Nutcracker’ about to commence a suspicious accident threatens everything.
I have never read an author who is as good as building up an immeasurable feeling of unease in a tightly wound noir theme. The menace throughout ‘The Turnout’ comes from the impact of the ‘outsider’. Those who don’t understand the darkness in beauty and the discipline in perfection, now threaten to unbalance the sisters’ relationship forever.
I cannot say how brilliantly unnerving and mesmerizing this novel is and is yet another feather in Abbott’s cap of incredible works.

Megan Abbott is one of my favourite writers and The Turnout did not disappoint - brilliant writing, believable characters & a tight, suspenseful plot. Highly recommended!

This slow burning thriller really caught my attention. Abbott explores a stifling family dynamic where personal and professional lives are dangerously intertwined. The physical and mental toll of ballet creates a crushing atmosphere that’s firmly impressed on the reader. I found this book very haunting and still think of it often.

This was a dark, gritty read. The author kept me engaged throughout the book and the pace was fast. It was one of those books where you think what the heck did I just read?

One thing I didn’t like was, some of the content made me uncomfortable. To the point where I almost put the book down. This however is probably me as it’s one of those things that are subjective.
Still, this was a good read apart from that. One of those books I couldn’t put down.

I've read one novel by Megan Abbott before (You Will Know Me), and I could see a lot of similarities between the two. Abbott has a way of weaving ominous dread and a feeling of tension throughout her novels, regardless of the setting. Here it's a vicious world of ballet. Highly competitive, often toxic, it's a world where Abbott's writing fits in beautifully, especially bwhen coupled with her unlikeable characters.

I can see why this might be a polarising novel. There never really seems like much of a plot with Abbott, but rather on overarching theme that infests and infiltrates all the characters, slowly building tension and drama. There's no explosion of action, preferring to sit and allow relationships and situations fester throughout the book. She also doesn't shy away from the dark sides of human nature and competition and the sacrifices that make champions the successful individuals they are. Sometimes this means they're not the most relatable of characters, and a lot of people will be turned off by this. Me, I didn't mind so much.

I think it helped that I knew what kind of writer Abbott is before going into this, as I had some background knowledge to what I expected to read. This is going to be polarising, but I think if you don't mind hostile, unlikeable characters and a really slow burn read that is heavily character focused, I'd give it a try. It's certainly unique.

What a gripping thriller.

This was a very disturbing but good read.

Thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish and could not get enough of.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!!
Absolutely loved the characters, the plot, the tension -  impossible to put it down.
Certainly recommended!

Too much of a slow burn, I lost interest before the plot could pick up. Shame as I think it might be good but sadly I just can’t keep plowing on with it. Hopefully I will return to it at some point.

A psychological thriller set in a ballet school of all places!

Dara and Marie, assisted by Dara's husband Charlie, run a ballet school founded by their mother. Theirs is a life of tradition , hard work and discipline. Dara is strong and determined whilst Marie is dedicated yet mercurial.

A fire in one of the rehearsal rooms sets in train a series of events which will stir dark secrets and change their lives forever. The contractor hired to do the repairs seems overly interested in the sisters and their old family home.

There is a real sense of dread, particularly in the first half of the story, as Dara begins to lose control and realises her home and her life are under threat. As much as she is in charge of her pupils and the ongoing rehearsals for the Nutcracker, her grip on her life and all she holds dear begins to weaken.

Solid plotting and easy to read, this is a delicious addition to Abbott's impressive string of novels. A worthwhile read.

When Megan Abbott writes about hormone-soaked teenage girls, I think she does it better than anyone else. But when she writes about adult women, she seems to think that they are still hormone-soaked teenage girls. While sex is part of life, she seems not to realise that it's not an all-consuming obsession for most people once they're past the age of finding it hard to have sexual partners without their mum finding out. Graphic descriptions of other people having sex is not really my idea of having a good time. And the hints of paedophilia -past or future, or perhaps both - do nothing to titillate my interest. Aren't we about through with child sex as a subject for entertainment yet?

I've had enough, not just of this one but, I think, of Abbott in general. Abandoned at 26%.

A very interesting and gripping book, It gives a great insight into the competitiveness and darkness of ballet. The relationship between the two sisters was really interesting It was a very good book and I look forward to more from this writer.

i've loved all the megan abbott books i've read so far and this was no exception

she takes girl oriented sports such as cheer, gymnastics, in this case ballet, and focuses right down into them, exposing all sides of them

this follows twin sisters and one of their husbands as they run a ballet school in the lead up to their annual nutcracker and the ongoing renovations they unexpectedly start, lead by a builder one of the sisters becomes fascinated by

it's a slow unravelling, so much tension built up, so many possibilities for everything to go wrong, and when it finally hits it feels relentless, everything hurtling past in breakneck speed

i'll continue to love abbott's work, no matter how unsettled it makes me feel

Abbott's "The Tournout" definitely had a promising idea, yet my expectations were not met; unsettling and powerful in parts, this novel is, sadly, far from being the ultimate ballet thriller.

Well, what a strange little book this turned out to be! I love the idea of psychological thrillers set in the tense pressure cooker atmosphere of ballet school – I read and enjoyed Erin Kelly’s Watch Her Fall earlier this year – so when I saw Megan Abbott was turning her hand to this theme I was excited to see what she had in store.

This book is about the Durant Ballet School, owned and run by sisters Dara and Marie and Dara’s husband (who is also their sort of adoptive brother), Charlie. And if you think there’s something about that family dynamic that sounds a little off, you’d be completely right.

But all isn’t revealed to us to start with. In fact, for a lot of this novel I felt relatively in the dark – in an uncomfortable way – trying to suss out our characters and motivations. Abbott creates a tense, unnerving atmosphere from the off, making even mundane occurrences feel strangely creepy.

“Those shoes, so intimate, soaked with your sweat until they seal themselves to your feel, until, soon after, they fall to pieces.”

When there’s a fire at the school, the builder they call to fix the damage talks the family into extending the old school instead. Yes, this all sounds very normal, but there’s something strange about the builder, and a sense of unease and tension grows when he begins an affair with one of the sisters.

From there, Abbott just drags us deeper and deeper into the seedy underworld of ballet and the tense relationship between the three main characters. She doesn’t shy away from any details; the sweaty, sensual atmosphere feels dark and claustrophobic coupled with a a sense of vulnerability and innocence lost.

“Ballet was full of dark fairy tales, and how a dancer prepared her pointe shoes was a ritual as mysterious and private as how she might pleasure herself.”

This book is incredibly atmospheric and Abbot’s descriptions are haunting, but for me the theme was too sexualised, in a seedy, uncomfortable, I-shouldn’t-be-reading-this kind of way. I wasn’t expecting it, and for me it was a little much.

I’m not quite sure why this book didn’t quite work for me, as I don’t shy away from dark topics like the ones that are tackled here. But I know I’m not alone – there’s something about this book that gets under your skin in a way that feels a little wrong. There’s no doubt this author is incredibly talented at what she does – in fact I’m sure an air of unease was completely her intention – but for me it all felt a little too sordid and the hasty plot-twists in the second half after the slow burn first half didn’t quite make up for it.

I hate giving less than okay reviews but I couldn't finish this book which was a shame because I wanted to love it. I struggled to connect to any of the characters nor the story because of its disjointed nature. I'm sure this was intentional to reflect the disturbed nature of the characters. It is creepy and dark with a toxic undercurrent of abuse and obsession.