DNF @ 81%

In another universe, I might have finished this. But I just got an arc of a highly anticipated release and my enjoyment for this one is slowly waning the longer I'm far from it. I haven't picked up a book in days because I felt like I needed to finish this first before starting a new one. But life is too short for that. And so here I am with the fifth DNF of the year. Le sigh.

The start was amazing. I really thought I would end up loving this debut. I was already imagining myself with as many editions of this book I can get my hands on. Unfortunately, the more I read the less amazing it became. The worldbuilding needed more fleshing out. The transition between scenes felt wonky. I was confused at times and when I cared enough, I would go back and reread. Other times I just read on and let the wheels of fate take the reins. And the romance? It was next to non-existent for me to really care.

That's pretty much all I have to say at this moment. Maybe someday I'll get to know what happens in the last 19%.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this ARC!

This book is exactly what a YA Fantasy/Dystopian should be! It delivers everything it promised.

The first half is a slow build-up and a lot of world-building, but as soon as the first race happens, it's non-stop action until the end. There is a romance (rivals to lovers, knife to throat scene, you have been warned), but it's not the main focus, which is rare in YA. The main focus is really on the political/social landscape of the island seen through the main character's eyes. Her family is in the strange position of being marginalized by the people who hold themselves above them (the Landers), as well as by those who are their equals (the Renters).
It's darker than I expected from a YA, especially with that ending, what in the fresh hell was that?? I loved it but also I'm in pain.

One of my only problems with the story is that the two main antagonists don't feel very threatening. We're constantly told how powerful and vicious they are, but I didn't really feel it, even when they did atrocious things, I don't know why honestly.

All this to say that I hope there is a sequel somewhere in the future because it's a new different kind of torture waiting for a sequel to a book that's not even out yet :')

This is The Hunger Games with chariot races meets Noughts and Crosses, in a political system you're not really introduced to except in glimpses.

I wanted to like this book, it had good bones and a beautiful cover. Unfortunately I felt let down by a lot of aspects.
- The plot itself is quite predictable which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you're into Hunger Games style books. Things can be enjoyable without reinventing the wheel. I'm not sure this is one of them.

- The pacing and writing left a bit to be desired. The last bit of the book, after the third race, felt very rushed and everything from the first race until that point felt sped up to get to the third race. Which, again, I felt was rushed as it was.

- None of the characters are enjoyable. Koral, for all she's meant to be, bounces between whiney and Charlie Bucket from the Tim Burton version going on and on about his family. If the Vin Diesel meme was a character in a book, it'd be Koral. Dorian is basically Peeta.

- MAJOR SPOILER! The whole book is Koral hating her father and her mother being a doormat but then when their final scene happens, we're supposed to feel bad for them? An abuser and enabler? I don't...why...I can't even.

- The world is unclear. Sea creatures? Cool no issue there. Caste system needing to be rocked to its core? Also fine, let's do it. What seems like a fantasy location with sea creatures, underground living and intermittent mentions of gods but also there's elevators, sound systems and screen broadcasts in a stadium? I am very confused now. Where are we and what's happening?

On the whole, it feels like something that was a BIG idea that got whittled down until it became this mish-mash of a political story and underdog champion story, but neither side was really hammered out enough to stand on its own strongly. If that's your jam, give this book a go. Just because it wasn't for me for a lot of reasons doesn't mean its not for you.

You know how in superhero movies someone will get hit by a train and then thrown off a skyscraper and then have their leg broken and then have their head cut off for good measure but because they’re the Good Guy they get up with a grunt and maybe a slight limp? Bc that happened a lot in this book. And it annoyed me.

Other than that tho it was great fun

Pretty solid book overall but extremely predictable.

This was basically Hunger Games with chariot races. And as most competition based stories go, this was only unique in the fact that it's South Asian based. I enjoyed the fast pace, the rider/maristag relationship, as well as the rebellion brewing in the background. The story was explosive and I got drawn in every time something happened which was quite frequent.

I thought it could do with a bit better world building. There is enough world building, but it's not easy to follow and more than half the time I didn't understand what was happening in what setting.

As for the rest: the angsty boy/girl relationship, the underdog rising to the top, betrayal--all glaringly obvious from the beginning. I wish there had been a plot twist of some sort to prove me wrong.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourebooks Fire for providing me with an eARC of this book im exchange for my honest review.

<u>Rating: 3 stars. </u>

I requested this because of the beautiful cover and because the concept sounded great, and it didn't let me down. I really liked the worldbuilding and the concept was very unique and unlike anything I've read before. The writing was very vivid and I liked how the story immediately started with an action sequence and that there wasn't any boring introduction or info dumping.

I found some aspects of the world a little confusing, especially concerning some of the creatures and how exactly they were supposed to look like. I sometimes really struggled to picture what the author was telling me, also during some of the more fast-paced scenes.

I also found the plot a little hit or miss at times, some scenes and conflicts were kind of repetitive and not a lot happened until the last quarter of the book. However, the plot really picked up there and I liked the ending and how the story wrapped up.

Overall this was a quick and fun read and definitely entertaining, it wasn't like anything I've read before and I'm definitely not disappointed with the story.

An interesting story about class/elitism. I love how the characters fight against oppression and injustice. The world building is amazing. It's very detailed... perhaps a little too detailed for me but others may enjoy it.... The hardships that the characters have to endure is difficult to read at times and makes me very sad. But it's a very complex and fascinating book and very addictive for me.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

One of the first things I noticed reading this book is that the worldbuilding in first third of the story was a little hard to follow along. I was a little confused with all the terms that Koral, our MC, kept using to describe aspects of her daily life and the worlds she lived in. Slowly, as the book progressed, I was able to piece together what exactly she meant and vision exactly how this world looked, but it did take some time. I do want to give a warning, though, that this book wasn't exactly easy to read in the sense that the hardships that Koral and her family face were really hard to read about. The things they endure as Hunters was written in a really visceral manner and definitely made me feel like I needed to take a break, so please take care when picking this book up! I'd give a major TW for violence, death, gore, domestic abuse, parental abuse, chronic illness, torture, and starvation.

Some Things I Liked
Be still my little half Indian heart, I loved the South Asian vibes in this book. It was so perfectly done. If felt like a clear influence but the world building was utterly unique.
The politics and society. The social structure in this world was so interesting and it led to so many fascinating, complex, and morally grey characters.
The slow burn, enemies to lovers romance. It was everything. I can't wait to read more.

Koral is a strong female main character! I love how bold she is, how she refused to stay put and took matters in her own hands. Yes, she is also hot headed and tend to make decisions by feelings which is not always ideal, but I love her sharp wits and enjoyed her adventure and character development! Also love her brother Emrik and sweet baby sister Liria! And ughhh don't get me started on Dorian Akayan because he has all my yeses.

This was––by far––one of my most anticipated releases of 2022 and it did not disappoint! What a thrilling ride of a book!

Monsters Born and Made was a really unique mixture of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. The setting is an interesting combination of fantasy and dystopian, and while I'm excited to see where it goes next, the plot did leave a little to be desired. The power dynamics among different groups of people on the island weren't explained very well, and I felt there was a lot more nuance that could have been explored. I liked Koral and her relationship with Stormgold; it reminded me a lot of The Scorpio Races, and the political intrigue as well as Koral's personality and situation reminded me of The Hunger Games.

This was a tough one for me.
The world building was awesome but some of the vocabulary used from the region made some things a bit confusing. It’s a little slow to get going but overall it’s a good story, one that I haven’t heard before which was awesome!

Koral and her brother Emrik battle in the ocean everyday to catch Maristags to train and sell to the rich lander riders for the glory races. But this year they have none because of Koral, so the Landmaster will not give them any money or food and their sick sister is getting worse. Seeing this Koral does the only things she can do she signs up for the deadly glory race with the last Maristag in their stable one who often is dangerous and no one else wanted.
This was a wonderful book I got hooked in chapter 1 and wasn’t let go until the very end and even then I wanted to know more. The action was non-stop, and the suspense was thick, this book is a David vs Goliath type story and it was awesomely fun ride to see who makes it to the end.


This will appear on my blog on Sept. 6th.

Thank you Sourcebooks Fire for the eARC of Monsters Born and Made in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to love this book. It has really good bones -- an interesting story pitch, a cool magic system, and an appealing set of characters. But in almost every way, this book fell short for me.

I wanted to know more about the characters -- they felt almost flat and uninteresting. I wanted more backstory and more involvement from each character, especially her siblings.

I oftentimes thought the two different story lines (the races & the political plotline) didn't mesh well.

The ending for me was a complete miss -- even as a lead in to a second book.

Things I did like:
- I loved the concept of the races, it reminded me deeply of The Hunger Games. While I was reading it, I felt compelled to keep going. I wanted to know what happened next.
- Koral's relationships with her siblings. I would have loved to read more about her family dynamics.

Overall, a 3/5 for me.

To be honest, I cared more about the beast than the love interest. There is too much going on - mostly bad stuff. Something bad happens, something bad happens and then again something bad happens. This pacing is rather problematic, in my opinion. I was bored by the endless action scenes. Especially, the chapter about the aquabats. Maybe I read too many books with a similar premise (The Hunger Games, The Scorpio Races, Race the Sands), but I expected something more original.

This book is infuriating bc of just how unfair life is for those who are broken under those in power. Throughout you can see the influence of The Hunger Games, with Landers standing in for The Capital. Some of the world building could be better, particularly around the various factions. I hope there's a sequel that gets justice for all the crushing blows one girl has to endure for reasons that are not fully clear.

The beginning of the book is a bit convoluted, but the last 25% is excellent.

Fast YA fantasy, think Hunger Games with south Asian influences. Please be aware there may be some triggers.
This story is well paced and will surprise you with its ending.

If you're on the younger side and you enjoyed The Hunger Games series then you might like this book - otherwise I don't really think it's worth much of a read. The story revolves around a dystopian future type setting where people are shunted into different castes with the Landmaster heading up the population of the island where this book takes place. Every four years, they hold a Glory Race, where mysterious yet incredibly dangerous amphibious creatures are raced with chariots for glory. A young "Hunter" defies the "Landers" only participants tradition by sneaking her way into the Glory Race so she can take advantage of the winnings and save her family from poverty and illness.

Now, this sounds like a good premise for a book, but my problem with it is that things just. keep. happening. SO MUCH happens in this book - from the violent Glory Race races to amphibious creatures attacking to the commentary on social hierarchies, the romantic subplot, the resistance subplot - it's all just too much. I think had this book been spread out over a couple of books, maybe a trilogy, I would have been able to get much more into it. But as it stands, I lost interest in the book about halfway through because the amount of bad stuff that happens in such a short period of time really pulled me out of it. Don't get me wrong - I think there is a level of suspension of disbelief you have to maintain when reading fiction, but there is a point where it's simply too much. It's hard to believe that a teenager could live through multiple traumatic, violent, otherwise life-ending events and get up and walk away from it as casually as the main character does.

Some other things - I thought the descriptions of the world were a little confusing and vague, I had a hard time developing an image in my mind of what the environment, the people and the creatures looked like. The action scenes are also hard to envision based off the descriptions.

I think that this book and the subject definitely has potential, but I think that it needs a lot of editing, some adjustments to the tone shifts, and maybe developing the storyline over a trilogy or series of books so that there is enough time to actually develop all of the differing, yet interesting, plot points the author has written so far. Also, you might notice I didn't say much about the love interest - that's because there's not much to say. Didn't really care for it.

I really wanted to like this book but I just felt like it was missing something. Or maybe just that it’s been done so many times before. I would have liked to see more of the main characters hunting and taming the maristags and having a smaller struggle without jumping into the big race.

Wow. Just wow. This book had mind working overtime to imagine the world it took place in. The descriptions of everything was amazing. My heart became too invested and I'm physically exhausted after finishing. The author knows how to throw out that hook and reel you in.

I fully enjoyed this book.
At first like any fantasy it takes a while to get into the world building but once I did I devoured this book. There was never a dull moment which meant I did not put down this book until I finished.
I loved the characters, they were not perfect and their flaws allowed the plot to move forward. I loved the protagonist and her need to help her family. Its a common trait in books like these, the self sacrificing lead who will do anything for the ones she love and I was not disappointed in any of her decisions. The disparities in social classes concept of course not new, was a brilliant and again, it really allowed the plot to move smoothly since many of the problems the protagonist faced could be linked to the class differences .

Overall, a great read and I will be buying a physical copy of this book because there is so much I would like to highlight , tab and annotate.