I felt like the book took forever to get going and when it did, it didn't end up anywhere great. I didn't think any character reacted or acted in a way I would expect. Sometimes I felt like the wrong character name was used but I don't think that is what happened. I know teenagers can be dramatic and act unexpectedly but a lot of what they did (and why) simply didn't make sense. It almost felt like the book was going in one direction and then was heavily edited to go another.

the synopsis and idea of this book seemed a bit better than the actual book. i think it had so much potential but somehow fell short for me? the writing was ok it just didn't really hit

Sami Lynch, Lloyd Williams, Marta Williams and Rose Lawson are the four scholarship students admitted to High Realm, a prestigious boarding school. They are bullied and ostracized by the other students, but at least they have each other. And then they become bound by a secret that might bring them all down.

Wow. This was quite a book. Definitely not your standard thriller, not your standard dark academia, not your standard anything…it’s far more, far better than that. High Realm is brutal, and I’m sure there are places just like it. Sami, Lloyd, Marta and Rose are rich characters and even the villains are well drawn. There’s a lot to like here. Well done. Recommended.

The Four by Ellie Keel is a dark academia, about four students who have won scholarships to a prestigious school. The four quickly become friends because they are disliked and bullied by the other students. This was well written but just wasn’t for me. I really didn’t like the characters and some of the subject matter was depressing. Thanks to Netgalley for this arc.

This book was all over the place. I was completely lost for the majority of the book. I also could not really connect with any of the characters.

I have mixed feelings about this book, both for myself as a reader and for suggesting it for my students. I think they will relate to it more than I did, parts were interesting, parts were too long and it was overall a slow, depressing read. I would read others by this author as this was a debut