In the enchanting kingdom of Zanhei, 16-year-old Zhara grapples with the burden of concealing her magical abilities from the oppressive peacekeepers, known as the Kestrels. Her life is fraught with challenges, from serving her harsh stepmother to caring for her blind sister, all while fearing the relentless persecution of magicians. When Zhara's fears are realized and the Kestrels intensify their hunt for magic wielders, she finds herself thrust into a perilous journey after an encounter with a mysterious stranger. This encounter leads her to the Guardians of Dawn, a clandestine organization dedicated to safeguarding magicians. As Zhara delves deeper into the world of magic and resistance, she uncovers the true extent of her powers and the grave threats facing her and her newfound allies.

Throughout the narrative, rich with East Asian influences, Zhara and her companions undergo profound growth, discovering truths about themselves, their pasts, and their connections to one another. With its diverse cast and compelling characters, this tale weaves a spellbinding tapestry of adventure and self-discovery, imbued with magic and intrigue. This captivating fantasy will enchant readers with its compelling protagonist and leave them eagerly anticipating the next installment in this series.

DNF’d at 30% and I feel awful about it but I just couldn’t get into it. Thats not to say that it is bad, just not for me. If I do try to pick this back up I will re-review it!

2,5 ⭐
My 14yo self might love this book, but the first two chapters (teens reading smut, etc) might contradict the idea.
First, I think the market was overclaim. I was sold by the mention of sailor moon and turned out the story is below my expectations.

The premise is pretty simple. Zhara is a young woman with magical ability in a land where magic was unacknowledged. Her magic turned out to be crucial and greater than what she can imagine. Suprise, turned out there are magicians everywhere. And where there are magicians, there are demons too. Zhara and her friend tried to fight the abomination. She found love and family and group where she belonged to. A light whismical romanfantasy for teens.

It doesn't really suit me.
I found the characters cringey and lack of depth. Xu was the most interesting one. Everyone else's felt one dimensional and typical. Don't get me started with good looking giggles or whatever that is.

The story telling isn't gripping enough to invest with the characters and the plot.

It has such a great potential with the setting and magical ability and the beasts and the abomination. Sadly, for me, it wasn't well executed. The world building is the most exciting idea of this book.

What really turned me off is at the end of this book, the author chose to portray, I believe, one of the KPop idol group. The author didn't even change the group name. I don't know if that's wise to include real life idols in a commercial book. And... I'm not a fan. The exaggerating description of how handsome and awesome was not selling. And Im confuse how in the end they suddenly have a big role toward the plot and follow Zhara's next journey like what's for. It's understandable if u want to put them in a plot as performers, but to include them all the way to the next adventure sounds very childish imo. Nope nope

Im giving this book a second chance bcs I'm still going to read Ami. But if I see those 7 boys out of nowhere I might dnf early.

Thank you for the arc in exchange of honest review.

Jin Zhara is a magician in a land where they're illegal. She lives like a slave in her drunk and abusive stepmother's house to pay her for the kindness of not turning her in when they took her magician father away. All she cares about is making sure her little sister has the best life possible and reading the latest installment of her favorite romance novel. She's tricked herself into thinking that's all she wants until she meets a handsome stranger who opens her eyes to the fact that there are still magicians and danger around every corner.

I had a hard time deciding how I felt about this book. It's definitely engaging and has some great moments, but it always felt like something I've read before. Then there's the fact that Jin Zhara is written in such a way that she feels too much like a martyr willing to let people take advantage of her, especially her stepmother. I get why Jae-Jones made the choice to let her main character let someone step all over her, but it bothered me to see her so willingly submit to things she didn't need to out of some twisted sense of fealty to a woman who doesn't deserve it. It made me cheer when she finally stood up for herself and admitted what she wanted, which is great except for the fact that it happened after about 90% of the book.

Overall, I'm intrigued by the world this book introduces and like the characters enough that I'm looking forward to seeing their further adventures, I'm just not sure if I'm going to go out of my way to recommend it.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the read!

<i>I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I skimmed most of this book.

It was hard to get into. It's repetitive. The magic system had potential but never lived up to it. The history of this world lurks in the shadows because so much of it has been erased. That could've been so cool and instead it just functions as a convenient plot device.

The characters are flat and immature. They monologued a fair amount in order to move the story along. I couldn't connect with any of them and I didn't have to care because the plot was completely predictable. None of the "twists" were unexpected. The narrative is repetitive.

I wanted to like this book. I've liked previous works by Jae-Jones so I had hopes for this one. You can see the inspiration being drawn from a number of other stories but they never mesh into something unique and new. It's disjointed and lacks a spark.

I can't see myself recommending this one.

Loved this story - and the sweet romance between Han and Zhara. THe author slowly releases information on the characters and the magicl problem - in such a way that my interest was kept throughout. There is not a lot of action happening in the story - but I think that will change in th next book of the series. I enjoyed spending time with these characters and look forward to reading more of them.

This was a fun read. I liked the characters and I liked the world that the story took place in. I never read anything like it before. It’s worth the read.

I unfortunately DNFed this book, as it just wasn't for me. It read a bit on the younger side of YA, and I wasn't really drawn into any of the characters or their world.

This book has an audience, but it just wasn't me and that's okay!

I don't know if this was too young for me or if I went in with my expectations too high. I saw for Sailor Moon fans and dove for it. The writing felt very juvenile. Not that it was terrible, but I kept putting it down due to that. Did it work for me? No. However, for a younger audience, this would be a good fantasy starter.

I was super excited about this because Wintersong is one of my all time favorite books but unfortunately this did not work at all for me. I really struggled with the writing and connecting with any of the characters. I know this this was marketed as YA but at times it almost felt middle grade and I think that was what caused such a big disconnect for me. At some point I'd like to pick up the second book when it releases and give the series another chance before chalking it up to this not being for me.

I apperntly never wrote my book review for this?! But anyways I have finally read the arc copy of this that I had!
Gaurdians of dawn: Zhara by S Jae Jones is a first in a new fantasy with a mixed of scifi into the story! This book had everything I have loved in a book and that is: strong female main character, enemies to lovers, found family and a bit of superheros power!! Who doesn't love super powers?!! I would say the beginning was a bit weird to me because they were talking about how poor our main character was and how rats always get to their places.. The thing I did liked about the book was that Zahra was my first book by S Jae Jones and I loved her writing style and loved how we have short chapters. The only thing I don't love is how long I have to wait for book 2?! It's coming out in August though which gives me a perfect excuse to re-read book 1 & to buy myself a copy!
I hope u guys pick this series up because I really enjoy it and Ik I'm going to hate waiting for all 4 books to come out lol!(:
Five out five stars cannot wait for book 2!!(:

there is nothing about this that is inherently bad but i just can't get into it. comes off as juvenile but i was also a bit bored and uninvested in the story. i don't think this was marketing correctly. thank you to netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!

YOOO i've eagerly awaited reading zhara for such a long time, especially after hearing about its sailor moon comparison, making it one of the most anticipated books for me. however, it fell a little short of my expectations :( the beginning was okay ish, i wasn't sure if i liked the mc. i had put the book down for a little and never felt motivated to pick it back up until much later.

the character portrayal lacked depth, making them one-dimensional and devoid of complexity or nuance. this kinda made my ability to empathize with them, ultimately diminishing my overall engagement with the story. also the pacing of the story was just kinda dragging sometimes. while the idea and concept were promising, the execution fell short. i wish there was more romantic moments between zhara and han, although their occasional cute interactions were enjoyable.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan publishers for approving this arc, in return for an honest review.

I honestly went into this book hoping it would be better than when I had read Wintersong. I loved the idea of the story, just for me it fell short with the characters and the dialogue. It was a struggle to keep reading on, and I feel bad as I really wanted to enjoy this book, as I was excited for it.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars
I adored this book. Jae-Jones created an absolutely fantastic main character in Zhara. I also really appreciated the depth and nuance that Jae-Jones gave to all of the relationships from those with her sister, and stepmother to those with her "employer" and her crush who just so happens to be the heir to the kingdom. It's difficult to put in words why everything worked so well for me so I'll leave the review here.

Fantasy stories are just the best way to get lost in a new world. This one had a lot of world building, which I personally like. However I have a hard time when the characters are extensive. It's just hard to keep track of who is who exactly. I've read a lot of books lately where magic is forbidden but somehow finds a way to survive. Also I love when stories have apothecaries and princes and magic and secret worlds/societies. This story has a lot of potential! I'm curious to see how it unfolds in the next .

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

While I didn't love this quite as much as Wintersong, this was a solid fantasy. The imagery was both disturbing and fascinating, and I liked how authentic and real the characters felt.

The Zhara / Han relationship was sweet, but I especially liked the development of Zhara's relationship with her sister.

I'm intrigued at the direction the rest of the series will go, but I really appreciated that Zhara's story felt conclusive with this book.

I would have been eager to provide a review of this book. However, I regret to say that due to St. Martin's Press's failure to address the concerning remarks made by one of their employees regarding Palestine, I cannot in good conscience offer my review.

I will refrain from sharing my thoughts on this book across my platforms as I am currently participating in a boycott of St. Martin's Press and its affiliated imprints. This decision stems from the Islamophobic, Queerphobic, and racist comments made by an employee in relation to the ongoing genocide in Palestine, which St. Martin’s Press has yet to address.

I eagerly await a response and proactive steps from SMP to address this issue promptly. Once appropriate action is taken, I will gladly resume sharing reviews of your titles with my audience. Until then, I will withhold my reviews and refrain from promoting any books associated with St. Martin’s Press.

Please understand that this stance is not a reflection on the author, but rather a principled decision not to support SMP until they address this significant concern.

This book brought me back to my wattpad days reading romance novels and giggling over first loves. Back then when I played otome game after otome game and let myself dream that one day I would have a love where I was seen and I would see my partner. The core of this novel is that innocent joy of friendships, laughter, and falling in love.

At the same time, there’s this evil that must be fought and Zhara is discovering who she is and what the powers she’s had inside her all along can really do. There’s magic and high stakes and the politics of magic being this thing that scares people because corrupted magicians become abominations. Even in the fantasy of this novel it still gives that feeling of my younger self rooting for a young heroine to use her power to fight against a greater evil. Of joy that she isn’t doing so along. Zhara has her friends both magical and not there to support her and help her get out of trouble when trouble inevitably comes.

This book made me genuinely laugh out loud. The humor and the genuine friendship between everyone was so wholesome and adorable. This novel captures how god damn dumb we can be with our friends and how we embarrass each other and show each others flaws in a way we can laugh off and learn from. Even though I am now an adult, I still act completely stupid around my friends because it’s fun to not be formal and laugh together and poke fun at each other.

If you were an anime loving little weeb who fell in love with love at a young age, this novel is for you. It will make your heart warm and put a smile on your face.