Welcome to Litsy!

The Durants own a dance academy and have a sordid family life. Sisters Marie and Dara grow up with substance and physical abuse parents until they die in a car crash. Left on their own - alongside Charlie, who Dara eventually marries - they take on continuing the dance academy. While preparing for Nutcracker their studio suffers from a fire and the contracted, Derek, has bad intentions. Bizarre and choppy writing overall.

This was okay, not my favorite from the author. I like the ballet studio setting and complicated family dynamics but it took a bit too long for the story to get moving for me. #BookspinBingo #ReadorDonate @TheAromaofBooks @julieclair

I usually like Megan Abbott but 14% in and I was hating everything about this. Time to move on.

I think that ballet may be more cut throat than football! Two sisters, a twisted family and Nutcracker preparations! Good read. Short chapters and short wording give this the perfect stress reading that fits this story.

I honestly don't know how to rate this one. It was very tense and slightly uncomfortable throughout, but the end was extremely uncomfortable. I kind of want to crawl out of my skin. This was my second Abbott. She's a master of building tension, but this one was particularly dark.
Excited to get to the 2 Hepworths on my libby shelf. Need an Abbott break 😅

“Charlie loves you. We‘ve all known each other since we were children. We grew up together. There‘s nothing wrong with that. It‘s family, it‘s . . .” She went on and on, hating the sound of her own voice, high and strained and nothing like their mother‘s. She always tried to match their mother‘s soft, lush alto. “We grew up together,” Dara finally repeated.

But Marie only looked at her and said quietly, “Did we? Grow up?”

This story looks at the lives of two dancing sisters (Marie and Dara) and Dara's dancing husband, Charlie. They own a house and dance studio together. As they are preparing for their yearly performance of The Nutcracker, devastation ensues. During this time, Marie begins to explore her sexuality and identity. She gets close with the help, Derek, and he finds ways to stick his claws in and attempts to manipulate the whole family.

Book 108

I listened to The Turnout by Megan Abbot. It's a twisty, disturbing thriller about adult sisters that now own and run the ballet studio their mom started. It's dark and has unexpected turns. The characters were flat, and I didn't feel invested in them or their story. 2.5 stars

LA Times Book Prize winner! This brilliant and disturbing book knocked my socks off! Creepy aspects of the plot turned done readers off, leading to mixed reviews. So happy to see the book getting the recognition it deserves! #thriller #bookawards

This one is a really slow burn. It's good. But it seemed to take forever to get to the point(e). I'm drawn to ballet stories. This one is sort of a thriller. It's good if you stick with it.

I love the way Abbott's books capture the ever-present threat of violence in women's lives. Her exploration of niche subcultures; oppressive, competitive worlds is usually hard to rival. The Turnout didn't fire for me quite like some of her earlier novels though. The world of ballet sits quite far back in this novel, where Abbott is hyper focused on the tight dynamic between siblings and I wished the broader ballet world had been explored more

This sensual thriller was set in a strange world of jealousy, mistreated feet, and Nutcracker anxiety. The lives of sisters Marie and Dara, plus Dara's husband Charlie, are disrupted when a fire in their ballet studio necessitates bringing in a contractor, Derek, whose brash and outsized presence proves jarringly disruptive. The tension increases bit by bit as Derek seduces Marie, and the secrets jarred loose by his presence are truly shocking.

Must… Go…to…bed.

A nice and twisted mystery/thriller. Dara and Marie are sisters who run a ballet school with Dara‘s husband Charlie, and they also all live together in the ramshackle house they inherited. But then Marie moves out and there is a mysterious fire and a shady contractor and a lot of parents arguing about the upcoming performance of the Nutcracker. As in all Megan Abbott books, the kids are not alright - and neither are the parents.

A soft pick for me. I‘m not sorry I read it, and I won‘t run screaming if another book by the author comes up as a book club selection, but I won‘t seek out her backlist either. Good depiction of the atmosphere (maybe too good!) and an interesting story, but man did she lay it on thick talking about all the unpleasantness.

I can also say that I‘ll never look at the Nutcracker quite the same again!

Megan Abbott gets me every time! She pulls you in with her just-under-the-surface build up that something awful has happened to characters you care deeply about. My favorite is still The End of Everything, but this is right up there.

This book is creepy! Nonetheless I hope to finish it during the #JoyousJanuary readathon before it disappears back into the Libby ether. Plus maybe a couple more?

Best book I have read in a long time. Very dark. Suspense, rivalries, dark family secrets & a suspicious death playing out in the pressure cooker of a ballet school. Ended the year with a bang. No one writes about competition between young women like Abbott. Trigger warning: intense childhood trauma (no spoilers). #suspense #secrets #crime #dancers

Book 270

Candy covered blueberries, a snuggly blanket & Abbott‘s vivid, fierce fiction. What more can you want? #amreading #suspense

Megan Abbott is usually an automatic pick for me, but this one was just ok. It's beautifully written and so atmospheric, but also a bit... icky? She does capture a certain griminess and darkness very well though.

But, I received some iced biscuits from work, and they were perfectly themed for this book, which features The Nutcracker. So it gave me an excuse to eat The Nutcracker himself. He was delicious.

Meh. I would love to say this is a slow burn because I think that was the intention, but it never felt that way to me. I was bored for more than half the book and then when things finally started happening, it all felt rushed.

This is my first time reading anything by Abbott, and I was lucky to pick up a copy on audio through Libro.fm‘s ALC program.

Very strange and twisted, with some pretty grotesque episodes. Abbott begins with an overall picture, and then slowly breaks down each piece to the truth beneath the facade. I was riveted, but there are some hard to read parts that explore the darker side of humanity. I loved the writing style - perfect for the narrative.

Finished this one, but it was depressing and kind of weird, so didn‘t really like it. 🎃 #teamslaughter #scarathlon2021 @Clwojick

One thing‘s for sure—you can certainly count on Megan Abbott to show the not so pretty side of people. I even think she used the ballet setting to point out that things that look beautiful and graceful and actually painful and even dangerous. This isn‘t my favorite of hers, but I did enjoy it.

Camping this weekend and reading The Turnout 🩰

Thank you @Kappadeemom !!!
I ❤️❤️❤️ my #fffs 📦. Everything is perfect for a cozy night in. All the books are on my wishlist and I may have already opened the 🍿.
I‘m planning my first knit from the Outlander book. I just have to find a 🐈‍⬛ free zone in the house to put the puzzle together. 😂
Thank you so much!
#FallingForFallSwap

Although I don‘t quite recommend this one, I‘m giving it a slow pick pick because I enjoyed the writing and found the story unique. However, as I read the last page I felt empty because the book didn‘t really give me anything except a desire to find a non-fictional interview of someone who‘s entire life is driven by the next year‘s casting of Clara.

Enjoying this☺️

I bailed at 75% ( according to my kindle ). I enjoyed the story .. and the writing is good but , The tone in terms of abuse I found very difficult to take in. The last one I read by this author was similar in this way , but it was good & I thought I could get over the parts where the abuse is written & dealt with … Anyway I tried, but something about the vibe of the book isn‘t for me 🤷🏼‍♀️.. #stillsearchingformymodernthrillerwriter

A rainy cabin day calls for a new book while little man naps 😴 📖 🩰

Loved loved loved this one. She lays out the pieces and then slowly clicks them into place.

I‘ve abandoned all other reading plans … and started The Turnout … so far , so good 💕my second Megan Abbott 🤞🏻

A thriller about a ballet studio, with a twisted family dynamic? Fun! The audiobook is really well read too. I‘d recommend this one, but with some definite content warnings. See comments if you need those, but be aware they might be spoilers.

This one‘s a thriller. Two sisters and one husband run an inherited ballet school. Lots of secrets, twists and a good ending. I couldn‘t put it down.

A good read! Dara and Marie eat, breath and sleep ballet their entire lives. The drama of that world is unexpected but intriguing. Good back history on the characters. You can formulate your theories and make predictions and toward the end when you are taking your celebratory sip of tea because you are that good at figuring things out, BAM, not. . .so. . .fast!

I‘m really surprised given how I felt this morning, but the slow burn of this novel ignited in the last third, and it‘s a definite pick! I was a bit disappointed that more of the mystery didn‘t deal with ballet, but there was plenty of drama offstage. I appreciate that Megan made this as much as solvable mystery as it is a thriller. I figured out most of it by curtain call, but there were still some surprises. 👍🏻

Did I really read 7.5 hours of thriller about a real estate property before an actual murder? Why yes I did. Maybe things will finally pick up. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Kinda bored, tbh.

Two sister run a dance studio with one of the sisters husband. It‘s Nutcracker season and it starts off with a literal fire and over the course of weeks and month the lives they think they‘ve been living aren‘t exactly what they thought they were. This authors writing is so descriptive and lyrical. Total page turner!

Perfect evening for dinner, a stroll, and book shopping at the cutest #independentbookstore. Got some great books for #MtTBR

I am a huge Megan Abbott fan, as she consistently surprises me in each of her books. The Turnout did not disappoint at all. Set in a competitive dance studio, sisters Marie and Dara along with Charlie run a top ballet school, where students go on to become professionals dancers.

Just discovered there's a new standalone Karin Slaughter being released the same day as the new Chuck Wendig & we're also getting a new Junji Ito in August?! There are so, so many wonderful books being released between now & September. It's a bit overwhelming, but in the best way possible...

Kicking off my afternoon reading with the upcoming novel from the amazing Megan Abbott. I could not be more excited if I swallowed a cat and broke out in kittens! It‘s out June 1, 2021, and I can‘t wait to see the cover when it‘s revealed! 📚❤️📚