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A review by writteninmagic
Guardians of Dawn: Zhara by S. Jae-Jones
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
(Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing me with an eGalley copy to review.)
I thought the premise and the world were interesting. The writing was simple and easy to follow along with for the most part; there were instances, such as mentioning locations in the world and not really having something like a map to indicate where they were in relation to one another, that made it confusing to keep up with when I was reading the story. Unfortunately, the writing style was written as telling everything as it is, which took out any tension the action scenes/battles would've had.
There's a diverse cast of characters, but I felt like none of them really stood out as characters except Xu. All of them basically remained the same throughout the book. However, this is the first book in a series, so there's room for character growth and I'm curious to read more about the magical world and the adventures they'll go on.
Something that frustrated me while I was reading was when something major happened, but then none of the characters mention it until a few chapters later. And then when it gets outright explained several chapters later, Zhara is somehow still surprised even though it should've been really obvious.
The writing got really repetitive with all the instances of Han being like "But how?" and then immediately going "Oh" afterward.
I'm not a fan of instant romantic attraction between characters. Han is instantly drawn toward Zhara and there's also an instant attraction between the two side characters.
Despite the criticisms I've written, I'm curious to read about the story's world (more about the history, the magic, and the elemental Guardians' powers).
I thought the premise and the world were interesting. The writing was simple and easy to follow along with for the most part; there were instances, such as mentioning locations in the world and not really having something like a map to indicate where they were in relation to one another, that made it confusing to keep up with when I was reading the story. Unfortunately, the writing style was written as telling everything as it is, which took out any tension the action scenes/battles would've had.
There's a diverse cast of characters, but I felt like none of them really stood out as characters except Xu. All of them basically remained the same throughout the book. However, this is the first book in a series, so there's room for character growth and I'm curious to read more about the magical world and the adventures they'll go on.
Something that frustrated me while I was reading was when something major happened, but then none of the characters mention it until a few chapters later. And then when it gets outright explained several chapters later, Zhara is somehow still surprised even though it should've been really obvious.
The writing got really repetitive with all the instances of Han being like "But how?" and then immediately going "Oh" afterward.
I'm not a fan of instant romantic attraction between characters. Han is instantly drawn toward Zhara and there's also an instant attraction between the two side characters.
Despite the criticisms I've written, I'm curious to read about the story's world (more about the history, the magic, and the elemental Guardians' powers).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
Minor: Death of parent