I love it when a book manages to combine a fascinating cast of characters with a plot that I can't guess immediately. Very well done!

Just from the first couple chapters I know this one is going to be a new favorite. I love the Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Sandman vibes, the hierarchy among the Reapers, and the curiosity shop owner!! Tan's narrative voice has me immediately attached to these characters and rooting for them.

The excitement I felt when I understood the title! Darker by Four follows characters struggling to understand their place in this world of magic and gods, and survive being their puppets. The god of death is missing; where did he go?

I really enjoyed the mystery of the missing god. At no point could I have guessed who he became, and I'm so curious as to how this underworld works. We don't learn much about him in this book, so I'm hopeful there will be more backstory in the sequel. It's clear that there is more to uncover, and the author did pretty well with setting up the issue while teasing the story underneath.

I did struggle with the pacing of this book. While our characters were fighting undead monsters and attempting to find the missing god, it didn't really feel as though the clock was ticking down or a real sense of urgency. Additionally, while our main character has lost her magic, I also didn't feel the panic of losing a part of oneself that makes up such a large part of her identity. She lost her magic, but she also seems to be doing fine without it. I'm not quite sure she grew very much during this time.

A small point I want to nitpick at is the relationship between the main character and her love interest. They have been best friends while he harbors secret feelings for her, but I felt the chemistry was a bit lacking. When she decided she liked him as well, it didn't feel very believable to me. I think I would've liked more of an obvious buildup in their relationship.

Even though the book was lacking in a few aspects for me, I'm still interested in seeing where the sequel takes us.

Such a fun fantasy book! There are sweet, tender, heartbreaking moments and more action packed, dramatic moments with some humor mixed in to make it a well rounded book that will bring out all the emotions. This one really drew me in and I found myself very invested in the magic and what would happen with Rui and Zizi. I will admit that the switching perspectives in the beginning and the set up for the present time setting had me a little confused, but once it picked up I was hooked. I wanted a romance between Rui and Zizi the entire time and I'm not going to lie I didn't care much for Yiran. While I understood why he wasn't particularly likeable, I just felt more frustrated by him than anything but I think he'll get better in the next book. Zizi is 10/10 the best character and I found myself perking up whenever he was on page. Nikai felt like a smaller character than he should have been but that might just be my opinion. I like that the perspective went back and forth between characters so the reader can get a feel for everyone's motives. The mythology and worldbuilding are really interesting and it's great that the author includes some information on the meaning behind the numbers and what that means for the title, prologue and epilogue. There is so much going on both in the regular world and the underworld and since we only really get glimpses of the underworld in this book I assume we will see more of it in the next and I absolutely cannot wait. Rui, Zizi and Yiran felt really well developed and even the side characters were unique and had their own distinct voices. I definitely want to see more of Nikai and the Kings of the Hell in the next book. I truly enjoyed reading this book and I think anyone who enjoys fantasy novels with a bit of romance and multiple main characters to follow will love it too! But be warned, the ending will have you impatiently waiting for the sequel!

P.S. Definitely read the acknowledgements. June CL Tan is amazing and wrote this book as an escape for herself and what she had going on and I just love that.

Thank you HarperTeen for the digital ARC which I have voluntarily read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

It took me awhile to get into this book because of the switching viewpoints but once I did I was hooked! Rui is your typical teenage girl with inflated magical power and a vendetta but her relationship with Zizi had me entranced! The world building and the mythology are what really sold this novel to me. I’m really excited to see how the second book goes and I’ll be counting the days until its release!

I had high hopes for this one and I'm happy to say that I was not disappointed! Again it's a book that uses mythology as an inspiration, so it's easy to know why I was hooked pretty much from the beginning. I loved the how Tan combined all of their inspirations into their worldbuilding and really gave the setting and world a great foundation. I was drawn in immediately not just by the setting but also by the characters, not all of them felt fully fleshed out or individual, but there were definitely some I really connected with. I did feel some of it was a little predictable, or standard, but that didn't necessarily detract from how I felt about the story. I just really enjoyed my time with this book and felt like it was the same kind of feeling as a manga or anime and followed the journey.

rui has one goal in life: to hone her power to avenge her mother’s death. yiran is the black sheep of his family, the only one without magic. nikai is a reaper who serves the fourth king of hell. all of their lives turn upside down when rui accidentally transfers her power to yiran and then strikes a bargain with a king of hell.

i’ve been waiting for another june c.l. tan book since reading jade fire gold in 2021, and this was so worth the wait! i thought this was such an interesting book, in terms of both the characters and the world building. i especially loved how the underworld was depicted and how it played into the human world.

i can’t wait for book two!

I loved Darker by Four. The worldbuilding was very interesting, but the characters had me hooked from the beginning. I loved seeing the bonds between them grow as the book progressed. I cannot wait until the second book comes out.

“Fate binds us, connects us through past, present, and future. Our trust or distrust plays no part. It simply is.”

Eighteen years ago, the Fourth King of Hell disappeared, causing both the Underworld and the human world to start falling apart. Four years ago, Rui’s mother was killed by a creature created by the Blight from the Underworld. Now, Rui trains with her magic to become an Exorcist and help hunt down the same creature that killed her mom that night. Yiran is part of the most powerful magical family, yet he was born powerless. When a spell causes Rui’s power to be transferred to Yiran, everything changes. Yiran finally belongs, but Rui has lost the power she needs to avenge her mother’s death. As Nikai, a Reaper in the Fourth King’s court, investigates his king’s disappearance, Rui becomes involved because of the circumstances of her birth eighteen years ago. Rui might be the one person who can find the missing King, but at what cost?

June CL Tan has officially brought back YA contemporary fantasy, and she’s done it with style. I don’t remember the last time I’ve been so instantaneously hooked by a book. I knew the moment I read the first page that Darker by Four was going to become a new favorite of mine, and I’m already counting down the days until the sequel comes out. It was the perfect mixture of Lockwood & Co, the Shadowhunter Chronicles, and the Kane Chronicles. Rui and Yiran are training to be Exorcists who fight the creatures that come from the dead that fall prey to the Blight. I loved how the author mixed magic and the Underworld into a human world that felt akin to a dystopian novel. So many recent YA fantasy books have been high fantasy, and it was refreshing to read something different. It was reminiscent of the urban fantasy/dystopian books of the early 2010s. The relationships between each of the characters was really interesting. One character that stood out to me was Zizi, the unorthodox mage who found Rui after her mother died. He refuses to conform to the Exorcists’ rules, which creates an interesting dynamic between him and Rui. Him, Rui, and Yiran have an inexplicable connection, and one of the best parts of reading the book was trying to guess how each of them are related to the missing Fourth King of Hell. I would have liked for Nikai to be more involved in the narrative, but I’m hoping that changes in the sequel. Darker by Four is a must-read for anyone who loves YA and has been searching for the perfect contemporary fantasy.

June CL Tan combined all the best parts of the fantasy genre here: action, adventure, drama, romance, and badass characters!

I had so much fun reading this book!

Darker by Four has so many things I enjoy in my reads (which we'll get to in a moment), but the thing that immediately comes to mind whenever I think about this book is how it feels like a love letter to shonen anime. (I was particularly reminded of Bleach and Jujutsu Kaisen, though the author has also mentioned being inspired by Noragami!)

Anyway, the elements of this one that deserve a shoutout are:

* lore + worldbuilding - The author mentions being inspired by the mythology of the Ten Courts of Hell, classic epic Chinese love stories, as well as anime. And genuinely, the way that all comes together here is both fun and fascinating. I loved the structure of the Hell Realm, as well as the set-up of the Exorcists in the real world setting. It was so cool seeing different details on both ends of that spectrum, and I can only imagine we'll get even more in book two!
* an ensemble cast - One of my favorite things about anime is when there's an entire group of characters to fall in love with; we certainly get that opportunity here. There's a range of personalities that readers meet, from grumpy and strong-willed to sunshine and sweet; from those with roles where they must work within the rules or hierarchy to those who operate outside of those bounders; from leaders to loners (whether by choice or not). I really, really enjoyed seeing these individuals come to life off the page, and easily knew who my favorites were from the start (it's Zizi, Ash, Four and Ten, just in case you were wondering). I can't wait to get to know them even better, honestly, especially the ones who don't get as much page time...
* banter and bickering - Since I really enjoyed the cast, it's unsurprising that one of my favorite aspects of this book are the exchanges between them. There are so many remarks and conversations that made me laugh; there are also exchanges that made my heart hurt for the characters involved.
* mysteries and mayhem (magical and mundane) - The plot may be pretty standard, but it was a blast to see the unique way the author wove it together. I enjoyed following along as Rui and Yiran tried to sort out what to do about the unexpected power exchange, learned more about the Exorcists and wind up involved in a mystery centered around a missing death god.

It's pretty clear, I'm sure, how much I enjoyed this book! It hooked me from the first few pages, taking aspects of shonen stories and Chinese mythology to weave them into a book set in modern day that entertained me all the way until I hit the very last page. All I have left to say is... I really want the next book to be in my hands already because I definitely need to know what happens next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 4/5 stars.

Okay, look, at first...I didn't know what I was reading. I was confused and didn't know if I actually wanted to finish it...but then I kept reading and realized that it was hooking me more than I realized. Rui and Yiran end up in a weird situation when Rui transfers her magic to Yiran...someone who didn't originally have magic (or did he and his grandpa messed it up....I have my questions that I hope get answered in the next book). Zizi is a mage who is outside of the guild and is Rui's friend...to something more...to holy plot twist.

The world building is okay. I think it needed more, but I also expect it to be given more in the next book when a whole lot of questions are answered. Also, y'all can't tell me the Revenants are not basically vampires...especially the Hybrids.

Also, the ending was rude. I want the next book please.

"Haven't you ever felt like that? Like you're searching for someone out there who's right for you - someone who completes you... When I saw you that night, I knew."

Darker By Four is an incredible start to a duology following Rui, Zizi and Yiran, set in a world where those with magic hunt revenants before they can kill those around them. But the rate of demons is rising ever since the 4th king of hell has gone missing. When one of Zizi's spells goes wrong and transfers Rui's magic to Yiran, their lives are forever changed.

Rui loses her path for vengeance, the only thing driving her all these years. But Yiran finally has the magic he's spent his life searching for - thinking that it'll make his grandfather love him. But when Rui gets approached by the 10th king of hell, saying to either find Four or Yiran will die from the unbalanced power, all three of them find themselves racing the clock to save their world.

This book - on man, it was just SO FUN to read. There's romance, (FRIENDS TO LOVERS YAY!), the reincarnation trope, found family and grumpy x sunshine pairings!! The lore and setting with the 10 kings of hell, the pool of reflection and judgment, the constant bubble tea jokes - everything was just so perfect.

I'm not really one for fight scenes, I tend to block them over and just skim but this book really held my attention the entire time. I loved seeing everyone interact, even outside the main 3. I just know Nikai the reaper (sry USHER) is gonna play a bigger role in book 2. I need to know more of his backstory, and I hope it's not as tragic as we're led to believe.

And for my JJK girlies - there's an easter egg in here that I was KICKING AND SCREAMING OVER! There's probably so many more - you can really see that this book reads like an anime, the scenes are so vividly done. There's plenty of world set up, but as a whole it reads as set in our modern world just with monsters hiding under the lights, making it feel so much more real.

The ending really really HURT ME. I will be PERSONALLY sending my therapy bills to Tan if book 2 doesn't end with everyone being happy - esp ZIZI and RUI <3. I can't wait to read more.

rep// Bi MC, Asian MC

cw// death, murder, blood, gore, violence

Thank you to the publisher for sending me this ARC!

Darker by Four is the first in a new fantasy duology by June C.L. Tang. Rui is a cadet at Xingshan Academy, a school for Exorcists. All she wants to do is hone her magic to avenge her mother's death but when an accident causes her magic to transfer to a civilian boy everything turns into disarray. Yirin was the black sheep of his family but now infused with Rui's powers, he finally feels like he belongs. All the while the Fourth King of Hell has gone missing and Nikai - one of his reapers - will stop at nothing to find his missing King.

I really enjoyed Darker by Four! Something about reading this novel felt like coming home to my urban/contemporary fantasy roots from when I fell in love with reading for the first time. This book had me hooked from the beginning and I finished the entire thing in just a couple of days!

I liked the character dynamics between our main characters. And while I thought going into it Rui was going to be my favorite - don't worry I still love her - I really enjoyed Yiran more by the end! I felt so bad for him with his upbringing. I do really hope we get more of Nikai in the second book but I liked him as well! I just feel like he didn't have enough screen time!

I'd recommending Darker by Four to fans of contemporary fantasy who already enjoy the Shadowhuter Chronicles and This Savage Song.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel. All thoughts and opinions contained within this review are my own.

A YA urban fantasy inspired by Chinese mythology, Darker By Four had A LOT going on in its pages. I really enjoyed the intricate magic system although it did take me a minute to fully understand it. I really liked the Ten Kings part of the story and would really like to see more of it in the sequel. The exorcist academy reminded me a bit of the Shadowhunters in the best way. Character wise, I really loved Yiran and Nikai. I found myself really excited during their POVs. I didn’t really connect as much with Rui. I didn’t dislike the romance, but I did think it needed to be a bit more fleshed out. The big twist, I saw coming pretty early on, but it was still a good way for the story to go so I was fine with it. Overall, I liked it, didn’t love it, but I am definitely interested in reading the sequel!

Thank you to Epic Reads for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a cute YA fantasy story. I think it is perfect for the age of readers that young adult is made for (12-18). The plot is pretty straightforward, but it has a unique fantasy world that keeps it very interesting.

(Got the E-Arc thru Netgalley thx to a giveaway on instagram, by the author)


3.5 Rating


Its probably the first book in a long time where i got every vibe the book was going for.
Bleach? Yes. Jujutsu Kaisen? Hell yes. Xianxia (reminding me of my beloved danmei)? ABSOLUTLY.

The world building is PHENOMENAL. To be honest, i AM bias bc i adore chinese fantasies. The use of qi, spiritual cores and tools, night hunts,...All those components make for such an engaging setting for a story. Combined with the underworld drama and it's relation to the human realm thru Nikais POV (which i LOVED)? I couldn't put it down.
Also love the queer normative world.

The plot had me on my board making connection where they were none - i had like 6 different hypothesis on Four alone, changing ever 5 chapters too. There are probably people that got it faster than me :') but i am an overthinker by nature. Some of my choices were so random.

It had a pretty good pacing. So much action, so much lore. Didnt feel info-dump-y. Despite my oncoming critic about the use of that pace regarding characters, i do think the plot itself was handled well!

The only critic i do have is probably that i feel like we didn't get enough time to connect to the characters (and subsequently the romances and friendships).
The characters had a good concept and i liked the idea behind them but some aspects didn't quite fit. For example, i think having Ruis backstory at the beginning was too early. We didn't know her, why should we care too much?
The split focus in POVs and character development vs plot was also detrimental to the way i connected to the MCs.
Which kinda translates to the relationships too.
Some of my confusion was my own fault. I thought it would be poly, so i waited for sparks between characters that didn't and wouldn’t have them.
Aside from that, because the focus was split, the romance and friendships had, like mentioned, less time to develope/shine other than what we get told (see: Zizis and Ruis years of friendship or especially Yiran and Rui, they felt like two separate storylines connected by external circumstances and not necessarily their friendship, same with Zizi and Yiran but even more so). I really hope we get to see a solid found fam trio in the second one.

I liked the idea behind the romances tho, even the secondary one despite it being quite quick 😂
But i wouldn’t mind putting in more moments. To feel like they really ARE the real deal.

I did read the acknowlegdement, and ik this was a self-indulgence for Tan and tbh good for her. It was fun for her to write and fun for me to read.
Pros and cons aside, i WANT TO KNOW where this will go. For someone that's more of a character driven reader than a plot driven one, this really had me on the edge of my seat for the mystery alone. Anticipated the second/last installment.

When I say I am obsessed with this book, I really mean it! I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I finished several hours ago. Darker by Four is a YA fantasy inspired by Chinese mythology with queer rep.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I loved the mystical elements effortlessly woven into the story. The book was told from three different POVs: Rui, Yiran and Nikai. I liked that it changed perspectives because I got to see more of the story, both in Hell and on Earth. I will admit I really don’t like Yiran. Rui and Zizi were easily my favorite characters while it took me a bit to warm up to Yiran, and even then, I’m still not his biggest fan. However, his POV was really interesting because I got to see into his head and understand his character more.
I enjoyed the plot despite the rollercoaster of emotions it caused. It was really interesting, and the plot twists caught me by surprise. It was unlike any book I have ever read before. I enjoyed learning more about Chinese culture throughout the story, and the action kept me at the edge of my seat. I knew I was going to love this book from the start, and it did not disappoint. I’m really excited for book 2! Thank you Netgalley and June CL Tan for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A girl out for revenge, a missing god, and a hollow boy find their paths converging as they deal with magic, mystery, and friendship. Rui is driven by the need to avenge her mother's death, she has magical abilities and is training to become a strong exorcist to get rid of the revenant... particularly the one who killed her other. Yiran is from a wealthy and powerful illustrious family... however he is the bastard son who was born without any magic, making him the black sheep of the family. Nikai is a reaper, serving the Fourth King of Hell, he is even his friend... but when Four goes missing the entire underworld begins to crumble and he has to find him. Rui spends her days training and the only time she allows herself a moment of distraction is when she spends time with Zizi, the mage who creates illegal talismans that she tests out. Rui has been harboring a crush on Zizi for as long as she can remember, he is the boy who saved her all those years ago and he is the only person she truly feels comfortable with. Yet when she goes to tests out Zizi's newest talison/spell and a revenant attacks her and Yiran also happens to be there she does the spell and ends up transferring her magic into Yiran... and it might be a permanent transfer. Yiran now has the one thing he's always wanted: magic so he could be accepted by his family, yet he know's its not his truly and that if he doesn't learn to control bit it'll end up killing him. Yiran, Rui, and Zizi all find themselves working together to fix what has happened but when a king of the underworld appears and makes a deal with Rui.... things get complicated and secrets threaten to destroy the only love she's ever known and make her question the one boy who she's given her heart to. Can she find a way to get her magic back or will getting it back mean losing everything else? The first book in a duology and it was such a fun read, I loved the magic world that was created and the magic system was a unique one. I adored Rui and Zizi's romance and relationship, they were so cute and I can't wait to see where the second book goes and how everything progresses after the way this one ends. It's a fun read and I would absolutely recommend!!

<spoiler> Four ran away from Hell to find out his beloved again (Four is Zizi and Rui is the reincarnation of the woman he loved). While Four became human he gave up his memories and hid himself, yet when Rui made the deal with Ten, one of Four's brothers, the truth comes out and Ten forces Four's memories back into him. Rui finds that she has new magical powers and after the deal with Ten is completed her magic is returned and Yiran is back to being magicless. Yiran feels betrayed and used while Four doesn't really remember who he is and what his responsibilities are. Rui and Zizi admitted they loved each other before Four's memories came back into Zizi. The guild covers up the hybrid revenant's attacks and claimed that Rui saved them all, and gave her a promotion to captain to hush her up but what she really wants is Zizi back. A hybrid revenant offers Yiran a new way to get magic and he seems to be interested. The book ends with Four's memories of old Rui coming back. </spouiler>

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperTeen for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This was so wonderful! Such a fresh concept and lovable main characters. I adored everything about it. I would only say that a lot of things were going on at once that didn't necessarily need to. I'm still not sure what the point of Nikai was but hopefully he has a role in book 2. I think she could have stuck to fleshing out the main ideas more instead of lightly incorporating several ideas. I hope we get more Zizi in book 2 and a happy ending.