I kept seeing this book compared to Sailor Moon, which I don’t really agree with, but it was still a pretty enjoyable read. I really liked that this was a lighthearted take on YA fantasy. I feel like most books in that genre are angsty and dark. There are definitely dark moments in this book, but the overall tone is fun and kind of silly.

The plot was a bit all over the place for me, especially in the last part of the book. There were just a lot of things going on.

The cast of characters were very lovable; my favorite character was Xu. I liked that the male MC didn’t steal the spotlight from the female MC, though Zhara was a teensy bit bland.

I thought this was a wonderful story! I was carried along with the ups and downs, and there was some good humor. Definitely will make this a staff pick in the store!

I judged a book by it’s cover and I am left disappointed. The cover is stunning. The artwork is amazing. The synopsis is intriguing. But I was left disappointed. I just needed more and this book didn’t have it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for an ARC of this book. I loved the taglines that related it to Sailor moon. I loved this book. It was fun, and intense. I would definitely read it again.

DNF @ 40%. I was so excited for this book, but ultimately it just wasn't for me. This felt more middle grade than YA, and it quickly became clear that the comparisons to SM are not really on the mark. It took far too long for the action to actually begin. A great concept and well written, but a miss for me.

This is my first time reading the author's work and I will be checking out her older titles now! I enjoyed the characters and world. The magic system was also very intriguing.

DNF @ 35%

Zhara is a young adult fantasy book about a young girl struggling to hide her powers in a world where people are terrified of them. Magicians are hunted and she spends most of her life trying to get by with her sister and stepmother.

If things were different, perhaps I would like this book, but the character quirks felt like they were made for an elementary-grade book. I felt so annoyed whenever it was mentioned because it's honestly one of the most annoying things a character could do. The plot also took a while to pick up, and only around the 20% mark did it actually begin to feel good to me. However, I did enjoy what little I learned about the magic system, which has potential down the line.

Amazing cover!
Overall, I thought that this was okay. If we are talking stars, I would give this like a 3.5 stars out of 5. I really liked what world-building we did get, but for how slow the pace was I was hoping we would get much more in-depth detail about the world. Instead it was just slow. I think that we needed more about the magic system, too. The pacing being a bit more relaxed was a good opportunity for more information about the world and magic, but we just didn't get that. I could get an okay sense of the world, though, from what we were given.
Character-wise, I was left a bit disappointed. There were just so many of them and so we never got enough time with any of them and they felt....a bit inconsequential? Paired with the young tone the dialogue took on, this aspect of the story just didn't work for me.
I can see a lot of potential, and the snippets that did work really worked. I also like the narrative voice and think that the ability of the author is pretty strong so I would like to read more by them in the future!

A young-adult fantasy that has magic!

Magic is forbidden throughout the Morning Realms. Magicians are called abomination, and blamed for the plague of monsters that razed the land twenty years before.

This follows Jin Zhara who has to look after her blind sister, please her stepmother, and figure out how to keep her magic under control. Especially when magic is forbidden and magicians are known to be abominations because they were blamed for what happened twenty years ago where plague of monsters came to the land.

Zhara also meets Han, who is a prince and someone who was easily flustered.

With Magic and monsters, this book takes you on a fantasy ride.

The synopsis caught my interest and it seemed intriguing, so I requested the ARC for this from NetGalley. The take on magic was something that I was also looking forwards to knowing more about as well. The writing was great and it wasn’t hard to understand and flowed easily too.

However, I had somewhat a hard time keeping my interest in the book. Perhaps it was because I was expecting a little more action and dramatic climaxes of in this fantasy read.

Despite that, I still recommend this to any young adult readers or anyone who would enjoy reading a book of a richly imagined fantasy like it says! I definitely think that although I didn’t love that much, other readers could think otherwise.

I have been waiting for this story for a while. It was everything I wanted and waited for.
S. Jae-Jones is a brilliant writer.
10/10
I can’t wait to own this book.

Guardians of Dawn: Zhara by S. Jae-Jones

Okay this had a lot of elements that I like in fantasy books.
- adorable himbo
- cool magic system
- LGBTQ+ rep
- complex family relationships
- found family

Zhara becomes involved with a secret group that protects magicians like her when she meets a handsome stranger. Han is looking to protect his brother and this secret group might be the best way to do so. Both become entangled with the Guardians of Dawn and must discover what's afflicting the magicians and turning them into monsters.

They battle abominations while trying to figure out how to stop them. Zhara, Han, Xu, and Jiyi form a bond while trying to save their people. I enjoyed reading their interactions. There was a lot of fun bickering and flirting.

The story did have elements of Cinderella with a handsome prince and a poor orphaned girl meeting and falling in love. There was a ball, a stepmother, and instant attraction.

We see the complicated way that Zhara sees her relationship with her stepmother. The abuse she endures and how she excuses it. There is closure and growth in the end for Zhara.

The romance is sweet though too insta love for my taste, but in this book it didn't bother me too much since I was more interested in the world than the romance.

One thing that i found off-putting and others might too was the pacing. It was very slow. At times I felt like nothing was happening. There wasn't too much action.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and if you're a fan of Cinderella retellings and interesting magic systems this might be for you too.

Out August 29, 2023

Thanks netgalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this advanced copy.

Well, Let's start with the thing I love about this book : THE COVER... It was beautiful. Perfect.

Then, Let's talk about what I didn't like about this book :
1. The Pacing was so slow and didn't give any deep information about the worldbuilding and the magic system.
2. Shallow Magic System. Wow, she had magic but didn't even get information of how, and why.
3. Awkward & childish Dialogue.
4. Too many unimportant characters.
5. The Bangtan Brothers. I thought it would be perfect if the author just made original name.
6. No Pronouns, just referring the characters with their (full) names.

Overall, This book wasn't for me.

Each character pops off the page in this complex tale of magic, power, and hope.

Zhara does her best to keep her magic hidden. Not only is any sign of magic an instant death sentence, but the hunt for magicians is underway thanks to the increasing appearance of abominations (magicians turned into monsters). When she accidentally bumps into a strange man while trying to procure her favorite book, she winds up with a forbidden tome in her hands concerning magic. Soon, it becomes clear that the mythical Guardians, who are to protect magicians and the world from demons, might be real, and Zhara must find them.

First off, what a cover! That alone had me wanting to pick this one up and dive in. Then, there's the Sailor Moon and Cinder comparison, which peeks interest. So, I went into this one with high expectations, and already having read works from this author, was ready not to be disappointed. While this read wasn't what I expected, it was a fun ride.

Each character packs personality. Tons of it. In some ways...and maybe this comes from the Sailor Moon angle...they almost feel cartoonish and over-the-top but not quite. This makes each one quirky and very individualistic in their own ways. It was a treat to meet each one and gave each scene an extra zest of life.

The plot is complex and weaving, which considering this is the first in a series, great. There are many layers to the magical world and secrets abound. The history was laid out enough to build up a beginning base and get the world set-up. There are still holes at the end, but that's not a problem since there is plenty more to come. This can go so many directions, and I'm looking forward to see which ones it will take.

Comparing this one to Sailor Moon and Cinder was, in my opinion, not the best direction to take...outside of the fact that it does catch readers' attentions and markets nicely. But the tale doesn't really follow either of these. There's a tiny bit of a Cinder atmosphere in the beginning, but this disappears rapidly. As to Sailor Moon...well, I don't see it. Then, there's a BTS insert, which raises eyebrows. So, not what I expected.

The writing style is easy-to-read and draws in. The lower end of the YA audience will feel at home in this one, not only thanks to the writing but also due to the characters, since their concerns hit this age level nicely. There's a somewhat superficial atmosphere to the read, and that with the thickly woven plot, ends up creating an original and interesting mix. The only thing about the writing which bothered was the pronoun usage. The author explains that these are to follow the more Asian language direction with familiarity, but the problem is that this is written in English for English speakers. So, the sudden 'they' instead of he/she, due to familiarity usage in the Asian languages, not only confuses but plucks out of the story and world flow. The reader has to pause to realize what's going on.

All in all, this is a very enjoyable read and world with characters to really enjoy. I found the style light and refreshing with tons of potential on what is still to come. And I am looking forward to seeing what will happen next.

So I have a lot of thoughts on this one, but before I get into them, the gist is that while I can understand why someone can/would enjoy this book, I found it extremely boring. I'm going to give it a soft no, but can maybe be convinced to change that to a soft yes, but definitely not a nomination. My main qualms are mostly language-based and about the world building. Firstly, there is a lot of telling for just a little showing -- I feel like I was constantly pausing and trying to picture what was going on, but was getting an incomplete picture. The magic, which is a major focus of the book, was either lackluster or confusing -- how it works and how it looks isn't explained until over 100 pages in, and still there were things sprinkled throughout the rest of the book that were assumed knowledge that either I missed or they didn't mention at all earlier. The major conflicts seemed very low stakes and non-descriptive -- there was mild mention of something then talking about leading up to it for like 50 pages, then all the action happens in less than 5 pages. And finally, a linguistic note -- there was a big overuse of nicknames and long noun phrases to refer to people when they could have just used a pronoun. Like referring to someone as "my best friend" said this then "Xu" did that -- it was overused and clunky and confusing because several character markers for the same person would be used interchangeably with little notice of who they were talking about. Again, this book wasn't necessarily bad, and I can picture someone really liking it, but I don't think it was good -- it was boring, low-stakes, and confusing at points.

[eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review]

2.5/5, rounded up to 3 stars.

This isn't the first time I've been let down by a book that comps Sailor Moon. A core element of the magical girl genre is the existence of alternate identities; for example, Usagi vs Sailor Moon. Madoka the school girl vs Madoka the Magical Girl. Normal girl by day, hero by night and all that.

Zhara does none of that. The comparison to SM is flimsy at best; the reincarnation in SM isn't cyclical. Their magic isn't inherently elemental. Venus is a great example--her power is love.

Twice now I have read books with girls who are reincarnations of elemental figures, and twice I have been disappointed.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a much more appropriate comparison. Historical-fantasy Asia, elemental magic, mythological figure reincarnating... Checks all those boxes.

Now, enough complaining about my lack of a YA Sailor Moon book.

The first 40% was very slowgoing. There was virtually no plot during this portion. It starts off with a meet cute, and then spends several chapters of the two leads going about their lives while occasionally thinking about each other. Eventually they reconvene and the story takes off, but I was struggling to push forward through these early chapters.

I have to say I wish that everyone in this story wasn't incredibly attractive. Zhara is a normal girl, but she's the most beautiful person Han has ever seen. All of the side characters are stated to be attractive. All of the primary cast members are thin, ablebodied, and attractive. There's one disabled character in Zhara's sister, and I'm glad that she isn't magically cured. There are queer characters (both in terms of gender and sexuality) which was great, though it was confusing at times due to the author's constant use of neutral pronouns. This was at times confusing to read, and based on a typo that misgenders the NB character, difficult to write as well.

My biggest issue with this book (the SM thing isn't a fault of the book but rather its marketing) is the fact BTS is in it. It completely drew me out of the story, and I just find it very uncomfortable that real people were used in this book, even if the names were changed. I'm not going to get into fan culture or parasocial relationships here, but I really, really did not like the fact they're included. It's one thing to have a throwaway line that's an easter egg; it's another to make them central to the plot.

Overall the book is fine. It reads like younger YA, which is great to see. I'm a sucker for East Asian settings, and I loved the worldbuilding. The cast of characters was fun, and I'll certainly read future installments.

Not a comment on the book itself, but on the cover: it's a beautiful illustration, but Zhara is whitewashed (this might not be the exact term). Despite the cast being exclusively East Asian, there's diversity in skin and hair color. Zhara herself has dark hair and brown skin according to the text. I realize that artists do not read the manuscript they're illustrating for---I just want it noted because publishers should do better. It's not that hard to prevent colorism.

Not gonna lie I waited for this book to come out ever since S. Jae-Jones announced it a couple of years ago. I have loved magical girl anime since I was a child so of course I was very excited for this book. But sadly it did not live up to my expectations. I didn't seem to care for any of the characters nor the plot.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this e-ARC. Guardians of Dawn: Zhara was a great, easy read. It did feel on the younger side of the YA spectrum, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it one bit! Formal review will be available on GoodReads, socials & Amazon.

The books concept was an interesting take on magic and I like the purpose of the Guardians of Dawn. The writting was perfect but the story was boring and I had a hard time keeping an interest.
I was hoping this book had more magical aspects and more action but it did not. It dragged on for so many chapters. I believe this will be the star of a series so maybe the next books will have more magic and action.

This book absolutely warmed my cold dead heart just like the spring that happens to be emerging.

I was really pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable this was!
Anyone who happens to love: Sailor Moon, Cinder or even Avatar the last airbender should get a kick out of this.

I was super slow when reading this which isn't my usual course of reading but I would be lying if I said I didn't keep putting this down to digest and think about it more and then immediately pick it back up, curious about what in the world was going to happen next.

S Jae-Jones told this story in a really nice linear pathway, allowing it to fall smoothly into place if you're keeping an eye on the foreshadowing that's being dropped throughout. (Which I was soooooo happy about!) This may literally be some of the best written YA I have ever consumed.

The story focuses on a young girl named Zhara who happens to be a magician in a world where magicians are put to death for existing. We learn of her past, we watch her struggle in the present and we watch her fight for her future.

The story also falls into perspective around out MMC Han who has a good heart, he's a bit thick-headed but he truly wants the best for those he cares about.. He is a strong MMC without overshadowing our FMC which is always a bonus.

The romance between the two of them is built on longing which leads it to be slowburn. It was an absolute treat to read about! While romance is featured in the book, the story isn't heavily centred around it at all; there's still plenty of magical action within the pages.

I was also extremely thrilled with the positive representation of those with disabilities, LGBT folk and Two-Spirited/Dual gendered people

My only main gripes about the story is that:
A) I felt as though it was a little rushed towards the ending of the story
B) The wasn't more of the book for me to read?!? I need book 2 ASAP

This magical fantasy adventure will keep you wanting more! Following her step mother whims, Jin Zhara has a lot to keep a secret including her power that are growing stronger. A plague starts to invade those with magic, and the world needs a warrior.