I got a free ARC through Netgalley, this is no way affected my review.

MBAM has an amazing premise and I was ready to get sucked into an amazing fantasy world, but I can’t help but feeling a bit disappointed by the book?

It really just felt like a bunch of the same stuff being repeated over and over again without anything actually happening? I feel like this book could have been a lot shorter and the same story could have been told without all the filler chapters.

I did like the main character and at times felt sorry for her because nothing seemed to go right for her and I was rooting for her near the end.

The ending felt a bit flat, so I hope there will be a sequel that will bring a lot more action.

For transparency, I did not finish this book. I stopped around 25% in and skimmed the rest.

Monsters Born and Made had all the ingredients for a best-selling high fantasy YA novel - high stakes, an overbearing "evil," social commentary, a feisty main character, family problems, and a rich love interest. Unfortunately, I think it tried to do far too much in the time allotted for the plot.

The beginning of the book surprised me with how similar it felt to The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (another popular YA book, though it also didn't click with me personally). There are also the obvious connections and inspirations taken from The Hunger Games and a touch of Red Queen.

I think what kept stalling me with this read was the fact the character didn't seem to ever grow in any decision she made. There was a lot of fighting and arguing for conflict's sake instead of a valid reasoning behind it. Personally, I'm also very tired of the trope of abusive parents in YA novels. It makes it sometimes hard to connect with main characters because they just have so much trauma stacked against them that the suspension of disbelief starts to crack.

This isn't a bad book, but it's also not strong enough to convey the amount of concepts and plots wrapped up in one novel. I will be interested to read more from Tanvi Berwah because she clearly has a very strong voice and a lot of fantastic ideas to contribute to YA! Who knows, I might even pick this up at a later date to try again with better success.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks FIRE for providing me with a copy for an honest review.

DNF @ 22%

This has been compared to some books that I really don’t like but I decided to give it a try anyway. The cover made me gasp with its beauty and I couldn’t say no to it when it was offered to me. It’s the curse of the beautiful cover. It got me yet again.

It had a very promising start. A fight in the water between man and beast. Water was choked on, wrestling ensued, and blood was spilled. Someone fights for their life. Then off to the races. *confused look* I’m lost.

This went from, "Smile you son of a b***h" to Fast and the Furious: Sea Creature edition within a blink of an eye. It was slightly confusing and moved at a snails pace after ten percent in. I mean, if you’re going to wow me with a race you’re going to have to shed some blood and leave someone’s bones at the starting line. I didn’t get that far in to read about that possibly happening.

Monsters Born and Made just wasn’t for me. I would have been obsessed if I enjoyed Hunger Games but alas, I didn’t. My heart wasn’t in my throat, nor was I sitting on the edge of my seat. I may have fell asleep though. I really hope people out there like this because it sounds promising.

I couldn't help but think of The Hunger Games while reading this. This book is really good and action-packed!! You meet Koral and her brother - Emrik, right from the beginning, and you'll shortly learn that Koral has a strong demeanor. Koral's family is responsible for catching and raising maristags (I pictured as an elk mixed with an octopus), but sadly the last day of hunting them has come to an abrupt end with no luck. The family is low on funds and can't afford essential medication for Koral's little sister. This is where it starts to get interesting!!

Since Koral's family is supposed to hunt and catch the maristags, they are prohibited from racing them in the Glory Race reserved for the upper class. No one would think to join the race in this position, but Koral does. It took me a bit to get into the story, but once I started, I didn't want to stop reading. I LOVED Koral and everything she stood for; she constantly fights for her sister and family. Would I read this again? yes, I'm hoping there will be a follow-up book and if there is I'll be purchasing it!!

Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah, is a very good story once you get past the first quarter of the book. At the beginning of the story, it was obvious to me that the author, Tanvi Berwah, was influenced by three of my favorite dystopian books; Maggie Steifvator's Scorpio Races, Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Ashlords by Scott Reintgen. That was discouraging to me and I struggled to continue reading. Once I was about 25% of the way through the book, Ms. Berwah's story began showing its unique qualities and by the halfway point, I had trouble putting it down! I am so happy because the plot, characters, and environment made the book worth reading to the end. I recommend reading this book and if you struggle due to parallels to other stories, please stick with it for a few more chapters. I think you will be happy you did!

The world building and the characters are what made me keep turning the pages. The world was fascinating. The characters were easy to like. Especially Koral she was my favorite. She's strong and determined but she has her flaws to. Overall it was a good read

thank you to netgalley for providing me with an arc!

i was looking forward to reading this but monsters born and made did not live up to my expectations at all. i went in hoping for hunger games-like excitement with social commentary on the caste system in south asia but as a whole, the book didn't feel fleshed out enough to be a commentary on anything. the writing overall was chunky and awkward, with the dialogue and description being circular, contradictory, and outright confusing at times. as a result, the pacing suffered and the action scenes did not deliver as promised. the worldbuilding suffered from being almost entirely show-not-tell: koral tells us about the maristags, the caste system, and the rebels, but it feels like different aspects of the world exist indepedently from each other and fail to create one cohesive setting. the romance felt as though it was thrown in at the last minute and made me uncomfortable, as the upper-caste love interest is casteist towards the lower-caste main character for no good reason. koral herself didn't feel too fleshed out either; her main character trait was being angry and she didn't really grow over the course of the novel. the development she did have didn't occur until the last few chapters, but those chapters were so rushed, they felt like an afterthought. this book isn't all bad, though. i will say that it's refreshing to read about an accurately depicted caste system in a fantasy novel and the commentary made about social change was nuanced and thoughtful at times. i think the author bit off more than she could chew with this debut. it felt like she wanted to write the next big dystopian novel, but simply stacking a bunch of tropes and fantasy elements together isn't enough to create a good book.

DNF @28%

As excited as I was about this book/premise I just could not get into the writing. Even after reading almost a third of the books I still was unsure of what a maristag was and the whole competition added another layer of confusion. The characters also felt very flat to me and after reading some other reviews that said it doesn’t really get better I decided to set this one aside. I will give her some credit that this is her debut so I will try any future books she writes.

Koral lives in a world where people are sorted into two classes, the Landers, the elite ruling class, and the renters. In a bid to save her sister from an illness, Koral inadvertently throws off the status quo by entering the Landers’ Glory Race, a chariot race pulled by maristags, deadly hard to tame ocean dwelling beasts her family has been trying to tame for generations.

This book hit on all the popular YA tropes from dystopian society to rebel overthrows, from underdog heroine to Romeo and Juliet type love. I would have liked to see some of these eliminated. It just felt like it was trying so hard to do everything that the proper time and attention wasn’t given to developing any of it. For example, did Koral have to have issues with her father? Could the family’s poverty or politics of where they lived alone not be sufficient enough as a catalyst to enter the race? For someone motivated to risk death to save her sister she had very few interactions with the individual.

Koral lived on the border of both the Landers and Renters worlds and fit into neither and remained there throughout the book. Her character never really evolves despite significant events.

The worldbuilding was interesting but I found the descriptions at times lacking. I’m the type where books play out like a film in my head and I had a lot of difficulty imagining the maristags and other creatures in the universe.

I’m a big animal lover, both fictional and real, so Koral’s relationship with her maristag was by far my favourite part of the book. I was constantly waiting for the moment where the trust between the two would solidify and the relationship would become something more and for that the book did not disappoint.

The book ends without any real resolution and is evidently the first in a series so to those who are like me and have zero patience and require immediate answers, be forewarned you won’t get them here.

Thank you to Sourcebook Fire for providing me with an advanced reading copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Strict social hierarchy mixes with sea monsters, intrigue, action, brutality, and determination to great tons of plot and a large variety of characters.

Koral has been born into a family of Hunters, whose job it is to capture and breed the fearful monsters of their seas, the maristags. It's a job, which always draws blood and luck is the only thing separating the Hunters from death, but the creatures are only there for a short time period, and if a male and female aren't available, the family must live off one month of salary and starve the rest of the year. This year, that can't happen since Koral's younger sister is sick and needs medicine to survive. When the hunt fails, Koral refuses to bow to fate and is determined to save her family by entering a deadly race. The prize money would mean financial relief, but her entrance means stepping up against members of the class above her family's...and they are more dangerous than the monsters.

This one is sold as a type of Hunger Games meets These Violent Delights. and while I wouldn't completely agree with the second of these, the first is hard not to see. The class differences are clear-cut and brutal, which made it intriguing as Koral's family isn't allowed to be anything but what they are. The attitude between the classes rings clear, and the prejudice slams hard. As the higher level gets involved, the nods at Hunger Games is strong. Even the romance and competition settles in clearly along these lines. It did make it a bit cliche, but that's not a bad thing, since it leaves the reader sure of where this novel sits. Plus, the other aspects are original enough to make it feel too close, too. Although I didn't get as much of the South-Asian feel that I was hoping for.

To say that there are a few plot strings, is an understatement. The author creates a rich weave of sub-plots, which cross and spread to make sure there isn't a boring moment and little is easy to predict. Along with this wide spread comes a large cast of characters, who each hold their own agendas, personalities, and goals. There's tons to follow and even more surprises as everything twists and turns. It makes for a rich and exciting read, especially when the well-done action scenes are thrown in. Deceit and danger go hand-in-hand, giving Koral much more to deal with than just getting the money for her sister's medicine.

All of this takes place in a complex and original world, where monsters, the sea, and much more are at play. The atmosphere portrays a dark and dirty reality, where survival is harsh and hatred runs high. Even Koral's own family has more than a slightly shadowed side. The monsters are well-described and hold the beautiful deadliness they need. The world, however, isn't given the same attention and is a bit scattered...as are the characters. There's just too much, and it suffers, never gaining the complete attention it needs to really grab hold. The many plot strings also lose their thread because of this. While promising, many things are skid over too quickly and lose their impact.

These pages hold the promise and beginnings of an amazing tale, so much so that it is fun to read...but it simply could have been more. And the ending...well, that slaps hard and leaves me hoping that there's another book to come. I'm giving this one 3.5 stars while rounding up.

I want to thank Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the opportunity to read and review Monsters born and made in advance in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows Koral Hunter as she tries to make her way through the oppressive and dangerous system in Sollonia (the island where she lives) as one of the charioteers in the hundred and fiftieth Glory race.

What I liked about this book was how the events unfolded both on and off the track, and you were able to see how grossly different the Landers and Renters (castes that divide the people) are. Judging by the choices those in charge of the Glory race make as a reflection of the events that take place on the island; they find the suffering and destruction of human life to be trivial and even funny because it isn’t happening to them. This is a theme that we see in other popular dystopian novels but it is becoming pathetically realistic in our world. No longer do these books seem fantastical and unrealistic, which alone is frightening.

The creatures in the story, from the aqua bats, to the capricorns, to the maristags create compelling imagery. I really liked that even though the Landers consider themselves advanced, they had very little understanding about the creatures that reside on and around their island. It isn’t until she experiences the trusting relationship between Stormgold and herself that even she, as a hunter, begins to wonder how much is left unknown about these beings.

Jumping back to the Glory Race for a moment, this three race competition had elements that reminded me both of the Triwizard tournament and the Hunger games (see the point about the rich finding the “lesser” classes suffering). It becomes frighteningly obvious that death is not off the table in any of these races and the odds are not in Korals favour.

There are moments in the book that felt a bit chaotic and a little surface level, such as the incident with the aqua bats. While the situation itself was interesting and she did a good job of showing the impact of this tragedy on other people, people that were not expected to survive the book.

I also found the end to be a bit lacklustre, and though it does make me look forward to the next book I found it a bit dry in the feeling department. With what happens, I’m sure it should have made me more upset than it did but I found those characters to be a bit stiff and hard to relate to.

As a whole, I really liked this book and I think there is a lot of promise for the next one. I’m really glad I was given the opportunity to review this one!

A thrilling fast-paced, monster filled race that will have you gripping the edge of your seat. Truly an amazing captivating story, set in a unique world that was a wonder to experience.

Although, there is a lot happening at once without receiving an actual explanation, which can be confusing at times.

I loved reading Monsters Born and Made. It was a gripping story, well-written with amazing characters that are flawed yet loveable. The story started slow but after about 70% it really picked up and last bit was so engrossing that I couldn’t stop reading. I enjoyed the atmospheric world that has been created and the competition element was very fascinating. Definitely recommend this.

4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing this E-arc in exchange for my review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-ARC of the book in exchange for a review.

This book was fast-paced and action-packed, which I loved. It also features maristags, sea creatures, that the MC, Koral, and her family hunt and breed to sell. These creatures are also used in the Glory Race, which occurs every four years. The island she lives on is divided into two classes, Renters and Landers, Renters being the lower class and the Landers being the upper class. Landers have been the only ones to participate in the Glory Race.

Koral decides to participate in the race after some familial problems arise and can't be handled in any other way and chaos ensues.

The themes of family dynamics and complexities and classism were well executed.

The premise and the world were both exciting and new. The world-building could've been more elaborate in some aspects but it felt sufficient as per the story. The characters did lack a certain depth except for Koral and Dorian and to a certain extent, Crane. I especially liked Koral's relationship with Stormgold but I wish it were explored more.

The story revolves around Koral and the Glory Race but the subplots regarding her family (her father and her sister specifically) that were her true motivations for participating in the Glory Race in the first place, were left unresolved. As was anything regarding Dorian. Yes, the author tries her best to drive Koral and Dorian's story to a conclusion but I was left unsatisfied and didn't feel it was well executed. At certain points, their trope got exhausting because I could clearly see what Dorian was doing.

I don't know if there is a second book coming but I hope these questions are answered if it is. It also seems as if Koral would end up in Atlantis but let's see where this goes.

I'll still highly recommend this book because of the way it tackles the themes of classism and discrimination because of that and I feel there's a certain audience for the book who will love it.

Actual rating: 3.5

For all fans of YA dystopia, this is a must. In a deadly race, riding creatures that can kill you in a heartbeat, the main character, Koral, aims for victory for the survival of her family, but also to show that the lowest cast is as good at the ruling one.
This has all the classic elements people who loved the Hunger Games will recognize and enjoy, the unjust world, the fight for more for the love of a younger sister, cruel games...
The world was very well drawn out, visceral and real.
I didn't really get swept by it, but I think that's just a question of personal taste.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the ARC! This was super action packed and definitely reminiscent of The Hunger Games. It follows Koral, a Hunter who captures monsters called Maristags from the ocean and sells them to the wealthy to use in the Glory Race. When Koral’s family runs out of money and medicine for her younger sister, she decides to enter the race herself, which no other Hunter has ever done before.

This was an easy read and it kept my attention, but it took me until about halfway through until I was really interested. While it was very action packed, I felt like it was too much to follow at times and certain things could have been expanded on, such as Koral’s relationship with her maristag. I enjoyed her interactions with Dorian but I would have liked more of their history as well and more of a conclusion for them, and to the book in general. I would recommend this if you like fast paced reads and life or death type competitions.

This book was a fascinating read... Was it my favorite? No. Was it horrible? No. Will I be recommending it? Actually, yea.

If you are a fan of the Hunger Games theme, then you will probably like this one a pretty good bit.

I'm sparing spoilers because I feel like that would make you like the book less as you are reading it. It's honestly kind of chaotic, and not in the best of ways. However, I would try to go in with an open mind and understand that the chaos lends to the style of story that we are going for here. If you recall the jumping around that one might expect in action packed movies, this is very similar. It's not one cohesive stream, which for many might be a huge negative. But if you try to lean into that style of writing/reading, it can actually be a fairly enjoyable book.

adventurous tense medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5

The first few chapters flew by to me, as it seemed to hit my favorite settings in a book: high stakes, a complicated family, and a past one tries to bury. However, as the book went on, it fell into a tangle of big events upon big events that ultimately lost the intrigue. I had a problem with the pacing, as it felt like a lot of things were happening all at once with little to no pause, and neither Koral nor the readers know what exactly was going on. While the use of first person in present tense is not my favorite, I do think that most of the confusion stemmed from that and it would have been more clear in a different voice, or with multiple POVs. Overall, it was a book that might be someone's next favorite, as the elements were right there but the execution was not it for me personally.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing me this ARC via NetGalley. This does not in any shape or form influence my review on this book.

I was excited to get an ARC of this book! The cover is gorgeous and the synopsis was very intriguing - right up my alley!

It is a very complex, very thought-out world. The problem that I had was that it threw me directly into that world and I didn't feel like I was navigating it very well for quite a while into the book. Basically, everything (even familiar our-world things) is renamed/slightly different and I just had a little trouble navigating that with the first-person narrative style and the writing style.

This wasn't a deal-breaker, and I really liked the book overall. But it took me much longer to get into it and I thought it was just "good" instead of "amazing." I will keep an eye out for the second book, but not with a must-preorder-immediately! kind of fervor.

DNF--this book was not for me.

Between the stunning cover and compelling synopsis, I couldn't wait to read this story and was thrilled to get my hands on an arc. Unfortunately, the book itself seems like it needed another draft or two before being ready to be read or reviewed.

First, this book performs a major pet peeve of mine, which is telling instead of showing. Instead of using descriptions to help connect the reader with the characters and build the world, you're left confused as to who these characters are and what's going on in the story. You can't even connect with the main character or even learn anything about her because she isn't well-developed enough to be leading this story.

In addition, this book is painfully slow-paced. Even though there were single-sentence paragraphs throughout the story (which is another huge flaw--paragraphs in a story should be varying lengths to help aid with pacing and creating intensity) and telling instead of showing, which should've actually helped create a fast story pace, and somehow it was still too slow for me to keep reading.

The synopsis sounded wonderful and I was so excited to read this book, but ultimately, there were just too many flaws for me to finish it.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.