I ADORED this! Absolutely delightful, so fun…It’s not without depth and emotion but there is such lightheartedness that was a total breath of fresh air. This is the third Cinderella inspired story I’ve read lately and easily my favorite! The Sailor Moon comparison is totally apt but it also reminded me of Avatar (benders not blue creatures 😅) both of which I love so the vibes were ✨🤌🏻✨ for me. The pacing is great—plenty of action, magic, and adventure, it kept me totally engaged all the way through—but also enough character development that you get more than just a surface feel for the characters. There is ace spectrum, sapphic, and non-binary rep through various characters which always makes my little queer heart happy to read. Han is quite possibly my favorite prince ever? TBH I don’t usually like prince characters, the vibe is usually so typical masculine or tortured soul ehhhhhhhh…so Han with his cinnamon roll, himbo vibes was amazing and I love him. And I’m also obsessed with Yuli so I’m hoping/assuming (will riot if not!) because of who she is that one of the future books will be more about her, and I cannot wait for it!

The audiobook is fantastic! I really loved Katharine’s performance, she brought so much life to the characters and story. It was a joy to listen to…I will definitely be looking out for more books narrated by her!

Zhara was a fun and imaginative story with Chinese mythology drawn ino fantasy alongside echoes of Cinderella. I finished it quickly and would read it again.

I’m going to start this review off by stating that I listened to the audiobook, so forgive me for spelling names wrong. I honestly only know how to spell three or four names.😅

With that bit of business out the way, let’s review the book. The blurb for this book says that it’s a mix of Cinder and Sailor Moon. This is accurate, but I also feel like there’s a little bit of Captain Planet thrown in there. Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, nix the heart. I say this as a compliment as Usagi in Sailor Moon is dumb as rocks for no reason. Sorry, Usagi fans, but your girl is a dunce, and the main character of this book deserves better.

Jin Zhara is a girl who has grown up with nothing. She lost her mother before she was born, and her father was murdered when she was a small child leaving her in the care of her step-mother. In walks Cinder, or more appropriately Cinderella since that’s what Cinder is based on. We have an evil, if just manipulative and uncaring, step-mother who uses Zhara’s life and secret as bargaining chips to get ahead in life. You see, Zhara is a magician, and magicians are forbidden in The Morning Realms where this story takes place. In fact, that is how Zhara both lost her father and developed the ability to use magic. Her father was a magician. It’s genetic. She is a magician because her father was a magician. At least that is what we are led to believe. In true Cinderella fashion, Zhara has never really figured out her abilities nor has she had anyone to teach her. She learns about herself and her abilities throughout the book as we learn them along with her. She is young, she is sheltered, and she has no hope that her life would ever amount to more than the scraps she’s been given from her stepmother.

Then she meets Han, a prince in disguise. (That’s for my Beauty and the Beast stans). Han is also innocent and sheltered. He’s a seventeen-year-old that comes across more as a junior high school student than a person almost ready to graduate and move on to adulting. That’s not a negative criticism though. He’s adorable. He’s a person that wants to be himself instead of what others think he should be. He’s also basically the only guardian for his younger brother after the death of their mother and mental and emotional collapse of their father. He is someone torn between growing up and staying young. He is the perfect example of someone who has had to grow up before he was ready. He gets ragged on a lot in the book by some of the other characters. It isn’t uncalled for as he is not book-smart nor is he street-smart. But, what he lacks in intelligence, he more than makes up for in heart. Oh, maybe he’s the Heart in this Captain Planet analogy! Ah Ha!

The other supporting characters of this novel all have differing personalities that bring a lot of substance to the story. We have Xu/Shu (again, audiobook), JiYi (??), and Yuli (again ??). They all have unique stories and abilities that help round out the qualities that our two innocent main characters lack. They are also easily distinguishable from each other. None of them felt like copy-and-paste characters. That was very refreshing.

Even the romance was refreshing. Let me be the first to say that I absolutely abhor romance in books. If it has to be in there, I prefer the entirety of the romance to only fit into one chapter. That’s how much I tolerate romance. Or, should I say that’s how much of an intolerance for romance that I have. Whatever the case, the instant crush that turns into friendship and eventually into budding love is one of the few romances I could swallow. It was as cute and adorable as Zhara and Han are individually. There was just so much of it. I know that’s a me-thing has nothing to do with the book. But, romance does bring me out of the story if it goes on too long. Unfortunately, it did that here. But, I would rather that than an enemies-to-lovers storyline.

Now, let’s talk about the narrator. I believe her name is Katherine Chin. She was phenomenal! Five out of five stars for her narration alone. If this was live theater, I would throw three dozen roses up on stage for her. She easily displayed the innocence of both Zhara and Han while also invoking the deceptiveness of the villains. My hats off to her.

Overall, I would give this book a 4.25/5. I took away a small amount of points due to the pacing and how the story was laid out in the middle. It was a little hard to follow at some points, and at other points, it dragged a bit. But, it was a solid book, and I look forward to learning about the next guardian. I hope it’s Earth. Also, I feel like we’re going to a fantastical Africa. I can’t wait!

Also, I want Sajah. 🐈

This is an autobuy author for me. I will read anything that they write. This cover is just gorgeous! I have been excited about this one for a while! Magic is viewed as bad in Zhara's world and is also forbidden. It is something she has to hid. She has heard stories of the Guardians of the Dawn but she always thought they were fairytales. But are they really? This story had so much action and adventure. There was also a little romance. Exactly how I like my fantasies! I also love the narrator. I cannot wait to read the next book. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 STARS

Genre: YA Fantasy

Similar Book:
Cinder

Synopsis:
In a world where magic is forbidden, Zhara looks to find a secret organization called the Guardians of Dawn as she finds out she has powers herself.

This is book 1 in a YA fantasy series. I really enjoyed the hidden magic premise and the various monsters. It reads like an epic fantasy with Sailor Moon vibes. There is a slow burn, meet cute romance that starts and hopefully will continue in the next book. I listened to it on audio and found the narration to be good and well paced.

Thank you Wednesday Books for the ARC! 🖤

This is a great starter fantasy for younger adults!

Full review will be posted after Pub. Date.

Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Listening Copy and to Wednesday Books for providing me with an ARC.

2.25 stars
This book reads very young. The MMC is supposed to be 17 years old, but acts more like 13/14 and the FMC acts like she's 11/12 years old. Add on top of that the humor that was juvenile but also almost always raunchy or sex related, and I'm left confused about whether or not I'd recommend this to a young tween. For example, we get a passage early on when the love interests meet, and he goes to show her something from his waist belt. She responds, "I'm not that sort of girl. At least not before someone buys me a meal". And pornography is also brought up and joked about a multiple times too. I just really struggle to see who the audience is. Because the writing (like the use of onomatopoeia), character actions, and kinda cringey dialogue make me feel like this is meant for kids that are 7-13. But the topics covered and actual ages of the main characters makes me feel like it is geared more towards older teens (16+).
Speaking of immaturity: The giggling. This girl is non-stop giggling every time she sees the MMC and I can't take it anymore. Just the phrase "Good-Looking Giggles" is used 8 times. That very specific phrase- 8 times!
Not to mention how Zhara's hands keep lighting up at seemingly the slightest provocation so idk how she survived this long without getting caught. I genuinely don't believe that nobody else knows about her powers when she makes them so obvious and gets almost caught nonstop since the start of the book.
For all those reasons, this book did not work for me. To end on a positive note though, at least the cover is absolutely stunning.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the audiobook narrator. I just had trouble following along since I only got the ALC. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio.
I don’t think this book is exactly in my genre. It was cute and interesting but it was heavy middle school fiction. More for Percy Jackson readers than for 25 years olds but then again no shame on Percy Jackson because I love that series. It’s just I feel like I outgrew this genre so my ratings is more me than it.

Guardians of Dawn: Zhara is the start of a new YA Fantasy series from S. Jae-Jones, author of the Wintersong duology. I have been awaiting this release for a while and the wait was worth it. I really enjoyed this and read it so quickly.

In this story, we meet Jin Zhara, an apothecary's apprentice, who spends her days trying to control and hide her magic, caring for her visually impaired younger sister and appeasing her cruel stepmother's every whim.

Magic is forbidden in her society and magicians have been blamed for certain tragic events over the years, rightly or not. When a new plague hits the streets, transforming magicians into monsters, abominations, Zhara's world becomes more tumultuous than ever.

A chance encounter with an attractive young man, Han, also shakes up Zhara's life. It exposes her to a whole new hidden world, including a secret magical liberation society called the Guardians of Dawn. What Zhara has no way of knowing though, is how big a role she will come to play within this group.

It's believed a demon is responsible for the new round of abominations and Zhara, along with her recently-met friends, must come up with a plan to weed out the demon and destroy it. Only then can balance be restored. If they fail, their society may be left in ruin.

I read this via audiobook and really, really enjoyed it. The narration brought these characters to life. I thought it was so well performed. I was sucked in from the start.

I thought the world-creation was very well done. I enjoyed how it felt historical, yet modern at the same time. Additionally, the story had the perfect balance between light and dark elements.

I enjoyed both Zhara and Han, as well as their blossoming relationship and rapid-fire banter. I liked getting both of their perspectives and watching how they each contributed to the over-arching plot. From the moment of their meet cute, I wanted them to grow closer. They were both so endearing, yet also a bit clumsy.

I loved that. I thought it worked well as they progressively grew closer and the secrets they had been hiding from one another were revealed. Their personalities balanced each other out.

One thing I always enjoy about S. Jae-Jones writing is the dark imagery she brings to the page. Even though quite a bit of this story is fun and light, cute and bright, there are darker elements running throughout and when the monsters come, look out! They're not so cute.

I also really enjoyed and appreciated the cultural richness that can be felt throughout this story. And as mentioned before, I felt those influences were both historical and modern, as I was feeling a touch of BTS in this.

Watching Zhara mature over the course of this story, as well as learning to harness her powers more, was so satisfying. I also liked learning about this secret society and think there is a lot of room for that element to continue to be built out.

I am absolutely continuing on with this series as it goes and am really looking forward to it. I would recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed stories like The Keeper of Night, Stars and Smoke and even Cinder.

Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was definitely worth the wait.

I'm really disappointed with this. I absolutely loved Wintersong and I figured the writing style would be the same with this book. On the descriptive level, it was the same and just as gorgeous! But the tone was so much more childish than Wintersong and that wasn't what I was expecting.

This isn't anything wrong with the book though. The tone just isn't for me.

Thank you so much Wednesday Books and NetGalley for my audio copy!

Guardians of the Dawn: Zhara

ARC provided by NetGalley

This book was fine. I wish that it had been more than that because I was so excited to read it, but it is just fine. This book pitches itself as Sailor Moon meets Cinder and that is a pretty good description. I could never quite pin down what about it was sailor moon but it is definitely there in the bones and blood of the story if you get my metaphor. The cinder thing is also there but I feel like we could just say the story takes inspiration from/ is a retelling of Cinderella because it is. While I get why Cinder was picked because if you liked that story this one would also be right up your alley in terms of vibes it just feels weird to not call out the base inspiration and story beats that are here.

That being said I don’t have all that much to say about the story which in and of itself is part of the problem. It was just fine. It was nothing revolutionary or drastically different from anything else I have ever read. It was in fact a lot like so many other stories I have read before* but just not as something as those stories.

I will also say that this is definitely a more younger YA which is a good thing, there is a definite lull in that half of YA in recent years with the rise of “TikTok” book trends. And I don’t want to hear any complaints that younger YA isn’t a thing, the YA books written for 13 and 14-year-olds are different than those written for 18 and 19-year-olds. A lot of life experiences happen during those years and the interests of those readers are varied to reflect those changing experiences and interests. However, I have definitely grown out of most of the aspects of younger YA such as the humor and characters' behaviors so much of this story did not connect for me.

I just did not get super invested in this book. I wasn't that engaged for much of the story. The characters didn’t grow on me that much. The only thing really pushing me to get this one done and read was the publishing date which I needed to get out the review for, without that I’m just not sure I would have finished this one.

* The similar books in question:
Cinder
Sailor Moon
Descendant of the Crane
The Book of Tea Duology

Zhara seems to be a book that either hits or misses with people. Happily I found it an enjoyable read that manages to deal with difficult subjects while also keeping a light feel good tone. Yes, the characters do seem on the young side for YA, and yes, some of the characters are a bit too naive for their age to be believable, but for me this is part of what gives the book it's innocence. I fell in love with each character and genuinely cared about them. The novel also plays a lot with genre, incorporating romance novels into the plot and inserting how we read and understand into the magic system itself. While the stakes are quite high, the novel maintains a sprightly joyful tone that makes the book a pleasure to read from start to finish. It is the first in a series, but gives a great deal of closure and satisfaction at the end. If you like fantasy that doesn't take itself too seriously I highly recommend this book.

The narrator for the audio book does a fantastic job of bringing each character to life and leans into the humor beautifully.

I was a little worried about listening to this one after looking through some of goodreads reviews, but I thought it was a cute, lighthearted book that you can enjoy if you don’t expect something earth shattering. It kept me well entertained while I was tearing up carpet and baseboards in my new house. I really enjoyed the narrator and think she did a great job bringing the characters and the story to life.

I think the description that Guardians of Dawn: Zhara is a cross between Cinder and Sailor Moon is spot on. I even made a note at the 18% that I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t listened to Cinder 4 months earlier. It felt almost too similar. However, as soon as the magic and demons come into play it switches to definite anime mode influence. (I’m not going to get any of the characters name’s spelled right because I listened to the audiobook version so bare with me.) Zarah definitely has the very wide eyed, innocent Sailor Moon character down. Shue’s character really reminded me of Nuriko from Fushigi Yugi. I was super anime in my high school/college days so I loved that part, but I felt like the author should have done better at giving more depth to the characters. All of them felt a little flat and one dimensional, which I do think is kind of an anime trait especially for female focused & magic super hero type anime, but as a book I expected more.

What S. Jae-Jones really does well is the world building. Because of that, I actually liked the first half of the book a little better. It was fun to get to know more about the magical system and the political system. The adventures when they are up River learning about everything was my favorite. I could absolutely imagine all of it.

I think middle schoolers would really like this book, but it’s definitely made for a YA audience. There are a lot of sexual innuendos and some swearing. There are two LGBTQ characters and magic with demon possession so that could set some parents off. I think it’s still a fun book that kids would like. I might be a little too immature for serious high fantasy readers though. Like I said at the beginning, I think it all depends on your expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the chance to listen rage and review this audiobook arc which will be available August 1,2023!

Sailor Moon meets Cinder is how this book is being marketed. It is steeped in magic, monsters and a young girl finding the power within herself to combat them.
This was a cute listen. The narrator Katherine Chin was great. The story was good. I enjoyed it.

Guardians of the Dawn: Zhara by S. Jae-Jones
4.5/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

•••Spoiler free review below•••

Zhara lives in a world where magic is possible, but illegal. Knowing very little about the magic she possesses and how to control it, she can only hope to not accidently hurt anyone with these powers. When she discovers a secret resistance that has the goal of protecting magic wielders like herself, she jumps at the opportunity to be involved. Her, along with the country's disobeying prince make quite the pair on this journey of enchantment and wonder. The first in a new series, Guardians of the Dawn will keep you entertained with the banter, fascinated by the world and mythology allure, and wondering where the author will be going with the next installment.

Read this book if you like:
- dual POV fantasy books
- cat sidekicks
- awkward princes
- fascinating magic
- main characters who enjoy a good romance read

Guardians of the Dawn: Zhara will be released August 1st and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
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Special thanks to Macmillan Audio for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

This is filled with every trope you can think of in YA fantasy, but I actually loved this. I hope that all the low star ratings don’t stop people from reading it because it seems that many of them are because the author mentioned being inspired by Sailor Moon and included this in the blurb. I have noticed that especially for YA readers it seems to be a major mistake to ever mention your inspiration, as folks seem to take this as, please compare and contrast everything you love about something nostalgic with something new.

The one thing I will agree with is that as some mentioned, it seemed that making the sister disabled was something only mentioned when it was necessary and convenient, but I personally didn’t see it as a checkmate for inclusion like some did. It just seemed more like a no-thought way to make Zhara have a responsibility that she could not easily leave. It could have just as easily been done in other ways—by making the sisters closer/inseparable and a more important relationship, but this was already a long book and doing that would have taken away from creating the romantic relationship, or by making the sister much younger, but then there’d be no impending marriage storyline, etc. it seemed this way just the easiest way to create that attachment without working around other storylines.

Thank you Macmillan and NetGalley for the ARC

Zhara is a young magician who has to keep her powers a secret. The only other person alive who knows of her powers is her stepmother. One day, a chance encounter, she meets Han a student at the university. However Zhara soon finds out Han is not who she thought he was. Together they go in search of the Guardians of the Dawn. A rebel group of magicians who help those in need, against the chancellor and warlord who would see them dead.

This book was really good. It’s a Cinderella retelling with Sailor Moon/ Avatar the last Airbender vibes. It is a true young adult book but has some adult theme jokes on the topic of “corn” in books. The banter is witty and the characters are very well written. You get a true understanding of their personalities and their goals. I enjoyed the magic in this. The world building was very easy to follow. I will say I read and watch a lot of anime, which made this book perfect for me. The politics was interesting and I can’t wait to meet more of the guardians. There is a ton of diversity with the characters, which I always appreciate. Overall I think 5 stars would read again.

This has a really good premise and the world-building is well done. This universe of magic and magicians, guardians representing the elements, and an uprising in the making was exciting and interesting. I appreciate the effort the author put into developing the world and it was definitely my favorite part.

The main characters were the downfall of the story. Zhara was immature, giggling uncontrollably around any cute boy and generally being a bit clueless. The prince wasn't any better, so I guess they made a good match? They just read very young to me and I was hoping this would be upper YA.

The pacing was slow at time and I think the whole book could have been shorter. I may still read the sequel to see more of what the magic can do.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the copy.

I really wanted to like this book - the premise sounds so interesting, but unfortunately I really did not like this.

The characters are so juvenile (makes sense for a YA book), and yet there is so much adult “humor” and talk about sex and porn. It seems super inappropriate for young readers. That alone makes the book problematic to me in the way it is being marketed. I don’t want to read about children making sex jokes.

Almost nothing happens in this book. Not only were the characters problematic, but there was basically no plot.

I cannot think of one person I would recommend this book to.

I really wanted to love this one - I mean, look at that cover!

Unfortunately, the maturity level of the FMC was way too low for me and I really struggled with her so I did end up DNFing this book.

That said, I do think there is an audience for this one so I do encourage you to pick it up.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.