Four
2001
- dystopias
- juvenile fiction
- fiction
- science fiction
- courage
- identity (philosophical concept)
- social classes
- identity
- young adult fiction
- dystopian
The story
This collection of stories follows Four, also known as Tobias Eaton. If you enjoyed the Divergent series, you will love reading the story you know and love in Tobias' view.
What it’s like
Tense, streamlined prose in close first person, with the grey-and-steel texture of a dystopian city seen through a young man's watchful eyes: concrete corridors, fenced rooftops, the clang of train platforms, the hush of a training hall lit by harsh overhead bulbs. The voice is terse and self-scrutinizing, full of short declarative sentences and sudden flares of adrenaline, so the book reads fast and in bursts, the way a commute or a late-night stretch of reading tends to. Its emotional register is restless and guarded, with a steady undercurrent of fear, loyalty and the ache of wanting to belong. Violence is present and occasionally sharp, including fights, simulated and real danger, and some lingering cruelty, though it stays on the page rather than lingering in gore. The arc follows a quiet, sometimes brooding young man slowly loosening his self-protection as he confronts what he owes to his family and to the faction that has become his home. Good for readers who like young-adult dystopia with a strong sense of place, who enjoy an interior perspective on a familiar story, and who want momentum more than lyrical description.
More books like Four
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Fourand we’ll explain which ones fit you.
