While the plot of Monsters Born and Made is a familiar one, it’s a formula that works well for this story and genre. The author does introduce some new elements, which I appreciated for some slight twists. However, overall I felt the pacing was slower than I would expect from a competition-style plot. I would have loved to see the race come sooner or seen more conflict leading up to the race to hold my interest.

Koral is the protagonist of the book and her character works well. She’s smart, determined, and slightly unpredictable. However, I struggled to connect to the other characters in the story. While Koral felt well-rounded and relatable, her best friends, her family members, and her fellow riders seemed to fall into their distinct tropes and didn’t hold my attention the way I had hoped they would.

The setting of this book is where the story really shines. The author has created a complex, detailed world with a caste system that is easy to understand but still unique to the genre. I also loved learning about the maristags, which felt very new and fresh to me. Similarly, the monsters that are seen as well as the roles these beasts play within the plot and world were well done.

Monsters Born and Made is a great read for those who loved The Hunger Games and similar competition-based YA stories. Koral is a strong protagonist that readers will be able to relate to and the world that author has created is vibrant and exciting. I did struggle with the pacing of the story and the secondary characters but this would still be a great read for those who are fans of the genre.

Rating: 2.5

This started off okay, but too much was happening to follow along. It was boring and hard to care about the characters or the plot.

Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah is not my normal go-to genres. Though I do enjoy a few dystopian books, this was not one of them. I thought I'd give it a try though. I felt Monsters Born and Made was just all over the place and I had a difficult time trying to figure out whats what. I'm still unclear what a maristag is. This book definitely has Hunger Games (which I loved) vibes but in the end, for me, it didn't deliver.

The worldbuilding was lush and vivid, but the characters were lacking. This book was definitely going for plot driven, rather than character driven, which can work if done well, but needed assistance here. I would have liked to see a more in-depth dive into the characters than what we were given.

At first glance, this seemed to be a story about a girl struggling against oppressors to save her family. However, after finishing the entire novel, it is much more. This is a story about defying social conventions, not just between classes, but also between genders.

Koral Hunter is born into a family that is outcast socially. Her brother and her are the main breadwinners for their family through capturing and training maristags for an annual race held by the upper classes, the Glory Race. After her little sister's illness gets worse, Koral has no choice but to compete for the prize money, but she must face deadly competition from not just her fellow racers, but also from others not wanting someone of her class to win. Koral and her maristag Stormgold must work together if they want to get through this race alive.

The entire competition reminded me of the Hunger Games, not just from the similarities between the upper class and the different sectors, but also from the conflicts between the lower and upper classes and between the racers. Koral is very similar to Katniss in that she will do what she must in order to protect her little sister, and she uses every weapon at her disposal to accomplish that. It was a little difficult to understand the world at first, but as the story progresses through Koral's eyes, everything began to take shape. The dynamic between her and Dorian was interesting as well, and I hope to learn more from Dorian's perspective later on. I greatly enjoyed Koral as a narrator, and I will be interested to read the second book when it comes out,

QUICK TAKE: I wanted more world-building and more of a history of how this society came to be. Instead it felt like a bit of a warmed-over version of HUNGER GAMES. The creatures were pretty cool.

A South Asian fantasy unlike any other I've read, MONSTERS BORN AND MADE is inspired by India's caste system. The heroine and her family are surface dwellers of a caste many don't want to associate with, save for their ability to catch rare magical creatures, maristags, for a dangerous race the entire island watches. In order to save her ailing younger sister, the heroine secretly enters the competition---and one of her competitors is an ex-flame from the highest caste. A very exciting world to dive into.

This book could have been magical and gripping, but it fell far short. It was so hard to visualize what was happening—the race track + elements they were racing through, the creatures and maristags, the very world itself. The characters felt barely there. The entirety of this story was surface-level, and if it had dove deeper and provided more visual context, it could have been wonderful.

This book was not for me. I thought the premise was really cool and interesting, but I just could not get along with the writing style. It wasn't anything bad or even very specific, it just did not work for me, personally. I definitely think that if I could have gotten this on audio, I would have enjoyed it more. DNF @ 20%

In this thrilling and adrenaline-pumping new fantasy, Monsters Born and Made is an immersive tale about a young girl fighting for survival in a competition full of dangerous monsters, tempting rivals, and deceptive players.

This book was a WILD ride! I loved how so much of the novel included the sea—it added such an intriguing and addictive element to the story and its competition.

This was definitely a read that kept me on the edge of my seat, biting my nails through all the action-packed twists and turns, wondering what was going to happen next.

If you’re a fan of the competition trope and love stories full of adventure, love, and betrayal, definitely keep this book in mind!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I did enjoy this book but not as much as I was hoping. I wasn’t as gripped as I would have liked from the first few chapters and it’s taken me much longer to finish it than expected

Monsters Born and Made is such a beautifully written fantasy. The world-building is outstanding. The story is well written with an enchanting storyline and well-developed characters that engage from start to finish. The world is atmospheric and feels real with vivid descriptions and rich imagery. Tanvi Berwah has earned herself a spot on my auto-buy authors list. I cannot get enough. Highly recommended. Be sure to check out Monsters Born and Made today.

All I can say is "WOW WOW WOW" because I was blown away by this book. I was so in love with Koral and felt like I got to witness a great character that takes you by surprise in the best way. She was so dimensional and realistic while in the midst of a fantasy world. I know it may not have been meant to be a metaphorical story, but we all have "monsters" in our lives that challenge us in different ways. People looked at Koral as if she was nothing, not a worthy competitor who would not make it past the first marker but she had something they did not, a deep desire and motivation to succeed in the face of all the odds and "monsters" she would face along the way. How many of us have felt the same way? How many of us did not let others dictate our success? I think this is why I loved this book so much, it was a situation a lot of us can picture ourselves in, and it made you cheer for Koral to show the world just what she could do.

Thank you Tani Berwah and NetGalley for allowing the chance to discover such a wonderful story and character!

This book was a struggle to finish. There were plenty of descriptions but they were so lacking in detail I could barely understand what was happening. It was a quarter of the way into the book before we're even told that technology like televisions exist, when up to that point the setting was basically described as the Stone Age. It was terribly confusing. The characters felt flat and lacked comprehensible motivations for their actions. I read the entire book but most of the time I felt lost and confused. I wouldn't purchase or recommend this book and I would not be interested in reading anything else by this author.

Fan of The Hunger Games? What about Harry Potter? Yeah, then you’ll find some enjoyment out of this. I wanted to love it, heck, I wanted to like it. There is a great deal of action in the book making the pace fairly fast. But the lack in character development and world building just made this a flop. The world building was strong at first but quickly fizzled out. While this is labeled YA it does have a feeling of more middle grade mixed in. The MC Koral seems to be too loyal, too trusting and a bit naive for the setting of the book making me want to just scream. While the secondary characters were just blah and had no development what so ever. Overall, the book is very predictable and just.. okay.

The idea of the Monsters Born and Made was very intriguing for me. However, the execution did not pan out as well. The world was immensely designed and creative. Unfortunately, I could not relate to the characters and the action was too slow for me. I felt as though the author put a lot of thought into creating the world but not as much thought into the characters behind the story.
It wasn't for me but someone else who enjoys slow burn type stories may enjoy it more.
Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

This one was so much fun.

I couldn’t put it down!

I loved the main character so much. I also thought the world building was AMAZING. I could clearly see everything in my head.

Plus, it had some of my favorite tropes as well! I’m an absolute sucker for any kind of competition!

I highly recommend to any Ya fantasy reader!

Hoping this becomes a series! I enjoyed the strength of the female character, Koral. Her job as a hunter is to capture Creatures called Maristags from the ocean. They are breeded and sold to provide food and shelter for her family. After losing a catch, but saving her brother, Emrik’s life, she decides to enter the deadly Glory Race. Winning would change her status and provide for her family - except a hunter has never competed with the elite Landers. Many dangers and close calls with death incur, creating a can’t put it down story.

Scorpio Races meets the Hunger Games in an intense race with monsters from the sea in a race that could change everything. The themes found in this book's pages are fierce competition, underdog main characters from low-income families, class warfare, revolution, a forbidden love interest from a family of high status, and a young sibling struggling for her life.
Koral is from a family that only goal is to be hunters of the sea for these monsters of the ocean called Maristag. Once captured, they are to be raised and sold to the rich for the Glory race. So we have Landers vs. renters, and renters have never entered a Glory race today. Monsters Born and Made is an intense, bloody story about a race that can change Koral's life if she succeeds and is not killed. Like all tales, her victory may happen, and it maybe is destroyed just as quickly. I am unsure if we get more stories from this author in this tale, but it does end like we could get more.

Wow! I was sucked into the story fast and didn't put the book down until I was finished. This was fast paced, with lots of action and excitement. I adored this story! It was a ton of fun to read and I thoroughly enjoyed.

The island they live on and how they got there is all really interesting but I wish we could have learned more about it. I really just wish there was more of everything! More about the island, more about Koral, the maristags, landers, etc - more of all of it! Fingers crossed this becomes a series!

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.