Brighter Than Nine

Overall Rating: 5/5

The brilliant and marvelous June CL Tan returns with the stunning and long-awaited sequel to Darker by Four...

Rui is now a hero to the Exorcist Guild. She seemingly has her life back together.... destined to become a captain of the Exorcist Guild... but she harbors dark secrets and the knowledge of Hybrid Revenants...and that they are planning something big.

Zizi is now trapped in the Underworld, trapped in a deteriorating state where his mortal body is giving out, and yet he is getting more and more access to the one known as Four. The Fourth King of Hell... his memories... his old love for the girl that Rui once was... and realizing that he alone may hold the key that keeps the mortal world from crumbling...

But first, he must escape the Underworld... must escape his brethren and break the rules that were set for them.

Yiran no longer has the magic that he once possessed. He's returned to life as he once knew it, and back to a school among mortals. He watches from the shadows as his friends at Xingshan Academy learn to embrace their magic.. learn to fight those that would harm mortals like him. When a dark family secret comes to life... and his desire for power urges him to betray those he once called his friends.... he must decide who he is... and what he wants to stand for once and for all.

If I wasn't already nursing a book hangover, I most definitely am now. Fast-paced, full of interesting mythology and of course, the continuation of Rui's unlikely love story... the tale of the three bound together by the threads of fate...and yet full of the most unlikely twists and turns.... this is an absolute masterpiece of Chinese mythology, blended with elements of Shadowhunters...