This is a novel following Koral - a teenage girl who risks her life daily to hunt and capture monsters for elite. As her sister becomes more and more ill she decides to enter the elite’s Glory Race to see if she can win enough money to save her sister but also free her family.

This one gives off serious Hunger Game vibes. If you enjoyed those books you might enjoy this one as well. Overall the pace and storyline was enjoyable but I really struggled to visualize the world and the monsters. Ultimately I settled on the monsters looking like sparkly elks but that’s just me. Fun novel and probably more enjoyable for someone with a more active imagination than I have.

Thanks to Sourcefire Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

This YA debut is a South Asian inspired dystopian story that highlights the extreme marginalization that occurs in a caste system. It is an ocean based world with wild sea creatures, a Ben Hur style race competition and a struggle to do whatever is needed to provide for your family.

Koral is a Renter and Hunter, she and her family are forced to capture and train wild maristags to sell to the ruling Landers for the Glory Race, which is held every four years. Needing to be able to get medication for her sick sister leads Koral to enter the Glory Race with the hope of changing her families fortunes forever. However, the ruling Landers will not easily allow anyone to disrupt their dominion over the Renters.

Overall, there are more positives than negatives with this debut. The world building with the ocean focus is well done. I did have a hard time trying to visualize the maristags and other creatures, and at times this made the action scenes have less impact. As for the characters, I liked Koral overall but never felt deeply invested in her. I kept wanting more interaction with Dorian, and build up in their relationship. At times it felt like the story was trying to fit too much in and that there were missed opportunities for character growth and depth. I would like to see the next book and see the growth in the writing and overall story.

Thank you NetGally for an arc in exchange for an honest.

"If you keep living for everyone but yourself you'll never get off this island".


This dysopian sci-fi was marketed towards those who enjoyed Hunger Games and yes it did have similar elements. Enter a death competition or get married go save your family from financial ruin were here choices. The world building however was somewhat confusing. Monsters rule the land, water, and skies and the wealthy burry themselves underground. The Renters were basically the districts and the Landers were capital members. Landers can willingly enter a gladiator style completion to die or get rich but Renters aren't exactly allowed. There's no written rule against it but it's an unspoken one. So of course our MC is going to ignore that and enter. And of course her name is Koral being a hunter in the ocean for creatures.

The plot and characters seemed very basic but I enjoyed the water world. That was refreshing to me that this was taking place on such a unique location. In the end it didn't really have any new or exciting elements I have not already read and was somewhat predictable.

Thank you again NetGalley for the arc.

I love a strong female lead character, especially an impulsive one who acts on her emotions and then thinks later. This book started off well but improved greatly as the story progressed. I loved the created world ( but would not like to live there) and the characters were well rounded.

AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 4 | Atmosphere: 4 | Writing: 2 | Plot: 3 | Intrigue: 5 | Logic: 2 | Enjoyment: 1
Total: 3.00

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but unfortunately, it missed a lot. It should have been fleshed out a lot more, I feel, before going to publishing. There is almost no world-building whatsoever, which really is what left me the most disappointed as that was what I was most excited about. The thing I was excited about after that would be the mentioned monsters, but I couldn't tell you what a maristag was even if it was a life or death situation. The character relationships felt flat and the dialogue seemed half-hearted. This just wasn't it for me.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Lonely Pages Book Tours for the review copy!❤️ I'm super grateful.

'BLOODY HELL' are the words that came into my mind after finishing the book. It was intense! I was so damn frustrated with the ending that I wanted to stomp and lower the rating to 2 stars but that would be unfair to the captivating narration and wonderful characters. Intricate details coupled with somewhat predictable twists made it a very enjoyable read. Koral's stubborn attitude and determination to win, her relationship with Dorian, landmaster Minos reminded me of 'The Hunger Games'. The Landmaster actually wears sari! How cool is that? Now the reason why I am mad with the ending is it delivers a huge shock and leaves a few questions unanswered. I am quite familiar with these abrupt endings but it's so saaaaaaad. Okay maybe I'm being too much dramatic. Anyways, I strongly advise you to check out this book if you loved Hunger Games. Even if you didn't love hunger games, you should still read this one. There's no cringey Love triangle, I promise ( No offense to Gale).

I was provided an print and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This book started off slow for me, but once I settled in I really enjoyed it. If you liked The Scorpio Races and The Hunger Games, I think this is a good book for you. It mashes up the race aspect and the mythical creature aspect of The Scorpio Races with the brutality and politics of The Hunger Games. There is a large focus on the caste system that is in place, and our main character Koral and her family are victims of that system. They are permitted to hunt and breed maristags and sell them to the upper class. This allows them to have barely enough to survive, but because they interact with the upper echelon of society, they are outcast by the lower class as sellouts. What is a maristag you ask? It is a fantastical and violent creature of the water, that can also walk on land. They are enormous, scaled, and have antlers. I have a hard time envisioning exactly what they look like but hope as this book gains popularity we see some fanart of the maristags and the creatures mentioned in the book. The author did a good job describing them on the page, but I know there are some extremely talented artists out there to life. The world building was great, the author does a great job describing the creatures and the setting. Koral's family are "hunters" and they capture maristags and raise them for the rich to compete in teh Glory Race every 10 years. The race is extremely violent and competitive. The winner gains riches and fame, while the rest of the population celebrates and gambles on who will win.

While I thought the world building and the concept of the plot was really interesting and I loved the action, I do think that the character development suffered a bit. Koral panics in every situation and that carries on throughout the book, despite the fact that she does many brave things to save herself, her family, and the people around her. It is very clear that she has been put down at home but by by the caste system, and that oppression has shaped her as a person. She doesn't believe in herself, and often doesn't think through her decisions. This unfortunately leads to Koral getting herself tangled up in some pretty rough political situations that she is not equipped to deal with. I hope there is more to this tale as I would really like to see Koral develop, as she only just started to come into herself at the very end of the book and I would love to see her continue to shine.

This book has an open ending so I expect that there is a book 2. I've got lots of unanswered questions, but if this truly is the end it did leave me fairly satisfied. I have enough information that I can imagine my own ending for Koral and Stormgold, but I would much prefer a concrete conclusion and hope that the author gets to keep telling this story.

Overall, I really loved this! It was unique and action packed. This leans on the darker and more violent side of things, so be sure to check out trigger warnings.

Gotta admit, it was the title and cover that drew me to this book. Comp titles of The Hunger Games and These Violent Delights told me I was in for an exciting read.

Koral and her family live in a dangerous world filled with deadly creatures both in the sea and air. As hunters, Koral and her brother must capture maristags, arguably the most deadly of these creatures, for the Glory Race. Trust me, this is not a job you want. Hunters risk their lives with every capture. This society is a caste system of Landers, the ruling class, and Renters, those on the bottom rung. Falling in the latter group, Koral and her family are lucky to have a roof over their heads and food to eat, but truggle to provide medicine her younger sister desperately needs. When their financial situation drastically changes, Koral has no choice but to enter the Glory Race. The problem? Only Landers may compete.

The race is very similar to The Hunger Games in that some of the contestants don’t survive, and the challenges aren’t for the faint of heart. Action moves at a breathtaking pace during those challenges, and I even gasped at certain points. The contestants ride maristags (the picture on the cover), and although they’re not horses, I was still reminded of Maggie Stiefvater’s The Scorpio Races. Clearly the stakes are high and the odds of survival slim, but Koral has no choice if she wants to save her sister and secure her family’s financial future.

This world is full of unrest and power struggles. I was a little confused, but it seemed as if several rebel groups operated under the same umbrella. With no clear leader, they fought not only against the Landers, but also against each other and lacked communication. It’s not the primary focus, but romance is included in the story, and I was intrigued by the unusual dynamic between Koral and Dorian.

With numerous power struggles, deadly creatures bent on killing humans, and a race with few survivors, this novel engaged me from beginning to end. After that cliffhanger, I’m anxious to see where the next book goes.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book reminded me of the books of my middle and high school years in all of the best ways. A reluctant heroine, a deadly competition, and the danger of revolution heavy in the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this read! I've already asked my library to purchase it, and am excited to receive my special edition after publication!

Wow! This was so much more than I was expecting! For a debut novel, it was quite well done. There's a review I read that compared it to both The Scorpio Races and The Hunger Games and I think that's right on the mark!

Now in the beginning, I found myself struggling with getting a picture of the world this was set in, and what all of the creatures looked like. There was alot of info and I couldn't quite get a good sense of imagery. As the book went on however, I started to really enjoy the world-building and descriptions. It absolutely got easier to imagine and immerse myself.

I love that this is a competition, I love that the underdog is trying to get a leg up in the world, and I love that we have such fascinating sea creatures! Koral is our main female lead, and all she wants is to to save her sister and give her family a better life. I liked her character, and I liked her younger sister. Would have loved to hear more about her brother but that's ok!

The story itself was actually really neat, and unique enough to keep my interest. There's lots of action, and a bit of romance? Kind of? It's not really central to the plot... but it's there subtly. You'll see what I mean when you read it.

Overall, this was a pretty good read. Definitely good for a debut novel - I look forward to seeing how this author's writing grows and evolves from here. Enjoyable read though!

This beautiful book examines class issues and features the most wonderful animals and settings. Berwah has written a young adult book that is incredibly compelling and enjoyable. The Hunters, the family the main character Koral belongs to, are responsible for capturing the maristag used in deadly races that the elite participate in. Koral goes against tradition to save her family from starvation by entering her own maristag into the Drome race, but in doing so she might just condemn them anyway. I recommend this book to anyone who liked the Hunger Games and Divergent series (although I think this book is better than those were).

Days after reading Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah, I was at a loss for words to describe this book. Read on to find out why.

Monsters Born and Made has splendid worldbuilding. Berwah has created a brutal world where people mask their faces with tattoos to avoid burning their skin from the harsh sunlight.

But wait, this is applicable for only the Renters and Hunters.

The Landers, on the other hand, are the ruling elite and live in luxury underground.

Once Berwah establishes the haves and have-nots of her world, she introduces her readers to the Glory Race, where participants race on chariots attached to maristags, vicious sea creatures.

The one who wins gets all the glory and gold. Those who don’t are lucky to even survive.

This cruel spectacle is witnessed by thousands of Landers with bated breath.

Koral, the protagonist of this story, is a Hunter. Unable to get the last maristag of the year, her family is in dire condition. So, she cheats her way into the Race in the hopes of getting enough gold to bring her family out of poverty and pay for her chronically ill sister’s medicines.

However, things are rarely so easy. Koral’s entry into the Race doesn’t go down well with Landers. They start plotting against her to throw her out of the competition.

The Glory Race is expertly depicted by Berwah. The nail-biting race to the finale in every stage of the Race is fraught with mortal danger. However, Koral, due to her tenacity, skills, and help from her friend and her maristag, survives.

I did have suspicion before reading the finale, however, the twist at the end was shocking, to say the least.

Last but not the least, Stormgold, Koral’s maristag. Ooh, what a regal creature she is.

These creatures are feared and abused because of their monstrous nature and superhuman strength. But it is not them who are the monsters. It is the humans who want to tame them to win the Glory Race for their stupid pastime.

I loved how Stormgold bonded with Koral. It is one of the finest points in this book.

I did have some quibbles with the book. Firstly, it takes time to understand the world of Sollonia.

Secondly, it is implied throughout the book that Dorian, the crowd favorite, and Koral were ex-lovers. I would have liked to see more of their backstory. Those minor glimpses were not enough.

Thirdly, I wanted more insights into the court politics that was going on. As a reader, I was hardly ever let into the conspiracies brewing to thwart Koral. Berwah shows the end result of the conspiracies. However, I would have liked to read more about the scheming and plotting.

Lastly, how did Grandmaster Minos become so powerful. It would have also made a fascinating backstory.

To conclude, while Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah has thrilling and brutal race scenes to captivate the reader, I felt that it just skimmed the surface.

Overall, it is an impressive debut. I hope to see more action and politics in the sequel.

Many thanks to the publisher for my copy of the book.

First, a thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this title - even if it means I’m not gonna be part of the throng of those hand-selling this to everyone they know. 😬 Sorry in advance!

Nothing in this book *did it* for me. I wasn’t immediately interested in the characters or plot. The writing style is juvenile in a way that seems almost like an insult to the YA genre, and I just… I couldn’t with these one-liners.

Maybe in six days some of these quotes will change, it I doubt it.

“My jaw burns like it’s made of metal.” - this reminded me of “no one knows what it means, but it’s provocative, it gets the people GOING”

“He smells of sulfur. He smells of ruin.” - this feels egregiously try-hard to me

“The air in the hall quivers with the silence of a spying predator.” - pass

And the point where I decided to DNF this bad boy:

“You,” my father says, “are going to sign up for the marriage draft and get us that bonus so we can clear off this debt first thing.”

So… yeah, not my thing. Not the *worst* this I’ve ever read, but life is short, and my TBR is too long to spend on mediocre books.

*thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for honest review*

So as far as YA fantasies/dystopians go this was alright. Mediocre.

I liked that it was medium/fast paced and we didnt have to wait til the end of the book to see the race. Im looking at you scorpio races. However there were too many flaws for me to fully enjoy this book.

•the characters weren’t fleshed out properly and came off as one dimensional
•the romantic chemistry was seriously lacking , i just didn’t care about this couple. I felt because they skipped over their first meeting we dont get to see that and it doesnt help the reader understand why the mc feels the way she does
•I actually didn’t care about any of the characters tbh
•the lack of description for pretty much everything. I couldn’t tell you what any of these people or creatures looked like.
•it was entirely too easy for The Mc to “sneak” into the competition. Like ,lets be serious .


Theres more but lets just say it wasn’t my favorite.
Its very clear by the end of the book that this ended abruptly so it will probably have a sequel. I have no interest in reading it though.

An interesting and entertaining take on the YA dystopian genre. The “rules” of society were a bit muddled at times and the main racing plot felt a bit rushed. I liked the character dynamics as well as the human/creature bond. I look forward to the next installment.

In this South Asian-inspired fantasy, we follow 16-year-old Koral, who along with her brother Emrik, has the job of capturing these fantastical, monstrous Maristags. This is an oceanic, cut-throat world with 2 main classes of people in a caste system- the Renters and the Landers. The reason Koral has to catch Maristags is that her family has been indentured as Hunters for the Landers, who use these creatures for their Glory Race. That race is exactly like it sounds like- a Gladiator Chariot-style race for riches and glory that only the Landers can participate in.

When the last Maristag escapes, Koral is forced to infiltrate this Glory Race to compete to save her sickly sister and family. Overall the world felt very unique, I really liked the creatures that were in it, like the Maristags. The Aquabats were also cool, but they did make me think of the band lol. This was a very on-the-nose YA fantasy, and fans of this genre will enjoy it.

There were moments where sentence structure felt a little short and choppy, and while the world was interesting the world-building was a little hit or miss. This story had a lot of moving parts- caste systems, rebellion, fantastical creatures, intense chariot-style races, and a ball! In order for all of these elements to be included, some of them had to be brushed over. I would love a sequel diving deeper into the history of the current caste system and the world, as well as even more creatures. We also spent a lot of time in Koral's head, which served well to build empathy for her character, but also meant at other parts of the story we were told pretty explicitly what was going on versus shown.

I'm hoping for a sequel to add depth to this story but enjoyed a lot of what this novel developed in its own right. Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooksfire for this ARC.

I tried so hard with this book but the main character was terrible and I needed a bit more world building/explanation than what we got. I felt plopped down in the middle of a world that I was just supposed to know about. I will not be finishing this. I made it about 30% in and just couldn't continue.

I had really high expectations for this book but I feel like personally it didn't hit the mark.

The characters felt really bland and underdeveloped. I actually had to go back and check the main character's name before writing this review, despite the fact that I literally finished reading the book this morning. I would have loved to have seen Koral and the others develop more. I wasn't invested in Koral's journey and found myself not caring if she won or not. I understand that the Race was the most important plot point of the story but the characters were lacking personalities outside of this. Also the relationship between Koral and Dorian felt so forced.

There were so many points here that could have been expanded on here like the caste system, the rebellions, and so much more but we barely skimmed the surface. I feel like there is a lot of potential here, but for me, it just didn't deliver. I would have appreciated more world building. I also had troubles envisioning the creatures described throughout the book, even the Maristag which is a key component of the book.

Overall, there is a lot of potential here but personally I won't be continuing this series. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Koral and her brother Emrik risk their lives every day to capture monsters that live in the black seas around their island. It’s their only means of survival. But when one of the monsters escapes and it spells bad trouble for her family, her only solution is to join the Glory Race. And it isn’t an easy race, especially when Koral’s ex is also in the game.

Remnants of “The Hunger Game” come to mind when reading this book. A competition to survive, but instead of people it’s monsters. I really enjoyed the world building, but it also lacked in development. A lot of the storyline was also predictable.

All in all, I really loved the concept the author was going for. The driven main character and the world were very entrancing. I also haven’t read a sci-fi/fantasy book in a while, so it was refreshing getting to read this one.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Monsters Born and Made sounded like a fun concept, but I felt really let down and generally disengaged throughout. Part of it was due to the lack of momentum from my last read and the general funk of my mood of the last couple days, but even passably compelling books manage to pull me out of it.
Unlike others, I don’t mind that it’s derivative; I have never read The Hunger Games and don’t plan to now. Half of the existing YA fantasy (or just fantasy in general) by white authors is derivative of the same sources, so who am I to say a South Asian author can’t have fun with the same setup?
The Indian-inspired worldbuilding, while not super developed, is interesting, and while I have some reservations about other aspects of the book, I do like how this world depicts a version of the caste system. It is a bit restrained, due to the limitations of the POV of the protagonist, but that’s something I’d be open to seeing Berwah explore more.
The characters were perhaps what I felt the most was lacking. Koral is sometimes sympathetic, due to what she has gone through, and she has a right to be angry about the state of her life. But beyond that? The romance in particular was rather uninspiring, especially given how overdramatic it was for such young people (even given how emotional teens can be).
There’s…potential…here, but it misses the mark somewhat in execution. And while I can see it working for other readers, especially those within the target audience, it just didn’t work for me.