Race the Sands was fantastic! It's a stand alone novel, which is great for someone not wanting to start an entire series, that has complex world building and lovable characters.

First, the monster racing. Kehoks are reincarnated criminals that are reborn as mismatched abominations of nature, caught and forced to race in a country wide sporting event. Races are dangerous, even deadly sometimes. Kehoks that win are rewarded, kehoks that lose can be killed.

Tamra is one of the main characters, a former rider turned trainer. Desperate for a chance to provide her daughter with an education, she takes risk after risk. One of my favorite characters of this year, Tamra is strong but soft. She's a fighter, strong willed and stubborn, but she loves her daughter completely, and cares about the injustices in the world.

Raia is the newest rider, Tamra's trainee, who is running from a bad home life. She needs to win to be able to escape. She's kind and caring, and wants to be free of obligations she never wanted in the first place. She's just as stubborn as Tamra.

Dar is the king to be, and can't be crowned until his brothers reincarnation can be found. He's shy, and awkward, and doesn't want to lead.

All in all, Race the Sands was an amazing book with a great cast of characters. I will definitely reread this book when it comes out.

Thank you to Sarah Beth Durst and HarperCollins for sending me an ARC of Race the Sands.

Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst, a thrilling book that was impossible to put down. Tamra is a trainer and has been given an impossible task yet that task is her only hope to keep her family together. One last try and one last throw of the dice, she will give it her all but will it be enough.

Race the Sands start off a little slow but keep reading because I don’t think you will be disappointed.

The people of the Becar Empire believe that you are reborn and what you are reborn as depends how you lived in this life and your other past lives. Depending on the state of your soul you can be reborn as a slug, bird anything, including a human; this is a never-ending process and everyone and everything is eternally reborn. The only exception to this rule is if you are reborn as a kehok, a creature that is just against nature. They can have the body of a crocodile, the head of a lion, have poisonous skin, saliva, deadly teeth and they are totally vicious. If you are reborn as this creature you were a terrible person in some life and you are cursed to be forever reborn as a kehok forever.

The people of Becar use these creatures for racing. There are people who train others to ride these creatures and it is a popular pastime for the wealthy to own kehoks and be patrons to trainers and riders. Tamra was once a champion racer and after winning the championship she is now a trainer. During last years racer when her rider and others were killed by a kehok during the races, she was disgraced and heavily fined and was lucky she didn’t lose the patronage of her sponsor.

The Emperor recently died and before his brother can be crowned the augers must find the new vessel that holds his soul and bring it home to the palace. Augurs are them most important people in the empire, other than the Emperor; only those with the purest souls can be an auger. They can read you aura and tell you what you will be in you next life and how you can improve the state of your soul. Augers have been searching for the previous emperor with no luck and the empire is on the edge of revolt.
Raia is a young woman who has run away from her parents when they tell her that she must marry a man who everyone knows killed his first wife. One night her instincts tell her to get out of bed and out of the house, she climbs out the window and watches as her parents come into her room with ropes intending forcible restrain her and deliver her to a man, she is deathly afraid of and does not want to wed. While hiding in the
marketplace she spots Tamra who is searching for a new kehok and a new rider to train; having nothing to lose Raia convinces her to train her to race the sands.

This is an exciting book, with many different plot twists, the book is long (I love long books) but it’s also a standalone novel which is a refreshing change. The cover is amazing and shows the reading an example of these freaks’ nature, kehoks.

**4.25/5 STARS: I received a free digital ARC through Netgalley in exchange for a honest, unbiased review. I
sincerely thank Netgalley, author and/or publisher for giving me this opportunity.**

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book but I took a chance because it had quite a few elements that appealed to me: high fantasy, deadly races, reincarnation, a desert empire, and two strong female protagonists. I love nothing more than to sink into a good fantasy novel and I was immensely pleased when this one did the trick.

Race the Sands features two main characters, alternating between their perspectives - and, occasionally, the perspectives of other side characters - from a third person point-of-view. I won’t give too much background on them because you’ll get it fairly early on in the book: All you need to know is that Tamra is kehok racing champion-turned-trainer and Raia is her student.

Tamra is easily one of my favorite characters of the year. She’s stubborn and straightforward and confident and tough. She has a major attitude, but underneath her spiny exterior, she genuinely cares for her daughter and her students. Raia is more sensitive, but with a similar determination and drive. They were both realistic and well-developed characters, with strengths and weaknesses.

The main plot was an underdog story with a twist that made it more unique and raised the stakes. The entire book was extremely well-paced, neither too slow nor too rushed, and I was never bored. Most of the plot developments were heavily foreshadowed and easy to predict, but there was one twist that genuinely caught me by surprise.

Aside from the characters, the world building was the highlight of Race the Sands. I enjoyed every aspect of it: the kehok racing, the reincarnation, the augurs, the politics of the emperor’s court, the threat of a hostile neighboring country. Durst introduced and built upon these aspects gradually and organically throughout the story.

I had only a few minor complaints. The dialogue and narration occasionally felt trite. There were moments I could tell Durst was trying to be inspirational and deep, but she did it so often that the effect was muted. I wasn’t a fan of the romance, which was unnecessary and underdeveloped, but thankfully it was a minor plot point. I didn’t love the ending - I thought it was cheesy - but I didn’t hate it either.

Overall, Race the Sands was a thoroughly enjoyable standalone fantasy novel. You’re not going to want to miss this one.

Ms. Durst does not disappoint. At all. Race the Sands was such a great standalone book (and I haven't *gasp* read the Queen of Renthia series yet) that I couldn't put it down. Becar -- a city where rebirth reigns, humans with the worst souls are reborn as kehoks -- monsters that are used by the bravest of riders in races to become Champions. Tamra, a fierce trainer finds an unusual kehok and Raia a determined rider who's freedom hinges on becoming Champion. As the relationships between the trio develops, the holy order of Augurs who read souls and keep the peace, threaten to disrupt their small world with secrets, lies, all in the name of power. Tamra and Raia are wonderful characters, and while the book didn't end the way I had wished, it was a great read (and ending) all the same. I will be reading the Queen of Renthia series for sure.