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Darker by Four #1
Čtvrtý král pekel
Osamělá dívka pronásledovaná minulostí. Zlomený chlapec prahnoucí po magických schopnostech. Žnec, který hledá svého pána – krále pekel, jehož zmizení zapříčinilo nestabilitu v některých kruzích pekla i v lidském světě. Životní cesty Žuej, Ižana a Ni-kchaje se nečekaně protnou v temnotách, když je zasáhne nepředvídatelná nehoda. Každý z nich se bude muset postavit osudu dřív, než se bariéra mezi světy zhroutí a všude se rozpoutá peklo – a to doslova.
432 pages, Paperback
First published April 2, 2024
250 people are currently reading
32309 people want to read
About the author
June C.L. Tan
6 books967 followersJune CL Tan is the critically acclaimed and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Darker By Four duology and Jade Fire Gold. Her Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection books have garnered multiple starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and BCCB, and she was also one of PW’s Flying Starts in 2021. A Singaporean raised on a diet of teh tarik, classic books, and wuxia movies, she enjoys telling stories that draw on both the traditional and modern to create something fresh to the eye, but familiar to the heart.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 961 reviews
November 5, 2024
not the biggest fan of this book, unfortunately.
objectively, i can give it a 3 because, even while not having the strongest characters or story, i think this is successfully at the level of its intended audience. it doesnt feel like middle grade or an adult novel watered down. the writing, plot, characters are all very perfectly YA and i can see many teenagers having a lot of fun with this.
that being said, subjectively, i wanted to give it a 2. i didnt see the ‘urban fantasy’ tag or else i probably wouldnt have pick this up. its one of my least favorite genres, personally. if this has been set in a more historical mythology kind of setting, i would have enjoyed it significantly more. but something about present day slang being used with magic just irrationally irritates me.
so me + this book = not a good match, but i know other readers (especially its target audience) will enjoy it.
↠ 2.5 stars
objectively, i can give it a 3 because, even while not having the strongest characters or story, i think this is successfully at the level of its intended audience. it doesnt feel like middle grade or an adult novel watered down. the writing, plot, characters are all very perfectly YA and i can see many teenagers having a lot of fun with this.
that being said, subjectively, i wanted to give it a 2. i didnt see the ‘urban fantasy’ tag or else i probably wouldnt have pick this up. its one of my least favorite genres, personally. if this has been set in a more historical mythology kind of setting, i would have enjoyed it significantly more. but something about present day slang being used with magic just irrationally irritates me.
so me + this book = not a good match, but i know other readers (especially its target audience) will enjoy it.
↠ 2.5 stars
Read
March 31, 20244.2.2023 FINAL NOTE: After taking a much needed health hiatus, my 2nd book is finally here! It's one that means a lot to me because, while the foundational ideas for the story were floating around in my head for a while, I only started drafting Darker By Four when I was undergoing cancer treatment. In many ways, it's a book I wrote for myself as a form of escapism to avoid a full-blown existential crisis. The story is dark at some points, but there's light fluffy moments and humor too (cos some of us tell jokes to cope, right? ><).
The book combines my interest in the mythology of The Ten Courts of Hell after a childhood trip to Haw Par Villa in Singapore, and the classic, epic Chinese love stories in mythology where the romance is often star-crossed, fated, and sometimes elements of reincarnation and past lives are involved. The story also contains several references to various anime, kpop (BTS, TXT), Hades & Persephone, and other easter eggs because as mentioned, I wrote it indulgently for myself. But! you do not need any prior knowledge of them to understand the scenes. If you catch them, yay! If you're curious about the references, there's a "Easter Eggs" section on my website on the DBF page.
Lastly, I think of Darker By Four as a contemporary interpretation of the xianxia genre (DBF is set in a modern Asian city like our world vs the more common 'fantasy past' in most xianxia), and it includes elements like spirit cultivation, qi "magic" and qi deviation, magical talismans, spiritual weapons, etc. so if you're familiar with xianxia, you might find connections to it.
Why the title?
I've had questions about the meaning behind the title and the Chinese character embedded in the title on the cover. In various Chinese languages, with a slight change in intonation, four (四) sounds like death or die (死). Thus, tetraphobia (the aversion to or fear of the number four) is a phenomenon common in East Asian countries and countries/societies with significant Chinese diaspora communities. Due to the tonal nature of Chinese languages, wordplay often occurs in colloquial speech and interaction. The title of this book, DARKER BY FOUR, is a reference to tetraphobia and a play on the sound of the number four in Mandarin and Cantonese. The Author’s Note section in the book goes into further detail on the use of numeronyms in the story.
The Darker By Four webpage on my website shares more inspiration about the mythology and culture behind the book - there's also character art and profiles, playlists, easter eggs, pronunciation guide, and bonus content! Click here! And yes, there is a sequel to DBF.
content warnings: themes and mentions of death, parental death (flashbacks), child abuse (inferred; non graphic), panic attacks and anxiety (including one episode that is briefly described), alcohol consumption by teenagers (the legal age for drinking in the story world is 18 years old), alcoholism (inferred), gambling addiction, fantasy violence.
12.5.2023 hi all! the preorder campaign has started! Please see my website & socials for more details. Click here!
Photos of the exact swag will be revealed soon! Excited to share all these goodies with you :D ICYMI, e-arcs are now available for request on NetGalley.
As always, please be aware of these CWs (see previous note below) <3
9.25.2023 hi all! arcs are now available for request on Netgalley and Edelweiss!
Please be aware of these CWs <3
themes and mentions of death, parental death (flashbacks), child abuse (inferred; non graphic), panic attacks and anxiety (including one episode that is briefly described), alcohol consumption by teenagers (the legal age for drinking in the story world is 18 years old), alcoholism (inferred), gambling addiction, fantasy violence.
Please note that the "arc" is an advanced reader copy that is not final. The story doesn't differ, but all typos, etc. will be addressed in the finished copy. Thank you for understanding! And thank you for reading :) Please avoid spoilers/tag your spoilers so that others may enjoy their reading experience, thank you!
here's a gist of what to expect from DARKER BY FOUR:
🔸queer Asian teens being the absolute worst in the best way possible
🔸soulmate + reincarnation tropes done xianxia C-drama style, but with a modern twist (think yuanfen, youyuan wufen)
🔸underworld mythology + death gods who love bubble tea
🔸grouchy angry girls + burnt cinnamon roll boys
🔸angsty, forbidden romance + platonic friendships/relationships
🔸humor in the darkness
🔸anime fight scenes
The book combines my interest in the mythology of The Ten Courts of Hell after a childhood trip to Haw Par Villa in Singapore, and the classic, epic Chinese love stories in mythology where the romance is often star-crossed, fated, and sometimes elements of reincarnation and past lives are involved. The story also contains several references to various anime, kpop (BTS, TXT), Hades & Persephone, and other easter eggs because as mentioned, I wrote it indulgently for myself. But! you do not need any prior knowledge of them to understand the scenes. If you catch them, yay! If you're curious about the references, there's a "Easter Eggs" section on my website on the DBF page.
Lastly, I think of Darker By Four as a contemporary interpretation of the xianxia genre (DBF is set in a modern Asian city like our world vs the more common 'fantasy past' in most xianxia), and it includes elements like spirit cultivation, qi "magic" and qi deviation, magical talismans, spiritual weapons, etc. so if you're familiar with xianxia, you might find connections to it.
Why the title?
I've had questions about the meaning behind the title and the Chinese character embedded in the title on the cover. In various Chinese languages, with a slight change in intonation, four (四) sounds like death or die (死). Thus, tetraphobia (the aversion to or fear of the number four) is a phenomenon common in East Asian countries and countries/societies with significant Chinese diaspora communities. Due to the tonal nature of Chinese languages, wordplay often occurs in colloquial speech and interaction. The title of this book, DARKER BY FOUR, is a reference to tetraphobia and a play on the sound of the number four in Mandarin and Cantonese. The Author’s Note section in the book goes into further detail on the use of numeronyms in the story.
The Darker By Four webpage on my website shares more inspiration about the mythology and culture behind the book - there's also character art and profiles, playlists, easter eggs, pronunciation guide, and bonus content! Click here! And yes, there is a sequel to DBF.
content warnings: themes and mentions of death, parental death (flashbacks), child abuse (inferred; non graphic), panic attacks and anxiety (including one episode that is briefly described), alcohol consumption by teenagers (the legal age for drinking in the story world is 18 years old), alcoholism (inferred), gambling addiction, fantasy violence.
12.5.2023 hi all! the preorder campaign has started! Please see my website & socials for more details. Click here!
Photos of the exact swag will be revealed soon! Excited to share all these goodies with you :D ICYMI, e-arcs are now available for request on NetGalley.
As always, please be aware of these CWs (see previous note below) <3
9.25.2023 hi all! arcs are now available for request on Netgalley and Edelweiss!
Please be aware of these CWs <3
themes and mentions of death, parental death (flashbacks), child abuse (inferred; non graphic), panic attacks and anxiety (including one episode that is briefly described), alcohol consumption by teenagers (the legal age for drinking in the story world is 18 years old), alcoholism (inferred), gambling addiction, fantasy violence.
Please note that the "arc" is an advanced reader copy that is not final. The story doesn't differ, but all typos, etc. will be addressed in the finished copy. Thank you for understanding! And thank you for reading :) Please avoid spoilers/tag your spoilers so that others may enjoy their reading experience, thank you!
here's a gist of what to expect from DARKER BY FOUR:
🔸queer Asian teens being the absolute worst in the best way possible
🔸soulmate + reincarnation tropes done xianxia C-drama style, but with a modern twist (think yuanfen, youyuan wufen)
🔸underworld mythology + death gods who love bubble tea
🔸grouchy angry girls + burnt cinnamon roll boys
🔸angsty, forbidden romance + platonic friendships/relationships
🔸humor in the darkness
🔸anime fight scenes
May 18, 2024
( update. ) 𓆩🍀𓆪 . . . 0 4 / 0 5 / 2 4 ! the way i incessantly think about this book must be studied. i could be doing the most mundane trivial task and my thoughts will still turn back to this book. i'll be walking down the stairs and remember that this masterpiece exists. i could be studying and remember that this masterpiece exists. THIS BOOK HAS PLAGUED MY THOUGHTS !!! if there's one book i've read in 2024 that i would like to recommend to all my moots, it's this one < 3
⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢୭ৎ⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢
( finished. ) 𓆩🍀𓆪 . . . 1 8 / 0 4 / 2 4 ! this is the best young adult book i think i've ever read. being able to fully enjoy a ya book when you've grown out of the genre is the literary equivalent of hitting the jackpot. the title may have a 4 in it, but the book deserves nothing less than ( 5★ ) glowing stars. thank u for your work june cl tan.
⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢୭ৎ⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢
⌗ ◌ 🍶𓂃 𓈒𓏸 pre-read
﹙started﹚ㅤ𓈒ㅤׂ 1 4 / 0 4 / 2 4 ⊹
manifesting circle:
🕯🕯 this book will be 5 stars. this book will be 5 stars. this book will be 5 stars 🕯🕯
⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢୭ৎ⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢
( finished. ) 𓆩🍀𓆪 . . . 1 8 / 0 4 / 2 4 ! this is the best young adult book i think i've ever read. being able to fully enjoy a ya book when you've grown out of the genre is the literary equivalent of hitting the jackpot. the title may have a 4 in it, but the book deserves nothing less than ( 5★ ) glowing stars. thank u for your work june cl tan.
⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢୭ৎ⌢⌢⌢⌢⌢
⌗ ◌ 🍶𓂃 𓈒𓏸 pre-read
﹙started﹚ㅤ𓈒ㅤׂ 1 4 / 0 4 / 2 4 ⊹
manifesting circle:
🕯🕯 this book will be 5 stars. this book will be 5 stars. this book will be 5 stars 🕯🕯
February 16, 2025
— I would give up this entire world for a single breath to leave your lips again. And then she watched the boy she loved doom the world she had sworn to protect.
Brilliantly written, Darker by Four follows Rui, Zizi, and Yiran while a disaster in the underworld unfolds and melds dangerously into the real one. All I can say is "read this book please?"
It was being one with the world, and the world was just the two of them, and they were one, the missing pieces of one soul filled by the other.
Darker by Four proves to be a good book. A book can only be enjoyable if it has a good plot, good romance, good characters, originality, and creativity etc. Even then, perhaps, it doesn't make it a good book. It needs substance, a certain level of reality: something that triggers thought. Perhaps not a mirror, but a dirty puddle on a crowded street, a muddled reflection of yourself among dozens of unknown faces, but a reflection nevertheless.
We’re only trying to survive, like all other living organisms. What makes it wrong? Aren’t you doing the same? Aren’t you training to survive? It’s the law of nature—eat or be eaten.
While Darker by Four has all the elements that make it enjoyable, it also offers that muddled reflection of our own world, and perhaps the realization that our world isn’t so clear as we thought it to be.
Because this is how it feels when your elders turn their backs, when institutions fall from grace, when the world moves on even as you’re standing still, when something you believe in turns out to be a lie. Because you’re no longer a child, and you’re realizing the world you live in operates in shades of gray. Sometimes, there isn’t a right or a wrong—there’s only doing the best you can in spite of the odds stacked up against you and forgiving yourself when you fall short.
— a note on language .ᐟ
(it’s never “a note” on language— it’s a whole 10 page thesis.)
The brilliance of June CL Tan needs to be seriously studied under a microscope: she is so ridiculously clever and if you don’t believe me, read the author’s note. Using English to give Chinese words a double meaning is one thing, but also integrating it into the story so now it has 3 possible interpretations is another.
We begin with the title: Darker by Four . As Tan explains in her author's note, tetraphobia isn’t uncommon in Chinese communities. Four in Mandarin is 四, and death/die in Mandarin is 死. 死 can act as both a noun or a verb: death or dying. However, past/present/future tenses are also not strictly defined in a single character: it's the characters around them that define when they belong. So do we read Darker by Four as Darker by Death or Darker by Dying? Or maybe we pull the connections from the story, from the character Four.
Moving onto the chapter titles, more specifically the first and the last: Five Four and Five Three, Five Four. As Tan also explained, the English gives the Chinese a double meaning, but in context with the story: there are actually more meanings that can be extracted.
Starting with the first chapter, Five Four. A direct read-aloud can change the shapes of the words into 无死 or 我死. In English, we get no death or I die. But a combination of the two languages reveals a third, easier translation: 无 Four or without Four, which is exactly what the story centers on. Even then, the other interpretations also fit into the themes of the story.
Moving onto the last chapter, Five Three, Five Four. A direct translation bears no meaning: 五三，五四; however, if you give the characters a voice, then we have a different story. 我散，我死；无散，无死 ；我生，我死；无生，无死 are the options that Tan offers: I split, I die; No split, No death; I live, I die; No life, No death. All of these interpretations and every single possibility, every combination matches with the conclusion, not so final but not so temporary. There is separation; there is life; there is death. There isn’t separation; there isn’t life; there isn’t death. In retrospect, the entire story can be told with those four words: Five Three, Five Four. The possibilities? Eight in total, including my own interpretations, are all somewhat true but still somewhat false.
Tan treats language with extreme care. The only way they make sense is in that very context. These exact words, only paired with this story, to someone who understands the translations. In just 4 words, the story is unraveled.
July 4, 2025
This book is fast-paced, fun, and a guaranteed good time for readers who like anime and are interested in folklore. For the anime lovers, it has these kinds of vibes: Bleach, JJK, Noragami, and Tokyo Ghoul. Probably more, but those were the big ones.
Wow. What an amazing world June C.L. Tan’s created in Darker by Four! Because of the familiar vibes of the anime listed above, it was easier than normal for me to visualize every scene in the book. I could picture things perfectly, from complex fight scenes to simple conversations between characters on the street. The magic was cool, the revenants and hybrids were cool, the Underworld was cool, the characters were cool… I’m sure you can tell I’m obsessed.
Please read this book, I’m begging you.
Wow. What an amazing world June C.L. Tan’s created in Darker by Four! Because of the familiar vibes of the anime listed above, it was easier than normal for me to visualize every scene in the book. I could picture things perfectly, from complex fight scenes to simple conversations between characters on the street. The magic was cool, the revenants and hybrids were cool, the Underworld was cool, the characters were cool… I’m sure you can tell I’m obsessed.
Please read this book, I’m begging you.
March 11, 2024
Darker by Four is an ambitious YA urban fantasy inspired by Chinese mythology. Though I was intrigued by many aspects of the story, I found the story a bit underwhelming and failed to connect with the characters.
I loved the urban fantasy world of demons, demon hunters, kings of hell, and a magic academy. I am particularly intrigued by the unique approach to the underworld and the strange problems that plague both worlds. Darker by Four is both simple and overcomplicated. The actual plot is quite straightforward, however, there are a lot of plot threads that are introduced at the same time. Most of these are left to be addressed in the sequel which made the story feel unsatisfying and rushed.
The biggest obstacle to my enjoyment was my apathy towards the characters. We are told a lot about them but it felt like they had no personality. Rui felt particularly distant. In an attempt to make her seem badass and aloof, she came across as flat. Yiran’s story often felt disconnected from the main plot, especially, toward the end. Zizi was definitely my favorite character, but he was underutilized. All three of the main characters rarely interact at the same time which killed the promised found family vibes.
Admittedly the romance was a major draw for the book for me. I do feel like the way it has been advertised is a bit misleading as it emphasizes very, very minor plot points. I liked one of the relationships but there wasn't quite enough tension leading up to it. The other relationship was frankly ridiculous and I couldn't take it seriously.
Maybe it's just me and my tendency to question everything I am told while reading, but I found the plot twist almost painfully predictable. Because I called it so early on, I spent the whole book waiting for the twist to be revealed. This really killed the pacing and made the story drag for me.
Darker by Four weaves together a lot of interesting concepts, but too many of these elements are underdeveloped making it a rather forgettable experience.
Thank you HarperCollins for the eARC
Links to my TikTok | Instagram
I loved the urban fantasy world of demons, demon hunters, kings of hell, and a magic academy. I am particularly intrigued by the unique approach to the underworld and the strange problems that plague both worlds. Darker by Four is both simple and overcomplicated. The actual plot is quite straightforward, however, there are a lot of plot threads that are introduced at the same time. Most of these are left to be addressed in the sequel which made the story feel unsatisfying and rushed.
The biggest obstacle to my enjoyment was my apathy towards the characters. We are told a lot about them but it felt like they had no personality. Rui felt particularly distant. In an attempt to make her seem badass and aloof, she came across as flat. Yiran’s story often felt disconnected from the main plot, especially, toward the end. Zizi was definitely my favorite character, but he was underutilized. All three of the main characters rarely interact at the same time which killed the promised found family vibes.
Admittedly the romance was a major draw for the book for me. I do feel like the way it has been advertised is a bit misleading as it emphasizes very, very minor plot points. I liked one of the relationships but there wasn't quite enough tension leading up to it. The other relationship was frankly ridiculous and I couldn't take it seriously.
Maybe it's just me and my tendency to question everything I am told while reading, but I found the plot twist almost painfully predictable. Because I called it so early on, I spent the whole book waiting for the twist to be revealed. This really killed the pacing and made the story drag for me.
Darker by Four weaves together a lot of interesting concepts, but too many of these elements are underdeveloped making it a rather forgettable experience.
Thank you HarperCollins for the eARC
Links to my TikTok | Instagram
October 15, 2024
"I would give up this entire world for a single breath to leave your lips again."
AUTHOR WHY HAVE YOU HURT ME LIKE THIS??? give my children a break😭 is this a trilogy or duology because otherwise im scared i need happiness for them all ASAP (mostly rui and zizi but also yiran ig
this was book was literally MADE for the readers who have always wanted an anime turned into a book because truly this is how i felt and loved every single second of it. i've of course always been able to visualize scenes while reading (as im sure many others do), but there was just something so fun and different in my experience reading DBF because not only did it give me the jjk and noragami vibes that i wanted but i was literally just running anime scenes in my head during specific scenes and it made the reading experience so much more fun??? if there's any book that would work so well adapted as an anime, it's this one.
but moving on, i literally adored every single part of this book from beginning to end, it was so addicting i could stop (until forced to and even then i couldnt stop thinking about DBF omg). the characters were spectacularly written and theyre my babies who need to be protected at all costs i love them so much!! (well except maybe yiran i dont care too much about him BUT to be fair any sneaky plan he had against rui was like a personal attack against me because i love her LOL🙈 he did grow on me a little by the end! so now im half-half on caring about him, but he does deserve much love especially after dealing with *that* horrible person)
RUI AND ZIZI MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITES THOUGH. him and rui <3333 is it any surprise i loved them so much considering the friends-to-lovers trope happening right there??? theyre absolutely so adorable and wholesome their scenes had me with silly grins on my face i love them your honor!! zizi being the goofy, sweet sunshine and rui as the grumpy one (but also secretly a teddy bear, especially when it comes to zizi🤭) ajsdjgsj the love they have for each other AND THE QUOTES. zizi being the romantic one please🥹 i have SO many scenes highlighted featuring those two literally them <3
i love how distinct the voices were for each pov chapter and honestly every one of them was so interesting, im dying to know more about the underworld and the kings and i suspect book 2 will feature lots more of that!!👀 super excited for that omg i need answers.
honestly i really had fun reading DBF and the only reason why its not a 5 star is because, yes this may be a weird reason, but it just didnt give me that "5 star feeling" i get after reading a book?? a wise person
Thank you to the author for sending me an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!!
March 11, 2024
This was sensational.
From its first page, Darker by Four pulled me into a dark and shadowy world of vengeance, monsters and secrets and I was more than happy to be there. With superbly developed characters, an excitingly crafted world and a plot that had me latched on to its every word, Darker by Four is an addictive start to a gritty new urban fantasy duology and one I can't wait to revisit when the time for book two comes around.
From its first page, Darker by Four pulled me into a dark and shadowy world of vengeance, monsters and secrets and I was more than happy to be there. With superbly developed characters, an excitingly crafted world and a plot that had me latched on to its every word, Darker by Four is an addictive start to a gritty new urban fantasy duology and one I can't wait to revisit when the time for book two comes around.
June 9, 2024
4 stars. High-octane, steeped in the lore of the Chinese underworld, and very much an anime-made-book, Darker by Four simultaneously feels fresh and familiar and I'm excited for the sequel.
April 11, 2024
Oh my stars, this sounds like f*cking (paradoxically 🤷🏼♀️🤣💀) heaven. I need. I neeeed! Oml ecstatic for this booook!
June 4, 2024
2.75 ⭐️ I’d so much hope for this book and it ended up being such a disappointment :(
In theory it has all the things we love but just didn’t hit, the beginning was ok, the middle was boring and the end was rushed, everything seemed out of place
The romance between Rui & Zizi was the only thing I really loved but it ended up being very much in the background throughout the entire book so even that didn’t save it for me (there were several famous quotes like the “who did this to you” but 90% seemed forced)
I didn’t like Yiran, didn’t care about Nikai & Four and if Ten can be a king of hell then I can be tinker bell bc that man is so unserious 🤡 The final plot was also super confusing (probably bc it was rushed) and I ended up with more questions than answers (and zero desire to read the next one tbh)
I think the book had a lot of potential, the characters were at least ok and the setting was good but it really lacked better development
In theory it has all the things we love but just didn’t hit, the beginning was ok, the middle was boring and the end was rushed, everything seemed out of place
The romance between Rui & Zizi was the only thing I really loved but it ended up being very much in the background throughout the entire book so even that didn’t save it for me (there were several famous quotes like the “who did this to you” but 90% seemed forced)
I didn’t like Yiran, didn’t care about Nikai & Four and if Ten can be a king of hell then I can be tinker bell bc that man is so unserious 🤡 The final plot was also super confusing (probably bc it was rushed) and I ended up with more questions than answers (and zero desire to read the next one tbh)
I think the book had a lot of potential, the characters were at least ok and the setting was good but it really lacked better development
November 21, 2023
It’s been eight days and I can’t stop thinking about this book. When I say this was SO good!!
June’s writing has grown and improved so much since Jade Fire Gold and I couldn’t put this book down. The comp to Shadowhunters is accurate and I love how this concept worked with Chinese gods and underworld. I want the next book NOW!
I received an e-arc of this title from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
June’s writing has grown and improved so much since Jade Fire Gold and I couldn’t put this book down. The comp to Shadowhunters is accurate and I love how this concept worked with Chinese gods and underworld. I want the next book NOW!
I received an e-arc of this title from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 9, 2024
Rui studies at the special academy for people who have magic and learns to fight the Revenants. Rui is doing everything she can to train hard and hone her powers as she wants to kill the Revenant who killed her mother when she was fourteen. This particular Revenant wasn't any ordinary Revenant, Rui claims that it was a hybrid which, according to the guild, doesn't exist. Rui thinks maybe the guild is wrong and will prove it to everyone by hunting that Revenant and killing it.
Yiran was born into the most influential family that operates the guild. His grandfather and half-brother are the legendary Revenant killers and high-ranking officials at the guild. Yiran also wants to prove himself but Yiran wasn't born with any magic. When Yiran happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time or the right time in this case, he feels magic coursing through his body. This is Yiran's chance to do everything he always wanted, but the magic is too powerful and Yiran never had any training to control it, so now he has to learn to control it and attend the same academy Rui attends.
Nikai is a reaper of the underworld. There are ten kings of the underworld. After the Fourth King of Hell disappears, Nikai looks everywhere to find him. Nikai never thought it would get him tangled with Rui and Yiran.
Zizi owns the knick-knack shop. Zizi can also do magic like Rui but doesn't attend the same academy as he believes the guild tries to control the magic and the people who can do magic. Zizi is also a powerful sorcerer who specialises in difficult spells and Rui's friend. When Zizi creates an illegal spell for Rui to try, he never expects the results to be so permanent and sets a chain of events that no one could have thought of.
I love mythology so I dived into this with enthusiasm. I loved the beginning, the world-building, the urban setting, and getting to know each character, it was all very intriguing and gripping but then we hit the middle where nothing really happens until the very end.
The writing was okay. The characters were okay at the start, but they got annoying as the book progressed. I didn't like anyone except for Zizi whom I loved so very much. I wanted to love Rui but she relied way too much on Zizi to save her every time something went wrong, and this wasn't just after she lost her magic. Zizi also saved her life from the hybrid Revenant. But this wasn't the main reason for my dislike of her. I felt Rui was using Zizi knowing that Zizi liked her and that's why always helped her, she tried to reason that Zizi couldn't like her because she wasn't pretty and all of this was just transactional. Yiran was just there and had no character development. Nikai wasn't there much and I wanted to know more about him but I did like the parts of the underworld that were shown. Zizi was undoubtedly the most interesting character.
The mythology woven with the story was done well yet at the same time it felt like not much was shared. I know this is the first book and more will be explained in the upcoming books. I wish that middle part wasn't so boring. I had guessed the mystery yet was stumped because when it unfolded, I never expected it to be so (for the lack of a better word) creepy. I would have given a higher rating had it not been for that reason. I don't know if I want to continue with the series.
2 stars
Yiran was born into the most influential family that operates the guild. His grandfather and half-brother are the legendary Revenant killers and high-ranking officials at the guild. Yiran also wants to prove himself but Yiran wasn't born with any magic. When Yiran happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time or the right time in this case, he feels magic coursing through his body. This is Yiran's chance to do everything he always wanted, but the magic is too powerful and Yiran never had any training to control it, so now he has to learn to control it and attend the same academy Rui attends.
Nikai is a reaper of the underworld. There are ten kings of the underworld. After the Fourth King of Hell disappears, Nikai looks everywhere to find him. Nikai never thought it would get him tangled with Rui and Yiran.
Zizi owns the knick-knack shop. Zizi can also do magic like Rui but doesn't attend the same academy as he believes the guild tries to control the magic and the people who can do magic. Zizi is also a powerful sorcerer who specialises in difficult spells and Rui's friend. When Zizi creates an illegal spell for Rui to try, he never expects the results to be so permanent and sets a chain of events that no one could have thought of.
I love mythology so I dived into this with enthusiasm. I loved the beginning, the world-building, the urban setting, and getting to know each character, it was all very intriguing and gripping but then we hit the middle where nothing really happens until the very end.
The writing was okay. The characters were okay at the start, but they got annoying as the book progressed. I didn't like anyone except for Zizi whom I loved so very much. I wanted to love Rui but she relied way too much on Zizi to save her every time something went wrong, and this wasn't just after she lost her magic. Zizi also saved her life from the hybrid Revenant. But this wasn't the main reason for my dislike of her. I felt Rui was using Zizi knowing that Zizi liked her and that's why always helped her, she tried to reason that Zizi couldn't like her because she wasn't pretty and all of this was just transactional. Yiran was just there and had no character development. Nikai wasn't there much and I wanted to know more about him but I did like the parts of the underworld that were shown. Zizi was undoubtedly the most interesting character.
The mythology woven with the story was done well yet at the same time it felt like not much was shared. I know this is the first book and more will be explained in the upcoming books. I wish that middle part wasn't so boring. I had guessed the mystery yet was stumped because when it unfolded, I never expected it to be so (for the lack of a better word) creepy. I would have given a higher rating had it not been for that reason. I don't know if I want to continue with the series.
2 stars
July 20, 2024
pre-read review
The update on June C. L Tan's twitter
Rui: grouchy bi Exorcist-in-training who needs a nap
Zizi: pan mage from the underground magical community who's a self-proclaimed Rui-sexual
Yiran: bi illegitimate black sheep of an illustrious magical family
Give me this cast I need to READ THISSS
The update on June C. L Tan's twitter
Rui: grouchy bi Exorcist-in-training who needs a nap
Zizi: pan mage from the underground magical community who's a self-proclaimed Rui-sexual
Yiran: bi illegitimate black sheep of an illustrious magical family
Give me this cast I need to READ THISSS
July 9, 2024
Pretty good. The highlight of this book was the romance. I love Zizi and was very interested to read more about Yiran and Yuki.
dnf
September 10, 2025dnf 16%
main character just said "face card never declines"
main character just said "face card never declines"
October 2, 2023
4.5 stars
This cured my book slump. I was sucked in from the first page! This book is both rich in characters and plot, the world building was easy to understand, the characters were easy to fall in love with (especially my girl Rui) and the romance I ate it up.
I can't wait to see what happens with them in the future of the series.They are adorable. The second book couldn’t come fast enough!
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This cured my book slump. I was sucked in from the first page! This book is both rich in characters and plot, the world building was easy to understand, the characters were easy to fall in love with (especially my girl Rui) and the romance I ate it up.
I can't wait to see what happens with them in the future of the series.They are adorable. The second book couldn’t come fast enough!
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 2, 2024
Many thanks to Em for joining me for this buddy read!
2024 seems to be the year where no book wants to hit the five star mark for me - and I just want to start this review by saying that Darker by Four came this close. It was a near perfect read for me and while it didn't quite hit the five star mark for me yet again, it's one of my favourite reads of the year and all around a pretty fantastic book.
It is from start to finish entertaining and draws you in with its action, mysteries and intriguing characters. It has a reasonably large cast with arguably three main characters and quite prominent side characters, all flawed but loveable with in all their different shades of grey. I love the multiple point of views which shift at just the right times, giving us a good over all view and often makes it hard to know who to root for as one character's happiness always seems to come at the cost of another's.
I loved how Chinese mythology, culture and also language were woven into the story although it also raises an issue I have with many books; I wish that English books that use non-English words would provide footnotes. Now in this particular case, I'm learning Mandarin and the familiar words added a lot to the atmosphere while reading. But I imagine that someone unfamiliar with the words wouldn't quite know where to place them, the same way I feel when I read books that use languages that I am unfamiliar with. Some authors try to get around that by repeating the word in English but that always reads very juvenile to me. My personal preference would be footnotes and I truly wish more authors would consider using this for their books.
Plot, pacing and characters were all equally strong on this novel. And while I found all characters strong on their own, I also felt the relationships were really well done. Given that we have a trio of main characters, I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't any romance drama. There was perhaps a small dose of jealousy but nothing worth the mention, it was really well done and I enjoyed the relationships with all the other characters, even the brief ones with characters that only appeared for a chapter or two were included in a convincing and organic way. It's because all of this was done so well that I found it rather disappointing that an additional romance story was included in the late chapters. I shan't elaborate to keep this spoiler-free, but while I think this particular direction adds an interesting direction for the plot, the lack of build up was disappointing and didn't fit in with the rest of the otherwise well threaded plot.
While I wish the second romance plot had been slower or introduced sooner, I am still very much interested to see where this reads. It did cost this book the full five stars I might have otherwise given it, but it was an immensely fun book and one I will try to read the sequel as soon as I can. I'm usually quite good at waiting out cliff hangers, but this one doesn't just leave us with one, it leaves us with three - thank you for that! A very fun book and very much recommended but definitely one to be mindful of if you don't do well with cliffhangers.
May 11, 2024
it’s struggle when you decided early on that nikai is your favorite character and we get maybe 6 out of 56 chapters of him
dnf
August 2, 2025DNF @ 50%
I like the side characters (Zizi, Nikai and the Kings of Hell) but I can't stand the MC's (Rui and Yiran).
Sigh. If only we were following the side characters instead then I wouldn't be DNF'ing this.
I like the side characters (Zizi, Nikai and the Kings of Hell) but I can't stand the MC's (Rui and Yiran).
Sigh. If only we were following the side characters instead then I wouldn't be DNF'ing this.
July 10, 2025
3.25 stars
“They say each King is born without a heart. But when Four sees her body lying motionless on the softly fallen snow, he knows it is a lie.”
upcoming spoiler alert… i apologise for this rant about the end, but i don’t know anyone else who has read this yet.
now that i got that rant out of the way.
the premise of this book is really cool but i have a lot of mixed feelings so i landed on a 3.25 star rating. while some of the reveals were a bit predictable, there were some aspects of story that were well done. i loved the implied existence of soulmates and thought this was a good take. the side ship, however, came out of nowhere with absolutely zero build-up, and i agree with everyone else who thought it was sort of silly.
i liked and found our main trio (plus nikai) interesting to varying extents, but literally every other character had the depth of a rain puddle. it did also take a while to get into the first chunk of the book, and i was initially sure this series wasn’t for me and i would dnf, but once it found its footing, i was enjoying my time more.
i never like pop culture in books but some of the ones in here really took me out of the story. this may be an alternative modern day, but the way the characters speak is so goofy. “this face card never declines”-[GUNSHOT] that was a line from yiran, of course 😐 maybe some people actually use internet speech/lingo irl, but i can’t take the dialogue seriously when they speak like that.
despite all of this, i do sort of want to see how this all resolves, so this first book did its job in making me want to stay for the sequel, which i have to respect. we’ll see what happens. despite my earlier criticism of yiran, his dynamic with rui and zizi is what carried this book for me.
i also did this one by audiobook and instantly recognised emily woo zeller’s narration- which was great as always!
“They say each King is born without a heart. But when Four sees her body lying motionless on the softly fallen snow, he knows it is a lie.”
upcoming spoiler alert… i apologise for this rant about the end, but i don’t know anyone else who has read this yet.
now that i got that rant out of the way.
the premise of this book is really cool but i have a lot of mixed feelings so i landed on a 3.25 star rating. while some of the reveals were a bit predictable, there were some aspects of story that were well done. i loved the implied existence of soulmates and thought this was a good take. the side ship, however, came out of nowhere with absolutely zero build-up, and i agree with everyone else who thought it was sort of silly.
i liked and found our main trio (plus nikai) interesting to varying extents, but literally every other character had the depth of a rain puddle. it did also take a while to get into the first chunk of the book, and i was initially sure this series wasn’t for me and i would dnf, but once it found its footing, i was enjoying my time more.
i never like pop culture in books but some of the ones in here really took me out of the story. this may be an alternative modern day, but the way the characters speak is so goofy. “this face card never declines”-[GUNSHOT] that was a line from yiran, of course 😐 maybe some people actually use internet speech/lingo irl, but i can’t take the dialogue seriously when they speak like that.
despite all of this, i do sort of want to see how this all resolves, so this first book did its job in making me want to stay for the sequel, which i have to respect. we’ll see what happens. despite my earlier criticism of yiran, his dynamic with rui and zizi is what carried this book for me.
i also did this one by audiobook and instantly recognised emily woo zeller’s narration- which was great as always!
April 6, 2024
Darker By Four was a deliciously intriguing and exhilaratingly pacey urban fantasy, with a slow burn, (and heart meltingly sweet) friends to lovers romance I absolutely adored.
With inspiration ranging from The Ten Courts of Hell to Manga and Xianxia C dramas, it’s hard not to fall in love with Tan’s rich and utterly compulsive storytelling which reminded soo much of the urban fantasy books I adored as a teen/young adult in the 2010s.
Like Jade Fire Gold (Tan’s debut which I also enjoyed) I was instantly drawn in by the multilayered and nuanced cast of characters whose personalities, intertwined fates and emotional journeys had me thoroughly hooked.
Though I loved protagonist, Rui whose tough and standoffish outer exterior hides a complex, tender hearted teen still dealing with the murder of her mother and the emotional breakdown of her father—it was mage, Zizi (Rui’s longtime friend and love interest) that completely stole my heart.
His sunshiny demeanour paired well with Rui’s grumpy one and I loved how easily he was able to make Rui forget all her worries. The banter was phenomenal as well, serving as the perfect dose of comic relief between the more intense, emotionally charged scenes—especially when Yiran is introduced and viewed (by Zizi) as competition for Rui’s attention.
Yiran, much like Rui is quite an emotionally detached character when we first meet him, but his frosty demeanour soon melts as we delve into the hurt and emotional pain that has built up from a lifetime of being sidelined and overlooked by his family (whether that’s because of his illegitimacy or not inheriting the power his family are infamous for.) It’s definitely quite heartbreaking to explore, but his arc is the one I feel people may resonate with the most.
The one sided rivalry aside, the secrets, twists and revelations really propelled the narrative to that exquisitely explosive conclusion, and even had me second guessing every character (and decision) I came across. There were about two or three characters I had been certain were Four and I was wrong about all of them!
Overall, a high octane, high stakes and gorgeously immersive read that fans of The Shadowhunter Chronicles or pacey, YA Fantasy should consider checking out.
Also, a massive thank you to Kate Keehan & Hodderscape for the proof.
With inspiration ranging from The Ten Courts of Hell to Manga and Xianxia C dramas, it’s hard not to fall in love with Tan’s rich and utterly compulsive storytelling which reminded soo much of the urban fantasy books I adored as a teen/young adult in the 2010s.
Like Jade Fire Gold (Tan’s debut which I also enjoyed) I was instantly drawn in by the multilayered and nuanced cast of characters whose personalities, intertwined fates and emotional journeys had me thoroughly hooked.
Though I loved protagonist, Rui whose tough and standoffish outer exterior hides a complex, tender hearted teen still dealing with the murder of her mother and the emotional breakdown of her father—it was mage, Zizi (Rui’s longtime friend and love interest) that completely stole my heart.
His sunshiny demeanour paired well with Rui’s grumpy one and I loved how easily he was able to make Rui forget all her worries. The banter was phenomenal as well, serving as the perfect dose of comic relief between the more intense, emotionally charged scenes—especially when Yiran is introduced and viewed (by Zizi) as competition for Rui’s attention.
Yiran, much like Rui is quite an emotionally detached character when we first meet him, but his frosty demeanour soon melts as we delve into the hurt and emotional pain that has built up from a lifetime of being sidelined and overlooked by his family (whether that’s because of his illegitimacy or not inheriting the power his family are infamous for.) It’s definitely quite heartbreaking to explore, but his arc is the one I feel people may resonate with the most.
The one sided rivalry aside, the secrets, twists and revelations really propelled the narrative to that exquisitely explosive conclusion, and even had me second guessing every character (and decision) I came across. There were about two or three characters I had been certain were Four and I was wrong about all of them!
Overall, a high octane, high stakes and gorgeously immersive read that fans of The Shadowhunter Chronicles or pacey, YA Fantasy should consider checking out.
Also, a massive thank you to Kate Keehan & Hodderscape for the proof.
July 6, 2024
It's been a hot minute since I had so much fun reading a ya fantasy and darker by four exceeded all my expectations.
Darker by Four is an urban ya fantasy told from three perspectives: Rui, who's training to be an exorcist so she can hunt down the creature that killed her mom; Yiran, a non-sorcerer who had a run-in with Rui and changed the trajectory of his life; and finally Nikai, a reaper who's looking for his long-lost King.
I love how fast-paced this book is and it's definitely one of those that you can read in one sitting because not only is it digestible, but it's also a fun read. I had such an amazing time reading this. I like that the author didn't waste too much time explaining the lore, instead, we learn as we go. This is something that a lot of ya fantasy authors struggled with I realised. They tend to spend too much time on the worldbuilding and that disrupts the reading experience. But here, we learn about the world as the book progresses and the author has done it very organically as well.
I also like how grounded this book is. But a big part of the reason is because it's an urban fantasy and it's set in a world that's similar to ours but with magic. The setting feels very immersive because the author injected real-life objects in the book like bubble tea and k-pop references. Honestly, I find it works in the book's favour because it allows me to imagine myself in that scenario.
Rui's characters are exceptionally well-crafted, capturing the essence of teenage behavior. They are slightly rebellious, constantly seeking to prove themselves, exploring their sexuality, displaying a certain naivety due to their lack of real-life experience, and showing a temperamental nature. I love a fully-fleshed-out character and I'd say, she's one.
That plot twist at the end of the book? Absolutely mind-blowing. The author's masterful misdirection kept me completely unsuspecting until the very moment of the reveal—pure genius. Now, it all makes sense why the story was told from these three characters' perspectives.
Like I said, it's been a while since I had so much fun reading a fantasy book. I just wish book 2 will be out soon because we need to know what the hell is going on.
Darker by Four is an urban ya fantasy told from three perspectives: Rui, who's training to be an exorcist so she can hunt down the creature that killed her mom; Yiran, a non-sorcerer who had a run-in with Rui and changed the trajectory of his life; and finally Nikai, a reaper who's looking for his long-lost King.
I love how fast-paced this book is and it's definitely one of those that you can read in one sitting because not only is it digestible, but it's also a fun read. I had such an amazing time reading this. I like that the author didn't waste too much time explaining the lore, instead, we learn as we go. This is something that a lot of ya fantasy authors struggled with I realised. They tend to spend too much time on the worldbuilding and that disrupts the reading experience. But here, we learn about the world as the book progresses and the author has done it very organically as well.
I also like how grounded this book is. But a big part of the reason is because it's an urban fantasy and it's set in a world that's similar to ours but with magic. The setting feels very immersive because the author injected real-life objects in the book like bubble tea and k-pop references. Honestly, I find it works in the book's favour because it allows me to imagine myself in that scenario.
Rui's characters are exceptionally well-crafted, capturing the essence of teenage behavior. They are slightly rebellious, constantly seeking to prove themselves, exploring their sexuality, displaying a certain naivety due to their lack of real-life experience, and showing a temperamental nature. I love a fully-fleshed-out character and I'd say, she's one.
That plot twist at the end of the book? Absolutely mind-blowing. The author's masterful misdirection kept me completely unsuspecting until the very moment of the reveal—pure genius. Now, it all makes sense why the story was told from these three characters' perspectives.
Like I said, it's been a while since I had so much fun reading a fantasy book. I just wish book 2 will be out soon because we need to know what the hell is going on.
April 8, 2024
this was one of the more enjoyable ya fantasy that truly got be hooked, locked and loaded, you name it. but if you think I'll give a flying fuck about yiran whining like a bitch and acting out towards rui about losing the magic that wasn't his in the first place, you simply underestimated how indifferent i can be towards kids from rich families
September 20, 2023
I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me a chance at this rather interesting read!
Darker than Four is an interesting drama with secrets and mysteries set in a world like our own but not quite our own. It took me a while to get used to this world - cars, cities, etc. exist (even fantasy films too). But, in this world, there is something called The Blight, in this world, the Blight turns people into monsters. There are also those who are monsters but have their humanity still a part of them (or fighting it).
The book begins with a car crash, a pregnant woman is about to loose her baby. At the scene is a mysterious group of people called 'Reapers' and you find out that they are here to usher the souls into the great beyond. You also find out that the great beyond is split into various dominions, these dominions are guarded / ruled by kings named after numbers - One, Two, Three, Four etc. One, Four, and Ten are present. Four is a young twenty-looking something, One is older, and Ten is older in looks and age but not by much. Four has the power to stop death. It is not done often, and One requests this of Four. Four does so. Ten has an object that Four wants. Four asks for it, but in return he must grant something to Ten and the promise to let him know what this object is. Four leaves and vanishes never to be seen again. Four also has a Reaper who is his friend, who was found by Four, and works for him.
Eighteen years later, we find out that the girl has grown up, her mother has passed on, and her father is still alive but in a not so rocky relationship with her. Apparently, this is where it took some time to get used to - there are people called Exorcists, whose job is to find these creatures that were caused by the Blight and get rid of them with their powers. Our FL is a very gifted Exorcist - both in skills and powers.
We are also introduced to another boy, who is also 18, and lacks powers. He apparently is part of a family of Exorcists who all amounted to great things except him. He wishes he could have powers and make his grandfather (who is known as the big man in the world of these Exorcists) proud.,
Our FL has a friend that she sees who has powers, chooses not to be an Exorcist, and dabbles with magic experiments. He is part of a group of underground magic users. She goes to him to try out a spell, which allows power to be split and given to someone else, or removed from that person. She tests it out because he found her helped her when her mother passed due to a killing by one of these creatures, and because she also likes him.
It is during a hunt for her mother's killer, and the creatures in general, the FL and ML meet, and in a dire situation she gives him her power. The power then is given to him, and starts off a chain reaction of things that link them all together, and draws attention to the reapers in regards to the missing god Four.
If you watch CDramas, there is a lot of tropes and plot devices used in this. If you're not used to CDramas or this is might be a little rough on your reading scale. For me, this book has a big one - reincarnation and or transmigration. Also the use of magical terms / powers like qui.
The reason I mark this down is that while I enjoyed the story, I feel like I'm missing something in the way that things were explained. It wasn't quite clear over the Blight, where the creatures exactly came from, what does the rest of the world think of this, and of course - the missing God Four and why exactly he vanished. Based on he ending for the characters discussed we will find out in book two, but I feel like the writing could have been clearer to the reader or a way of making it flow without giving away these details could be helpful.
Still, it's most certainly a different read, and one that I encourage people to try if they're getting tired of Western fantasy.
Darker than Four is an interesting drama with secrets and mysteries set in a world like our own but not quite our own. It took me a while to get used to this world - cars, cities, etc. exist (even fantasy films too). But, in this world, there is something called The Blight, in this world, the Blight turns people into monsters. There are also those who are monsters but have their humanity still a part of them (or fighting it).
The book begins with a car crash, a pregnant woman is about to loose her baby. At the scene is a mysterious group of people called 'Reapers' and you find out that they are here to usher the souls into the great beyond. You also find out that the great beyond is split into various dominions, these dominions are guarded / ruled by kings named after numbers - One, Two, Three, Four etc. One, Four, and Ten are present. Four is a young twenty-looking something, One is older, and Ten is older in looks and age but not by much. Four has the power to stop death. It is not done often, and One requests this of Four. Four does so. Ten has an object that Four wants. Four asks for it, but in return he must grant something to Ten and the promise to let him know what this object is. Four leaves and vanishes never to be seen again. Four also has a Reaper who is his friend, who was found by Four, and works for him.
Eighteen years later, we find out that the girl has grown up, her mother has passed on, and her father is still alive but in a not so rocky relationship with her. Apparently, this is where it took some time to get used to - there are people called Exorcists, whose job is to find these creatures that were caused by the Blight and get rid of them with their powers. Our FL is a very gifted Exorcist - both in skills and powers.
We are also introduced to another boy, who is also 18, and lacks powers. He apparently is part of a family of Exorcists who all amounted to great things except him. He wishes he could have powers and make his grandfather (who is known as the big man in the world of these Exorcists) proud.,
Our FL has a friend that she sees who has powers, chooses not to be an Exorcist, and dabbles with magic experiments. He is part of a group of underground magic users. She goes to him to try out a spell, which allows power to be split and given to someone else, or removed from that person. She tests it out because he found her helped her when her mother passed due to a killing by one of these creatures, and because she also likes him.
It is during a hunt for her mother's killer, and the creatures in general, the FL and ML meet, and in a dire situation she gives him her power. The power then is given to him, and starts off a chain reaction of things that link them all together, and draws attention to the reapers in regards to the missing god Four.
If you watch CDramas, there is a lot of tropes and plot devices used in this. If you're not used to CDramas or this is might be a little rough on your reading scale. For me, this book has a big one - reincarnation and or transmigration. Also the use of magical terms / powers like qui.
The reason I mark this down is that while I enjoyed the story, I feel like I'm missing something in the way that things were explained. It wasn't quite clear over the Blight, where the creatures exactly came from, what does the rest of the world think of this, and of course - the missing God Four and why exactly he vanished. Based on he ending for the characters discussed we will find out in book two, but I feel like the writing could have been clearer to the reader or a way of making it flow without giving away these details could be helpful.
Still, it's most certainly a different read, and one that I encourage people to try if they're getting tired of Western fantasy.
April 7, 2024
2024 reads: 84/250
i won an advanced review copy in a giveaway hosted by the author. this did not affect my rating.
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 won an advanced review copy in a giveaway hosted by the author. this did not affect my rating.
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!
May 18, 2024
4.25⭐️
I LOVE ZIZI
I LOVE ZIZI
July 5, 2025
Darker by Four follows three equally memorable and distinct characters as their fate collides with one another, leading to interesting character dynamics and an ambitious tale filled with ravenous demons, a shady order, and a lot of mystery and intrigue where hell and earth collide. My heart wants to give this a 3.5, but because the characters were so strong in this and I found them all so likeable, I’m going to bump this up to a 4 star read.
Darker by Four is very Legendborn coded. It follows a magical girl whose mother was killed by a half demon – or hybrid – and now trains to become an exorcist to get revenge. Simple enough? Unfortunately not. Rui’s plans for revenge suddenly get thrown away when her magic gets transferred to Yiran, a bastard son adopted into an illustrious family who has no powers, is an outcast to the family, and whose grandfather runs a shady guild to exorcise demons.
The beginning of the novel was so strong and hooked me in immediately. It wastes no time introducing you to the different characters, their backstory, and personalities, who all feel so distinct and three dimensional. I really enjoyed the multiple POVs in this one, and was invested in everyone’s stories. Rui is someone you immediately understand and feel sorry for with the death of her mother and being unable to stop it. You understand her quest for revenge and what drives her.
I see a lot of people in the reviews hating Yiran, but I personally found him the most compelling character. While I wasn’t sure how I felt about him initially with how rich and entitled he was, it wasn’t long until I sympathised with his character, too, with how well his backstory was told, seeing how cruel he was treated being a bastard son with no powers when the rest are so successful. He sees himself as a failure and is constantly reminded by it, and you understand his drive to prove himself and belong to the family.
Rui and Yiran don’t meet right away, but when they do, you already understand both of their motivations. You sympathise with Rui for losing her powers, but also root for Yiran for gaining them so that he can finally belong. It was really interesting seeing their dynamic play out throughout the story, being bonded to one another, and seeing their unlikely friendship bloom despite their differences.
It also throws you straight into the action with the revenants (demons) and I found it done really well, especially with the way Rui and Yiran had to immediately set aside their differences to help each other even when despising the other initially. The action set pieces were wonderfully done and felt like an anime in book form. It just satisfied my Kpop Demon Hunters hangover so well. Seeing Rui and Yiran progress from reluctant allies to friends was really touching as well.
Zizi was a big surprise to me when he was introduced in the novel. He wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the synopsis, so I was surprised when I found out Zizi was the love interest and already head over heels for Rui before the novel begins. I found him such a mood with his overly dramatic personality, so sulky yet totally smitten over Rui. However, I did find their relationship really insta lovey, like I missed out on an entire novel with how they met and started to develop feelings towards each other, so I struggled to connect fully to what they had even though I like the two individually as their own characters. Their relationship did grow on me as the novel went on, but there was still a sense of detachment that restricted me from fully enjoying their relationship. I just personally prefer when we see two characters learning to fall for each other as the novel progresses. There is a reason for this insta love, but it’s only revealed in the last 10%. I feel like the execution leading up to it could have been better instead of leaving us as readers in the dark until the very end as I also found Zizi so mysterious as well. I feel like Zizi should have gotten his own POV chapters or flashback scenes to aid with the mystery and romance.
Other aspects of the novel could have been handled better as well. I really enjoyed the plot and found it ambitious in its exploration of different themes, but I feel that the novel tries to juggle so much at once that each plot point doesn’t feel fully developed, which could also be because of the simplistic writing style. I came out of the novel wanting more and feeling like something was missing. Same with the insta love – there’s two insta love romance subplots that develop too fast for it to feel convincing, but both did grow on me by the end. I do think book two will provide more depth to both romances. While the book also lost me in the second half, the final act was really strong, and I liked how you could start to see things come together by the end of the novel. I hope to see more Nikai as well since he wasn’t in the novel as much as I thought he was going to be.
Darker by Four is very Legendborn coded. It follows a magical girl whose mother was killed by a half demon – or hybrid – and now trains to become an exorcist to get revenge. Simple enough? Unfortunately not. Rui’s plans for revenge suddenly get thrown away when her magic gets transferred to Yiran, a bastard son adopted into an illustrious family who has no powers, is an outcast to the family, and whose grandfather runs a shady guild to exorcise demons.
The beginning of the novel was so strong and hooked me in immediately. It wastes no time introducing you to the different characters, their backstory, and personalities, who all feel so distinct and three dimensional. I really enjoyed the multiple POVs in this one, and was invested in everyone’s stories. Rui is someone you immediately understand and feel sorry for with the death of her mother and being unable to stop it. You understand her quest for revenge and what drives her.
I see a lot of people in the reviews hating Yiran, but I personally found him the most compelling character. While I wasn’t sure how I felt about him initially with how rich and entitled he was, it wasn’t long until I sympathised with his character, too, with how well his backstory was told, seeing how cruel he was treated being a bastard son with no powers when the rest are so successful. He sees himself as a failure and is constantly reminded by it, and you understand his drive to prove himself and belong to the family.
Rui and Yiran don’t meet right away, but when they do, you already understand both of their motivations. You sympathise with Rui for losing her powers, but also root for Yiran for gaining them so that he can finally belong. It was really interesting seeing their dynamic play out throughout the story, being bonded to one another, and seeing their unlikely friendship bloom despite their differences.
It also throws you straight into the action with the revenants (demons) and I found it done really well, especially with the way Rui and Yiran had to immediately set aside their differences to help each other even when despising the other initially. The action set pieces were wonderfully done and felt like an anime in book form. It just satisfied my Kpop Demon Hunters hangover so well. Seeing Rui and Yiran progress from reluctant allies to friends was really touching as well.
Zizi was a big surprise to me when he was introduced in the novel. He wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the synopsis, so I was surprised when I found out Zizi was the love interest and already head over heels for Rui before the novel begins. I found him such a mood with his overly dramatic personality, so sulky yet totally smitten over Rui. However, I did find their relationship really insta lovey, like I missed out on an entire novel with how they met and started to develop feelings towards each other, so I struggled to connect fully to what they had even though I like the two individually as their own characters. Their relationship did grow on me as the novel went on, but there was still a sense of detachment that restricted me from fully enjoying their relationship. I just personally prefer when we see two characters learning to fall for each other as the novel progresses. There is a reason for this insta love, but it’s only revealed in the last 10%. I feel like the execution leading up to it could have been better instead of leaving us as readers in the dark until the very end as I also found Zizi so mysterious as well. I feel like Zizi should have gotten his own POV chapters or flashback scenes to aid with the mystery and romance.
Other aspects of the novel could have been handled better as well. I really enjoyed the plot and found it ambitious in its exploration of different themes, but I feel that the novel tries to juggle so much at once that each plot point doesn’t feel fully developed, which could also be because of the simplistic writing style. I came out of the novel wanting more and feeling like something was missing. Same with the insta love – there’s two insta love romance subplots that develop too fast for it to feel convincing, but both did grow on me by the end. I do think book two will provide more depth to both romances. While the book also lost me in the second half, the final act was really strong, and I liked how you could start to see things come together by the end of the novel. I hope to see more Nikai as well since he wasn’t in the novel as much as I thought he was going to be.
April 19, 2024
DNF 19%. I won’t discount the possibility of picking this up again in the future, but right now, I’m too irritated to continue reading.
I had mixed feelings about the author’s debut, Jade Fire Gold, but the premise for this sounded cool so I wanted to give it a chance. And I honestly did enjoy the worldbuilding. Urban fantasy with the Chinese underworld? Magic system inspired by cultivation? Those are elements I loved.
That’s why it’s so frustrating that every other part of the book didn’t work for me.
The inciting incident doesn’t happen until almost 20% of the way through the book, and we did not need 7 chapters to follow the characters going about their daily lives before the plot even began.
But the biggest problem, for me, is that the book does an extremely underwhelming job establishing the characters as three-dimensional, compelling people. Literally the only thing we know about Nikai after the first chapter is that he’s friends with Four. Rui is grumpy and has a tragic backstory and…that’s it. She supposedly wants revenge on the Revenant that killed her mother, but she’s also taking no actions to get that revenge. Zizi is eccentric, and that’s it. He and Rui have different ideas about how to use magic, which was an interesting idea that I wish got more of a focus. Every POV character has their backstory and motivations told to the reader five seconds after they’re introduced, and there was just too much infodumping.
Yiran’s character aggravated me the most. I felt that the author couldn’t decide whether he was supposed to be the sad rich boy who is emotionally neglected by his family, or the arrogant rich jerk who we’re supposed to want to see a character arc for. As a result, his character is jarring because I never knew how to feel about him and his motivations don’t make sense. His grandfather is exiling him from the city because he’s broken too many laws? Am I supposed to view this as a pretext and evidence of how much his grandfather doesn’t care about him, or am I supposed to view this as Yiran getting his rightful comeuppance? Why does Yiran volunteer to help Rui fight a Revenant when he has no magic and isn’t shown to be willing to sacrifice his life to save others? NOTHING MADE SENSE!!!
When I got to the inciting incident itself, I was incredibly disappointed. Rui is literally stated to be the best Exorcist of her class, with extremely high yangqi, etc., yet she’s incapacitated in 2 seconds when she tries to fight the Revenant. Nor does she try to call for help against the Revenant. And when she’s too injured to fight, she decides that her best option is to give her spiritual energy to Yiran…who has no Exorcist training whatsoever. Like, I obviously know this is all just to set up the plot that was described in the book synopsis, but everything felt so contrived and nonsensical that I had to put the book down.
I had mixed feelings about the author’s debut, Jade Fire Gold, but the premise for this sounded cool so I wanted to give it a chance. And I honestly did enjoy the worldbuilding. Urban fantasy with the Chinese underworld? Magic system inspired by cultivation? Those are elements I loved.
That’s why it’s so frustrating that every other part of the book didn’t work for me.
The inciting incident doesn’t happen until almost 20% of the way through the book, and we did not need 7 chapters to follow the characters going about their daily lives before the plot even began.
But the biggest problem, for me, is that the book does an extremely underwhelming job establishing the characters as three-dimensional, compelling people. Literally the only thing we know about Nikai after the first chapter is that he’s friends with Four. Rui is grumpy and has a tragic backstory and…that’s it. She supposedly wants revenge on the Revenant that killed her mother, but she’s also taking no actions to get that revenge. Zizi is eccentric, and that’s it. He and Rui have different ideas about how to use magic, which was an interesting idea that I wish got more of a focus. Every POV character has their backstory and motivations told to the reader five seconds after they’re introduced, and there was just too much infodumping.
Yiran’s character aggravated me the most. I felt that the author couldn’t decide whether he was supposed to be the sad rich boy who is emotionally neglected by his family, or the arrogant rich jerk who we’re supposed to want to see a character arc for. As a result, his character is jarring because I never knew how to feel about him and his motivations don’t make sense. His grandfather is exiling him from the city because he’s broken too many laws? Am I supposed to view this as a pretext and evidence of how much his grandfather doesn’t care about him, or am I supposed to view this as Yiran getting his rightful comeuppance? Why does Yiran volunteer to help Rui fight a Revenant when he has no magic and isn’t shown to be willing to sacrifice his life to save others? NOTHING MADE SENSE!!!
When I got to the inciting incident itself, I was incredibly disappointed. Rui is literally stated to be the best Exorcist of her class, with extremely high yangqi, etc., yet she’s incapacitated in 2 seconds when she tries to fight the Revenant. Nor does she try to call for help against the Revenant. And when she’s too injured to fight, she decides that her best option is to give her spiritual energy to Yiran…who has no Exorcist training whatsoever. Like, I obviously know this is all just to set up the plot that was described in the book synopsis, but everything felt so contrived and nonsensical that I had to put the book down.
April 5, 2024
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.
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.
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