I was SO excited by the description of this book. Sailor Moon + Cinder? Sign me up!

I think this is a book that has an absolutely amazing premise with a few things keeping it back. ‘Zhara’ offers some interesting world building, but some of the representation in this book bordered on offensive, and some parts of the book felt repetitive, which hindered pacing. I would still love to read the second book, as I think there’s a lot of promise here; it just isn’t completely realized in the first book.

I saw this described as Sailor Moon meets Cinder and was instantly drawn in as I grew up watching Sailor Moon!

The book with a girl that has magical powers that keeps them hidden because if people knew she had power she would be in grave danger.

The book talks about magicians, the secret magical liberation Guardians of Dawn, and the Kestrels, those who think magicians are monsters and should be executed.

While I enjoyed parts of the book for the most part, unfortunately it was very slow paced and repetitive.

I had high hopes for this book, but it didn’t resonate with me like I had hoped from the description.

Initially, again, I was taken by the cover and the part where I was sold that this would have some of the elements of sailor moon. I’m a huge fan of sailor moon after all. However, I’m not really sure if YA is my thing because the past few YAs I’ve engaged with, like this one, hasn’t been that fulfilling. This just wasn’t for me.

Good story! I really liked the characters and the story.lots of adventure and action. It was fun. Definitely want more by this author.

CW: loss of parents

Jin Zhara is an ordinary girl who lives in the kitchen with her stepmother and stepsister after her magician father is executed. Magic is forbidden in Zanhei, and Zhara has a secret to hide. Wonhu Han, the Royal Heir, will do anything to protect his little brother, who is a magician. A chance meeting between the two will bring in a magical society that is keeping magic alive. Monsters start appearing again, but there is only one person who can help. Will Zhara find out who she truly is?

First of all, look at this gorgeous cover!! It's actually what drew me to request this book in the first place. It was described as Sailor Moon meets Cinder, but I think it's more like Cinderella meets Avatar thr Last Airbender. I love all the Asian influences, and that there are nonbinary and queer characters as well. I thought Zhara and Han were so loveable and a lot of their interactions made me laugh. I did think the first half of the book was a bit slow, and Zhara's naivety was a bit frustrating. I still can't wait to read the next one. Please let there be a next one.

Guardians of the Dawn: Zhara was such a fun and intriguing read! I loved the spin on some favorite tropes, the wonderful representation, and the fierce female lead! This is sure to be a favorite of many. Can’t wait to read the next one by S. Jae Jones!

This was an interesting book, despite it not being quite what I expected. The dual protags find themselves swept up in a magical conspiracy that threatens the kingdom, Zhara with her magic she fears, and Han seeking help for his magical younger brother. The worldbuilding was fantastic, there was a lovely blend of Asian themes that worked very well together, and hinted at a very well-thought out setting. The plot itself was straightforward, but I felt like the characters were a bit lacking. Zhara and Han had a very strong introduction, and the opening scenes were very exciting, but as the book progressed it seemed like the characters often stagnated. While I did feel like the story dragged at times, I think this was largely due to the author needing to introduce a lot of concepts for the readers. I look forward to seeing what happens in the sequel!

While I appreciate the opportunity to read this, unfortunately I was not able to get into this story.

I received an e-arc through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion about the book.


Cinderella retelling with a pensive not an idealistic, happy go lucky girl, but a girl trying to survive and no real aspiration with a "prince charming" who's idealistic and vain and bumbling quarky character. Not the very typical Cinderella retelling. The magic and the world building is a bit much at the beginning but it's a fun story that's different and I can see the sailor moon reference in the blurb. It has romance but unlike her other work which is a romance this is more plot with a hint of romance. The tone of the book comes off to me as younger ya but with a upper ya world building. The characters make sexual innuendos and the violence is pretty minimal. The interaction of characters are fun to read and is dual pov. Overall good story. Hoping the second book is just as fun to read.

Sailor Moon meets Cinderella in an ancient Chinese world? Naturally Im there! They had me at “inspired by Sailor Moon,” which was one of my absolute favorite animes as a kid growing up in the 90’s and my intro into the Magical Girl genre. I would definitely rate this one 5 stars for the nostalgia and the joy it brought me!

Zhara is a magician growing up in a world that not only fears people like her but puts them to death simply for being born with powers. But when she learns of the Guardians of the Dawn, both the titles of a group of magical elemental warriors who fought off and sealed ten thousand demons away and also a group of magicians who help smuggle their fellows to safety under the eyes of the very warlord out to kill them, she knows she must do whatever is possible to help.

As much as I loved Zhara’s character and how absolutely real she felt (the good-looking-giggles are so true!!!), I have to say Xu was my absolute favorite. I adored them for their sassiness while also being the most level-headed teenager ever! Han’s awkwardness was adorable but his earnestness makes him the perfect love interest! Ziyi’s stern but no-nondescript attitude and Yuli’s charisma and flirting were perfectly done. Honestly the inclusivity in the book is perfect!

Zhara learns that she is the Guardian of Fire and has the ability to not only fight demons, but to cure other magicians of when possessed by them. Together with the Guardian of the Wind and their friends they must stop the ritual sacrifice to release the Mother of Demons and save the world.

Fans of anime and Disney fairytales will absolutely enjoy this book! I am eagerly awaiting the next installment!

This was such an interesting read. The world was fascinating. There were a bunch of characters but none made me fall in love. It had a bunch of potential but it never really grabbed me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed myself. But so many of my reads this year had me comping at the bit to read them again, and this fell a little flat in comparison.

That being said, reviewing is not a game of comparing. There were some moments of humor that were great, and others that left me just feeling a bit awkward. The description might be the biggest reason that this didn’t work for me. Sailor Moon meets Cinder was not the vibe. The side characters stole the show, which is great but again, left it falling a little flat.

Overall, this was fine. I had fun, but I wouldn’t go on a second date.

"Guardians of Dawn: Zhara" by S. Jae-Jones is an incredibly fun fantasy retelling of Cinderella, with a four horseman spin. The story crafts a landscape of a beautiful Asian city where we follow our main characters, Zhara, an orphan, Suzhan, Zhara's blind half-sister, Han, the crown prince, and Xu, Han's best friend and child of the ruling regent. Very loosely following the tale of Cinderella, we follow our characters as they try to fight for magic equality and for the very lives of their closest friends and family. This story offers representation on many parts of the LGBTQ spectrum and disability representation. Zhara starts off as a meek character, riddled with gratitude to her stepmother who she believes is doing what is best for her, despite the constant verbal abuse and manipulation she is being dealt. As Zhara starts to break away from her step mother, she evolves as a character, but the story still offers insight into the trauma she is recovering from due to the step mother's emotional abuse. The story has great plot and character arcs for everyone involved and I found it quite refreshing. Also, the vocabulary used in the novel was great for teen readers, offering familiar words as well as incorporating words that will continue to help better their vocabulary, which I think often gets lost in YA and Adult books. Over all, I had an incredible time reading this book and was feeling feelings akin to those I felt when reading "Cinder" by Marissa Meyer.

I absolutely love S. Jae-Jones' books. I was absolutely swept away by Guardians of Dawn: Zhara! Jae-Jones wrote a story that was so well written I found myself flying through the pages, unable to put the book down, pondering what would happen next. My favorite piece of this entire story was how believable the characters were.

The writing is clear and clean, and very immersive. The book hums along at a good clip, but the pacing makes sure we're given time to breathe between plot-intensifying moments. The story was absolutely engaging and the work that went into the settings was noticeable and superb. I felt absolutely transported and I'm so incredibly glad I was able to read an arc of this story.

This book was okay, I wouldn’t say anything special. I loved the idea of it, and the magical mystery fantasy element it imbued. However, i feel for me, there were a bit too many characters, which meant attempting to keep track of everyone was really difficult. It also meant there wasn’t really time to flesh all the characters out enough, so i don't feel we got enough of who they were, or why they behaved the way they did. While i loved the world itself, the worldbuilding at the start took quite a while to fit in, so i really struggled with what felt like a quarter of the book before anything really happened.
There is a large variety of rep here, which i liked, and i enjoyed the authors use of ‘they/them’ pronouns through out as well. However i just feel this missed a mark a little. I think it tried to be too many other things and not its own unique piece.

If I'm honest, I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book. The cover is beautiful, but only gave me vague "magic feelings." However, it only took 25 pages or so for me to be completely hooked - and that never let up until the final lines. Unlike many fantasy books, where the plot twists do not take me by surprise, I can genuinely say I did not see the twists coming in this book. The storyline is the true shining star of this story. In my opinion, the characters served as worthy vehicles to move this story forward; because I was so engrossed by the story, I was not as absorbed in evaluating the characters themselves or their development.

I also very much appreciated the use of "they" pronouns until the individuals gender themselves. I know the author did so as a homage to the Korean language, but I also think it's an excellent move for society in general. I was curious to see if I would find it distracting; instead, I hardly noticed it since I was more captivated by the storyline.

Unlike many of the other negative reviews, the "Sailor Moon" comparison meant nothing to me because I've never seen/read (?) it. However, I would urge the publishers to consider whether they're using the Sailor Moon reference simply as a generic reference to something Asian - in which case, that's really a terrible choice.

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. My reviews have been posted on Goodreads and Storygraph. I plan to post on IG on release day, but can post ahead of time if desired. Links are below.

I was intrigued by the tag lines but figured out this wasn’t meant for me when the main character fought off the Good Looking Giggles for the third time in one chapter. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

Sailor Moon + Cinder. I loved the world building and felt it was done right. Not huge info dumps, no huge gaps leaving you wondering how it all works. It is a bit slow paced, so you have to be okay with a developing story versus all action .

Zoomed through this fantasy (series? duology?) novel and enjoyed all the Sailor Moon nods (I believe this comparison is in the description). Found all the characters delightful and fun to follow. Excited for the follow-up!

Within pages, the pieces of Cinder are obvious. Very YA, doesn't have much adult crossover so not the perfect fit for our libraries. I stopped at 6% but I imagine it will go over well with the target demographic.

The cover is lovely. It immediately threw me to "Magic Steeped in Poison."

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

One of my most anticipated reads, the synopsis, Sailor Moon meets Cinder? Say less, I am all for it, and the cover? the COVERRRRRR is so beautiful!
Sadly as I read through the book I found it hard for me to connect and engage with the characters and the storyline. Some of the characters I could not stand and found them to be immature, so much so that it lessened my enjoyment of the novel. It also took me a long while to read as I could not deal with the characters and engage with the story. For these reasons I am sad to say that my rating is a 2.5 - 2.75 stars.