I really enjoyed this book. I’ve been in a reading slump, but read this book in a day. I look forward to more from this author!

What an exhilarating story. Perfect for fans of Hunger Games and Scorpio Races. I absolutely adored the world building in this book, the monsters, the island society fighting for survival at every turn, and the two divided people. The competition of the Glory Race was fierce and the author did a fantastic job describing and bringing the stakes to life. Honestly the Race scenes were probably the best written scenes in the book. I will say that some of the characters motivation and backstories felt incomplete, but overall it was easy to understand and root for Koral. The ending though, this needs to be a series because I don't want it to end like that.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to like this book, it fell flat for me. It was much too similar to the Hunger Games even down to using the 'odds in my favor/your favor.' The race was neat, the book wasn't badly written, just wasn't for me.

Thank you very much to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this book but it did not have me reaching for it anticipating the next time I could sit and read it. The ending sent me reeling a bit and I am glad to know there will be a book 2 because there are lots of loose ends I need tied up. I really Tanvi's writing style and felt very immersed in the world.

As much as the story fascinated me, the writing just didn't work for me. For a book I was really excited for...I wound up dragging my feet with reading it.

Not for me but if you love The Hunger Games you'll love this.

Koral and her brother Emrik provide for their family by hunting and capturing the vicious maristags who live in the sea surrounding their island home. The elite use the trained beasts in their Glory race (think Hunger Games with chariots and monsters). When this year's capture escapes and Emrik is injured, Koral decides to cheat her way into the race to support her family. An avid fan of fantastic beasts I was awed by the amazing, other worldly creatures the author conjured up. I thought the world building lacked depth and Koral's best attribute was her determination and that she cared for her family and friend to the extent she endangers herself. Stormgold, her maristag, is a runt who was rejected by buyers but proves to be of value The bond that develops between them is heartwarming. A lot of story time is invested in the race which is bloody and no holds barred. The plot features many classic tropes....the underdog taking on the world, rebellion against the upper class,, enemies to lovers but it jells smoothly. I found the open-ending conclusion jarring leaving many unresolved issues. Overall a solid fantasy read. Hopefully there will be a sequel to knit together the danglng threads.

I don’t even know where to start with this one?? I thought it looked beautiful and sounded really interesting, but unfortunately it really let me down. This was written in first person and present-tense, and it threw me off a little bit. I’ll be honest, the writing style was not for me – it was very tell-not-show and there was quite a few pacing issues in my opinion, it was super jumpy and felt very odd when reading through the book.

The plot sounded really interesting and I was intrigued to learn about these new monster-like creatures, but it was essentially The Hunger Games 2.0 but with chariot racing, and I wasn’t even that big of a fan of The Hunger Games. The story started out strong with Koral and her brother (whose name I have already forgotten) needing to hunt down and capture maristag to bring back to their family stables so that the rich people could come to buy and race with them in the Glory Races – I was like okay!! sounds cool! Then, things unfortunately went downhill. Koral returned back to her home – which has a terrible family dynamic might I add – and then the story moved onto her needing to join the Glory Races to afford medicine for her sister.

There was also a rebellion sub-plot (also similar to The Hunger Games) which didn’t really do much for me, since I didn’t think Koral was involved at all? It was a bit odd – I don’t want to spoil in case any of you are planning to read this, but unless I completely missed something it doesn’t really have much to do with her – they’re only bunching her and her family in with the richer people?

Koral is the MC, she’s 16 and you can tell she is 16. She’s taken on the role of caring for her family (namely her ill younger sister), and for a while it really seemed that she was the only person capable of taking care of her family – until I remembered she had a capabe brother, father and mother that could’ve helped? 🤨 Anyway, I didn’t really find anything about her that stood out to me, nothing made me really like her or want to root for her, which was also further solidified at the end (but we’ll get to this).

There was a little bit of ‘romance’ in the book, between Koral and Dorian – one of the rich people, but I’m not even joking, until I re-read the synopsis after I finished the book I did not realise that Dorian was Koral’s ex-boyfriend. In fact, I didn’t even realise they dated previously, I thought it was just a friendship of sorts when they were younger?? I was promised enemies-to-lovers, but I didn’t get enemies nor did I get lovers from this book, it felt relatively flat unfortunately.

I’m really disappointed! I know there was a lot of potential, but everything together just didn’t work for me. I’m so sorry if this sounds harsh on the book, but I legitimately fell asleep mid-chapter at 3pm (!!) and I had to make myself finish the book. When I finally got to the ending, I had to put the book down and check and see if there was a sequel – it’s so strange becuase it ends as though it’s finished, but there’s still PLENTY of loose ends??? It’s so out of character and just very, very confusing if this is where the story ends.

I received a review copy from the publisher, this does not change nor affect my opinion in anyway.

3 stars

Outside of the incredibly interesting premise, the biggest thing that stood out to me in the blurb for Monsters Born and Made was its comparison to The Hunger Games and These Violent Delights. The former is a much beloved book series for me and the latter is a book that I recently DNF'd. In the end, Monsters Born and Made fell squarely in the middle of these extremes.

I have to give it up to Berwah for resurrecting the classic mid-2010s YA plot line of a competition taking place while the relationship between the wealthy and the poor of the nation deteriorates. In addition, the actual prose (especially the descriptions of the actual chariot races) was incredibly gripping. What ultimately prevented this from being a total win for me was the lack of worldbuilding and the fairly predictable nature of the conflict.

Considering that this was advertised as being inspired by South Asian mythology, there was a distinct lack of South Asian mythology. Most of the worldbuilding went into establishing what the creatures in this world were and I never really felt like I got a firm idea of the caste system, the time period we were supposed to be in, or even where we were supposed to be. There was so much opportunity to really delve into what seemed like an awesome world that was just left on the table in favor of rehashing every classic dystopian trope we have seen before. The ending definitely brought things up a notch, but it made me wish that the entire novel had been that exciting.

That being said, I do think that this is a promising debut and I would definitely keep this author on my radar for future releases.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

This book was very good! I liked the south-Asian inspiration. While YA isn’t usually my thing, I still found myself enjoying this book a lot, and particularly enjoying the main female character

I loved exploring this fantastical world and monsters. It was a bit difficult to follow at times, but I ultimately enjoyed the premise.

An intriguing first chapter in a compelling new fantasy world. Berwah crafts a complex, beautiful, and terrifying ocean planet, on which small islands cower against raging seas full of unthinkable monsters. Her main character is fierce, smart, resourceful-- and full of rage. She is rendered with depth as she suffers the trials of the Glory Race. I look forward to seeing where this goes.

dnf @ 60%

this book is described as perfect for the fans of the hunger games and fable, and a few readers have drawn some comparisons to the scorpio races and the tri wizard tournament. i read the description and thought that i would fall in love with this book but... i didn't.

the main character makes a lot of impulsive and questionable decisions that i would describe as out of character if i even had the slightest grasp on what her character was supposed to be. i’m not clear on what her intentions are—protecting her sister? having power? inflicting pain on people?

the world building felt two dimensional and the only thing i can tell you about it is that some of the people live underground. why? not sure, there are mentions of needing sun protection but it’s not very consistent. the descriptions don’t really hint at where in the world or when in history this book is supposed to take place (the book description says south asian inspired) but there are rewritten greek myths that feel out of place and characters named after greek figures.

the pace feels incredibly slow to the point where i was skim reading to catch a glimpse of action or just straight up closing the book and reading something more captivating after each page. when there is action, it feels low stakes and insignificant.

This was a very interesting read. Throw in a bit of Hunger Games, as others have said, but in that, the similarities are there. The plot and story line are very similar. I did enjoy the oceanic vibe of the world and felt that this was a good world idea.

I did have some small issues with the pacing.

I do love the cover of the book and think that this will be a great read for the young adults.

Amazing fantasy book, great story and characters, totally enjoy this read, is exiting, and different , has a feel like the hunger game, totally loved that. Will 100% recommend

Starting out reading this book, the first impression that hit me (strongly) is that it reads like a herd of rampaging cattle attempting to funnel through a chute . . . the words and ideas race madly along, backing up and falling over one another willy-nilly. There are some casualites.

That's not to intimate it's not a good book, it's just not an easy read. This hurriedness carries thru the entire book. The reader is thrown from one moment to the next. White water rafting begins to look easy . . .

Koral Hunter is a victim of class boundaries. Her family hunt the maristags inhabiting the wild waters around their barren hostile island, then breed them to raise the offspring for the Great Race, held every 4 years. This was not a chosen profession, it was assigned to them. On the few islands capable of supporting human life there are 3 distinct classes. The ruling class Landers, the lower class Renters and then the out-caste Hunters. Shunned by Renters who feel they air above their station. Looked down upon by the Landers.

Koral rails against her circumstances. The only things she cares about, her primary driving motivation, is to take care of, protect and support her family. Even this is fraught. Her elder brother is careless and throws himself into harms way, her baby sister is ailing and all the families meager earnings are going to expensive medicines to keep her alive. Her father is distant and abusive to her passive mother.

The concepts are very much a mixture of 'The Scorpio Races' & 'The Hunger Games" This a novel about love, rebellion and class warfare. Nothing is as it seems, nothing should be taken at face value. The entirety of humanity on this poor world seems like nothing more than a trapped cage of rats eating each other alive. The denizens of the sea are monstrous and intriguing. I'd have liked a better description of them than what is mentioned off hand in passing.

It's a harrowing look at a class system that 'has/still' exists in our world and needs to be eliminated for the betterment of all. Not just the enrichment of the few. I fear this future becoming a reality, where the 'have's oppress and play games with the lives of the 'have-nots'.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I have some serious mixed feelings about this one. Let’s look at what we’ve got:

• A wildly unique fantasy world based on South Asian mythology
• a high stakes tournament that our MC sneaks into despite her status as low-caste
• an MC who is fiercely unapologetic about her willingness to cast everyone aside for her baby sister, brother and mother. An MC who viscerally understands that she has to do so what is necessary for her loved ones to survive, even if she doesn’t agree with the system that binds her
• a (past tense) friends to lovers story that ended in betrayal and started an enemies story
• fast paced action, sea monsters, & corrupt government with a frighteningly cunning leader
• a beautiful, poignant style of writing that makes you question what you know about privilege, rebellion & survival

Needless to say, there is so, SO much to love here. Everything I’ve noted above is a high point, and it’s hard to find anything to complain about at it’s bare bones.

Unfortunately, this for sloppy pretty fast. This seems like the type of story where the rush to squeeze in action and rebellion drowned out the explanation that could have been made of it if we had built the world more clearly. I still have SO many questions about this world, and it seemed at first like they wo up d be answered in time, only for a bazillion threats to fly to the forefront and leave no space to slow down and answer questions.

The character and relationship development suffered this problem as well. I want to know SO much more about Koral, Emrik, Crane & Dorian. But it just never gets there? And it’s disappointing, because the potential is very obvious.

All of this said, I am giving this 3.5/5 stars. I think a lot of my problems here can be attributed to your classic debut growing pains. The last 20% of this story had me in a chokehold, and brought me back to some high-school era hunger games feels in a very good way. As long as the sequel doesn’t take ages to release, I think I will probably pick it up.

Thank you to Sourcebooks fire & NetGalley for the eArc of this title!

Koral is a hunter, catching, breeding and training Maristags for the Lander elite.

When the last Maistag of the season escapes and Koral needs money for medicine for her sick sister she decides to enter the Glory Race in an attempt to win gold and security for her family.

This story was gripping from the outset as there was always something happening with the main character.

I was really rooting for her throughout despite the fact that I sometimes wanted to shout at her decisions.

An enjoyable read.

I love creative fantasy settings, especially when magical animals are the main focus of world building. Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders has long been a favorite, and the standard by which I seem to judge everything since.

I honestly liked the main character, Koral. Though definitely an antihero, her character arc is interesting enough, but I also felt she was a bit of an unreliable narrator. I could sympathize with her family's need of the maristags, and the money from the races. But overall, I missed any real gravitas to the plot, which made the story drag, especially in the middle.

I saw this compared to Maggie Steifvater's Scorpio Races. Perhaps this book is trying too hard to be that story, instead of forging its own path. I was underwhelmed. But I think my students would probably like the story.

Thank you netgalley for providing me with an e arc

Dnf at 25%
I just don’t like the writing much at all and it wasn’t what I was expecting. i was looking forward to reading this but it did not live up to my expectations at all. i went in hoping for hunger games-esque excitement and stakes but I didn’t get that. Also the world building fell really flat and I was just not hooked

Tanvi weaves an action-packed story filled with monsters and scenes that keep you on the edge of your seat. Koral is not a reliable narrator or a likeable protagonist but oh, you're gonna journey with her in the land of Ophir along with her maristag. The nuances and prejudice about the caste was the best, I can't begin to describe in words how great it was.

The only issue I have with this book is the writing. It reads...slow. And sometimes, I had to read some lines over again to actually grasp the meaning of it. But other than that, I have no issues with the book, and I think it's a debut worth checking out!