A highly dynamic and intriguing excerpt - I can't wait to read more of this and see what unfolds next!

Koral has grown up with a heavy responsibility: Capture deadly monsters native to her island so they can be bred, trained, and sold to the wealthy. Except more than one life is at stake when the last hunt of the season goes terribly wrong. Now Koral must find a new way to provide an income for her family to put food on the table and so her little sister can continue to receive the life saving yet costly medication she requires to survive. Will Koral’s efforts pay off?

This seems very interesting, a lot happened just in six chapters. The pacing could have been slightly slower - I'm not connected with Liria to the point where I am thoroughly rooting for Koral to win the race yet. The book does seem a tad bit predictable, but I want to see how it plays out. I already know who the love interest will be. I wish I could see the setting and events more - I have no visualization for what maristags look like. Hopefully the full book will be a good read!

A very great start to a fun series, The excerpt leaves just enough to get you interested. I can't wait to see where this series goes.

Monsters Born and Made would be perfect for fans of the Scorpio Races. Our young MC must enter a deadly race on horse-like water monsters if she wishes to save her family from destitution. Koral's family is part of a designated class of hunters who are responsible for catching and breeding the sea monsters used in the Glory Race and when they fail to catch one, society is content to let them starve to incentivize other hunters to work harder. This harsh world is one where failure of any kind means almost certain death.

I was surprised by how much the story picked up within the first few chapters. The excerpt was incredibly fast-paced and action-packed. I would have loved for a bit more time to meet Koral and her family before tragedy strikes but it seems like this story has a lot of ground to cover and I'll have to re-asses my thoughts on the introductory pacing once I finish the entire book.

Thank you to Tanvi Berwah, Sourcebooks Fire, and Netgalley for the e-ARC excerpt.

The worldbuilding set up in this story is fascinating. There are a lot of elements going and a lot of high stakes. This excerpt cuts off the moment before the competitors of the race are announced. I definitely want to find out what happens next.

From the moment I saw that gorgeous cover and read the blurb of Monsters Born and Made I knew I needed to read it.
And I truly wanted to love it. The premise was amazing.
I mean, a dystopian water world? A badass MC entering a deadly competition as an underdog? A race with marine monsters?
Well, what could have possibly gone wrong? Sadly, the answer is a lot.

This book fell flat for me and I found it difficult to get attached to the main character, Koral. The love interest was pretty bland and didn't build to something more.
The most intriguing aspects of the story (the Maristag race and the uprising rebellion against the caste system) were presented in such a rushed and superficial way that half the time left me confused, and wanting for more the other half.
Considering how much it was advertised, it was hard to get many South Asian vibes from this novel.

Overall, it was a quite average read that a younger YA audience may appreciate nonetheless.

I have read the first few chapters of the e-book, and then listened to the entire audiobook. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me access to this advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Great excerpt. Made me interested in the novel and learning what happened next. Very good teaser. Can't wait to read the full book.

Exciting start! Looking forward to reading the rest of the book and seeing how the stakes play out. Wish there were more visual descriptors of places and the monsters!

The start of Monsters Born and Made is intriguing, and I can’t wait to learn more about this world, the creatures, and the main characters.

I have the ebook to listen to, so I’m excited to see how the rest of the book goes.

I read the excerpt and really enjoyed this so far. I look forward to reading the rest of the book when it comes out. It reminds me of hunger games a bit.

The first six chapters of Monsters Born and Made immediately took me to a dystopian world that felt both real and other worldly. I think this book would be perfect for fans of Fable and Namesake, and any reader eager to read about a young woman desperate to break her family from the suffocating bonds of poverty. Koral and her family risk their lives to capture Maristags, an oceanic creature famed for its danger. When Koral has no other options to help her family find money for food and medicine she decides to take matters into her own hands and find a way into a deadly chariot tournament using one of the famous Maristag creatures. There is danger at every turn, and I am excited to read the rest of her adventure.

I loved this excerpt so much. I can not wait for the full novel to be released! This storyline was incredible at first glimps and i have high hopes for the rest of this novel.

I'm so glad that I picked up this extended excerpt! At first I wasn't entirely convinced MONSTERS BORN AND MADE would be the book for me, but these first six chapters have me so intrigued that I will definitely be looking forward to more of this debut!

This book has an intriguing plot. The author just drops the reader deep in without a lot of detail. The early chapters were a lot of things happening and taking a while to fully understand the details of the worldbuilding. its a bit overwhelming at times.

Other than that minor note, I'm excited for the rest of the book.

OOOH I am beyond excited to continue reading!!! The first few chapters show such excellent worldbuilding, paired with strong characters and an adventure I'm excited to see play out!

Big thanks to Sourcebooks for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The cover is what immediately drew me to this book, it is absolutely stunning. Next I read the summary and saw the comparison to The Hunger Games and was sold. Unfortunately, the first 6 chapters were sloooow. It honestly didn’t even start to pick up until more than halfway in, but the last quarter of the book was very enjoyable. I found myself devouring the chapters that described the games and dragging through the chapters in between. I was also really hoping to see more of the mysterious relationship between Koral and Dorian. The short snippets were just not enough for me. Overall, I wasn’t super attached to any of the characters besides Stormgold. This was good, but not the best, and did not have me hooked like when I read The Hunger Games.

Pairing this excerpt with the audiobook has been the best idea to read this. You can listen to the book while looking at the maps mentioned in the book here. After that, I just kept reading + listening parallelely until I ran out of the content in the excerpt!!

However short, it is enough to get you hooked. The new creatures mentioned in the story, especially the Maristags. The arena and world-building aspects of this book have definitely been top-notch. I do understand its comparison to The Hunger Games, but not so much with the Violent Delights.

So if you are a fan of new mythical creatures and unjust society - you can read it.

The style of writing is so unique, it gets wrapped up in it and it often feels like reading parts of a poem due to the description and how the sentences are perfectly structured.

A perfect dystopian world that includes harsh hot conditions, poverty, fighting for survival, and a sea with maristags.

I found Koral so utterly strong and at times I sometimes forgot she was a girl. I think she has become a new favourite female character.

I highly look forward to reading the whole book in the future.

Thank you Netgalley, Sourcebooks and Tanvah Berwah for the extract of Monsters Born and Made.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC sample of this book.

I really enjoyed this sample and I will absolutely check out the full book once it is released. Koral was a really compelling character to follow. Her love for her family makes her easy to root for. It's been a while since I've read a dystopian world, but Berwah managed to make their's feel fresh and new. That being said, Monsters Born and Made does remind me of a couple of YA fantasy books, and I think it would be fantastic for fans of The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

I'm looking forward to finishing the book once it's released.