I'm having a really difficult time rating this book. But I think I'm giving it a 3.5

Note: I take issue with the marketing. I saw this art posted by the publisher, and in the caption it said: they were lovers, then exes and now rivals, or something like that. But I explicitly remember it saying lovers, which is extremely weird to me. The synopsis states that she's 16. In my understanding, they hadn't been around each other for a few years. So saying that children were lovers doesn't sit right with me. I was even more surprised when I went to check the author's page and found the exact same post. I guess she's trying to market to the “enemies to lovers” fans, but it just does not seem appropriate.

On to the review.
I quite enjoyed the story. Action definitely came through during the races. Koral wasn't my favorite, but I guess she'd appeal to a younger audience. Suffered from self-sacrificing heroism. It wouldn't really be that much of an issue if she weren't a huge hypocrite and got mad every time someone else did the same. I loved the strong sense of family. Look, a ya protagonist with parents 👀. Sike. Anyway, I just wished her friendship with Crane was shown more, rather just told. The hatred Koral had for Dorian seemed a bit forced at the beginning. Only a bit later did we find out the reason for it. Basically, she was upset he didn't hang out with her like when they were younger. He, on the other hand, was doing the “being a dick to drive her away to protect her” act. Because, boy, does he have an abusive pos power hungry father. Also forgot to mention Dorian is from a powerful, important lander family, so there's also that. But I'll admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for romance, and it's not terribly done so… 😏 When he calls her my star, I was gone.

It took me a while to realize it wasn't just a fantasy world, but rather a dystopian/post-apocalyptic one. The history was not explained. I'd love to know what happened for the world to end up the way it is currently in the book. Also, a map would be quite helpful, I don't remember there being one. Which leads me to the biggest fault of the book. The worldbuilding. I could not wrap my head around it at all. Now, I'm not one to usually be bothered by this because I speed through everything. But with this book, I was really trying and still couldn't figure it out. I'm hoping the sequel clears things up. History and world building-wise. I have numerous questions. Why was Koral the first renter to enter the glory race? If technically it's not forbidden, and she got in easily. Did no one before her try? Furthermore, what is the renter/lander thing? I'm assuming the landers are those who live on the (main) land. But why renters and for what reason are they inferior? A considerable detail I could not understand at all were the maristags. I gathered they're water creatures, but sometimes they read as horses. They had stables… (filled with water? Or like an aquarium?), also the races themselves were confusing. Do they swim? Or run through the water? Because at some point it was described how it's feet hit the ground. And occasionally they attack people. But the people aren't in water? Do they survive on land? Furthermore, gills/lungs, how do they breathe? I need a picture of this maristag. And a lot of explanations. The cover is stunning, though. Can't wait for my pre-order to arrive.

Koral is a Hunter. She hunts the dangerous maristags with her brother. If they don't get one soon, her family will starve.
The only other option is for Koral to enter the Glory Race, a competition reserved for the elite. The competitors have a chariot and a maristag and compete in a series of challenges. Even though it's usually the rich competing, there are no rules that state Koral can't.

This book was pretty bad. There is nothing fresh or new. I didn't like the writing style. It was just all over the place and didn't flow well. I disliked the mc very much. She was either whining or saying she was going to win the tournament. Blah, blah, blah. 2 stars is generous.

Koral Hunter was an intense character to follow in this book. Her anger is what fuels her and Berwah doesn’t shy away from that in the way her the character behaves. Her desperation at her family’s financial ruin, her hostile relationship with her father and her fear over her sick sister all culminate in her decision to join the race — which only puts her and her family in more danger. With each challenge she faces, she grows stronger and more ambitious, ignoring the warnings of those around her to get what she wants. Though she doesn’t know it for most of the book, this ambition also drives her character arc during which she learns to care about more than just her family.

Though Koral overshadows most of the secondary and background characters, they don’t blend into each other. As her brother, Emrik, is driven by the same desperation when it comes to his family and, though he doesn’t like it, he helps Koral in any way he can. Dorian longs to break free of the role of Lander Heir under his abusive father’s watchful eye. Crane is Koral’s best friend whose life has taken a darker turn, whereas the Landmaster is a ruthless politician holding the island in an iron grip, and whose favour is often in question.

Tanvi Berwah builds a brutal island world where giant creatures rule the sea and the skies, and the sun is a dangerous thing. Having escaped a dying homeworld, the Elders established a civilisation on a dangerous but survivable land where it all worked until a small group of people got greedy and managed to divide the people into the Landers — the wealthy ruling elite who can afford to live in caves and away from the dangers — and the Renters who are forced to live above ground and grapple with the monsters, often just to benefit the Landers. Berwah doesn’t shy away from the brutality of this world — not in Koral’s everyday life nor during The Glory Race itself.

In fact, her writing even reflects the world as it’s characterised by short, rapid sentences and a lot of action. The pace is fast and barely lets up throughout, reflecting Koral’s desperation to win. The descriptions always err on the side of danger, or worse, while her action scenes are ruthless and often bloody. Through Koral and her cast of characters, she paints a bleak existence where surviving is a painstaking process or navigating the dangers of the land around them as well as the politics of those in power.

Overall I flew through Monster Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah. She sets up an interesting dystopia and a desperate character willing to do anything to save her sister that then grows to care for the Renters beyond her family in this cutthroat world. This book is certainly not for the faint of heart on account of the death and destruction throughout, but it is a worthy debut that delivers on what the blurb promised.

Oooooh THIS IS WHAT I NEEDED.

This world! The race! The romance! HERE. FOR. IT.

Yes, the world may have been a whole lot to just be thrown into, BUT it was worth it. I didn’t have to know what all the words meant that the MC was using to describe things, because I FELT it! It was rich and combined the past and future seamlessly.

Now the romance… I’ve never read a redemption romance before! And I guess it was kinda good? Personally, not a believer in the circle back ‘cause why you even break up in the first place?! But this was sweet and painful and *swoons*

OH THERE BETTER BE A SEQUEL!

Koral and her older brother Emrik are hunters who live on an island. They need to capture maristags, a dangerous species that lives in the water, and breed them in order for their family to survive. When Emrik gets stung by a maristag, he needs an antidote that they don't have money for. Faced with the fear of starvation, Koral decides to participate in the Glory Race with her maristag Stormgold. If she wins, her price would be gold, which would keep her family from starving and could offer treatment for her sick younger sister.

I liked that the story was very action-driven, while also focusing on the relationship between Koral and her family. However, the plot didn't grip me like I thought it would. Overall, it was still an enjoyable read, though.

I truly enjoyed this book. It had a good mix of everything I love in a good read. A main character that is easy to connect to and pull for, a love interest, drama to battle, people to dislike and monsters.

The main character, Koral, is a determined young woman who is trying to prove herself in a society that wants everyone to follow very specific "rules." If you aren't in a specific group, you are automatically cut out from certain opportunities. Koral realizes that to help her family rise above their overwhelming poverty, she's going to have to buck the system and not back down. When she does so, it risks everything she values. People go after her and her family.

I have to say that the title of this book couldn't have been more appropriate. This book had numerous monsters and the author did a great job of describing them. and helping the reader envision them. She also helped to create people who behaved like monsters....to me, those were the monsters that were "made." Hence, the very word perfect title.

I read the ebook version and listened to the audio. Both were equally enjoyable. The narration of the audiobook was well done and kept me engaged. I would recommend it to those who enjoy listening to audios. (4 stars for the audio)

Thank you to NetGalley for both the ARC and audio ARC. I voluntarily chose to review these and the opinions contained within are my own.

Monster Born and Made was a wild read. The story was a bit all over the place. It was an okay read overall.

I can't begin to explain how I feel after this book, specially because I feel that I forced myself to finish it. We have our main character, Koral, who is very desperate at the moment. She's posed as a very strong and smart character, yet she trust EVERYBODY. Any person who smiles back at her? She trusts. She trusts a person who has already disappointed her, she trusts a person who nobody is supposed to trust.

She is participating on this race where people like her are not supposed to participate, right? Well, you expect others to make some noise and all. But NO! The biggest authority accepts her really fast. In that moment, I knew something was gonna go wrong. But here, Koral trusts everything again, because of course she's our main character and everything should be perfect for her to go on. And this is another thing that bothered me a LOT. Koral is a hunter, she has never trained for this race in her life, but suddenly she's AMAZING at everything? please, at least give us something believable.

And here we get into the writing, which was definitely not for me. I can't begging to explain how messy and all over the place it felt. One minute we are reading someone's introduction, and suddenly Koral (because it's a first POV book) goes on and on about other stuff. And this happens a lot, not only with characters' descriptions but with some critical moments. She's supposed to be stressed or sad but here we are seeing her talk about the walls or the color of something. You might think, so was this book too descriptive? No, it wasn't. It descibed the things that weren't important at all, and never really gives you a calm explanation about what is going on. I could never picture the place where things happen, I couldn't even imagine the faces of the main characters. This book might have given some descriptions, but as I said, they're really everywhere and anywhere at the same time.

And don't get me started on the characters. I couldn't stand Koral, but what bothered me the most was the romance, because it really didn't show any chemistry AT ALL. Was I suppose to believe these two had a tragic past and now were back to falling in love? The only interesting character was the best friend and sometimes the brother, and also some of the other charioters. There was one girl who was in the competition too who had some good reasons to hate Koral, and honestly? I was rooting for her.

I'll give it some extra points for at least writing some interesting competitions, that is what kept me reading.

Monsters Born and Made features a teenager (Koral) struggling to break out of her caste and improve the lot of her family. She manages to tame an "untamable" maristag - a sea monster used in races. Her sister is chronically ill and the family owes a lot of money for her care.

Koral does the expected thing in these types of stories - she enters the Glory Race. This race is only for nobles - not poor commoners. Koral has to battle her way through to survive the race, while revolution is happening all around her.

South Asian inspired fantasy perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and Fable - Yes please!

Especially when it has a group of elites living within the walls and those less fortunate living outside the walls that risk their lives to the monsters that roam. The conflict is greater and the stakes higher. 

Koral was such a bad-ass character and she was doomed to fail from the beginning. Being forced to make the decisions she did just so that they could payoff the credit for the medicine to treat their sister was eerily familiar to a horrible real social construct that we have.

Where the people inside the gate don't suffer from any medical issues but those outside are always sick with horrible scars and injuries. Hmm, this all sounds so intriguing.

Koral dared to rise above her station and since she was an actual Hunter who captured the beasts and trained them instead of a fancy noble who had everything handed to them she was way more talented then they expected. They expected her to fail immediately.

I'm still trying to figure out Dorian.

But look at this amazing cover!! Those beasts sounded amazing!

Read if you like:
✨ Monster games/trials
✨ Political intrigue
✨ The Underdog


Thank you sourcebooksfire and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Series Info/Source: This story is meant to be part of a larger series of stories set in this world, however I was unable to find out how many books are planned. I got a copy of this through NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: I really struggled with the first third or so of this book, the writing just flowed so awkwardly for me. However, as I got farther along I was more drawn in to Koral and her story. People who are comparing this to Hunger Games but with chariots and sea monsters are right on the mark. It has the feel of a fan-fiction Hunger Games off-shoot.

The story features Koral who along with her brother, Emrik, hunts the dangerous maristags. Their family breeds the maristags so that they can be used in the Glory Race, a deadly chariot tournament normally raced by the upper class. Due to various circumstances Koral applies to race in the Glory Race and is allowed. The majority of the story is about both her training and competing in the Glory Race and about a rebellion that is going on in the background.

As mentioned above, this whole story felt a bit simple, overdone, and off. Yes, there are some good action scenes and yes, the maristags are interesting. However, I never really engaged with the characters. Koral is meant to be rebellious and tough, but she comes off more as a victim of the circumstances around her. The characters never really grow, Koral is naive and taken advantage of constantly. The bond Koral suddenly forms with her maristag felt forced and sudden.

I did finish this, there's a lot of action and it was an easy enough read. However, I wasn't really sold on the writing style, the characters, the world, or the overall story. It all felt a bit hollow and immature to me. Again, more like fan-fiction than an actual stand alone book.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay but not great. I did finish it, but I had some trouble getting into the story and felt like the writing didn't flow well. Everything about this feels simple and unfinished. The world feels incomplete, the characters don't grow and are hard to relate to, and the story feels like something you've read a million times before. I won't be picking up any books by Berwah in the future.

Emrik and his sixteen-year-old sister Koral risk life and limb to capture the maristags that live in the black seas around their island. These creatures are used by the ruling Landers in the Glory Race, a deadly chariot race that provides gold and glory for the winner. But when the last maristag of the year escapes, the family finances become even more precarious. Unable to afford medicine for her chronically ill little sister, Koral's only chance to save her family is to enter the Glory Race. Higher castes don't tolerate that, and it becomes more and more difficult for Koral. Ultimately, she must choose which life matters more, hers or her sister's.

Based on South Asian folklore, this book is billed as a combination of "The Hunger Games" and "Fable." Those were great books pitting a young woman against a cruel and corrupt elite determined to keep the status quo in place. Here, people landed on an archipelago within a massive sea populated with fierce creatures that tear humans apart in minutes. The maristags can't truly be tamed, so racing them is incredibly dangerous and deadly. At every turn, Koral's faced with trials: her brother's injury, in the beginning, showcases how little the Renters like her family, her father's quiet disdain and casual emotional abuse, poverty, the rebels, the black market trades, and the dangers of living aboveground with a blazing hot sun and swarming creatures that kill. One of Koral's competitors is a boy she knew when younger, a Lander's son she felt sorry for when his own father was emotionally abusive too. That tenuous connection tightens and frays off and on throughout the novel; he's attractive, privileged, warns her away from the dangers, and saves her life even so. Koral only wants the gold as a prize to help her family, but everyone else wants the prestige.

I was drawn into Koral's life from the beginning. She's angry, with a lot to fight for and against. The world runs on trauma and abuse of power so everyone struggles and is caught up in the same cycle of trauma, revisiting it on the next generation. Even rebel forces find someone to look down on and ostracized the Hunter family just as they're ostracized by Landers. Despite that pain, Koral still has love and hope for the future, even if her hopes are just getting by. I love her determination, that she refuses to let others' views of her change how she sees herself or what she values. She values her family, her ingenuity, and the community that supports her. The rest is extra, and she's learned this at a very young age. I also really enjoy the monsters in the book and the details of each race of the tournament. The intensity of each one makes it so visceral as if we're right there with Koral.

This is a dystopian fantasy story, the idea overall seemed promising, however I felt it a bit flat, the plot could've been fantastic if the world-building and characters was a bit stronger and better developed. However, it was entertaining after the slow start. I hope the next book brings more into the story and is better developed. The idea of marketing like other more famous dystopian and fantasy books is understandable, but I think the mythology the author wrote is a better way to make this unique and drag more readers, it's refreshing and original. If the author could get a few fixes into this story in the following book I think it would bring more readers.

Koral is desperate for money to pay for her sick sister’s medicine and pay off her family’s debts, so she enters the Glory Race—a tournament where charioteers race using deadly sea monsters called Maristags.

However, not only does she have to watch out for the competitors but things get even more dangerous as rebellion spreads throughout the island.

Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah offers readers with a high stakes race along the lines of the Scorpio Races. Although instead of kelpies, here we have venomous ocean deer that walk on their hind legs.

At first, I was pulled into reading this book based on its cool premise.

However, I think what bugged me most about the book was its lack of worldbuilding. The blurb markets this book as being south-Asian inspired, but I feel that the world pulls a lot more from Greek mythology instead with charioteers, gorgons, and explicit references to Helios and Icarus, which also raises a lot of questions.

Is this an alternate future set on Earth? Are these islands where Greece used to be and if not, why did the islanders adopt ancient Grecian beliefs and customs out of all the world’s cultures? We’re told that there’s a super ocean now, but not how the world flooded. There’s not much of an explanation for the world’s history and how things got to the way they are now, which, for me, kind of defeats the purpose of writing a dystopian novel to begin with.

All in all, parts of the racing sequences are entertaining, but I feel like this book needed to have spent more time in developmental editing because it’s worldbuilding needs a lot more fleshing out.

Sixteen-year-old Koral and her older brother Emrik risk their lives each day to capture the maristags that the ruling class demand so that they can have their races. When the siblings don't catch one, their family's fortunes take a turn for the worse and Koral must do the unthinkable to save her deathly ill sister. Can she survive and save her sister?

Set in a dystopian oceanic world where a caste system relegates a large portion of the population to suffer to survive under the glaring heat of the sun, Monsters Born and Made is at its heart a tale of humanities fight for survival and struggles with greed and dominance. Koral has been force to hunt sea creatures throughout her adolescence and when her family's circumstances look even more hopeless than usual she makes a drastic decision to cheat her way into a Hunger Games style race seemingly reserved for the upper classes. Koral is feisty, loyal and fiercely protective of her family and it's a delight to inhabit her perspective throughout the novel. Tanvi Berwah's writing is engaging and it felt like Koral was recounting what happened directly into my brain. I loved every page and sincerely hope to see what happens next in this world.

First, I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book. I am leaving this honest review of my own will.

I had no problems reading this in one night!

I was initially interested in this book because of its beautiful cover. I loved the colours, the title was intriguing too, and when I read the synopsis, it sounded interesting.

Then I started reading it and it reminded me a bit of the film Sea east on Netflix, except that they don't kill the monsters. Instead, they capture them to breed them and then race them in this super important race. Sounds pretty epic if you ask me.

I also really like the characters. They're well written and each seem to be their own person, with different personalities. You can just tell they're dynamic each in their own ways.

Overall, this book is a good time and I would recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

happy release day! and thank you for netgalley for sending me this arc! (and i apologize the review is so late)

it is with a sad heart i give this a 2.5/5 stars because i wanted to like this book SO BAD. unfortunately, this book is not for me it seems. the writing was clunky and the worldbuilding felt very disconnected. i don't understand a lot of the plot of this book and ESPECIALLY the ending because it leaves a lot of questions? and not in a good way? the author clearly wanted to cover a lot in this book and it shows like not some of the HYPED UP action scenes were paced weird so it felt like there was no buildup and thus, i did not feel very anticipated to read what happened next. the relationships were also very lackluster especially between the love interest and our mc. you're told of their seemingly romantic past but it is never truly shown which made it hard to believe the history or the chemistry that was supposedly there. the family dynamics were written fine..but there is no satisfying conclusion to anything and that's just upsetting. it was a very weird mix of telling not showing AS well as showing not telling in places where the other was necessary. while there were definitely scenes that i enjoyed, it's just not enough for me to enjoy this book.

storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/d8615ede-9625-443c-9ac5-b520d5da9083

goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4405710739?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

How best to describe Monster Born and Made? I’d say it’s the Hunger Games meets Ben-Hur in a wildly imaginative and original world. I knew I was going to love this one from the opening chapter where we are introduced to Koral and her brother as they head out into the ocean to attempt to capture wild maristags to breed for the Glory Race: an annual chariot tournament held by the upper class. When Koral and her brother fail, the future of her family, especially her sick younger sister, is at risk and Koral must do whatever it takes to ensure their survival. Tanvi Berwah does an amazing job with the world building: crafting a multi-tiered society, showcasing the struggles of the oppressed. The actions, the politics, the world building, I loved it all. The only problem? It ends…and now I’ll have to wait for the sequel! Thanks so much to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Monster Born and Made.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R139D6ODRB4DHB/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv