This was an awesome fantasy about a world where magic is considered barbaric and is outlawed but has not been completely eradicated. Zhara has to hide her magic to survive while trying to discover the truth about magic. She struggles with her magic while helping care for her blind sister and dealing with her evil stepmother. Zhara uncovers that the Guardians of Dawn do exist and travels to join them so she can learn to control her magic. Without knowing, she has embarked on a journey to save the world. It's an intriguing and eventful young adult fantasy.

Wintersong is one of my favorite books and I remember when this book was first announced how excited I was. Well, the anticipation was worth it, because I loved Zhara and this world so much!!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

This felt so nostalgic for me, making my Sailor Moon loving heart incredibly happy. With an intriguing magic system, a cute romance, and some really great dark imagery, this is a fun beginning to a new fantasy series.

A new take on the tale of Cinderella is always welcome on my bookshelves, especially when they have cover art as stunning as this. Initially, I was interested in the book because of the cover then fell head over heels in love with the magical world created by S. Jae-Jones. Anyone looking for a retelling of a Disney classic, this is the book to read.

Guardians of Dawn: Zhara is a great first installment in an epic YA Fantasy series. The writing in the book makes this world seem as beautiful and magical as the cover of the book. I definitely get the comparison to Sailor Moon and Cinder.

The book follows the titular character, Zhara, who in this story is similar to Cinderella. She has to appease her cruel stepmother, while also doing everything she can to help her younger stepsister and at the same time keep her growing magic a secret. Magicians are forbidden in the Morning Realms, and the punishment is death.

Zhara loves to read romances when she can, and on her trip to get the newest release she bumps into a handsome young student. This chance meeting kicks off a series of events that lead Zhara to joining the Guardians of Dawn. It also leads her to finding out more about herself and her destiny.

I loved the magic system in this book. The guardian powers are so cool and I can’t wait to meet the rest of them. The characters are great and I loved the slow burn romance in this one. Great world building too. The sequel cannot come soon enough.

While this isn’t an edge-of-your-seat read, it’s still a pretty solid first book in a series. I think she has a lot she can build off of for the second one. The plot was unique and I’m excited to see where it goes.

I loved the cinderella aspects and honestly, I think some reviewers forgot that this was ya because it definitely reads as YA, but that's not bad. The world building is strong, the characters you want to cheer for and while there could be more, this was still a very enjoyable read.

Unfortunately, I will not be sharing my review of this book on my platforms as I am participating in the boycott of St. Martin's Press and related imprints due to the Islamophobic, Queerphobic, and racist posts regarding the ongoing genocide in Palestine made by one of your employees that has not been addressed by St. Martin’s Press or MacMillan. We are incredibly disappointed with the lack of response from SMP considering our demands are very simple:

1. Address and denounce the
Islamophobia/racism from their employee.
2. Offer tangible steps for how they're going to mitigate the harm this employee caused.
3. Address how, moving forward, they will support and protect their Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab readers, influencers, and authors in addition to their BIPOC readers, influencers, and authors.

It is unfortunate that SMP seems to have decided to stand with genocide and hatred rather than take action to protect their influencers, authors, and readers. I look forward to seeing SMP respond and take action towards this incident so that I can share my reviews of your titles with my audience and edit this feedback with my actual review. Until then I will be holding my reviews and all promotion of any books that fall under the St. Martin’s Press umbrella.

I ended up DNF’ing.

This is YA but feels even more juvenile, feels very middle grade. But there are multiple p*rn jokes. So idk what’s going on.
I feel this should have been manga. It’s written with the feel of manga, but doesn’t work as a novel. Lots of fluff and GIGGLING. And if y’all know me “giggling” is my nemesis. So much giggling.. *shudders*
I’m listening to the audiobook as well, and the narrator is meowing (there is a cat in here) in my ear every time there’s a “meow” written on the page. I don’t like that.
Also very repetitive.

The magic seems cool though. I feel like this needs the right reader to enjoy. I am not the right reader for this.

3.5 stars

Zhara is such a fun time. I think it's perfect for the YA category and the age range. It's also got more of a lighter tone, not so dark, gloomy, and gritty, which is a nice refreshing change.

The star of this book is the characters and their relationships. Especially the main leads, Zhara and Han. The way they initially bonded over their love of romance books is so funny! Prince Han is such a sweetheart. He's a bit vain but he's absolutely a softie. I like that he admits he's scared of situations instead of trying to be all gung ho, macho, and stoic. Zhara will do anything for her sister to make sure she's happy, even if that means sacrificing her own. Sure, she might be too quiet or passive for people in that she's not really an in your face confront danger or injustice but I think the way she's portrayed matches her personality and the background we're given of her.

Also, I enjoy the way the side characters get to know each other and treat each other respectfully or even become friends. Even when there's future potential suitors, it doesn't turn into an antagonistic relationship that vilifies them. Which I think is great. They even work together to all focus and solve one goal.

The world that the author created is so fascinating, full of different Asian influences. The magic is slowly learned throughout the story and I'm happy that the characters don't become all powerful right away. There's even a talking cat! (sort of)

I wish there had been more scenes with Zhara and her sister, Suzhan. I think that's what really brought the dramatic tension to the plot and really stood out to me. They're spaced out and I think there could totally have been more scenes with each other so we could really feel worried about how these two are going to get through their obstacles.

Also, that cover? Stunning!

Really struggled with the writing and the plot. I can't pinpoint the issue but the MC was not my favorite. I couldn't focus and ended up DNFing at 45%.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of “Zhara” by S Jae-Jones. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Previously, I really enjoyed Wintersong by S Jae-Jones. So when I started hearing about Zhara it was absolutely a book I was going to pick up. After reading, I have to say I really don’t understand the comp choices of Cinder x Sailor Moon. Maybe Cinder was picked because Zhara has Cinderella elements? This is definitely not a Sci-fi book. But that’s my bad for being confused! I’m not a big Sci-fi reader so I was glad this was a Fantasy book.

What I really liked about this book was the characters and the humor. I enjoyed how the characters interacted with one another and how friendships and relationships developed. Also there was a cat that was a delight whenever he appeared.

There were at times I felt like the scenes were in a strange order. Like they were originally somewhere else and got moved or scenes were taken out that still needed to be there? It kind of resulted in jarring tone shifts where something terrible would happen and there wouldn’t be any sort of reaction once the characters were out of danger. Or towards the end when there’s this sense of terrible urgency to get out the city but first we have to break for a shopping montage? I don’t know, it just kind of read like the order of scenes got shuffled around or scenes were missing.

I will probably pick up the next book as it sounds interesting.

3.5/5 stars

I enjoyed the fantasy aspects of this novel and Zhara's struggle with her power. However, Zhara (the character) read very young at times and didn't act her age. Same goes for Han. The romance fell flat and I never rooted for Zhara and Han to end up together.
There was good set-up for the magic system and fantasy aspects of the book. The scenes with the abominations were my favorite. In addition, the non-binary representation was great.

I really enjoyed this book. I hope the author continues to write more books in the future. I can't wait to see what this author releases in the future.

Thank you Netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review. While I did enjoy this book I didn’t like it as much as I had hoped too. The magic system was really interesting and the romance was cute but nothing really blew me away. Zhara was a great main character and she has flaws which made her relatable. There were a few moments where I was very surprised but some of the plot was predicable for me. I did like the diverse cast of characters. I may continue the series but I won’t be jumping to read the next installment.

I thought that this first in a fantasy series was slow at first, but then it picked up, and I'm excited to read sequels. I enjoyed how developed the more minor characters were. They bring a lot to the story.

This was overall very sweet! It has a cinderella-type story, with secret magic and societies. The two main characters Zhara and Han are initially drawn together by accident but they later realize they have some secrets in common. I initially was reading an ebook copy but was struggling to get drawn in so I switched to the audiobook. I personally found this experience better (I probably would have dnf’d it if not for this).

I enjoyed the world building and the magic system (and the history behind it). Ultimately I felt the book fell a little short. Zhara and Han both felt a little one-note and jokes about their personalities were used over and over again and each of them came off as younger than their stated ages to me. I think my favorite character ended up being the cat (in all fairness—the cat is definitely more than “just there”; it plays a role). I think this had a great set-up, but just wasn’t there in the execution. Unsure of whether or not I will continue the series.

What took me by surprise was that this is a Cinderella retelling, loosely. Were it not for the fairytale elements/incorporations, I don't think I would be continuing the series. (Next is Beauty and The Beast!)

Some things worked for me; the overall plot being the main one. "Magic" is forbidden, demons are entering the world possessing people, magicians turning into abominations, elemental magic users, and a sister storyline woven throughout.

Other things dragged it down. The romance was not very interesting and scattered throughout with Zhara's attacks of the "Good Looking Giggles", which made me want to roll my eyes everytime it happened. What is she, 12??? What is this, bad middle grade fiction??? The running "joke" mentioning pornographic smut, and how Han is usually oblivious. And last but not least, the pacing. Good grief, it took me like two weeks to finish this. It definitely had its moments that flew by at a good clip, but as a whole, it was probably 50-100 pages too long.

There was a theme of sisterhood that ran through, and while it took some turns that tugged at the heartstrings, it was a very welcome addition to the story.

Cinderella mixed with Asian inspired fantasy. Zhara is used to hiding her magic. In the Morning Realms, magic is now forbidden, and most of the magicians were killed several years prior, including Zhara's father. As rumors of abominations (magicians turned to monsters) spread, Zhara will have to come to terms with her own gift. Luckily she will have the help of some new friends, including a magical resistance group and the handsome heir to the throne, Han.

This was a fantastic start to a YA fantasy series. I'm a sucker for retellings, so I loved all the Cinderella bits in this one. The romance between Zhara and Han was extremely cute. Sweet young love... So many giggles. The worldbuilding is also amazing. I'm so excited to see where the story goes next, as the characters leave their home and explore more of the world. I was easily immersed in the world while reading, and will definitely be looking for future installments in the series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.