I have say this book really wasn’t for me. It is a well written book however I couldn’t get into it at all, but I think that was just me.
If you like dark academia then this is for you. I am glad I have read it and would recommend it but I wouldn’t read it again

3.5 stars, rounded to 4

You might think that this is YA novel, given the setting (High Realms, an exclusive boarding school) and the main characters (students mostly, with a few teachers / others thrown in); however, it is not. This is Dark Academia with plenty of twists and characters that are difficult to get to know.

Four scholarship students - Rose, Marta, Sami and Lloyd - are trying to find their way at High Realms. Rose is the MC and the roommate of Marta. All of them are bullied and hazed by the other students, and they form a kind of foxhole friendship. When a tragic accident occurs, their bonds are put to the test. How far would you go to protect a friend? What is the cost of loyalty? There are all sorts of potentially problematic themes - bullying, suicide, incest, assault, rape, self-harm, LGB relationships - so please proceed cautiously if you are sensitive to these topics.

Overall this is a dark, twisted descent into a tale of toxic friendships and deteriorating mental health. It is an emotional rollercoaster with enough surprises to keep the reader second guessing what's going on. It is a tale of loyalties put to an excruciating test and innocence lost.

Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Quote to remember:

...the true change in us didn't take place in those moments. To use Marta's words this time, it happened in the grey matter: in the time between the huge things, and in all the mending and sewing and striving we did in those periods.

This book was absolutely tragic. The bullying was relentless and after so many events of the bullying, it lost its impact. The negative experiences just kept coming and after so much, they felt unbelievable, and as if the story was written for shock factor. The story was of course gruesome, it made me cringe, it made me feel sick yet I couldn't stop reading. The events of Marta's life were just awful, and the ending was just devastating. I give this book 3 stars, because I couldn't stop reading it, or thinking about it when I wasn't reading, but also because the events lost their impact and meaning as they kept on piling onto the neverending list of god awful events.

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for the eARC!

This is the story of four scholarship students at an elite, mixed, boarding school. They are resented by the others because to get the scholarship they must be more intelligent. Some also have domestic issues that they are escaping from but which affect their behaviour. The book does dwell all the time on teenage angst and uncertainty. The story jumps about from issue to issue. I did not find it exciting at any point. I would not rate it highly.

This put the Capital D in Dark Academia. It was not a pleasant story and it felt like I was watching a car accident and couldn’t look away. I didnt find the four main characters particularly compelling and wasn’t quite convinced by their strong friendship, considering they were supposed to have only just met. But it was a compelling read. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

This wasn't my kind of book at all.

Four children are awarded a scholarship to High Realms, a private boarding school.
From the moment they arrive at the school they are outsiders and they stick together.

I didn't like Rose and as she was the narrator throughout, it wasn't ideal and I had no interest in Marta at all.

A fantastically well written book, loved the characters, the back story and the explanation as to who everyone is, and where they are from.
This is a very grown up story set in a boarding school, the topics covered ranges from sexual assault, self harm, mental health, bullying and suicide, these were handled with care and thoughtfulness,
I loved the camaraderie and care the four students showed each other.
I loved that there was a proper ending and you got to know about their lives in to the future.

Not for me. I found this one hard going. The characters were an unlikeable bunch and hard to empathise with. Difficult to believe that such an elite school would employ such poor staff. I was disenfranchised by the time I’d read the first 30% and, for once, decided to call it a day.

3-3.5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for the ARC.
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. I think the author has a great grasp of pacing and atmosphere - after a slow start I found myself quite gripped by the story and some of the gruesome and unexpected twists along the way. Unfortunately, I also found the novel lacking in a number of ways. For a book that is pitched as Dark Academia, there was very little in the way of discussion around scholarly pursuits and the teachers seemed mediocre at best and incompetent at worst - hardly what you would expect from an elite school. The characterisation of most of the characters was undeveloped. I found I really didn’t care about most of them, couldn’t really see how or why relationships or alliances were formed, and was irritated by the way some of them -particularly main character Marta- were used for plot developments. The things that happen to poor Marta would have been more at home in a dark farce or a melodrama. There was no subtlety in the story: extreme toxicity, violence and bullying were depicted as occurring so regularly and openly that it really did become wholly unbelievable at times.
That being said, if you can suspend your disbelief, this is a fast-paced, atmospheric and twisty read.

Really enjoyed this thriller about the elite school. It just shows what having wealth can do! Look forward to more from the author.

This is a dark academia thriller that I enjoyed. The book begins with us meeting 'The Four' Rose, Marta, Lloyd and Sami in 1999 when they are all 16 and starting a new boarding school High Realms. The book takes us through the school year and coming of age parties there is alcohol and sex, friendships and forced friendships. Other students don't take to kindly to the new four who have joined on scholarships and there is immediate bullying and a hierarchy system becomes clear. Genevieve and Sylvia are other characters that have a deep impact on most or all of the four when a terrible accident happens and people are looking to place the blame

The book focuses on friendship and love but there are dark and harrowing parts in this book and rape/abuse is a common theme and the book really made me question around morals and doing the right thing/thinking you are doing the right thing.

'My sadness grew and it began to occupy almost all of the space in which other emotions - compassion, empathy and hope normally occupied' - Love this line, I really felt that.
Overall I feel Ellie captured the sadness within the students and school and done a great job of capturing that on paper. I will be recommending this book to others.

Where do I being? With the characters, all of whom are unlikeable? I’m all for flawed, even nasty, characters. One or two sprinkled throughout a book can be fun, but these are all so blergh, flat as a sheet of paper, I couldn’t sympathise with any of them. Or should I mention the plot? Confusing, convoluted and at times totally ridiculous.

This is almost as if the author has read many books centred around school/college/university life and picked out the nasty, negative bits, then thrown them all together and stood back to see what emerged. I usually enjoy books set in institutes of learning – I used to love Enid Byton’s school stories when I was a kid and always wanted to go to St. Clare’s or Mallory Towers, but this just doesn’t do it for me.

This is a very dark, very gothic novel which I thoroughly enjoyed. It centres on the experiences of 4 scholarship students admitted to a prestigious boarding school, and what happens when one of them is accused of a serious crime. It reads older than YA, though for the majority of the book we see the main characters as teenagers.

Set in High Realms, an exclusive boarding school in England, the Four are Rose, Marta, Lloyd and Sami, gifted scholarship students ostracized by the Senior Patrol (prefects) and Mags (teachers) for their poverty and difference. Marta, brilliant but different, pulls her friends into keeping a dark and twisted secret that has tragic consequences. This is a dark and haunting view of adolescence, love, loyalty and life.

This was a thrilling exciting read. We follow four students who have acquired scholarships to a prestigious boarding school . The four Rose, Sami, Lloyd and Marta become firm friends in this environment where they feel totally out of place. To me it reads like a YA novel , but covers serious themes of rape, mental illness and bullying . There is so much cruelty to other people in this novel , such a blind eye turned by the staff it seems unreal . The students who go to this school are so privileged that it seems they are untouchable. When Marta becomes distressed by events that have happened to her, the others decide to protect her which has serious consequences for the rest of the book. We have so many secrets ,so much tension that it becomes a real page turner. Although in parts it seemed a bit unbelievable I found myself wanting to get to the end to see how it all unfolds. I enjoyed the ending because we see the situation years later when they have grown up and have different lives.

The four scholarship pupils. Outsiders in a world of power and privilege.
Will the relentless bullying stop Rose, Sami, Marta and Lloyd from not only being friends but from just being?
A dark Mallory Towers for adults that doesn’t slow down and in a twisted sickening fashion shows the hatefulness, jealousy and cruelty that teenagers have.
Really didn’t think I’d have enjoyed this as much as I have and read it in two sittings.
Thank you for an advanced copy

My favourite genre is the thriller and one of my favourite locations is a boarding school, a location with which I am familiar.
A fast paced, well written book with interesting well developed characters. “The four” are scholarship pupils who have to learn quickly how to mix with the entitled elite but the elite also have issues to deal with.. The story tackles suicide, abuse, sexuality, bullying and loyalty.
At times, I feel the story is a bit far fetched but it is none the worse for that.
The book is dark and at times harrowing and not for the faint hearted.
Pupils in boarding schools spend a lot of time together and the plus side of this is they make friends for life.
Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this highly recommended book.

Four scholarship pupils, outsiders at a privileged boarding school, surrounded by hostile fee paying students, find themselves in an increasingly dangerous situation.
The story is told from the perspective of one of the main characters, Rose. This works quite well, in my opinion, but I did feel I needed a little more insight into the thoughts of the other main characters as well.
As a book set in a boarding school, and certainly aimed at adults, it was definitely a gripping read for me- although the subject seemed a little odd to begin with. I shall be on the lookout for more books by this author.
With thanks to the publisher and NetGallery for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest review.

This was a tough read! Once I was further through the book I was able to understand some of the motivation for the cruelty in the early parts of story but I almost didn't get there! A tense, gripping read....doesn't quite live up to comparisons with The Secret History but worth reading nonetheless.

While this one started slow, and didn't have me reaching for it every night, but that soon changed as I got into part 2. I really struggled to put it down from that point on!

Rose, Marta, Lloyd and Sami are thrown together as scholarship students of an exclusive boarding school, but build solid friendships quickly as outsiders. The characters are all so well written and believable, and a credit to the author.

This book is beautifully written but dark. At times it is uncomfortable to read due to the content, but it is handled very well. A warning to those who may want to give it a try - themes of self-harm, rape, suicide and child abuse are all involved - so if easily triggered it may not be for you.

A slow burner, that really picked up the pace around a quarter of the way in and proved difficult to put down from then on. For a debut novel, it is excellent and I look forward to more from this author. Highly recommend!