The Four is a novel about four scholarship students at a prestigious boarding school and what happens after an animosity gets out of hand. Rose starts at countryside boarding school High Realms alongside fellow scholarship students Marta, Sami, and Lloyd, all starting at the age of sixteen to help them get into top universities. They are immediately outsiders, not versed in the traditions of the school or the strange social hierarchies, but Marta is especially so, and doesn't seem to care about fitting in. Popular girl Genevieve takes a disliking to Marta, and in High Realms that means extreme treatment, but then things start to spiral out of control.

This is very much the sort of book that is marketed as dark academia because it is set in a school and dark things happen, but which isn't really "dark academia" because it lacks the actual academic subject matter playing a part in the book. This means that it is best to throw away comparisons to The Secret History etc, as this isn't really that book, and not just because the characters are younger. High Realms is more of a hostile environment that should've looked after the teenagers in its care, rather than a mysterious dark place, but it definitely asks some questions about boarding schools and how easy it can be for unfair hierarchies to take over. There's not that much exploration of class and privilege beyond the obvious 'the other students don't treat the scholarship kids the same and the school just wants them to look good', but that does form an important part of the book and how 'the four' experience High Realms.

The novel is from Rose's point of view and you get the kind of unreliable narrator where she is acting like she is trying to tell you what happens, just with some ominous hints towards the later plot, but at the same time, there are hints that Rose is never going to be able to give an objective account, and is a flawed teenager too. This does work well, and by the end you do see how the pretty intense narrative is being told by adult Rose who knows she didn't always make the right choices because she was too self-absorbed (and young). Rose and Marta in particular are interesting characters, though the book does shy away from interrogating Rose too deeply, even at the end set years after the events of the book, and there's definitely character elements that could've been explored further. Some of the relationships in the book felt underdeveloped (especially Lloyd and Max), and I did find it a bit weird that the book didn't want to discuss queerness beyond one reference to a character working out who they were, as if High Realms in 1999 was an alternate reality school where non-straight characters and relationships were treated the same as straight ones.

The actual narrative of the book is quite a wild ride, starting out feeling like any boarding school story which goes dark because people's rivalries go too far, and ending up exploring trauma, sexual assault, and what happens to someone in crisis when they can't get the right care. Some people might find it goes a bit sensationalist—it has touches of A Little Life in that respect—and seeing it through Rose's perspective means that it often does feel quite voyeuristic, which gives it a specific tone that can make you feel uncomfortable, whether successfully or not. People should go into the book knowing that there is going to be a lot of content around self harm and sexual assault in it, as this is vital to the plot and is what takes it further away from an idea of a slightly dark boarding school rivalry book into something more visceral and nasty. This also makes it a lot more interesting than what I expected from it, as it could've been a paint-by-numbers type of boarding school book being marketed as dark academia.

The Four is a book that does a lot of interesting things and I found gripping to read, but which afterwards I feel a bit conflicted about. It has a lot of expected elements from the kind of novel it is—lots of complex love triangles and longing, harsh rivalries and close bonds, and the sense that the boarding school is causing problems through its environment—which can make it feel predictable (but also thrilling), but at the same time, what happens in the book is more twisty and messy, what happens when teenagers try and deal with something way beyond their experiences. It was a compulsive read and I like books that go to dark places, but something about the tragedy and trauma in the book didn't always work for me. However, as a book about a boarding school written for adults, I think it does well to not be childish, whilst also having a lot of flawed teenage characters who make mistakes big and small. Definitely more of the 'dark' than 'academia', The Four looks at privilege and power, but more importantly, at what teenagers would do for each other.

"The Four" by Ellie Keel is a novel that left me with a mix of emotions, making it difficult to pinpoint exactly how I feel about it. It seemed to be striving to achieve a dark and mysterious ambiance, and while the setting exuded a sense of eeriness and mystery, the academic aspects and the camaraderie among the main group of friends fell a bit short for me. In the dark academia subgenre, a toxic and tightly-knit bond between the friends is crucial, but here, they seemed like disconnected entities rather than deeply intertwined characters.

However, despite these reservations, I must admit that the book is undeniably vivid, visceral, and relentlessly addictive. I was so engrossed in the story that I read it in one sitting over just a few hours, leaving me feeling emotionally drained and suffering from a book hangover afterward. The hype and praises are well-deserved. The novel delivers sharpness, power, and tragedy, exploring the best and worst aspects of human nature. It captivates with its poignant and cruel moments, reminding us of the complexities that make us human.

"The Four" may have its imperfections, particularly in the portrayal of the main characters' friendship and academic aspects, but its strengths lie in its haunting and addictive storytelling. Keel's ability to evoke emotions and create a vivid, mysterious atmosphere is commendable. If you enjoy stories with complex characters and a dark, tragic undertone, this book will leave a lasting impression on you.

I really enjoyed the Four by Ellie Keel. It was gripping read. It had many twists and turns which had me racing through it could not put it down.

4 friends are accepted in the a prestigious school on a full scholarship. The four are bullied by their fellow students. Which had brought the 4 closer together. The situation then takes a dark turn how far are these 4 willing to go to protect each other.

I would highly recommend this really enjoyable read which will have you hooked from the very first page. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

This novel is vivid, visceral and unrelentingly addictive. I read it all in one sitting over a few hours and was left exhausted, melancholy and book hungover.

I mean really, what more can you ask of a book than it pulling you in, making you think, taking you through the full gamut of emotional range then dumping you out the other side with characters and events you'll never forget.

The writing is IMMENSE, heart wrenching and complex and this should be a HUGE hit in '24.

Pitch perfect thought provoking brilliance