Overall, this book was very skippable in my opinion. I did not like any of the characters and felt the plot was a bit messy and convoluted.

FLASHOUT was messy, intoxicating, and a little bit feral. The tension in this book was spot on. his book had me hooked. I wanted to underline half of the sentences but also take a long, hot shower afterwards??? What's up with that.

This was such a trippy, genre “blendy” read. It mixes academia, grief, and some surreal turns in a way that kept me guessing. Not everything landed for me, but it was ambitious and bold, which I respect.

The narration added to the weird, fragmented vibe. At times it felt a little too monotone, but overall it matched the offbeat storytelling.

In this dual timeline story, we meet Allison Haze. In the 1972 timeline, Allison is boxed in and wants a bit more from life when she decides to go to see a theatre performance. She becomes hooked. Flashforward to 1996, she is now a theatre teacher and is contacted by someone from the past. It sets her out on a journey to determine who it is before they destroy everything she has worked for.

This book is perfect for those who like a cult-like undertone with very Charles Manson vibes. If you don't mind a slower build up, you will enjoying the back and forth story telling. The pacing was a bit slow, and at some points, fragmented. But for some, that might add to the overall experience and atmosphere in reading a book like this.

This is a taut mystery/coming to terms with the past novel of a theater professor remembering her complicated past with a traveling avant gard theater troupe that ended in murder. A mysterious person from the protagonist's past is reaching out which inspires her to revisit that time in her history

Flashout by Alexis Soloski (book cover is in image) in the format of a dual timeline, tells the story of how Allison Haze left school to join a travelling performance group, seeking freedom. 24 years later, after receiving a mysterious communication, the reader is taken on a journey through her past to determine who reached out her. This book explores themes of seduction, grooming, and cultlike behavior and Allison's escape from it all.

While I thought this was a great story, the narration by Mia Barron was ok. Unfortunately, I only got access to the audiobook and was not able to read the ARC, but I believe this would have been a much better read than listen.

Thank you, @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this ALC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3 Stars
Pub Date: Aug 05 2025

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Flashout is an interesting look at how life goes on after a life-altering experience. Allison/Alice literally went down the rabbit hole and ran away with the circus in the form of Theater Negative as a college student. She abandoned family, curfew, and norms for an experimental theater group. Now a middle-aged theater teacher, her dull life gets upended by a blast from the past, digging up darker aspects of her tour and creating a bit of a reunion as she tracks down the remaining members to see who could still hold a grudge, and revealing to us and maybe herself her repressed role in events taking a turn.
It would have been interesting to see more contrast between her masks in the present and past, but overall very colorful and creative characters and origin story-based productions.

An chaotic story about a group of theater kid misfits with a subtle cult-like undertone. The shifts between third and first person could be disorienting at times, but I found Alice/Allison most compelling when she fully embraced being awful. The present version of her gave Bad Teacher vibes. The ending, especially the final confrontation, felt underwhelming and left me wanting more.

This searing début is a promising addition to the 'dark academia' canon, with echoes of Donna Tartt, Mona Awad, and Tara Isabella Burton.

FLASHOUT is a taut, slow-burn thriller following Allison, a theatre teacher whose complicate past with a cultish travelling theatre company comes back to haunt her.

Some elements are reminiscent of Awad’s darkly seductive satire of cultish academia, with its intoxicating blend of intellectual ambition and psychological unraveling. Set partly in the gritty New York City of the 1970s—a backdrop that evokes the raw energy of Astrid Sees All and the desperat hedonism, with its exuberant and sordid sexuality, of Social Creature—the novel captures a time and place of fraught transition and dangerous opportunity.

Allison is a quintessential dark academia protagonist, à la Richard Papen: her studious exterior masks a violent nature, her intellectual promise is warped by a provincial upbringing, her eagerness to fulfill her potential flirts with a superiority complex, and, of course, she aggressively represses her bisexuality.

Like most dark academia thrillers, Flashout is also a coming-of-age story. The story is told in two alternating timelines: 1970s, 19 year old Allison's time with the theatre company; and 1991, when an older Allison trying to escape her past, is sent an anonymous email by a fellow member of the theatre company.

The narrative structure is particularly effective. Soloski uses first-person narration for Allison’s past, lending urgency and intimacy to her formative years. In contrast, the third-person perspective of her adult life underscores her emotional detachment and self-protective distance. Both timelines are set during periods of societal transition, reinforcing the novel’s themes of identity, ambition, and consequence.

I received an audio ARC from NetGalley, narrated by Mia Barron. The narrator did an excellent job at illustrating the exalted urgency of the story. However, her English accent was a tad cartoonish.

The cliche yet relatable craving for freedom and adventure in a young college student that takes a... unique and traumatic route to gain those dreams. Although this is fiction, women can relate to this story all too well at times. It's devastating, it's cringe, but it's beautifully told.

If you love a good serving of trauma in your historical fiction, this one might be for you.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Mia Barron does a great job narrating this story.

In NYC in the 70's, a sheltered college student falls under the spell of a charismatic director of a performance theatre company and the promise of freedom. Fast forward 20 years and Allison is now a theater director of a private school when her past comes calling and she must take extreme measures to prevent her life from blowing up.

I love the dual timelines in this story and the cultish Charles Manson-esque themes. But, unfortunately, that's about it. This one was in a word - weird. None of the characters are likable, which is ok, but I honestly could not find anything to draw me into the story. The pacing was too slow and the characters were flat. Not a great read for me and one I struggled to finish.

Flashout by Alexis Soloski is a haunting, richly layered novel that blurs the line between literary fiction and psychological thriller, delivering a slow-burn narrative that lingers long after the final page. Told through dual timelines—New York in 1972 and California in 1997—the story deftly explores memory, identity, and the seductive danger of radical artistic freedom.
In 1972, a sheltered college student is drawn into the enigmatic orbit of an avant-garde theater troupe and its magnetic leader. As she becomes increasingly immersed in this world of experimental performance and emotional manipulation, the reader watches her unravel and reassemble under the pressures of groupthink, desire, and vulnerability. Fast-forward to 1997, where the same woman, now a high school theater teacher with a carefully maintained life, receives a letter that threatens to blow apart everything she's worked to forget.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this digital audio e-arc.*

Ideal for readers who:
• Appreciate psychological depth over plot speed
• Are intrigued by cult stories, experimental art, and moral ambiguity
• Don’t need to “like” a character to be fascinated by them
• Enjoy books that leave a lingering discomfort or invite critical thinking

For me personally, I thought I could handle one more cult story—but I don’t think so anymore. I also realized I prefer fast-paced narratives over slow-burn storytelling.

That said, I thought the narrator, Mia Barron, did a fantastic job. For a while, I truly felt like I was listening to an autobiography.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

This book will hook you from the beginning -- it's dark but paints such a vivid picture I felt like I was in both 1972 and 1997 with Allie/Alice/Alison. Definitely took turns I was not expecting and a lot of ick but written so well and with such purpose. I didn't love the ending but enjoyed getting there. Give this a try!

Flashout comes out next week on August 5, 2025, and you can purchase HERE!

"But I guess there's no going back to how it was ." He flicked his cigarette out over the cliff.
"No, and you shouldn't want to."
She thought of how good it had been and how terrible. All those shining boys and girls, gone to flowers. The lucky ones.

I loved Alexis Soloski's last book and was really excited to listen to an early copy of this one. I really enjoy her writing -- she is so descriptive and I can vividly imagine all her scenes and settings.

I really liked the way this story unravels -- it moves through multiple time periods and we get to see Alice at various points in her life. It is unsetting as we find out what happened in the past, and how it relates to what Alice is experiencing in the present.

I especially enjoyed all the descriptions of the performance pieces and the dynamics between the group.

I thought the audio narrator was excellent - I am picky about my narrators and I would definitely listen to more by her.

I'm excited to read what Alexis Soloski writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I love a cult story add in a possibly unreliable narrator and I am sold!. the audio version of this was so well done and it was an addictive listen.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

It’s like if Charles Manson was obsessed with theater instead of music—and decided to direct something truly disturbing. I didn’t finish this author’s first novel, so I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this one, but I’m really glad I gave them another chance. This book completely pulled me in. It’s a twisted, original take on obsession, toxic masculinity, and the lengths people will go to preserve power and legacy. There’s this constant tension running underneath everything, like something terrible is always just about to happen. It also digs into the way the past can claw its way back into the present, no matter how much you try to bury it. Definitely worth the read if you’re into books that aren’t afraid to get a little messy and a lot dark.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for sending me an early copy of this book! I really enjoyed the narration of this audiobook, I just thought the story was confusing and dull at times. At other times it was really great and I was bought in, just not enough to leave a lasting impact on me. If you enjoy coming of age stories that feature strong relationships and interpersonal conflicts, this one may be for you!

I had high hopes for Flashout as I am a theater person down to my very core. Unfortunately this story just never clicked with me. It didn't help that I found the narrator lacking. Her cadence was quite slow and there wasn't much difference in the voices given to each separate character. 2.75 stars.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Flashout is a dark and twisted tale about art, theater and manipulation. Not a single one of the characters are appealing or likable. Yet the disturbing story is compelling. I had to keep listening.

The audiobook narration by Mia Barron is very finely done. Her performance greatly enhanced the story.

I enjoyed the audiobook 3.5 out of 5 stars.