The Turnout
Fiction
Penguin
August 3, 2021
Hardcover
352
Purchased
Ballet flows through their veins. Dara and Marie Durant were dancers since birth, with their long necks and matching buns and pink tights, homeschooled and trained by their mother. Decades later the Durant School of Dance is theirs. The two sisters, together with Charlie, Dara's husband and once their mother's prize student, inherited the school after their parents died in a tragic accident nearly a dozen years ago. Marie, warm and soft, teaches the younger students; Dara, with her precision, trains the older ones; and Charlie, back broken after years of injuries, rules over the back office. Circling around each other, the three have perfected a dance, six days a week, that keeps the studio thriving. But when a suspicious accident occurs, just at the onset of the school's annual performance of The Nutcracker, a season of competition, anxiety, and exhilaration, an interloper arrives and threatens the delicate balance of everything they've worked for.
3.5 stars
I had a hard time rating this book, so I'm settling on half way between good and really good. I wasn't a huge fan of the first half. While I did enjoy all the dance school parts, the plot points surrounding sister Marie were just icky and I didn't enjoy her character at all. By the end of the book you realize why she acts as she does, but it took the second half for that to manifest itself. The second half of the book was a complete turnaround. It was fast paced, the flaws of all the characters come to light, and I was fully immersed in the whole story. The ending was fantastic, and I never saw any of the twists coming! Overall the writing was good, I just wish the pacing in the front half could have been better, but I fully understand that the beginning had to be written that way to set up the ending. I did fully enjoy the dark uncomfortable vibe felt throughout the book with regards to the family dynamic. And the descriptions of the ballet world were a nice reminder (especially as I read this during the Olympics) of the sacrifices all athletes make to be good at their sport. Plus, I now know what a ballet turnout really is, and what it takes to achieve one (ooooff)!
This book is definitely a slow buildup to an implosive ending! If you can muddle through the first half, I think you will enjoy the last part.
