The Four
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
'A dark, compelling and beguiling novel of revenge, guilt and love – Ellie Keel is a dazzling new voice’ Kate Mosse
‘An intensely gripping, thrilling and darkly beautiful debut. I was hooked’ Karin Slaughter
‘Sharp, powerful, tragic and addictive’ Chris Whitaker
‘This is The Secret History for millennials' Daisy Goodwin
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We were always The Four. From our very first day at High Realms.
The four scholarship pupils. Outsiders in a world of power and privilege.
It would have made our lives a lot easier if Marta had simply pushed Genevieve out of our bedroom window that day. Certainly, it would have been tragic. She would have died instantly.
But Marta didn’t push her then, or – if you choose to believe me – at any other time. If she had, all of what we went through would not have happened.
I’ve told this story as clearly as I could – as rationally as I’ve been able, in the circumstances, to achieve. I don’t regret what we did. And I would do it all again.
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Reader reviews:
'A shockingly powerful debut… raw and unflinching, not for the faint of heart' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Beautifully written and utterly brutal' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'Complex and heart wrenching and oh so gripping' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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'Suspenseful… an engrossing read' The Sunday Times
‘Addictive debut… sharp, compelling’ Adele Parks, Platinum
'Darkly disturbing and deeply atmospheric' Heat
‘One warning: clear your diary before you pick up this novel, as once you’ve read a handful of pages you will be hooked' I News
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* A Blackwell's Booksellers' Choice for 2024
* A Fabulous Magazine Top Book of 2024
* Featured in Dua Lipa’s Service95 Top Fiction Trends for 2024
Reviews
‘Haunting and tragic, a tale revealing the ugliness of adolescence – and humanity’ Cecelia Ahern
‘Poignant and tragic, visceral and cruel, it’s about the best and the worst of what makes us human’ Emma Flint
'Dark academia fans rejoice: this should be on your to-be-read pile… At times bittersweet, at others extremely sad, this is a tragically beautiful tale that embraces everything that adolescence offers' Belfast Telegraph
‘Very stylishly done and chilling too’ Georgina Moore
‘The Four shakes up A Secret History with Mallory Towers to concoct a horrifically thrilling, emotionally gripping story of adolescent fear, pride, and loyalty’ Louisa Young
'This dark, intense novel is hugely addictive' Fabulous
'Immersive academic noir set in a boarding school dominated by a toxic ruling cadre, with four teens striving for survival in the baroque horror of that claustrophobic world' Harriet Tyce
‘The Four is a dark, thrilling and deeply atmospheric thriller. Impossible to put down!’ Lucy Clarke
'One of the best debuts I've read in a long time' Caroline Corcoran
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Shades of Donna Tartt’s classic The Secret History colour Ellie Keel’s debut, a dark academia novel, centring on four scholarship students—Rose, Marta, Lloyd and Sami—who are subjected to ruthless bullying at an elite boarding school. Their situation deteriorates further when the friends are implicated in a hazing incident involving another student, setting up for a tragic escalation of events. Narrated retrospectively from Rose’s adult perspective, Keel spares no details of the cruelty that the group of outsiders are subjected to by their privileged peers, and there are references to assault, abuse and self-harm (among other traumatic themes) throughout. To that end, The Four balances on the tricky cusp of young adult and adult literature: while the high school setting invites a teenage audience, the graphic descriptions of violence tip the scales of suitability in favour of older readers. Read at your own discretion, but don’t be entirely deterred—this twisty page-turner is thoroughly worthwhile.
Customer Reviews
Terrible book
No narrative and this story has been told in A Secret History. I couldn’t wait for it to end