I am glad my boarding school wasn't like that! A totally absorbing story with a multiple amount of pupils who had no clear adult guidance and debatable decisions made about actions. The storyline was very intense and produced an excellent conclusion.

I must admit that descriptions of this book as 'The Secret History' for millenials made me want to read this book. Its setting in a boarding school admittedly also appealed to me as a longtime reader of boarding school stories throughout childhood and into adulthood. The story itself also drew me in fro the outset - the four scholarship students, poor, different to the other privileged boys and girls, bullied and isolated, supporting each other ... and from the beginnning that sense that something bad is gong to happen. A sad story but at the same time a story that was well-written, emotive and compelling from beginning to end.

A very interesting premise, but sadly written far more like a middle of the road YA book. Did not finish

The Four follows four scholarship students attending a prestigious private school, High Realms, and struggling to fit in with their wealthier counterparts.

The story is really well-written and atmospheric – you feel like you’re there at the school with them experiencing walking into the illustrious halls for the first time and spending free time on horseback or lounging on the riverbank.

It took a while for me to start properly reading it as the earlier chapters felt a little too slow, hinting at a future mystery event but with no clue what it could be or when it might happen.

Despite being immersive, the story also felt overcomplicated with a rushed ending and a total lack of likeable characters.

There was also a lot of brutal content and some serious trigger warnings are needed for (to name a few) mental and emotional abuse, self-harm, attempted suicide and sexual assault.

I’m sure many readers will like the story but it just wasn’t for me and, even as a fan of true crime and thrillers, the array of issues raised and negative occurrences experienced just felt like too much.

While I believe that the writing is good, the story was just so convoluted and confusing at times. It didn’t really seem like it had anywhere to go and a lot of events felt so outlandish that it broke me away from the story even more. I understand that it’s dark academia but I feel like it was trying to pose as dark academia rather than being dark academia

There are some pretty hideous characters in "The Four" by Ellie Keel and you do wonder whether some of the punishments dished out, although seemingly unfair at first, are possibly justified... if you feel like that, like I did then you know that the story is a good one. I was completely caught up with the narrative and the friendship that the 4 scholarship students forged. For fans of "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt.

Rose, Marta, Lloyd and Sami are scholarship pupils at an elite boarding school, brought in as an experiment to motivate the other pupils into high achievement. They're expected to win places at the best universities in the country. From the off, I found this hard to believe. We all know that Oxford and Cambridge are full of ex-pupils of elite boarding schools such as this. They are excluded from the beginning and horrifically bullied. This I found believable although the indifference of adults to what was going on was unforgivable. Indeed the lack of supervision throughout was a concern.

The story revolves around an incident between Marta, the most vulnerable of the four, and Genevieve, one of the bullies. The aftermath of this incident and the decisions the other three take are life-changing and on the whole unbelievable. The school staff especially the awful housemaster behave more like prison guards at times.

There are many issues addressed in the novel, child abuse, bullying, loss of a parent, sexual assault. It reads more like a YA book than one for fully grown adults. That said, I enjoyed it on the whole, taken with a large spoonful of disbelief. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Intriguing, shades of Donna Tartt mixed with Flowers in the Attic. Enjoyed it immensely, yet found it a little unbelievable - would it really be possible for three high-school teenagers to hide a friend for months without anybody suspecting or finding them? Sadly slightly predictable ending, though still a great read.

This is a book which wears it's influences front and centre. The approach to bear homage to Secret History (among others) however doesn't always serve the reader well. The characters are mainly too brittle to be engaging and the setting too on the.nose. There are highlights in the writing at times but I found it hard to enjoy the narrative.

I was intrigued by the stunning cover and premise of the novel. Dark Academia is a favourite genre trope of mine, but I find it’s such a hit or miss for me. Unfortunately The Four was a miss but I think it’s more of a taste thing. The story felt more YA for me, and I just felt like this is a story that I’ve outgrown but a younger audience would find relatable and interesting.

This is a dark and rather sad story of abuse and relentless bullying. We have 4 young teenage characters, who have received a scholarship to study at an elite boarding school. The story is set in the 1990s with the character looking back at the events of her youth (a common trope I’ve noticed in books with a strong nostalgia factor). The narrator isn’t part of the driving force of the story, she’s more of an observer - the focus of the story is Marta. Poor, unusual Marta who gets severely bullied by the rich girl Genevieve. The narrator tells Marta that she should go home if she’s not liking the school but Marta alludes to problems at home - her father is abusive and she’s been homeschooled. So after a shocking incidence at school, Marta goes on the run and hides in an abandoned site with the 3 from the four helping Marta but inevitably things end in a tragedy.

I think my issue with the book is that it was so dark, bleak and relentless in its depiction of bullying. I found the narrator to be passive and not engaging as she merely reports what happens around her. I wish the story had been from Marta’s perspective or Genevieve’s. I felt like the characters were so stereotypically “victims” or “bullies” rather than complex, intriguing characters. The adults were also unhelpful and ignored Marta’s suffering. I wish there were more of a point to the pain Marta goes through, and that the story was more pacy perhaps with an adult narrative arc meeting the students as adults (perhaps a reunion type trope) that reflects on the past events and tries to put into perspective and give what tragically happens some meaning or purpose, but it doesn’t. Again this could just be my personal taste and a reflection of my preferences in fiction. However I can see other readers did enjoy this so I ask readers to trust their own judgement and decide for themselves because while The Four wasn’t the right book for me, it might be for you.

The Four by Ellie Keel tells of four scholarship pupils boarding at an elite, exclusive boarding school. Ostracised by the rich boarders they form a close bond until a devastating incident threatens to rock their friendship.
Written as though one of the four is telling their version of events, the writing is dark and gripping. The contents of the book leave the reader gripped and there is a series of unexpected twists - especially concerning Marta - who is the main focus of the tale.

The book slowly unravels, depicting heinous crimes and friendships and loyalties are put through their paces. An enjoyable read.

Four children are awarded scholarships to attend High Realms, a private boarding school. Upon arrival, they quickly become outsiders and form a close bond.
I recently finished reading a book that left a profound impact on me. The story depicts the relentless bullying the protagonist, Marta, suffered. However, as the story progressed, the constant adverse events started to lose their impact and felt unbelievable, as if they were included only for the shock factor. Despite the gruesome and sickening events, I couldn't stop reading and thought about the story even when I wasn't reading. The ending was particularly devastating. I would give this book 3 stars because although I was hooked, the events lost their impact and meaning as they kept piling onto an unending list of terrible experiences.
Pitched as a Dark Academia tale, this follows the experiences of 4 scholarship students in the Lower Sixth at an elite boarding school in Devon. There is a lot to commend in the book.

The author's control of pacing and atmosphere is impressive. Despite a slow start, I was utterly engrossed in the story, thanks to some unexpected and gruesome twists. However, there were some areas where the novel fell short. Although it was marketed as a Dark Academia novel, scholarly pursuits were hardly touched upon. Moreover, the teachers at the elite school seemed lacklustre at best and incompetent at worst. The characterization of most of the characters needed more development. I couldn't connect with most of them; relationships and alliances felt contrived.
Additionally, I found using the main character, Marta, for plot developments irritating. The events that befall her would have been more suited for a dark farce or melodrama. The story lacked subtlety, with extreme toxicity, violence, and bullying portrayed as regular occurrences, making it unbelievable at times. However, if you're willing to suspend your disbelief, the novel is a fast-paced, atmospheric, and twisty read.

I requested this when I stumbled across it at #YALC2023 and then promptly forgot all about it untill the @Netgalley access email came through. @ellieclarekeel's The Four is a darkly gripping evisceration of the tribalism of the wealthy and the us vs. them mindset. It also, perhaps unintentionally, sounds a clarion call on the importance of safeguarding. (I'm a teacher I notice these things and spent a lot of time wanting to slap the incompetent, arrogant fools running High Realms).

Set in 1999 the story is narrated by Rose one of four "Millennium Scholars" admitted on full scholarship to the prestigious and very expensive High Realms school.  Unwelcome and bullied by the privileged students able to afford the fees I was hooked as Rose tried to navigate the twisted unwritten rules of the school as she tries to balance friendship, loyalty, honour, and revenge as secrets slip out and the truth unravels the world as she understood it. I loved her arc as she wrestled with the moral thing versus the loyal and right thing for her friends. There are no "good" characters in this just very flawed and human ones. The Four reminded me of the viciously cutthroat world and twisted relationships in If We Were Villains and wears a love of literature on its sleeve just as much

I didn't find this an easy read. It takes us into the harsh world of boarding school where bullying, cruelty and hardship are accepted as normal behaviour. Young children are forced to sink or swim with few staff to empathise or support them. When four young talented people from less privileged backgrounds win scholarships to the school they find themselves fighting against a system that is likely to destroy them

I found the writing style really difficult to get to grips with and the characters unlikeable . Despite the description, which peaked my interest I just couldn't finish this. Give it a go though, lots of people have liked it.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into The Four, but I was blown away. I could not put it down, I had to keep reading until I had finished.
The characters seem at first introduction to be typical boarding school teenagers apart from the four ‘Millennium Scholars’, but slowly they all start to reveal much more about themselves. Everything is much more exaggerated, friendship, love, anger, and even violence and I found myself questioning the believability but when you consider the ‘pressure cooker’ environment of a boarding school it starts to make sense.
This is a fantastic twisty and thrilling read and such an impressive debut.

This book can’t decide what it wants to be. The blurb promotes it for fans of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, which does it no favours. It comes across more as a Malory Towers for adults.

It is slow paced and over long. The character motivation is muddled and an overreliance on foreshadowing doesn’t pay off.

Disappointing.

I really enjoyed this book. The storyline was fantastic, the characters were great and the story gripped me from the beginning until the very end. Would recommend.

This book tells the story of four youngsters who have secured themselves a scholarship in one of the most prestigious public schools in the country, ambitiously named High Realms. They find out very quickly that no matter how academically able and successful they are, they will always remain the underprivileged outcasts and at the receiving end of the wrath and ridicule of their privileged wealthy fellow students. The school operates a system with its own set of unspoken rules that are far removed from the moral standards commonly shared and adhered to in society. For this reason, the four have to stick together to survive but also to support each other against the background of their own life stories.

The relative geographical isolation of the school itself creates a microcosmos which becomes the perfect playground for a bewildering array of issues like physical and mental cruelty, gay relationships, suicide, abusive and controlling behaviour, sexual assault and extreme bullying to mention but a few. For me it read like a textbook an ethics teacher would want to discuss with his Sixth Formers. This book was not for me and it will only receive 2 stars from me. For a piece of literature, I found it contrived, clumsy and juvenile. I could however imagine that my 16-year-old self would have really enjoyed it and the star count would have easily doubled.

I am grateful to NetGalley and HQ/ HarperCollins Publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t usually do this but unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me. I’ve tried multiple times to get into it but I just can’t.
I managed 25% of the book but it just didn’t draw me in and I didn’t like plot.
From what I read it was well written but I just couldn’t get into the plot and story.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.