Yuli finally takes center stage in this third Guardians of Dawn book, and it’s a mix of political intrigue, magical threats, and personal growth. After her grandfather’s death leaves the throne open, Yuli enters the Grand Game to fight for her people’s future. At the same time, a strange sickness and dangerous demons threaten the realm, pushing her to embrace her role as Guardian of Wind.

I really liked Yuli’s voice—she’s strong and determined, but her doubts make her feel real. The rivalry with Kho adds emotional tension, and appearances from Zhara and Ami keep the bigger story connected. The world-building continues to shine, with lush magical lore and high stakes that balance politics and fantasy nicely.

That said, this book doesn’t stand alone well—you’ll want to read the earlier installments first. The pacing also slows down in spots, and I wished the romance had more development. I felt like I was supposed to feel more than I did, which was rather unfortunate. The ending sets up the next book rather than fully wrapping things up, which honestly just makes me want book four even sooner.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for early access to this book. I am definitely late on reviews because of giving birth, oops!

Please note: This is the 3rd book in a series, so there will be minor spoilers. I would recommend the entire series if you're looking for a new fantasy series to dive into!

4.5/5 stars.

The good:
1. Yuli has been a constant in the series and I’ve enjoyed her character in the past 2 books, so I loved that she had the spotlight on her and we got to learn more about her past and backstory.
2. Seeing Yuli’s relationship develop was a great subplot to the general danger vibes of these books. I love seeing the tender side of all the characters.
3. This by far was the most interesting demon experience to me. I think S. Jae-Jones is extremely creative with the magic in this world, which is why I keep coming back!
4. The focus being on the Guardians of Dawn this time around and less with past love interested really allowed the stakes to be raised, which made the book faster paced and more enticing to read. Though I do hope to see everyone back for the next book!

The loss of a half star:
1. My only issue is that we have another book in the series coming and I know where about half of the book is going, but it seems there’s just a ton of unfinished business left to wrap up in a final book. If there are 5 books, that’d make more sense to me and I’d up my rating to 5 stars OR if everything does get wrapped up in book 4, I’ll change my rating. I just can’t let go of all the unfinished questions!

Overall, if you’re read the first 2 books, keep going! This was my favorite of the books so far in the series.

I had a feeling that this would not be the last book in the series, since each book follows a different Guardian of Dawn, and there are four of them. Sure enough, though this book contains its own satisfying plot, it sets up the fourth story and the stakes for the guardians and their allies.

Like the others in the series, this one has a large cast and the narrative follows more than one point of view. This book stuck more closely with the three guardians and a love interest, so it felt more compact to me than the first two books. I enjoyed each viewpoint. Zhara, Ami, Yuli, and Kho are all so different from one another. It was always pretty easy to remember who was telling the story at any given moment.

The plot moved at a nice pace. Of all the books so far, I think I read this one the fastest. I really enjoyed the fairy tale story elements. There’s a great balance between the original story and the fairy tale-inspired themes.

I’d still recommend this series to readers transitioning to young adult from middle grade fiction. The action can be a little intense, but the writing and other components keep this feeling like a perfect read for a younger YA audience.

The political machinations weren’t my favorite theme, but discovering the bad guy and fighting the bad guy might have been my favorite of the series. The Guardians are really learning how to use their powers and coming together as a group. It isn’t easy because they are pretty different people, but I like seeing how they are working at it. I can’t wait to see how this ends!

I have loved every story in this series, this one I just had enjoy in a different way. Yuli has been a captivating character from the start and I was so excited to get her story.

This point in the story is much slower paced than the others, but that makes sense for where they are in their journey and what they’re trying to accomplish. Every epic has a bit of a lull. Overall still enjoyable but took a little bit longer to get through than the others for me.

A good slow placed read for when you need one!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Yuli by S. Jae Jones

Yuli is book 3 in the Guardians of Dawn series, and it was so great to be back with the gang. This is by far my favorite book of the series so far. Yuli is fearless and has the best sense of humor. I love her and Kho’s story of love, sacrifice, and family obligations. This was a bit faster paced in my opinion and features some trials. We get lots of magical girl power and cute animal companions, as well as fights with demons. I can’t wait to meet the final Guardian of Dawn in the next book.
You can pick up book 3 now to continue your journey Yuli and the other Guardians of Dawn.
Thank you netgalley and Wednesday books for the opportunity to read this e-arc.

This series is quickly becoming one of my favorites!
The vibes and atmosphere are immaculate (as usual). The plots of each book in this series have been quickly escalating, and the stakes of Yuli are the highest yet. It’s quite a quick read, and I found myself speeding through so I could find out what happens next.
Yuli is probably my favorite POV character so far. The representation in this series is very tasteful (imo) and the portrayal of Yuli’s ADHD is very similar to my own experiences. Her romantic subplot (iykyk) really hit home for me and put me in my feels :,).
I absolutely would recommend this series to anyone wanting a super fun YA adventure series with great all-around representation and stunning plot-lines.
I cannot wait for the next book!! I need the conclusion in my hands now!

Book review: 3.25/5 ⭐️
Genre: YA fantasy
Themes: elemental warriors, demons, Asian-inspired
📖 Read if you like: Avatar: the Last Airbender, Blood Scion, Sailor Moon

Princess Yulana is living in a world of the brink of change. With her grandfather and warlord passing, the Morning Realms has been left leaderless with a game of power dividing the north. Then there is the strange sleeping sickness sweeping in with a wave of refugees leaving a trail of hungry ghosts in their wake. In order to keep power out the hands of a tyrant, Yuli must compete in the Grand Games, but as one of the reborn Guardians of Dawn it is also her responsibility to bring order to the chaos along with her fellow guardians.

Having the Guardian of the Wind a channel to the spirit realm made this an otherworldly story. It questioned the essence of a human and created a landscape of ghosts and empty shells, corrupted beings and pure souls. It was a coming of age story with the main characters finding their own identities and purpose outside of the roles they were born to play, as it was an adventure. The rise of the Moth Demon creating political discord and the sleepers a silent army kept this an action packed plot. I also rather enjoyed the three guardians having their own personalities and dynamic.

It had all the makings of a great creative historical fantasy with guardian animals and powers that are unique. While the personal transformations matched the context of the story, the romantic element seemed out of place. I didn’t connect with it, or perhaps I just didn’t like Kho as a character. How much does intention matter when actions have consequences, some of which are deadly. For someone glorified for her intelligence she has a lot of “I don’t know” lines, and whether she told her father or her brother she must have known what her betrayal of Joshi would mean for the boy. I couldn’t jump over this emotional hurdle, nor could I see her as a moral compass given all her past decisions. Duty and doing what is right are two different things, and she clearly had difficulty differentiating the two. It would have been much more powerful if the focus was on friendship, healing and autonomy, because the blooming romance was too naive. It also distracted from what was otherwise a well built world and multiple exciting storylines. This element unfortunately downgraded my rating, but I think many YA readers will enjoy it.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an eARC for review. It was well written with an easy flow so I was able to fall into the story. It isn’t really a standalone, so I spent the first couple of chapters rather confused, but I got into it eventually. I would recommend reading the books in order.

Such a great addition to the Guardians of Dawn world. I really liked the glimpses of Yuli we go on the previous books and was really excited for this one. It did not disappoint. I love her magic and how it manifests. And let's not forget the romance in this one. It was my favorite part!

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the ARC!

I really love the Guardians of Dawn series, and this book is no exception. I am glad Yuli got her own book, she is one of my favorite characters but I knew she had a greater depth to it. I loved the exploration between her loyalty to her family and her desire to a better world. We get to see even more of the world within this story, and there are parts where it feels like everything is hopeless. The cliffhanger kills me, I need book 4 ASAP.

FYI, if you are a fan of K-Pop Demon Hunters, you are going to like this book.

I really enjoyed the first two Guardians of Dawn books and was very excited for Yuli’s because she’s been present in both previous books, plus we love a sapphic princess! But I think this one doesn’t hold up as well? I really struggled with staying focused (was it the book or the world around me? Idk) and it took me a long time to read, even though I was anticipating it. I do really enjoy Yuli and the continued world building and I am still excited for the fourth book and finding the fourth guardian. But this one just didn’t work for me as much, especially with romantic elements. That ending, both epilogue and bit with Bangtan Brothers, has my interest piqued, but not enough to eliminate disappointment with how things went with Kho and sacrifice.

this looked this so good, I didn’t realize it was thief in a series though lol 😭 it published before I got the chance to read it

As per usual, I fell in love with the latest installment of the Guardians of Dawn. This one had a bit of a Snow White twist, which I was rather surprised about. I knew the previous two had fairytale elements, so I knew this one would as well. I just was not expecting it to be Snow White.

Out of the three books, this one was my least favorite. It oddly makes sense that it had Snow White elements, as that is also my least favorite fairytale. Now, I am not saying this book is a dull read. In fact, I still loved this book! I just don't connect with spirit-magic fighting and ki forces the same way I do with other kinds of magic/fighting.

Similar to the other two, this one also featured a bit of a romance. It's one of those friends-to-enemies-to-lovers (second chance) romances. Granted, they hadn't pursued a relationship prior to this book. In fact, they still haven't technically pursued a relationship. We just know they're interested in one another. While book 1 was a heterosexual relationship and book 2 was a pansexual/asexual relationship, we find that book 3 is a lesbian relationship! It makes me wonder what book 4 will be. Poly? That would be something for a YA book. Perhaps bisexual? Either way, I'm enjoying the representation.

Throughout the book, we are tasked with the plight of obligation and expectation - of doing what is right and good. Yuli and Ko both approach the weight of responsibility differently. Ko has been taught a more certain path, one that is more black and white. Meanwhile, as we know, Yuli sees that there is never one clear answer. In fact, she historically evades all major decisions; especially if they are part of that gray area. She prefers to let somebody else more capable make such decisions. As you might expect, their understanding obligations/expectations grows over the course of the book. Yuli's change is more important to the series, but Ko's change had more impact to this particular book.

In one particular part, Ko muses - "But what was order at the cost of strife and oppression? Of genocide? One could not forget the human cost. She must not forget the human cost."

The lands in the north (where Yuli and Ko live) are full of oppression, particularly against the magicians. The northern people held no qualms in burning magicians at the stake. This is the life Ko grew up in. But as she is exposed to Yuli's truth and all that is happening in their world, Ko accepts that magicians ARE people, and are not worthy of such violent outcomes.

By the end of this book, we are left with some major cliffhangers. This is unsurprising as the next book sounds like it'll be the finale. Our heroes are all spread out, but something tells me they'll all be at the same place when they determine who shall take the Sunburst Throne.

Princess Yulana is the Guardian of Wind, but the Morning Realms are being torn apart by civil war when her grandfather died without naming an heir. In addition, a strange waking dreamer sickness is sweeping through the land, and a plague of hungry ghosts roam the steppes. The future of the Morning Realms rests on the winner of the Grand Game―a competition that will determine not just the future of her people, but the course of the entire empire.

This is the third book in the series, and it definitely helps if you have read the prior two. There are multiple factions in the north, and Yuli tries to save those with magic from a very public burning by the Huntsmen, and she uses the Bangtan Brothers to help cause distractions. It's a very action-packed and cinematic opening, and it shows us the chaos she was dealing with and why she couldn't directly help in the last book. On top of the chaos in different parts of the realm, a new illness has developed. The waking dreamer sickness is a comatose state, which leaves bodies vulnerable to getting hijacked by demons. The team is being hounded by another Demon Lord, and in Yuli's public life, she faces her former best friend in the Grand Game for leadership in the north.

Ami's search for fragments of The Song Of Order and Chaos is a bridge from the last book, as well as a connection to Kho besides the conflicted past with Yuli. I am amused by the continued light novel references and the Bangtan Brothers. I would have liked to see more boy band heroics on the page, but there's already a lot going on, so I understand it. These references break up the foreboding feeling that the Guardians have. They're desperate to close up the portals and keep the demons at bay, especially the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons. As the third book of the series, the stakes are high, with the entirety of the Morning Realms in the balance. There will be a fourth book in the series, and I can't wait to see how that story goes.

I loved this book and can not wait to read more from this author! I felt like I was in the world and on the edge of my seat the whole time.

I recently read the third book in the Guardians of Dawn series by @sjaejones and I have loved the continuation of this story. Each character brings new insight into this world and into the hardships they encounter, not only in their regular life, but learning about themselves and their power. Though we meet Yuli in book 1, we didn't get to really know her character on a personal level until now.

I enjoyed all the different themes in this story and really enjoy the diversity of queer representation in this series.

I am so excited for book 4

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This was a good third book in the series. We follow Yuli mainly with some chapters of Zhara and Ami but overall, it’s Yuli’s turn. Yuli is such a strong character full of confidence and charm. Here comedy was timed perfectly and I loved how Kho balanced her out.

I can’t wait for the 4th book please give it to me now!!

Yuli is the third installment of the Guardian’s of Dawn series. It follows The Guardian of the Wind, Yuli as well as the other guardians as they try to uncover why there are sleepers and how to help them. Yuli while trying to find the Moth Demon causing the sleepers to happen is also trying to save her kingdom by appearing in three trials against her former best friend Kho.

Going into this story, I was very excited to see more of Yuli. We saw pieces of her in the first two stories, but never got to see much. I really love her character. Her magic is so cool how she can unbind her soul from her body. We get to see more of how she uses her magic day to day as well as delving more into her relationships with the other guardians and her former friend Kho.

Her and Kho’s relationship was honestly my favorite part of this story. I really enjoyed how they navigated once being each other’s person to now being strangers. I liked that we got both perspectives throughout the story as the push and pull of the plot finally led to everything unraveling and the truth coming out. While I really appreciated the build up, I wish we got more of them. Everything after happened so fast, it felt like a blink and then the story was over. Aside from them, I always really like the other Guardians. I really enjoy Ami and how she was trying to create her own encyclopedia. She is so relatable to me and I appreciate every second I spend with them.

The plot was interesting. I don’t know if I enjoyed it more than the others. It was definitely interesting and I appreciate how it helped Yuli find her full potential. Trials can feel just so lackluster to me sometimes and the sleeper plot didn’t truly pick up until a little more than halfway through. I appreciate how everything let up to the end which was very crazy, but I definitely found it hard to pick this up for a bit.

Overall, I am so excited to meet the fourth guardian. The last installment should be very cool. Thanks Netgalley and Wednesday books for an eArc. All opinions are my own.

In the latest Guardians of Dawn novel, S. Jae-Jones focuses on Yuli, the Northern Princess, who first appeared in the debut novel.
Princess Yulana has responsibilities at home that are taking her away from her job of protecting the Morning Realm. As a Guardian of Dawn, she is supposed to be working with Zarah and Ami to keep the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons from arising and destroying the world as they know it. But her homeland needs her. Her late grandfather has died without naming an heir, civil war threatens the Morning Realms, a strange waking dreamer sickness is sweeping through the land, and a plague of hungry ghosts roam the steppes. Plus, when she stands to fight for control of the Golden Horde (in part to save her family’s line, to have power behind her for the epic battle in front of her), she finds she must battle her former best friend, someone that she used to love before she was betrayed in the worst way. All this while she is supposed to help the other Guardians find the Moth Demon as well as complete their knowledge of exactly how they are supposed to beat the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons.
We finally get the story about the Princess from the North that we have been wondering about since book one, and my favorite, what a story it is. Jae-Jones digs down in this book to truly look into Yuli’s life, what she left behind, and why she feels so strongly about taking care of her home. While I wish we knew more about her family and how she interacted, the story between her and Kho becomes the focus, and Yuli’s inner turmoil. We see more Yuli and less Guardian of Dawn. But there is still plenty of time for the Guardian of Wind to show her powers. The story is action-packed as the Guardians must take on the Moth Demon and deal with the new sleep sickness.
My only issue with this one is that this book didn’t truly move the overall story forward as much as the first two books. The ending, of course, affects the next book, and it’s a whopper. But by this time, we usually know who the next girl is. There is a breadcrumb for who she will be; any astute reader will pick up the Snow White reference. But this was basically just Yuli’s story with a pinch from the other ladies and their ingredients. I needed a better balance of the current tale and overall saga.
As we approach the end, I worry that Guardians of Dawn: Yuli has left readers with a rushed ending. But I did enjoy this adventure with our Guardian of Wind.

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The fight to destroy the demonic infestation and defeat the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons becomes even more fraught as Yuli must balance her powers as the Guardian of Wind with trying to take the mantle of the leader of her people.

I liked this one better than the first two. The fairy tale influence actually subverted my expectations, and I was delighted by the surprise. And I really enjoyed the subplot of Yuli’s trials. Watching Yuli’s character development from a flirty, kind of flighty person to someone buckling down, accepting responsibilities, and making the difficult choices has been fantastic.

But this is series is starting to feel just a little bogged down with so many points of view. And as much as I liked the trials, it did mess with the pacing a little too much for me.

I will say I’m very excited for book four, and I can’t wait to have a matching set of these books on my shelves.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this arc.