I was honored with a standard e arc in edition to the audio copy of this novel and I loved both. The narration in this edition adds an immersive element to a story I had already fallen in love with.
Guardians of Dawn: Zhara by S. Jae-Jones is a young adult fantasy tailor made for fans of coming of age fantasy seeking strong Cinderella meets magical girl vibes.
What Worked for me
1. High stakes that don't get watered down for the sake of any interpersonal dramas
2.strong family bonds that remain central to driving plot points and character actions
3.well crafted dialogue that reads well while remaining realistic feeling
What Didn't work as well for me
1. Awkward pacing during the first fourth of the story
2.tension building and pay off was a bit wonky

This is an enjoyable middle-grade/early teen book whose influences are very grounded in animated series like Avatar: The Last Airbender or the Disney Princess movies. The good guys are good, the bad guys baaad, and there are even animal sidekicks (I couldn't help be think of Mulan and Wushu here). As an Avatar fan, I could appreciate that this story could very easily have fit in that universe - the characters, setting, magic all greatly reminded me of Avatar and Mulan especially. While those influences likely skew young, I think as long as you are going in with that mindset, this will be a fun read.

Story: Zhara has a secret power that is both forbidden and equally hard for her to control. But things are changing in her land and a new evil is rising - one that can turn magic-sensitive people into monsters. There is a legend about a secret group who protects the mortal realm: The Guardians of Dawn. Along with a prince in disguise, his non-binary companion, a magic cat, and several others, they will seek out the Guardians while coming up against the dark magics.

The setting here is historical Korea/China and the author works hard to ensure that those influences are authentic (even in a fantasy setting). So the world building is good but, it should be noted, on the more simplistic and one-dimension variety similar to the characters.

Zhara as a main character is painfully earnest and single-minded in wanting to 'do good.' The prince in disguise is a lovable, good-looking, romance novel loving goofball who becomes courageous when needed. The two main characters greatly reminded me of Katara and Sokka from the Avatar series. Their other companions are what you would expect: each with their own quirks - flamboyant dry humor companion, mentors, harsh but fair associates, etc. Because of their very simple traits, some readers may find them lacking in depth and nuance and a bit juvenile. As noted above, the appeal here is the same appeal as in the animated media: Avatar and Disney movies. Targeting this to a YA audience may perhaps be a bit optimistic.

The plot moves as expected: Zhara has to learn what her ability is, how to use it, and how to defeat baddies with it. Most of this book is a standard anime 'power up' situation in which all the characters are there to help Zhara grow and become powerful enough to fight the evil.

I listened to the audio version and the narrator was fine. She was perhaps a bit wooden at odd times but for the most part, she did give the characters different personalities in her narration. As such, since this is a more simple-structured type of story, it makes for an easy and enjoyable audio book. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Guardians of Dawn: Zhara is the story of Zhara a girl who has magic, but since magic is forbidden, she has to keep it hidden. Meanwhile, she's trying to care for her blind sister and avoid her drunk and cruel stepmother. But then she meets Han, the prince who's hiding the fact that he's a prince. And then monsters start cropping up.

I had such high hopes for a book that likens itself to Sailor Moon. First of all, that's a very big claim, but I love Sailor Moon so I thought I'd give it a go. Guardians of Dawn: Zhara isn't much like Sailor Moon. That's my first issue with this book. The most difficult thing I dealt with while reading this is how juvenile it is. This book is YA (and I read a lot of YA), but it felt like it was middle grade fiction. Zhara can't stop giggling every time she sees a cute boy. You may wonder her age. Is she 12? Nope, she's 17. She was really insufferable. And Han, the bumbling idiot prince, was no better.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Katharine Chin was a great narrator, but this book was definitely not for me.

Zhara is a teenage girl who possesses magical powers in a society where magic is forbidden. She is kind, curious, and has a big imagination, and these traits help her survive in the impoverished and abusive home of her stepmother. She deeply loves her half-sister but carries tremendous guilt for causing, or at least worsening, her sister's blindness after Zhara's uncontrolled magic injured her. One day, Zhara meets a boy named Han outside the bookseller's shop, and she later spies him inquiring of the bookseller about a mythical organization called the Guardians of Dawn. This chance encounter changes the trajectory of Zhara's fate and brings new light and purpose to Han's as well. We are beside them as their paths cross in their journeys - Zhara learning about her own gifts and investigating what appears to be a blight on magicians turning them into monsters, and Han on a quest to protect at all costs his little brother who is secretly a magician. We are alongside them as they battle evil forces, uncover magical secrets, and seek a life where they can thrive, not just survive.

S. Jae-Jones does a fantastic job of world-building and setting up the lore, history, and politics of the Morning Realms. The magic system is creative and works well to propel the plot. I appreciated the Author's Note at the beginning that described her own journey to bring this tale to life, and her efforts to incorporate her cultural roots and even aspects of the Korean language in the way she introduces and describes characters. The story is influenced by the anime and pop culture that has brought her joy throughout her life - she specifically mentions Sailor Moon and BTS.

I must admit some stylistic choices didn't work for me. Certain expressions - especially ones involving giggles and bubbling - were repetitive and grating. Han's naivete was extra, as was the other characters' mocking of him. The flirty dialogue also felt immature even for teens. The juxtaposition of the light-hearted interactions with the dark and downright disturbing events the characters face was jarring. Maybe these are me-problems due to not being the target audience for this book, but I felt like it could have been tightened up more in the editing process. Despite its flaws, I enjoyed the story and I'm intrigued to see where this series goes. I also think it would make a great anime itself!

I listened to the audiobook courtesy of Macmillan Audio and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. The narrator was excellent and really brought the story to life! I enjoyed how she voiced the characters and it helped me vividly conjure the book's imagery.

I would give this more stars if I could!
There is magic and political intrigue, but also hope and smiles. This book has characters that you will fall in love with while you are also rooting for them to make things right. There is a pretty clear generational demarcation. The adults are mostly the bad guys for a variety of reasons, but the youth are the good guys. We don’t spend a lot of time with the adults, so that gives us time to be with the youth in happy moments as well as action packed tense moments. The magic system is not well defined in this one, but that didn’t bother me. The romance was light and mostly lacking in angst. I liked that as well. I can’t find anything to complain about!
Waiting for book 2 will be so hard!

Ah this book was so, so good, I’m obsessed!! And I was not expecting that!

I loved the cover and had seen the author’s account on social media so decided to request this book. Even after getting approved, I went into the story completely blind so every part of the story was surprise to me!

It definitely gave me a little bit of Cinderella vibes. I adored the magic system, our main characters, side characters, the writing style, the romance, the plot twists, the adventure, EVERYTHING!

Usually, fantasy books, especially from authors I haven’t read books of before, take me some time to get into but with Zhara, I was having a hard time putting the book down to do my chores.

Will highly, highly recommend!!

Not gonna lie, I was going to be down for this book as soon as I got to "Sailor Moon meets..." It really didn't matter what it was meeting, I was in. Considering that it is also a bit of a Cinderella vibe, yeah, this is my alley. They story is quick and fun. It has joy; it is actively channeling joy. It definitely has some season one Usagi vibes with a very unsure of herself protagonist. I'm looking forward to where this series goes, as I want to meet the rest of the Guardians. If you are down for something light that will make you smile, this is a solid pick-up.

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.