The Four by Ellie Keel. The plot really tests how much you love your school friends and what you’d do for them. I had a wild time at school, living away from home and I question the sanity of this lot. I just think this realistic plot is reachingggggg. Everyone just needs to calm down and I think this book doesn’t need to be so long and filled with the absolute insane. You can’t connect with any of these characters because they are so horrible. Everyone in this book, adults included, is a dick.

Unfortunately, I DNF this book. The blurb made it sound so good, but as I started to make my way through it slowly, I really struggled. It just wasn't for me.,

I really struggled to get into this book but once it gripped me, i was hooked.
The plot twists, the scene setting and the character details shows how talented this author is.

It’s more on the easy to read side this book with a good dark academia twist to it. But the book doesn’t need to be as long as it is and needed some good plot twists. I persevered with this book because it was so easy to read but not bad for a debut. Plenty to work on!

I have waited for this book for so long and I loved every moment of it. Top book of 2024 for sure, I will be buying my own copy for my shelves. Thank you so much for sharing with me

This starts off as a slow burn then boom! it has you. The four are thrown together at a private school as they are scholarship pupils. Straight away you’ve got the classic ‘us and them’ scenario with a sprinkle of ‘no’ and ‘why’ added in. The book brings out lots of moral dilemmas and how the human psyche works.

This book captivated me from the beginning. It is one of the most harrowing books I have ever read though. There is horrific scenes of bullying and abuse in this story. I could vividly imagine High Realms boarding school and the book is extremely atmospheric. The characters are very well written and I found it hard to put down even though it was far from an enjoyable read! A dark and well crafted thriller.

This book is intensely captivating and incredibly immersive. I devoured it in one sitting, and it left me both emotionally drained and deeply moved.

It’s rare for a novel to engage you so completely, making you reflect and experience a full spectrum of emotions before leaving you with unforgettable characters and moments. The writing is exceptional—powerful and intricate. This one is poised to make a big splash in 2024.

A truly remarkable and thought-provoking read.

I enjoyed this book but found that it often left me wanting more. I enjoyed the setting and the characters, but the plot often felt hampered by all the secrets the characters were holding back. I think it might have benefited from seeing some other perspectives.

First of all thank you for approving my request!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The authors writing style had me hooked throughout this book.

I didn't want it to end, a book I really couldn't put down.

A great read, reads well finished within 24hrs

Keeps you wanting to read the shocking twists and turns

Like a dark version of Gossip girl and many others of this Genre

Will look forward to reading more from this author

I was drawn to this book by the comparison to The Secret History but sadly it wasn't anything like that novel. The Four was an okay read for me but it was longer than it needed to be and it felt unrelenting in its depictions and discussions of abuse and violence. I found the main character interesting but the decision making was strange - especially by the adults and it felt that I needed more suspension of disbelief than I would have expected reading this. I did like the writing style and I would try another book by this author but sadly this one wasn't really for me.

Strange read this one. I wasn't invested in this early on...it's not slow per se but just didn't grab my attention. However it was written well so I continued. On balance, glad I did. Four children given scholarships to an exclusive, and highly, revered, school...they don't fit in with the elite majority, so they need to stick together to survive.

I’m completely on the fence with this book. On the one hand, it’s a great story, brilliantly written and atmospheric. It tells the tale of life at a prestigious boarding school and the trials and tribulations four scholarship students have to endure and the dark secret they all hold. But on the other hand, it was way too long and the middle section severely lacked pace and it struggled to hold my attention. I would rate this 2.5 stars rounded up to three. Thank you to NetGalley, HQ and the author for the chance to review.

Boarding school books have changed a bit since my day. The worst thing that happened in my old Malory Towers books was Darrel losing her rag and someone being sent to Coventry (actually, that's still bad now). But the new thing is apparently dark academia (new to this old lady anyway). I didn't think I'd heard of any books in that genre, but it turns out a good few are on my 13 year old daughters book shelf. She's said I'm welcome to borrow them (let's forget where she got the money for them!). But after this, I'm not sure I want to.

This isn't a bad book. Far from it, I found it hard to put down. But it is so relentlessly grim. Suicide, rape, abuse of all types... just a standard day at High Realms. I kept hoping for something to go right for The Four. The scholarship students are at a disadvantage from the day they walk through the elite school doors. But a hierarchy of wealth, popularity, and fear mean they'll be reminded of their disadvantages daily. Both physically and mentally.

My daughters made noises about wanting to read this. It's a hard no on that front. It's marketed as New Adult, which makes it instantly attractive to the younger end of the BookTok generation. But it's definitely an adult book and probably should carry a trigger warning. Hard to read and yet hard to put down.

Thankyou so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I truly believed certain books are meant for certain people and after trying to read this a few time I just could not get in to it. The pacing was off for me after a very exciting start to the book and unfortunately I just couldn’t continue with it.

Ellie is a new author for me and I am excited to read more of her work in the future!
An interesting plot and easy to follow writing style.

I wanted so so much to like this, but after trying to get into it at least 10 times, I got to the same point each time and just couldn't continue. That's not to say it isn't a good book, it may just be me.

I wanted to like this so much more than I did. I think it just felt too relentlessly grim, it wasn’t for me. The quality of writing and character-building was very good, so really can’t fault that. Just not a good fit for my tastes.

It takes me a while to get into this very promising debut novel but I do become immersed in the lives of the four. It’s an unrelenting tale , the mood is dark and at times there’s a reaction of horror at the extent and depths of what the four face. The unedifying contempt and antagonism especially of Genevieve is palpable and jumps from the pages, you feel the fear and the tension is sky high. The deep bonds of friendship and the lengths they go to in the face of such toxicity breaks your heart, makes you so sad and you obviously root for the four. The characterisation is good especially of Marta but all are well portrayed.

However, the events are very dramatic and at times seem overly dramatic to be entirely believable but it’s undeniably intense and certainly creative. The way the characters chop and change in various ways gets a bit bewildering but it’s not necessarily out of keeping with seventeen year olds behaviour! Despite the issues, I keep reading on as somehow Ellie Keel has hooked me into their lives and makes me invest in the outcome. I look forward to reading what she comes up with next.