Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

The Four by Ellie Keel

24 reviews

rachellelikestoread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Truly stunning in every way. I felt immersed in the Hugh Realms world and locations, and even in the students classes. The traumatic events are second to the characters growth and feeling, and a steady plot that rarely deviates from its main oath made this a brilliant read. No doubt about the sadness and trauma in its subject matter, but the rich world and beautifully fragile characters are what will stick with me the longest 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Self harm

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Rape and Suicide

lue_moon's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

While I liked the premise and the unexpected queer rep, this ended up as a "meh" book for me. I should have known when it was compared to If We Were Villians, it wasn't going to be for me. 

I did like much of the writing in this book, but a lot of the story felt equal parts confusing and unnecessary. There was trauma on top of trauma and things that happened that felt like it was for the sake of some shock factor rather than to move the plot. And I know it was likely to keep readers guessing, but how many times in one book can you use the plot device of people getting interrupted right before they reveal important information? (It happens so often to the point of annoyance for me).

I do appreciate that the queer rep was just another part of the story rather than one of the main trauma points. I did like the writing enough that I would give this author another try, probably.

Oh, and pretty significant content warnings

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder and Suicide

chloeosaurusrex's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Moderate: Bullying, Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

An atmospheric and intensely foreboding, dark academia that follows four scholarship students and their often brutal experiences at a prestigious boarding school at the turn of the millennium (‘99-00.) 

I did enjoy this as the writing was soo compulsive, with its vividly descriptive (slow burn) exploration of the each of the characters’ experiences at High Realms and the systemic failures of the UK’s private education system. But, it was quite tough to get through emotionally, as soo many of the themes and events centre around pretty dark/ bleak topics. As such I’d definitely recommend checking out the TWs first, as I did find quite a few scenes pretty harrowing. 

I wasn’t nearly as diligent and found myself struggling to continue (particularly in the second half), mostly as I was a sobbing (and slightly traumatised) mess by then.

That being said, the depth and emotions Ellie Keel infuses into her characters (Rose, Marta, Lloyd and Sami) was phenomenal and really helped to pull me through, as I was soo invested in seeing how things would pan out for them. 

If you loved The Secret History or If We Were Villains then I definitely recommend checking this out! 

Also a huge thank you to Harper Collins UK for my giveaway win of the proof. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, and Suicide

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Minor: Child abuse and Mental illness

krissayel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying and Self harm

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Vomit

staxreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

It was a bit of a weird one and I'm not sure how to rate it as a whole. I was oddly hooked on this book yet felt little / no connection to any of the characters. The story was gripping yet I felt that the 'serious' parts were over the top and unnecessarily violent. Honestly there were times when I wasn't sure that I wanted to continue reading, yet I could not bring myself to put the book down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

teerreesasa's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.75

The story feels familiar, not sure if it is just predictable?

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Content Warnings

Minor: Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

someonetookit's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I can see why people wouldn't like this but I just cover to covered it so it's an automatic 5 star despite its faults 🤷‍♀️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Suicide

Minor: Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, and Vomit

bookb1itch's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Although this book has some MAJOR red flags - self-harm, suicide, rape - it was engrossing and beautifully fits the Y9 Savage Humans genre study.  It is a disturbing tale, but a lovely exploration of friendship and romantic love.  Boarding schools should be outlawed.  I found myself often wonderinng if this was an "unreliable narrator" story, which added a layer to the mystery.  I'm still not quite sure how I feel about the main characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Minor: Vomit and Suicide attempt

hannrs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow, what a debut! Took some time to get into it, because I thought it was just another story about teens at school and bullying. I am too old for that. But the story totally got me hooked, could not put the book down.
Well executed dark academia in vibe and motifs with a bit of self-awareness and genre commentary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Rape, and Vomit