The excerpt of the book totally convinced me. I am so looking forward to reading the book. It has piqued my curiosity and now I can't wait to read the whole story.
The cover is really beautiful! I really like it!

"Monsters Born and Made" by Tanvi Berwah is an exciting debut YA fantasy novel.
Set in a richly imagined world inspired by South Asian mythology, the story follows Koral, a lower-caste girl who risks everything to compete in a deadly chariot race.
I enjoyed the immersive world-building, fast-paced action, and compelling characters.
It can be compared favorably to "The Hunger Games" themes like class divide and survival.

With its unique blend of fantasy, dystopian elements, and diverse representation, this book promises to be a thrilling read for YA fantasy fans.

I'm South Asian, and it's so rare to see my representation that this tiny excerpt has such a strong hold on me! I will definitely be borrowing the full novel, because the mystery and monsters and action in this is extremely interesting.

"Monsters Born and Made" introduces readers to a compelling world where sixteen-year-old Koral and her brother Emrik struggle against the odds to capture dangerous maristags from treacherous seas. Their efforts are driven by necessity, as these creatures are crucial for their family's survival, bound as they are by indenture to provide maristags for a deadly chariot tournament called the Glory Race.

The novel promises a thrilling narrative filled with tension, as Koral navigates a society dominated by the elite Landers who control the tournament. Her decision to cheat her way into the race to secure financial stability for her family and to obtain medical aid for her sister sets the stage for high-stakes conflict. As Koral faces off against trained contenders, including her ex-boyfriend, the tension escalates, compounded by the emergence of a rebellion and threats from rogue elements.

Berwah's debut appears to blend elements of adventure, social commentary, and personal struggle within a richly imagined world. The protagonist's journey promises to explore themes of courage, sacrifice, and the complexities of social hierarchy and power dynamics.

Overall, "Monsters Born and Made" holds promise for readers who enjoy fast-paced fantasy novels with strong characters and intricate world-building. It seems poised to deliver a gripping narrative that delves into the price of ambition, the pursuit of justice, and the resilience of the human spirit.

If you enjoy fantasy stories that mix action with deeper social themes, this debut novel by Tanvi Berwah may be worth exploring.

Ich weiß ehrlich gesagt nicht, wie ich dieses Buch bewerten soll, da ich es aufgrund relativ kurzer Ausleihdauer (ohne Verlängerung) nicht lesen konnte.

Well written, it catches interest easily which makes it really easy to read!! It is a short piece but it left me with the need of reading en knowing more.

This is amazing book with amazing cover. It's so stunning. I love the story as well. Great fantasy story i read so far

I got this excerpt of the first six chapters of Monsters Born and Made, and I'm so hyped! I always like it when a book dives right in, especially when it comes to worldbuilding. I hate questioning what the hell is happening in a world, but this book handled it really well!

I am defnitely getting this book so I can read more. I'm so excited to read more about Koral and the Glory Race!

I love that this book starts right in the action! The world-building, characterisation and writing were all good but something felt missing for me and I likely won't be picking up the complete book. Nothing against it, just not my cup of fantasy tea!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Just finished reading the six chapter excerpt of MONSTERS BORN AND RAISED by Tanvi Berwah which was avaible to read on NetGalley. This is a short review that expresses my opinion on the six chapters available to read not the entire book for clarity. This is an epic fantasy novel wiht insporeation from south asian mythology and history about the power of the elite and the proce of glory. A gripping debut!

Characters appear well written and well rounded from the excerpt that has been read and it would be interesting to see if there was any character development involved within the entire story. The narrative perspective is intriquing as the reader spends most of their time relying heavily on the inner dialogue of the main character.

World building is excellent at the beginning and gives some insight into the culture, political divides and the religion. This will be an interesting book to continue reading if the world building is consistently exanded on throughout the story as this appears to be quite an intriquing world. The setting seems to be an excellent blending of fantasy and science fiction elements which makes for an epic dystopian setting. This is definitely a book that is worth your time if your interested in a dystopian socioety, political intrique and a fierce female main character!

It’s hard to get a feel of a book by only reading six chapters, but with that being said, I’m very much intrigued in the premise of this book. I sometimes find fantasy a but hard to get into, but this one just draws you in. Not only will my library be purchasing this book, but I’m hoping to get a copy of it for my own hands.

Set in a fantasy world, our main character is Koral. She has a sick younger sister and an older brother with whom she goes to hunt a maristag to sell fawns.
Interesting excerpt. The story that we discover in these few chapters is interesting. As it's YA, and I just don't connect with them much anymore, it didnt quite catch my attention, I have to admit, though I didn't have any problem with the writing style.

I wish this whole book was out now so I could read it in full! I've been looking for something with a bit of a " Girls of Paper and Fire" feeling to it and this definitely has it. So fast paced yet so instantly likable and I felt drawn into the snippet of the story, felt a desperation linked to the characters and a futile longing for safety and security. The introduction to the characters gave up an indication of their bravery, passion and a tight knit family bond. I look forward to reading this in full at a later date.

This was an exhilarating start to a story. I already love Koral and Crane, and I can’t wait to see their development. The Maristags are very cool, and I can only imagine the competition will be a delight to read.

I was curious about this book as I have heard about Berwah's fantasy writing and had wondered whether it would be up my alley. The six chapters in the sampler are more than enough to whet your appetite and pull you into the immersive, richly compelling world the author has built. There is something in this story for everyone with many unique, original characters and strange happenings that occur throughout. I plan to continue reading this once the hard copy arrives on my doorstep. A story with excitement, danger, magic and mayhem, perfect to whisk yourself away from the issues of the real world. Her new fantasy novel looks fabulous too!

It was an interesting excerpt and I'm intrigued to read the rest of the book amthough I'm not the biggest fan of the present tense.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for giving me a chance to read an excerpt from Tanvi Berwah's Monsters Born and Made in exchange for an honest review.

If I wanted to read this before reading this excerpt, now I want it thrice as much. In only six chapters Tanvi Berwah creates this high stakes adventure making the reader want to devour the whole book.
A missed chance to provide for her family and a wrong word to the wrong people, have Koral -the protagonist of this story- with her back pressed against the wall and so she does the unthinkable, she decides to cheat her way into the Glory Race, a deadly high stakes charriot race that none of her class have ever participated before.

TW : implied domestic abuse, implied (possibilty of) loss of a loved one

This is a book that will have you flying throught the pages with the fast pacing action and heart racing action scenes.

I don't think I care fairly give this a review because I gave up on it. I'm sure it's an interesting story, and I know this is only a sampler, but the prose just infuriated me and the formatting was awful (sentences were broken up). I physically could not read this. Based on this I would give it a single star. However, I know the finished copy would be formatted correctly so I'll give it three and acknowledge it just is not for me.

Great book. Very creative. Still needs some expansion and explanations. I still don’t know what a Renter is or a Lander. It’s a lot of foreign information very quickly.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read a short excerpt of this book. From what I’ve read, the world building is great and the pacing feels fast. The author establishes a political divide between Landers and Renters and goes onto other small power plays that happen within the world they’ve created. I can tell they took a lot of time setting up this world and feel the love they poured into their work.

Although with how fast the beginning of the book feels, I’m feeling lost in translation about why the medicine shop owner hates our protagonist so much. I know it’s about her being a Hunter and how he feels like Hunters look down on him, but I didn’t see her looking down on him at all. So I’m confused as to why he’s so mean to her.

From what I gathered about the protagonist, she tries so hard to try to maintain peace within her family but in this environment, it’s hard to do so. Because of not being able to secure a maristag to sell, the family is tight on income and is in slight debt to the medicine person since her older sister is sick and constantly needing treatment. The protagonists father is insisting she has a marriage contract since it would help with income. Yet this sends her into a panic and she enlists in the race to try and win what she can. And that’s where my copy ended.

Overall I really liked the premise and world that we’re put into. I can fell there’s going to be more world building and I’m excited to see how it develops. Same thing with this main character. I want to know what else is in store for her. I can tell it’s going to be one thrilling adventure and I’m here for it!

One thing that needs attention is the page number thing. Across the copy I received, it had some interesting formatting with the numbers splitting up paragraphs. Like someone would be saying something and the numbers would show up like-
10
this.

Yeah, that’s the only thing in the copy I would change. But other than that, I really look forward to reading more in the future.