Darker By Four by June CL Tan Review

Title: Darker By Four

Author: June CL Tan

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publisher: Hodderscape

Pages: 471

Release Date: 2 April 2024

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Hello fellow booklovers! Today I’m sharing my review for Darker By Four by June CL Tan.  A deliciously intriguing and exhilaratingly pacey urban fantasy, with a slow burn, (and heart meltingly sweet) friends to lovers romance I absolutely adored.

Synopsis

 A girl who lost her magic. The boy who found it. And a city having one Hell of a time . . .

Rui is an Exorcist-in-training with one goal in mind - honing her magic to avenge her mother's death.

Yiran is the black sheep of an illustrious family. The world would be at his feet - had he been born with magic.

But when an accident causes Rui's power to transfer to Yiran, everything turns upside down. Without her magic, Rui has no tool for vengeance. With it, Yiran finally feels like he belongs.

As dangerous monsters overrun the city, Rui will do whatever it takes to regain her power. Even if that means making a deal with a shadowy stranger to track down a god who does not wish to be found . . .

Review

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 (plot twisty) conclusion, and even had me second guessing every character (and decision) I came across. There were a couple of characters I had been certain were Four and I was wrong about both 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.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

About The Author 

June CL Tan is the author of the internationally bestselling Jade Fire Gold and the Darker By Four duology. Her books have garnered multiple starred reviews from Kirkus and BCCB, and are Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections.

In 2021, she was also chosen as one of Publishers Weekly’s Flying Starts. 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.

June now resides in New York City, writing under the eye of her crafty cat.

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