DNF at 32%

The concept for this sounded so fun and exciting and the world-building seemed cool, but the execution of it didn’t work for me. I read about 30% of the book before I realized nothing had happened and the characters weren’t notable enough to continue reading about. A lot of the plot and magic aspects read more like middle grade than YA, and I think I would have stuck with it if it had been written for younger readers. But since it's targeted for YA, it didn’t capture me. It was trying too hard to do too many things, and there were way too many characters to keep track of. I also could not get over all the giggling. It was just too much, and after reading other reviews, I learned it continues throughout the book.

Perhaps the right reader will enjoy and admire this, but it wasn't for me.

I read this because the sailor moon and cinder comparisons, two of my favorite things? Yes please. I absolutely loved the world building and the magic system but I struggled with the pacing. It just felt too slow at times and too long.

This book should have been marketed as middle-grade. I think all my frustration stems from this because it was not a bad book but I found myself struggling with it. I thought the world was interesting, the abominations and bad guys were kind of cool, and I felt like I could really picture everything as it was happening. But I wasn't expecting the characters to feel SO young, to need things to be spelled out for them constantly, and make (and repeat!) really silly jokes all the time.

That said if you go into it knowing that there will be lots of giggling, dirty jokes that go over the main characters' heads, and BTS references (from what I gather) you might have a really good time!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun book!

I absolutely love Asian-inspired fantasy, and when I saw this cover combined with it being Sailor Moon inspired? I was absolutely sold. This was such a fun read. The humor was cute and funny, the pacing was well balanced (if a SMIDGE fast at times, but I’ll get back to that), and the world felt full and ready to be explored. I loved learning about the guardians, and I’m always a big fan of a secret rebellion organization.

My qualms are small: the pacing was nice for character and relationship development, letting us have action interspersed with slow moments between our characters, but it wasn’t quite right for world building. It felt like when we learned about Zhara’s magic, there is never a clear explanation for how she uses it, only that it is unlike how other magicians do. I felt like I wanted more from the historical conflict as well, which did unfold well when it came to the demons and guardians, but not exactly how the different kingdoms came into play before the purge of magicians.

Ultimately, though, I thought that this was a fun YA fantasy. It lands on the younger side of YA, in terms of the complexity of the world and the quality of the humor, but this was still something I was able to enjoy and felt very much intended for that audience. I will absolutely come back to this, and am excited to see what happens next!

Thank you to Wednesday Books, St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for this eArc!

I've been looking forward to reading Zhara for YEARS, ever since I heard about the hook of Sailor Moon being a comp and just being one of the most anticipated books for a long time. I dove into it as soon as I could. While I enjoyed the story with well developed characters, an interesting magic system and an enjoyable story, there were some pacing issues. I also feel this was partly due to sky high expectations due to the extended wait as S. Jae-Jones had to deal with personal issues, but I'm glad they dealt with it and it's finally out (it was first scheduled for release in 2019).

There is a short note about language in the book, which was appreciated. Also, the prose felt authentic, there wasn't any jarring modern day phrases that took me out of the story.

Another thing that caught me off guard was the comps weren't quite matching with what I actually listened to. For years, I was expecting this "Cinder meets Sailor Moon" narrative, and didn't feel it. After reading, Zhara felt more like "Tales of Zestiria meets Cinderella with the vibe of Avatar: The Last Airbender" as ToZ deals with the protagonist being the only one being able to purify human turned monsters with elemental powers and demons. Either way, it's fine with me.

Onto the story. Magic is banned in the Morning Realms as magicians are blamed for turning people into monsters, thus most of them were killed off. There's two POVs we follow throughout: Zhara and Han. Jin Zhara lives with her sister, Suzhan (who I loved her connection with) and step mother (neglectful/abusive), trying to get by and read her romance stories while hiding her magic. Prince Han and his companion, Xu, sneak out in ways to help Han's younger magician brother. Soon after Han and Zhara meet, they get wrapped up in a monster attack and entangled in The Guardians of Dawn, a mutual aid organization fighting against the current rule and to bring safety to magicians.

Zhara was easy to relate to. She's trying to stay alive and not get caught, but finds herself having to grow from an obedient good girl to someone able to stand up for what she believes in. However, throughout, she doesn't lose her core kindness and compassion. I loved her relationship with her sister and I felt for them as they had to deal with their abusive mother. Several moments with them toward the end tore my heart out. Han was also great, being a cinnamon roll, doing what he can to save his brother, but was hoping for a little more development from him besides love interest.

I really liked Han and Xu together, the prince and the supervisor, all throughout the story, and Xu just being annoyed with their prince at times.

I also liked Zhara and Han together as they became friends and dealt with their issues. I did like that Han kept calling Zhara "Mistress Brandy". Don't worry, there's no spice, just kissing, and it's more like a cute teen crush than high romantic drama, which I appreciate.

Overall, the characters weren't the deepest or most well developed I've seen, but they were interesting and somewhat fleshed out enough for the story.

The world building and magic was thought out and was fairly immersive and my favorite part. It felt lived in and I loved how there was trashy romance novels in this pre-industrial Asian inspired world. Though I did get lost at some points where Zhara was at certain points and I'm assuming the final version will have a map and wish the audiobook will have a map download handy. The magic was unique and had great depth. I was interested to hear more about how the guardians of each element worked, and I had ideas of why Zhara might have struggled learning magic, though it wasn't explicitly said. Though I do feel some aspects of the magic system wasn't explained well enough as I struggled to connect and had to re-listen, but I feel some of this was intentional to connect to Zhara's lack of understanding of magic.

This feels very YA in a good way. The protagonists all felt like teens, struggling with growing up and with authentic voices, and I feel is relatable to teens. There was plenty of levity and humor sprinkled throughout to keep things from getting too dark the whole way through. I know fans that see Upper YA as the "true YA" will probably not be as happy with this, and is something S. Jae-Jones has addressed in their newsletter. To me, it felt like a fun adventurous romp I would recommend for ages 12 and over (maybe even a little younger).

The biggest issue in my eyes was the pacing, mostly in the middle of the book, where the story dragged in sections. It felt like plot points were basically forgotten about for extended periods of time and was wondering when something was going to get brought up. Then it rushed toward the last few chapters with awkward info dumping and I still struggled to grasp what was going on. One of the plot twists almost went over my head. Also, some information repeated. However, I did understand the surface comprehension, which is fine for me.

Overall, I enjoyed the book despite its flaws and did enjoy the sequel hook and look forward to where it leads.

In this new YA fantasy about magicians, elemental warriors and monsters we go on a riveting journey through this Asian-Inspired fantasy world as our heroine tries to find balance in this chaotic world. The book follows Zhara and Han as they try to save the world from horrific abominations - magicians with corruption running through their bodies. Zhara is obedient, self sacrificing and a romantic at heart while Han is dorky, shy and lonely. There is romance between the two characters but I felt that the romance was a bit awkward and cringy - very anime vibes with how young and innocent the characters felt.

I would say this book felt very YA and a little predictable for me, however I still enjoyed the read and can't wait to read more about this world in the next book! I loved the fantasy world the author has created and the lore around the elemental guardians and magicians. I thought this was a fun YA adventure great for fans of A Song of Silver, Flame like Night who want more romance. I would recommend this book if you enjoy chosen-one trope and cheesy and awkward romance.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC of this book for me to review.

I think this really nailed the Sailor Moon vibe. And this book is the origin story. Young girl (who is constantly giggling) with secret magical powers is involved in an insanely complex world building with tons of characters (almost hard to keep track of), found family vibes, plot twists, action and adventure. This was very creative but at times it felt really drawn out and I had trouble staying focused. I’m also not a huge fan of 3rd person narrative. And I didn’t feel very invested in the characters or the story line. It felt juvenile at times and I felt like it just wasn’t really for me. But it was very creative and the found family aspect was done really well. I’m interested to see what the next installments look like, I think this could be something that gets better as it goes.

2/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was okay, but nothing about the concept was original. From the first page, she’s poor, has to work super hard to put food on the table and has a stepmother who is obviously bad but the MC insists is good.

The characters are okay, but I didn’t like immature they were. Zhara gets “Good-Looking Giggles,” which made me cringe every time she said it, and she doesn’t really do anything noteworthy throughout the book. Han is supposed to be quirky, I think, but ignorance is not cute, especially when you’re a prince. It’s also just not a thing to only have good physique for aesthetic reasons. If you have nice arms, you’re strong. He hides his identity from Zhara but Xu continuously almost refers to his title but switches halfway through, which was stupid - the reader already knows Han is a prince, and no one seemed to notice his missteps. Jiyi came out of nowhere and was haughty about her knowledge even though she wasn’t a real magician. Yulana was cool. Go her.

My main issue with this book was that everything the characters figured out, I knew ten steps in advance. A good chunk of this book was Zhara being like “oh the Guardians of Dawn… the fairytale… they don’t exist…” and it’s like, the series name is Guardians of Dawn. There’s no point in pretending they don’t exist.

Overall, this was a disappointing read, which is unfortunate because I wanted to like it. And the cover’s gorgeous.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of this book! I listened to the ALC from Libra.FM and also read the digital galley at other times. I liked having both options for reading this book!

I was really drawn to this book because it had such a mystique around it. I was interested in the cultural representation, and even more so after listening to the author's explanation for her writing at the beginning of the book. Plus, this cover is stunning! I am a sucker for a beautiful cover, and this one would make a great Fairy Loot book!

All that expectation may have been unfair to the book, though, because I didn't connect to the characters at all. Plus, the character cast in this one is pretty big, and I found myself struggling to connect with not only the individual characters and the cast of characters, too. The plot is also incredibly slow, and I found myself losing interest at parts.

I do think the book has incredible world building, and that I did connect with. I love a good fantasy world, and Guardians of Dawn fulfills on that promise! I enjoyed the intricacies of the world, and for that reason, I may still read the sequel.

Rating: 3⭐️

I started the book and while it seemed like it could have gotten better, for me it took too long to get into it. I found myself not that interested in what was going on and had a hard time wanting to keep picking it up. I didn’t end up finishing it

This book is a little hard to review for me. I really liked the concept, but sometimes it felt a little flat. The characters were all kind of one note and didn't really have any growth by the end of the book.

I wish there was a little more at the end about Zhara's and Han's feelings for each other. We were just left to assume that they talked and confessed to each other, and now they are okay in the epilugue. I wanted a grand scene between the two.

I did like the almost nostalgic feel of the whole book. It felt like I was reading a comfort read even though this was the first time reading it. I will be curious where the story goes and look forward to more books. And of course, as a BTS fan, I loved the subtle (not so subtle) nod to the boys.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy to review

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was such a fun YA Fantasy and I’m stoked to continue the series!

The writing was solid, the world building and lore expansive, and the magic and conflict interesting. I really enjoyed both POVs, Zhara and Han, and look forward to seeing their character development. Though, my favorite character was Shu for sure.

The foundation set here is great - the characters are interesting and the ending has me wanting to know what’s next without torturing with a cliffhanger. I have no doubt this will be an excellent series with the number of options and paths she’s created.

My main complaints were the juvenile habits of Zhara and Han, and how often they were referenced. Han’s naïveté (especially surrounding sex) and obsession with his physique was repetitive and didn’t fit with the maturity and wisdom he showed elsewhere. Zhara’s “good looking laugh” was over used and felt unnecessary. The characters were either very wise and brave or very juvenile with little in between or consistency - it’s somewhat understandable given their age (16-17), but it was a bit jarring and frustrating at times, sometimes feeling like things were simply for plot without fully fitting.

But, overall this was a really fun, easy, engaging read. I think it caters to younger readers more than adults that read YA, but even as an adult I enjoyed it. Definitely a recommendation!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners, S. Jae-Jones, and Katherine Chin (audio narrator) for the opportunity to read and listen to the audiobook of Guardians of Dawn: Zhara in exchange for an honest review.

What a lovely cover! A mix of the cover and the Sailor Moon aspect are what drew me to this novel. This is the first in the Guardians of Dawn series, and I am assuming the other books down the line will be titled with prospective character names as well, whoever is being featured. In this case, it is Zhara, the host of the fire elemental spirit (hence the red aesthetic to the cover).

In the Morning Realms, magic is forbidden. Those who have magic are referred to as abominations and are said to be responsible for a plague of monsters over the last twenty years. Zhara knows she has magical abilities, and she wants to train and attune to the power, but in the world as it is, she must hide that part about herself to protect her blind younger sister and appease her cruel stepmother (sound like a somewhat familiar fairy tale?).

By happenstance, Zhara meets Han, someone who might be a bit of an important aspect to the Morning Realms. In a royal way. Through Han, Zhara learns about a magical liberation organization called the Guardians of the Dawn that seeks to not only save the targeted, hated magicians, but to find the truth in the legend of the spirits of the five elements, the true Guardians, as it were. While seeking a demon that might be responsible for turning the magicians of the area into monsters, Zhara finds she has a special ability that might just save the magicians. There is more to her magic than meets the eye, and she must take on a role she never expected.

While the Sailor Moon vibe was a draw, I didn't really feel that as much as I thought I would in this novel. I feel like it's almost more like Avatar: The Last Airbender, but with generic magicians and then five special elementals. I appreciate the author's note regarding gender, in which the gender is not revealed until a character identifies themself in some way, which relates to how many cultures treat gender outside of the U. S. The world is very vibrant and has a lot of promise. A great novel for fantasy lovers.

So I took the day to really think about this book. I did like it! I really liked the premise of the story and the world building. I loved the nod to Sailor Moon. I loved her since I was a child. I loved the horrific parts of the abominations. Showing us how terrifying they our. I think at that aspect may leaned itself to more adult YA, but ….. ok. I like the characters. I think they are fleshed out really well and I like their backstory on all of them, but I think they are acting a little naive in the way they act to each other. I think to keep it in the upper part of YA to almost adult, I think they would need to speak sincere and innocent at the same time. I think if that was fixed along with the awesomeness of the horror parts. I think I would have rated it better. Just let me reiterate. I did like the book. I just think something’s need to be looked at more closely. I will read the next book and can’t wait to see what happens. I want to thank S. Jae-Jones, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

I really wanted to love this story, and overall it wasn't too bad! But if a story is marketed to me as a combination of Sailor Moon and Cinder, it has high expectations for me. And this sadly just didn't meet the mark.

Zhara herself was a wonderful character! I absolutely adored her and think she was the perfect representation of a teenage girl who has magical powers in a world where magicians are outlawed. She's funny, kind, compassionate, and loyal to a fault. She is everything!!

Where the story starts to fall flat for me is the prince's character. This book has a very juvenile sense of humor because of him; even though this is a YA novel, I don't think it should read like a middle school book. The prince is 17 years old and yet every time he sees or reads something suggestive he doesn't get it at first? Not plausible. I also said that I loved Zhara, and I did, but I absolutely HATED "the good-looking giggles" she got. It was so cringey to me.

I've seen some complaints of ableism as well for Zhara's sister, who is blind and sort of treated as a character who can't take care of herself. I definitely understand where those reviews are coming from, so I say look to them if you want proper blind character recs. I can only give my own two cents as someone who is legally blind without corrective lenses in that I didn't really find issue with her, because I know part of it is because of her character backstory of being so reliant on her mother and sister. But it is definitely something to know before getting into this story.

Overall, not terrible, but I don't think I will continue this series.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

It's really an enjoyable read! I think the battles and fights were pretty incredible and fun. I love Han and Xu's friendship sooo much. I think it's funny how the author managed to include BTS as Bangtan "Brothers" in this book

Magic was outlawed but that hasn’t stopped Jin Zhara from using her magic to survive after her father’s death. Left to be raised by a cruel stepmother and a younger sister with a disability, the family has fallen on hard times (Cinderella, anyone?). Between cleaning the house and working as an apothecary’s assistant, Zhara survives by reading romance books. So when the newest edition of a series she is reading becomes available she rushes to obtain a copy only to come into contact with a strange boy who is clearly in trouble and awakens her powers. From there she learns of a secret rebel organization, the Guardians of Dawn, and uses her powers to help stop a mysterious plague turning magicians into monsters.

OMG am I already looking forward to the next book in this series. Jae-Jones just made Cinderella feel new again. This book also uses the comparison of Sailor Moon and I will admit that reference is lost on me.

Zhara is feisty and yet submissive in the beginning and it somehow works but as she becomes more empowered . The book is witty and well-paced. The romance was inevitable and yet was still full of simmering tension and miscommunications. There were a number of reasons why they shouldn’t work but I rooted for them all the same.

In the absence of a shoe there’s a book that serves as a catalyst for it all. While I appreciate the nod to booklovers, I also thought the joke about the book became a bit stale after the 100th repetition. But honestly, that’s it. That’s the one negative I found because this book was an absolute treat to read. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC of this title.
This is the first book in a series following our main character Zhara who has the ability to use magic in a world where magicians are seen as abominations. She hides her magic and lives quietly, supporting her wicked stepmother and blind younger sister. All of that changes when demons begin attacking again as they did once long ago and Zhara is thrust into an adventure with the Guardians of Dawn in a plot full of magic and budding romance.
The book starts out with a meet cute between Zhara and Han that felt so reminiscent of a K drama and the rest of the book is really set up to be light and humorous. It was charming, lighthearted, and fun to read. The dialogue throughout the book was enjoyable, though definitely cheesy in that YA sort of way. Also if you're army (BTS fan) then you'll probably like this book! All of that aside the fantasy world itself was really beautiful and the magic system, while not super complex, was very enjoyable. Also important to note, there are nonbinary and lesbian characters that exist very casually in this world and it was great representation in my eyes.
It's a fast read, very fun read! Definitely give it a try.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for sending me an early copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

I was unsure for a while how I've felt about this book. On the one hand, the worldbuilding was amazing and so fresh. I loved learning about the magic system and understanding the history to the world. I loved the humor and the way that the characters were so relatable despite their magic. I really adored Zhara and watching her grow and understand the world along with me.

On the other hand, I felt like the impact was a little soft. It hasn't stayed with me the way I thought it would. It felt a bit too young at times, but also felt very slow at times, and I ended up feeling like it was far longer than it needed to be.

I did love the different kinds of representation, though! I loved the disability representation and the way it really works through feelings of being useless or a burden due to disability as well as the guilt that can come with injuries and accidents. I loved the nonbinary representation and the way it was so seamlessly integrated.

I definitely want to see where this series goes, and I hope other fantasy lovers will pick it up too!

Like a 2.5 rounded up.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the eARC!!

This books was a mishmash of a bunch of normal fantasy tropes and plots thrown together. It didn’t really give us a single new or inventive idea. 🤷‍♀️ That being said, it wasn’t terrible. Well… the first 25% was pretty bad. But after that, things remained decently steady and okay.

But that’s all this book was: just okay. Like I said, nothing new or interesting. Zhara was a naive and ignorant FMC. MMC was dumb as a box of rocks and every time someone made fun of his intelligence, I just groaned.

Honestly this book read like a middle grade book - some of the scenes were supposed to be funny and to a 10yo, maybe they would be. But idk, I want wit not stupid hilarity. And I think teens would likely agree with me. 🤷‍♀️

So no way am I reading more of this. Hahaha.