Book Review
Title: Four of a Kind
Author: Kellie Bean
Genre: YA/Family/Romance
Rating: ***
Review: All I knew about Four of a Kind beforehand was it is about identical quadruplets, one of which is Reagan and it is her journey to be independent and seen separately from her sisters and to find love. This book is described as Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants meets Gilmore Girls, and while I have never seen Gilmore Girls, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is one of my favourite movies and books series of all time.
We are introduced to Reagan, Reece, Reilly, and Rhiannon as they move back to their mom’s hometown of Fairview. While the girls aren’t happy with this Rhiannon is particularly unhappy and refuses to speak to their mother. We also learn the girl are minor celebrities in their town due to the anomaly of their birth as giving birth to identical quads is 1 in 13 million. However, it does have a silver lining as Reagan meets Kent, the news reporter’s son and she immediately thinks he is cute. On the first day of school Reagan is excited to see Kent again and make a whole new image for herself as an individual rather than a quad, however, her first day is a disaster which leads to her dropping biology and taking drama which isn’t good for the shy and introverted bookworm that is Reagan.
Despite transferring into a class Reagan thinks she is going to hate she is surprised when the mysterious Kent happens to be in the class to and she finds it quite enjoyable. It is clear to see that Reagan already has a crush on Kent but her introverted nature is a major hindrance when it comes to making friends which I can totally relate to. We also learn that Rhiannon was so against the move because she has a boyfriend back home who is two years older than the quads making him 16 to the girls 14 but their birthday is in a few days’ time.
As the first week of school passes Reagan finds herself fitting into the drama class and is even invited to work with Kent’s group. While their first presentation isn’t great, they all decide to go out afterwards and Reagan is stunned she is getting to spend so much time with Kent. However, things aren’t great with Rhiannon as she skips maths class which is the only class she genuinely enjoys, and Reagan thinks it is because of her boyfriend but Reece and Reilly don’t know about him, so she can’t discuss it with them. The relationship between the sisters is unique while they are all independent character them seem content to also be seen as one cohesive unit especially when one or more of them is upset or struggling with something, but Rhiannon seems to be pulling away from the group.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, tensions are running high in the family especially between Rhiannon and her mother, but Reagan really seems to be coming into her own because of Kent. However, the fact that her friends back home are moving on with their lives and she is becoming less and less important because she isn’t there with them seems to bother her especially where Nadine is concerned but at the moment she is just focusing on school and family, everything else comes second to that. All the sisters with the exception of Rhiannon seem to be settling in nicely and at the Halloween Festival, we really see Reagan making friends and even developing more feelings for Kent, however, this is overshadowed when Nadine lets slip that she is coming to visit Reagan for Thanksgiving as part of a reunion for the sisters. I really liked both parents in this novel, who are present and realistic, and it does highlight some of the downsides to living with 4 teenage daughters.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, it was interesting to learn that Reilly is a lesbian and while she was out in their old school she hasn’t officially come out in Fairview because she isn’t sure how people will react, it was also nice to see like Reagan she has a crush on someone as well. When Nadine finally arrives all seems ok for a little while, but it doesn’t last long especially when Nadine says she has a new best friend now Reagan isn’t around anymore which really upsets Reagan although she tries to hide it the best she can. Reagan suddenly realise how much of her identity was made up by Nadine and is thrown into inner turmoil now she is faced with the question whether they will stay friend at all in the future and if she doesn’t have Nadine as a close friend who does she have.
Despite the sisters being quads I really disliked Rhiannon, I felt she was standoffish and unnecessarily mean when she has no reason to be like that. I was a little disappointed that it has taken almost ¾ of the book for Reagan to even admit out loud to anyone that she likes Kent and this person happens to be her sister who gives her some advice on finding out if he likes her. When she finally gets her big date with Kent after being set up by Jen and Rosie, it all goes to hell when they learn that Rhiannon is missing, and Reagan has to cut their date short.
I feel that this acting out from Rhiannon has been building since the beginning of the novel, but it became really apparent that she was going to do something after Reagan learns about her boyfriend. In the end, the quads get a sappy yet fluffy ending where they are all happy but considering there are three more books in this series I believe, it isn’t going to stay that way. Overall, this book was good, but it was a little slow paced for my liking and it was also very character driven and focused a lot on the characters and their emotions where I would have liked a bit more action but still worth the read.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
I received this review copy from NetGalley
Comments