Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: August 29th, 2023
Pages: 416
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books
My Rating: ⭐/DNF
Publisher’s Synopsis:
“Sailor Moon meets Cinder in Guardians of Dawn: Zhara, the start of a new, richly imagined fantasy series from S. Jae-Jones, the New York Times bestselling author of Wintersong.
Magic flickers.
Love flames.
Chaos reigns.
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.
Jin Zhara already had enough to worry about—appease her stepmother’s cruel whims, looking after her blind younger sister, and keeping her own magical gifts under control—without having to deal with rumors of monsters re-emerging in the marsh. But when a chance encounter with an easily flustered young man named Han brings her into contact with a secret magical liberation organization called the Guardians of Dawn, Zhara realizes there may be more to these rumors than she thought. A mysterious plague is corrupting the magicians of Zanhei and transforming them into monsters, and the Guardians of Dawn believe a demon is responsible.
In order to restore harmony and bring peace to the world, Zhara must discover the elemental warrior within, lest the balance between order and chaos is lost forever.”
My Review:
This was so terribly disappointing. Everything about it caught my attention and made me want to read it – from the description, to its reference to Sailor Moon (a connection I felt was sorely misrepresented), to its stunning cover. It didn’t deliver on anything. The writing is clunky – so much telling that is bland and emotionless. The pacing is so tragically slow – I was bored. The characters are the most immature older teens I’ve ever encountered. I mean, “Good-Looking Giggles” … are we serious right now? Like really!? Maybe if they were 8 it might make sense. Nothing hooked me or made me want to keep reading. Idk I hate being so negative but this just isn’t what I felt like was promised. The concepts are so freaking cool and the execution of them is severely lacking in follow through. It definitely needed to go through several more drafts before accomplishing its spectacular potential. I wanted so much to enjoy this and, sadly, I did not. By no means is it my intention to bash the author or their writing (I would still try something new from this author in the future). Don’t let me dissuade you from giving this a chance if you were really looking forward to it. Reading is such a personal experience and I am simply expressing mine.
Disclaimers:
Huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an early copy of this amazing story! I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Have you read this book? Planning to add it to your TBR?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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