This book has been one of my most anticipated releases for sometime now. I was intrigued by two siblings working to try and keep their family afloat. I desperately wanted to know if Koral would be able to save her family, if she would be able to survive the Glory Games. This book exceeded every expectation I had.

The strength of Koral is apparent from page one. She has such a deep love for her family, especially her little sister, that you just know she is willing to do whatever it takes to keep them safe. Even when she is being pressured to drop out of the race, when everything seems to be crumbling around her, she pushes on. I absolutely love her character and think she was written so wonderfully.

Berwah was able to transport us to this land that totes the line between fantasy and reality. Solloria feels so real despite these fantastical beasts that seem to be at every corner. I loved how she showed the differences in how the Landers live versus how the Renters live. It really reminds you that in every aspect of this world Koral is the underdog and has to fight twice as hard to win.

There is really so much to love about this book, especially Stormgold the maristag. Stormgold is perhaps the most important, the most loyal creature Koral has in her life and I loved seeing their interactions on page.

Overall this was a really well written book with lovable characters. It was fast paced, full of action, and I think people will really enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing this book to me in exchange for my honest review.

I want to thank #netgalley for letting me read an eArc of #Monstersbornandmade.

So not gonna lie I was so very close to giving up on this book. I just wasn’t enjoying it so I totally skipped about 20 pages ahead and from there I was hooked.
Koral and her brother Emrik hunt these creatures called Maristags from the ocean. However on the last night to catch them something goes wrong and Koral has to face the disappointment from her family. No Maristag meant no money which means no treatment for her little sister Leera who is very sick.
Enter the Glory race basically lime a race to the death in a course that will antagonize the animals they have to ride.
The book is good if you give it a good chance. Give it at least 80-100 pages and the pace really picks up. I didn’t have a lot of love for any of the characters, they are all sort of dislikeable. I kept reading for Stormgold, Koral’s maristag that was born in captivity. Stormgold is easily the best character in this book.

Great action and battle scenes. The plot was well-written. I thought the pacing was perfect. Some of the fault lie within the characters. I also didn’t care a lot for the world building. It didn’t make sense or flow. There was a little that didn’t make sense.

Overall, it’s okay.

I requested this on a whim and I’m so glad I did! This story was fantastic! I loved the characters and the story was so fast paced that I couldn’t put this down!

I found the setting of Monsters Born and Made very interesting and want to know more about the world the author created. There are many familiar YA elements including a protagonist from a lower class who dares to enter an event meant to be exclusive to the upper class to provide for her family; however the story is not just another "young woman changes her world" in the vein of Hunger Games or Divergent. The protagonist shares characteristics with other YA protagonists - strong willed, introspective, fiercely protective of her family, intelligent but influenced by the emotions and angst of being a teenager. She is not perfect and makes mistakes and decisions that have lasting consequences that the author does not shy away from. The world itself is reminiscent of classic fantasy class divides and fantastical creatures. The author crafts descriptions of the maristags and other creatures in the story that allow the reader to visualize these "monsters." The book title speaks not only to these creatures but to the people in the story as well. I congratulate Tanvi Berwah on her debut novel and look forward to more stories hopefully set in this world.

Thank you for providing an ARC of this book. I absolutely loved this book! It kept me wanting more. I can’t wait to read more by this author

I really like the concept and overall ideas of this book. The comparison to the hunger games is very true but I think it leaves a little bit too heavy towards the hunger games. I think having a little bit more different elements in the story would really help it feel more unique. I did really enjoy the characters and their complexity. They didn’t feel one-sided and it felt like they had a lot of thought put into their actions and their desires. I also love the themes of corruption and Power that the book addresses. It has a wonderful commentary that I think a lot of people would enjoy reading.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First off. Is this cover not to die for?? The plot was great. As someone who has struggled to get into a few other Asian setting books (violent delight), I was not sure what to expect but I enjoyed the read!

The world building here was really interesting but felt very hastily explained which might leave some readers confused. Additionally, there wasn’t enough relationship development for readers to be invested in any of the relationships (family, friends, or romantic). That being said, it’s an interesting premise and fans of The Hunger Games or The Scorpio Races will enjoy.

There were elements of this book that I really liked. The mythical creatures and the connection to the sea was really interesting, and I liked that Koral wanted to fight for her family so much. However, the romance didn't really feel compelling for me; I didn't really root for them, and it didn't feel like a fully integrated part of the story. I think the story overall didn't feel very cohesive to me. There were a lot of moving pieces, and I struggled to stay invested in all of those pieces. I think the premise is very cool, but ultimately I didn't end up loving the book the way I'd hoped to.

Review
This book was amazing!!!!! An amazing account of a post-apocalyptic story of a lower class citizen trying to become an upper class citizen for the sake of (and at the end of the day, the detriment of) her family.
Koral just needs money to pay for her sisters meds. When her and her brother fail to catch a Maristag on the last chance of the season Koral knows her family won’t survive the winter.
She decides to take their only maristag in the stable and enter the glory race to get the money her sister needs for treatment. But what she doesn’t realize is that the races aren’t built for her class and nothing happens without the land masters say so, something she refuses to believe...until it’s too late!

This was an extremely enjoyable read and I can’t wait for the next instalment!!!

This was a good book. Great plot, excellent worldbuilding, awesome characters...something just felt off to me. The action was well executed and needed whenever it happened, but I feel like the pacing of the scenes was too inconsistent to really hold my attention well.

I would like to thank Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the chance to read "Monsters Born and Made" by Tanvi Berwah in exchange for an honest review.

Koral and her family are Hunters. It is both their name and profession. They hunt maristags, creatures from the sea that are prized on land by the ruling class known as the Landers. These creatures are extremely dangerous, so much so that the ability to hunt them is only granted to specific families and is often hereditary.

Let me back up a bit first. This story is set on an island that is besieged by monsters from the sea and the air. But the Landers, the ruling class, live deep underground, and are thus protected from any attacks. But the Renters, well they are stuck eking out a living and shelter above ground. And the Hunters are stuck between the two groups - they are definitely Renters, but Renters feel they've sold out to the Landers. It makes for an interesting dynamic. Since the maristags are captured to be bred, as wild ones are too difficult to train, one or two bad seasons can spell disaster for the Hunters. Without those domesticated maristags to sell for the Landers' Glory Race, Koral's family is in dire straits.

Koral is fiercely loyal to her family, especially her brother Emrik with whom she hunts, and her younger sister Liria. But she's a bit blind about her parents, kind of a typical teen, not looking past the surface. She is stubborn and keeps trying to fix the family's financial woes, only to deepen the existing problems. All because she needs money for the medication to help Liria survive the unknown illness she has suffered from most of her life.

Ultimately Koral decides she will enter the Glory Race - the first Renter or Hunter to ever do so. This decision leads to numerous unusual situations as the story progresses, and introduces several new characters. As much as I enjoyed the other characters in this story, I do wish some had been developed a bit more fully. At times it felt as if they would appear to push the plot further and then just go into stasis until needed again. Otherwise I enjoyed the pacing of the story quite a bit, and would not be averse to returning to Koral's story in another book. Which is saying something given my ambivalent feelings about the ending.

Amazing, amazing, amazing!!! What a phenomenal read! I was hooked from the beginning. It's a unique fantasy story that I couldn't put down. Koral is a sixteen-year-old girl that you can't help but root for from the beginning. Her adventures in the Glory Race keep you on the edge of your seat. This is a must-read for the fall.

4.5 stars

What a debut this was! I immediately hooked by monster hunter Koral and her journey to save her family. The creatures in this were so interesting and we got a taste of this world and I need more. The pacing is great and all the action made it easy to fall into the story.

Koral lives a tough life. Her family have been tasked to hunt creatures called maristags and breed them for the wealthy to race. It's a dangerous business and her connection with the upper class (Landers) ostracizes her from her community (Renters), putting her family at even higher risk. The class division is stark, but also reflective of current society. The majority of people are one step away from homelessness and cannot afford the level of healthcare the wealthy receive. I got pretty worked up reading this at times and could identify with the rebels who wanted change.

There's a tiny hint of romance, but it's more of a spark that could grow into a bigger flame in the future. I liked that it was there, but not yet a main part of the story. Instead we focus on Koral's relationship with her family and the lengths she would go to for them. There's also a great friendship between Koral and Crane, who's a badass, that I enjoyed. Strong women unite!

I really hope this has a sequel since a lot of things are left unresolved. I also hope we get more worldbuilding in the next book because I have some questions....

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the copy.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC! ⠀
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I had high hopes for this book. The south asian inspired was one of the reasons I picked it up, aside from saying that this book is a cross between The Hunger Games and These Violent Delights, and I was also invested in the main character, but it did not turn out to be what I expected.⠀
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This book desperately needs to be reedited because the pace is quite erratic. The world building is actually promising; however, the author's approach made me tired and confused because it is dense with information 😭 I felt disconnected from the characters, and the way Koral participates in The Glory Race, while I liked the concept and the monsters here, struck me as a bit ridiculous.

Dnf @45%

Am sorry y'all, I tried. It's simply not for me. The book starts off well. The first 12% had me curious. But then it just dragged on and on about the same issues. The book is slow paced. At first I thought it was possibly because the author is setting up the stage, but it kept getting slower.

The dystopian world building is mediocre. I think it had a lot of potential, but the author could not execute it well enough. I am still confused about the maristags, there's very little clarity. It gets way too descriptive at times, and the inner monologues never seem to end.

The FMC seems cold and shallow- there's no emotion to her. The author tries to present situations where the FMC is supposedly highly sensitive about, but it comes off as bland. Her persona is dull and lazy.

Cause the publishers and authors are presenting it in similar limelight to the Hunger Games, it's only fair for me to point out Katniss Everdeen was anything but bland. Katniss was actually full of energy and motivation, she was focused and despite the conditions she knew how to hold herself up. The FMC (I can't even remember her name) in this book is simply a sob story, and there's a point when it becomes frustrating for the reader. The world building in the Hunger Games is presented brilliantly and clearly. This one is all over the place.

I'm not sure if I want to read any other books by this author in this future but for now, there's a long way for her to go and I wish her the best.

eARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

#monstersbornandmade #netgalley

This was a great story to read. I loved the storyline and the characters, definitely recommend this book!

Wow, what a bold and exciting debut! This story really takes you to a whole new world! The protagonist is reminiscent of heroines like Katniss, Rin, and Zetian from their own respective stories, but she is also uniquely herself. The writing in this book is straightforward and does a good job of splitting between the plot and the character driven stuff. I would recommend this to sci-if lovers as much or more than to fantasy lovers. Definitely check this one out as soon as possible!

Monsters Born and Made is an interesting book with an entertaining concept that worked most of the time. What I truly liked was the action scenes, with the battles against monsters and the races being portrayed in the most thrilling way, with breathtaking pace and luscious scenes following one another. The story was indeed interesting, with well-crafted plot that, sure, was not that original, easily compared to the Hunger Games, a similarity that gave a lot away when it came to the twists, but the overall result was entertaining and had the element of a page-turner.

Unfortunately, there were some things that I didn't enjoy that much. First of all, Koral was an okay character, headstrong and willing to do anything to survive, without really caring about any rebellion or changing the world, which was refreshing, as there are too many self-righteous heroes out there already. However, she was also an annoying character when it came to her interaction with other characters, especially her brother and her best friend. Like, at one point, the friend was trying to help her, but Koran would not have it, and was quick to point out that her friend had it easy with her father paying for her living expenses. And that is right after the friend had gotten her out of a dangerous situation with that money. That is just an example of how reckless and self-centered Koral could be at times, which made it hard for me to really like her.

But, Koral's behavior can be excused, as she was only sixteen I believe. An age that, for me, should have been like eighteen in order for the romance to work. I mean, it wasn't easy to believe that fourteen-year-olds had that great of a love story.

On the other hand, the world build was a problem I can't ignore. It has too many elements that don't come naturally together. The whole world isn't actually well explained, and the reader is thrown in with a few things known: that the world is covered with water, except for a few islands, that the sun is deadly, but only the rich cast, the Landers, are allowed to live protected underground, that the sea produces monsters that terrorize those living on the ground, but the Hunters, a family appointed by the governor of the land, capture them, tame them and sell them to be used in an Olympic games style game in the form of a chariot race.

Was that world the product of a great disaster that happened to this world? There were too many elements that point out to that conclusion, like the greek names and myths, the asian cultural touches and the Roman system. But that is not clearly stated in the book. So, most of the time, and especially in the first half, it was confusing and not easy to follow the story and the concept.

So, overall, 2.5 stars.

Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy!!