This was very fun, with just a smidge of Cinderella thrown in (which I wasn't expecting). The romance is adorable and very refreshing to see teenagers in total adorable crush rather than melodramatic "love". The fantasy aspects and world building elements were interesting, and I really felt like I got a sense of this world. If you like fantasy but want something that feels like it's built on hope, not the grimdark despair that seems so popular, this might be just what you're looking for.

I look forward to reading more about these characters in the future.

3.5/5 Stars

Thank you NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and S. Jae Jones for an E-Galley of this book. All opinions are my own.

WHAT I LIKED:
This book has a beautiful cover designed by artist Sija Hong, who also created the cover art for the Book of Tea duology by Judy I. Lin. I have to mention the cover, because it’s a huge part of what drew me to look at this book in the first place.

It’s a really creative spin on a Cinderella-inspired story, with just enough of the motifs we recognize without it feeling formulaic.

Han being sweet and naïve. Han felt really distinct from other male leads I’ve read recently. I also found myself identifying with him a lot as so many of the sexual innuendos from other characters went right over his head. Me too, Han.

I thought the author did a good job at writing a realistic dynamic between Zhara and Suzhan, one that reflected so many of the realities of growing up in an abusive environment. It is often that an abusive caretaker forces tiny betrayals of the other child, that they cannot protect each other, that the abuser keeps real unity from developing between abused children even though they should otherwise be each other’s best allies. I felt that with Zhara and Suzhan.

The magic and world-building were the most interesting aspects of the book. I became really fascinated by the lore and the history of the Morning Realms. And I felt like the author did a good job of leaving enough breadcrumbs throughout the different POV chapters for me to connect information. There weren’t really any plot twists that shocked me, but it felt like that was the reward for paying attention to certain details and animals.

WHAT I LIKED LESS:
The dialogue felt awkward and contrived in a lot of places. This was especially true in two cases: conversations that supplied exposition and conversations between Zhara and Han. It took a long time for Zhara and Han to fall into a more natural rhythm/chemistry with one another, so I really didn’t become invested in them as a couple the way that I expected. And it’s not that the author can’t create good rapport between characters—I was throughly invested in the friendship developing between Xu and Zhara.

The characters actually felt pretty flat in general for much of the book. The world-building was so much more fascinating than the characters themselves, and I was probably well into part two before I became invested in them. Suzhan was one of the biggest casualties of that flatness. And unfortunately, it reduced her blindness and her presence as a disabled character to a plot point for Zhara. I would have loved to see there be more to Suzhan.

Finally, there was one character who is a common stock character in the Cinderella story who I hoped to see become more than a one-dimensional villain. And I was disappointed to see that not be the case.

OVERALL, I did enjoy reading this book. It took me until about the halfway point before I was truly hooked, but by part three, I couldn’t put it down. I would recommend it to others, and I don’t expect many to be disappointed that they gave it a try.

After being drawn in by the mystic, intriguing, and powerful plotline, as well as falling in love with the book's cover, my expectations were set quite high. However, if you were to ask me if the book fulfilled my wishes as a reader, I couldn't honestly say "yes." While it was still an enjoyable read for me, I unfortunately found it difficult to connect with most of the characters. Additionally, the abundance of characters made it hard for me to remember their long names and past stories.

The world-building was interesting, complex, and detailed, but regrettably, I found the writing to be too slow-paced and repetitive. As a result, I struggled to engage with the story. Although I attempted to push through and enjoy the experience, it ended up feeling like a mandatory task, ultimately causing me to lose interest entirely.

Perhaps the sequel will resonate with me more. I still want to give it a chance, but I didn't find what I was expecting in the first book.

I'd like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for providing me with this digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This book was okay to me. I did find it hard to follow the story at points and because of that had a harder time connecting with the characters. Some parts of the book really hooked me and I thought I was really gonna get into it only to fall behind again. I do think the foundation is great but just didn't hit on all cylinders.

I was really excited to read this book because of the synopsis. It makes the book sound so interesting and I especially love the forbidden love, prince x commoner tropes. But I just thought it was expected somewhat poorly. I understand that this was intended for a young adult audience and it seemed like the writing style was also written by a young adult. I just felt like all of the characters were really immature, especially Han. I have a lot of problems with him. He is extremely immature, always brings up his muscles, is really dumb, and is constantly blushing at literally everything. I think he might’ve been written in a way that the audience was supposed to think he was charming and innocent but he just pissed me off.

Also, there was so much world-building. I understand that it’s the first book so you have to do that, but it was extreme. It was so hard to keep track of everything because of that. Along with each character having numerous names for them. This made things extremely confusing cause you have to remember 4 names for one person. For example, a lady had the names of Madame Hong, Fishwife, and Mussel-monger. I kept thinking that Zhara was in a conversation with 3 people and it was just the same person. I know all of these words mean the same thing but why not just give the person one name and stick to it?

One thing that actually really upset me was the boss fight. The whole book was leading up to the boss fight with this spirit-type thing called Tiyok. I’m not joking when I say the fight lasted 1 page. I’m serious. That made me so mad because the fight wasn’t explained at all. All of a sudden, it was over. And Zhara just “killed” Tiyok who is an all-powerful demon? In one page? When she doesn’t even know how to use her magic? I don’t think so.

As a side note, if I hear The Maiden Who Was Loved by Death one more time in my life, I will freak out. I think every chapter had this book referenced in it and it was so annoying. No one in this world seems to have read any other book.

4/5 stars! This YA science fiction story was a truly enticing and exhilarating start to a new series. I haven't read the author's other best-selling series, so this was my first book by her. I really enjoyed myself and was pulled into this Cinderella telling in a fantasy world. The story was definitely YA and sometimes I think I might have appreciated a more grown-up romance in the story, but the plot overall was lovely and Hans and Zhara were so sweet together.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me a chance at reading this book before publication.

Unfortunately, I made it 46% through the book before feeling that it was not for me.

The biggest issue I have with this book is the incredibly slow and meandering plot. I couldn't believe that I was that far into the book and I had no clear indication of what the magic exactly was, where it came from, and why I should care that the prince's brother and the female lead were hunted for their magic.

There was also this obsession for a romance series that gave little to no importance to the characters or the plot.

It was just really hard to find any one likeable when the plot was so boring.

I really loved the cover of this book. It is stunning, and I’ll admit a big reason why I wanted to read it. From the synopsis, I think the idea of this book has so much potential, as a lover of Sailor moon, the synopsis had me really excited. Which is why I am confused as to why I couldn’t really get into it. I wanted to like it so badly, but I think I got confused really early about what was happening and by page 100 when I wasn’t feeling really engaged , I started to lose interest. I will definitely be giving this book another chance, and I would recommend it because it has so much potential, but for right now this book was not engaging me how I imagined it would

This is exactly what I was hoping for. Action, giggles, and am amazing story that kept my attention and kept me awake even though I should’ve been sleeping.
Also, there’s a cat!
I don’t want to give any spoilers, but it’s a wonderfully written fantasy tale that pulls you in and make you root for pretty much everyone. As the characters learn more about what’s going on, you do too as the reader. There were a few things I guessed that turned out to be true, but I was still pleasantly surprised by many things.
I would sincerely read this book again, I really hope there is a sequel.

Guardians of the Dawn
By S. Jae-Jones

Look at that gorgeous cover 😍. Zhara is a YA fantasy in an East Asian setting. It’s marketed as Cinder meets Sailor Moon, but since I’m not familiar with either of those, I can’t really comment. (I did see a couple nods to Cinderella, but if they hadn’t said Cinder I may not have noticed).

The writing I thought was very nice. It wasn’t as flowery as Daughter of the Moon Goddess which was nice but it still created an atmosphere that reminded me of it. I really liked Zhara as a character, she has understandable motivations and trauma. A good balance of hopefulness and hopelessness. I enjoyed the rest of the cast as well, some more than others. The romance was sweet although I think some of the flirting could have been left out (as another character complains as well).

The world and the plot definitely has me wanting to learn more. The ending, though, was maybe a bit too tie things up in a pretty plot now to set up the next book. (If that makes sense). It will be interesting to see how Zhara continues to grow into herself.

Thanks to @netgalley and @wednesdaybooks for this arc in exchange for an honest review

I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley. But all the opinions are my own.

I adored Guardians of Dawn: Zhara. by S. Jae-Jones. The characters were rich and I connected with Anyang the most. I love the non-binary representation. I also loved that S. Jae-Jones had used pronouns such as they/them. I loved the adventure and pacing. I never felt bored or wanting to put the book down. There is some Sailor Moon feeling elements. There are fairy tale elements. I definitely want to continue on with the series!

There are a lot of characters but I did not have a hard time keeping up with them. Each character had their own personality, story, and tone. The world building was beautifully weaved into the story and did not feel like it was info-dumping.

[Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an e-galley of this book, all opinions are my own.]

Oh, how a beautiful cover let me down.

Okay, but for real: Cinder is one of my all time favorite series, so seeing this book compared to the Lunar Chronicles really pulled me in. I have zero experience with Sailor Moon, so I cannot really compare and tell you whether this book gave me those vibes or not.

I was initially pulled into this book from the beginning, I was getting strong Cinder vibes, but very quickly I found myself confused and not sure what was happening most of the time. Even finishing the book, I have no idea what the purpose behind the books are, and why the characters wanted to find them so badly. I had a hard time following the story in the first half, it just completely went over my head.

The author made a note at the beginning of the book about her use of pronouns throughout, and how she shifted away from the generally Western-centric pronoun usage we all know and understand. I didn't think it would impact my reading very much, but there were multiple points where characters would use different pronouns for other characters, so sometimes I didn't know who was talking or who the speaking character was talking about. I understand the premise of using "they" for someone you're unfamiliar with and "he/she" for someone you are familiar with, but there is just a large cast of characters and it really tripped me up.

Despite that, the second half of the story was easier for me to understand and I definitely enjoyed some parts of it. I liked learning about the history of the Guardians and how that shifted into a revolutionary group today that helped saved magicians from certain deaths. I kind of understand the issue that the series is going to revolve around, with demons trying to walk the earth again, and that was another concept that interested me.

I also liked the characters, and despite there being a large cast they all felt unique in their own way. Since there was varying degrees of formality between the characters, different pronouns were used and I struggled when there was a lot of conversation happening, but otherwise I had a good general idea of who was who and who had certain features/abilities.

Overall, I am not sure if I would carry on and read the next book in the series, but man is that a beautiful cover. The concept of the book is very intriguing and I would definitely be open to giving the story a second chance later on down the road, I guess I will see what information comes out regarding book two. This was a pretty high fantasy book with a large cast of characters, a complex mythological history, and some adventure mixed in between.
Content warnings: genocide, death, loss of a loved one, confinement, child abuse, animal death, racism

This book was a breath of fresh and fun fantasy when the trend leans toward dark fantasy. I really got such strong Sailor moon vibes and it brought me right back to my childhood!

Magic is forbidden through the Morning Realms and blamed for the plague of monsters. Jin has enough to worry about without worrying aobut her own forbidden magic. But an encounter with Han brings her into contact with a magical liberation organization... Jin must disover the warrior within her self and save the world.....

A terrific story. Very detailed and imaginative. Love the characters and this version of the magical Cinderella. Really enjoyed it. Looking forward to reading more in this world....

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

the cover was what drew me in and I'm so glad I got to read this. I enjoyed getting to go on this storyline and it worked well. I was invested in what was going on and loved how good the world was. It had great characters and I enjoyed getting to know them. I look forward to reading more from S. Jae-Jones as I enjoyed this and the Wintersong series.

“Perhaps they were afraid of monsters,” Zhara remarked, patting the guardian beast statue’s paw as she passed. “They say the woods around Mount Zanhei were once teeming with ravenous beasts, restless dead, and hungry ghosts.” The light fell away as they pressed deeper into the woods, blotted out by the impenetrable canopy above. Han thought he heard the slight ringing of a bell and looked up to find a large bird with reddish feathers perched atop a nearby tree. He sneezed multiple times.

Wow! Just wow!!!!
The setting, the cast… all top tier.
It’s really delivers on the premise of Sailor Moon meets Cinder, plus has immaculate historical Asian romance drama vibes AND BTS!! You can’t tell me the Bangtan Brothers aren’t based on them. AND magical girl pets!! It really does have it all
I really loved Zhara, but all the other cast were so good, too. I’m pretty sure Xu is my soulmate ;p
I truly hope I can nab a really nice copy when it’s published and look forward to the rest of the series!!

Magic is forbidden throughout the Morning Realms. Zhara is tasked with taking care of her blind younger sister and avoiding her step mother cruelty. While in line for a book,, she meets a young man named Han . Han brings her into contact with a secret magical liberation organization called the Guardians of Dawn. A deadly plague in Zanhei is transforming magicians into monsters, and the Guardians of Dawn believe a demon is responsible. Sadly the book was on the younger side of Ya so I couldn't really connect with the characters. But I did find the story intriguing. It was nor for me