Tanvi Berwah

Monsters Born and Made

She grew up battling the monsters that live in the black seas, but it couldn't prepare her to face the cunning cruelty of the ruling elite.

Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and These Violent Delights, this South Asian-inspired fantasy is a gripping debut about the power of the elite, the price of glory, and one girl's chance to change it all.

Sixteen-year-old Koral and her older brother Emrik risk their lives each day to capture the monstrous maristags that live in the black seas around their island. They have to, or else their family will starve.

In an oceanic world swarming with vicious beasts, the Landers―the ruling elite, have indentured Koral's family to provide the maristags for the Glory Race, a deadly chariot tournament reserved for the upper class. The winning contender receives gold and glory. The others―if they're lucky―survive.

When the last maristag of the year escapes and Koral has no new maristag to sell, her family's financial situation takes a turn for the worse and they can't afford medicine for her chronically ill little sister. Koral's only choice is to do what no one in the world has ever dared: cheat her way into the Glory Race.

But every step of the way is unpredictable as Koral races against competitors―including her ex-boyfriend―who have trained for this their whole lives and who have no intention of letting a low-caste girl steal their glory. As a rebellion rises and rogues attack Koral to try and force her to drop out, she must choose―her life or her sister's―before the whole island burns.

Perfect for fans of:

Dystopian Fantasy
Sea Monsters
Exes-to-Rivals-to-?
Golden Boy x Pariah
Deadly Competition
Rebellion
Angsty Teenagers
Fans of Chloe Gong
Female Friendship

fc ♡

He would’ve had you killed if I didn’t go back to him. But you…” His breaths grow shallow. “I’ve tried to do what you did and failed. I’ve tried to hurt you and failed. I’ve tried to hate you and failed"

Dorian smirks. “Of course, he did. Can’t keep out of your business, can he?” 

“You sound jealous,” I say, only with the intention to annoy him. 

Something flattens in Dorian’s expression. His voice drops to a merciless whisper, “And if I am?”

“I can deal with my problems fine on my own.” 

I grow still under his hands, not at him doubting me, but at what he calls me. That term of endearment—my star, sitara—that only those closest may use, for people they would die for. That Mama uses for Liria. 

He looks away for a fraction of a second, his jaw tight. But he doesn’t take it back.

Dorian glances down the path, then at me. He closes the gap between us so fast that I can only gasp. “What are you—” 

“Be quiet. There’s no other way they wouldn’t want to know why we’re out so late.”

Understanding floods me. Dorian erases the last remaining sliver of space between us, his body pressed against mine. My incredulous laugh at his audacity is cut short by the heat barraging through my core. His hand slips around my waist with the same ease from two years ago. Assured, like it belongs there. He holds up his other arm, shielding my face, drawing his own closer. His hair falls on his forehead.

 As if my body remembers how it must react, my hands reach and push his hair back. Like I always did. And his face turns into my palm, as if on its own. We both freeze, realizing what we’re doing

"I was born in anger; I live with it. It’s everywhere. It’s in the way people look at us. It’s in the way we exist. It’s the way we burn. What do you know of how angry I am, Dorian Akayan?”

“I know that you are even angrier than you think you are,” he speaks clearly, carefully. “I know that every hope you’ve ever had is surrounded by this anger, and you worry, always, that your anger will overpower you. That your anger will consume that hope.” His face is deliberately blank, like he’s speaking off a screen, or something he knows so deeply that it feels like he’s practiced it countless times. “I also know that if you don’t control this anger, pain, or whatever else it is, it will destroy you.”

"be very careful of what you’re saying. Or I will make you bleed.” 

He has a staff as well, tucked at his waist. But I have my knife, too. My hands reach for it and meet air.

 “Looking for this?” He holds my knife, closed, in his palm. So assured of himself. How can he be this nonchalant, exposed on a Renter backstreet, so far from the Terrafort? I gape at the knife in his hand. “Apparently you’re not the only magician who makes things disappear from inside envelopes,” he says. A quirk of his brow. A challenge.

He didn’t realize it was me. What did he think? A hallucination? A dream?

"How will you try and kill me tomorrow?”

 “There are so many things I’d like to do to you,” he breathes. “One day, I might.”

"Tell me, is Judas Pereira good at dancing?” 

Dorian stays quiet for a few moments, the pulse in his neck beating against the blade in my hand. I can hear my heart drumming in the thick silence between us, and I don’t dare move. Our bodies are slid so close together that they could fit like a puzzle. A forgotten reaction almost makes my hand lose its grip on the knife, settle my fingers on his shoulder instead. I don’t know what will happen if I breathe deeper.

 “Tell me what he did,” Dorian murmurs

Dorian’s eyes change. Anger shines in them.

“Make me bleed,” he says in a deceptively soft voice, “and you’ll never make it out the door alive.”

Dorian is leaning against a pillar in the corner, only a few feet away. Staring at me. Dancing with Judas.

 A gaze full of darkness. My inattentive smile at whatever Judas was saying fades. Dorian doesn’t bother looking away even when I’ve caught him. He follows our every movement. There’s something so savage, so visceral in his gaze that under the heat of the lights, I shiver.

it’s a whiplash to find Dorian staring at me, his jaw tightened. 

Then, he speaks to me for the first time in two years, “You shouldn’t be here.” 

Rage roars in my veins. After everything, a drop of hope still remained. That there was an explanation about why he left. But here he is. Arrogant and every bit the Lander he was born to be.

His voice is the touch of a venomous serpent. “I’m going to win, Koral, even if I die doing it.”

I hold up my chin, ignoring the cold shiver running down my spine. If he thinks he can intimidate me, he’s wrong. 

Water drips down my face. I’m colder than a chip of ice. But I toss him a dazzling smile. “I’d love to see you try.”

I tried to like this. I really did. The concept on an underdog entering a high-stakes, high-reward competition is something I know I like (Hunger Games, The Kinder Poison etc.) but this just did not do it well. There was so much exposition to explain what was happening but I still could not visualise it or give you a description of the setting.

DNF at Chapter 15.

I tried to like this. I really did. The concept on an underdog entering a high-stakes, high-reward competition is something I know I like (Hunger Games, The Kinder Poison etc.) but this just did not do it well. There was so much exposition to explain what was happening but I still could not visualise it or give you a description of the setting.

Ellie M.

Thanks to Tanvi Berwah and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an ARC of this debut novel through Netgalley! It doesn’t affect my review in any way. 

Koral of Sollonia is a Hunter of Maristags. And her family of Hunters have always held the official title of capturing such beautiful and deadly creatures for the Glory Race, which is only held every four years. But to unforeseen events, Koral and her older brother Emrik have failed to catch one in time for the 150th event. And in an extremely oppressive, elite society, the odds are always stacked against the poor. So that’s when Koral decides to participate in this year’s race. This book promises an exhilarating story of rallying against oppression and prejudice and what it means to survive despite all setbacks. 

This book is set in a dystopian society created based off of South Asian foklore. I liked the author’s fast-paced writing with the little element of romance between Koral and Dorian. I applaud how realistically Monsters Born and Made tackles social injustice against the underclasses and how the hatred and discrimination by people with wealth and privilege can power a government to incur unjust authority. And this is experienced by everyone, especially minority communities around the world and I really like how Tanvi Berwah navigates her writing in this standalone. The best I could give this book would be my current rating of 3 ⭐️ simply because I didn’t enjoy it enough. It was inevitably left to the reader’s interpretation on how they think the story truly concludes, but I believe there should’ve been more to Koral and Stormgold’s end.

nina 

2.75 stars, unfortunately this one was a bit of a miss for me. 

i’m not sure if this is a standalone, but that ending didn’t wrap things up if it is. i’m going to give it the benefit of the doubt that there’s a sequel to conclude things.

Minnie Mazuera

A powerful novel for fans of The Hunger Games and The Scorpio Races. Koral must overcome familial criticism, cutthroat sea creatures, and a caste system that seeks to obliterate her. There’s a delightful friends to enemies to maybe more (with a knife to the throat scene), but romance never takes over the story, which I greatly appreciated. The writing is punchy and alive, and the peril kept me glued to the page!

Liz Griffin

Christine Bruce

The book was interesting enough. The premise was very promising, and the character's introduction were exciting. But nothing made sense. Not the world building, society details, the inter-relations of characters. I DNF'd as 50% because I was so confused and nothing was ever clarified. Only ever more muddled. 
The characters fell flat and the most interesting aspects, the race and the class politics were never explained or described in any way that made them more clear. I didn't care about any of it, and it wasn't because the author didn't try. It was because it wasn't done well.

This book started off a bit choppy for me, but once the story took off I really enjoyed it! It's a unique world, with lots of action and engaging characters,

I loved the different creatures Berwah included in this book. It was so interesting to see how the humans and creatures interacted, and how those interactions affected every aspect of their lives. It was so fun to learn about them and the world.

The characters grew on me as the story progressed. At first, I wasn't a huge fan of Koral and found her a little annoying. But the more I got to know her, the more connected I stated to feel. She's such a complex and interesting character.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was different in some ways, but familiar as well. I'm really interested to see where the story goes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the chance to read Monsters Born and Made in exchange for an honest review!

Laura Kehoe

This book started off a bit choppy for me, but once the story took off I really enjoyed it! It's a unique world, with lots of action and engaging characters,

I loved the different creatures Berwah included in this book. It was so interesting to see how the humans and creatures interacted, and how those interactions affected every aspect of their lives. It was so fun to learn about them and the world.

The characters grew on me as the story progressed. At first, I wasn't a huge fan of Koral and found her a little annoying. But the more I got to know her, the more connected I stated to feel. She's such a complex and interesting character.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was different in some ways, but familiar as well. I'm really interested to see where the story goes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the chance to read Monsters Born and Made in exchange for an honest review!

I'm having a really difficult time rating this book. But I think I'm giving it a 3.5

Note: I take issue with the marketing. I saw this art posted by the publisher, and in the caption it said: they were lovers, then exes and now rivals, or something like that. But I explicitly remember it saying lovers, which is extremely weird to me. The synopsis states that she's 16. In my understanding, they hadn't been around each other for a few years. So saying that children were lovers doesn't sit right with me. I was even more surprised when I went to check the author's page and found the exact same post. I guess she's trying to market to the “enemies to lovers” fans, but it just does not seem appropriate. 

I quite enjoyed the story. Action definitely came through during the races. Koral wasn't my favorite, but I guess she'd appeal to a younger audience. Suffered from self-sacrificing heroism. It wouldn't really be that much of an issue if she weren't a huge hypocrite and got mad every time someone else did the same. I loved the strong sense of family. Look, a ya protagonist with parents 👀. Sike. Anyway, I just wished her friendship with Crane was shown more, rather just told. The hatred Koral had for Dorian seemed a bit forced at the beginning. Only a bit later did we find out the reason for it. Basically, she was upset he didn't hang out with her like when they were younger. He, on the other hand, was doing the “being a dick to drive her away to protect her” act. Because, boy, does he have an abusive pos power hungry father. Also forgot to mention Dorian is from a powerful, important lander family, so there's also that. But I'll admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for romance, and it's not terribly done so… 😏 When he calls her my star, I was gone.

It took me a while to realize it wasn't just a fantasy world, but rather a dystopian/post-apocalyptic one. The history was not explained. I'd love to know what happened for the world to end up the way it is currently in the book. Also, a map would be quite helpful, I don't remember there being one. Which leads me to the biggest fault of the book. The worldbuilding.  I could not wrap my head around it at all. Now, I'm not one to usually be bothered by this because I speed through everything. But with this book, I was really trying and still couldn't figure it out. I'm hoping the sequel clears things up. History and world building-wise. I have numerous questions. Why was Koral the first renter to enter the glory race? If technically it's not forbidden, and she got in easily. Did no one before her try? Furthermore, what is the renter/lander thing? I'm assuming the landers are those who live on the (main) land. But why renters and for what reason are they inferior? A considerable detail I could not understand at all were the maristags. I gathered they're water creatures, but sometimes they read as horses. They had stables… (filled with water? Or like an aquarium?), also the races themselves were confusing. Do they swim? Or run through the water? Because at some point it was described how it's feet hit the ground. And occasionally they attack people. But the people aren't in water? Do they survive on land? Furthermore, gills/lungs, how do they breathe? I need a picture of this maristag. And a lot of explanations. The cover is stunning, though. Can't wait for my pre-order to arrive.

Arc provided by publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I'm having a really difficult time rating this book. But I think I'm giving it a 3.5

Note: I take issue with the marketing. I saw this art posted by the publisher, and in the caption it said: they were lovers, then exes and now rivals, or something like that. But I explicitly remember it saying lovers, which is extremely weird to me. The synopsis states that she's 16. In my understanding, they hadn't been around each other for a few years. So saying that children were lovers doesn't sit right with me. I was even more surprised when I went to check the author's page and found the exact same post. I guess she's trying to market to the “enemies to lovers” fans, but it just does not seem appropriate. 

On to the review. 

I quite enjoyed the story. Action definitely came through during the races. Koral wasn't my favorite, but I guess she'd appeal to a younger audience. Suffered from self-sacrificing heroism. It wouldn't really be that much of an issue if she weren't a huge hypocrite and got mad every time someone else did the same. I loved the strong sense of family. Look, a ya protagonist with parents 👀. Sike. Anyway, I just wished her friendship with Crane was shown more, rather just told. The hatred Koral had for Dorian seemed a bit forced at the beginning. Only a bit later did we find out the reason for it. Basically, she was upset he didn't hang out with her like when they were younger. He, on the other hand, was doing the “being a dick to drive her away to protect her” act. Because, boy, does he have an abusive pos power hungry father. Also forgot to mention Dorian is from a powerful, important lander family, so there's also that. But I'll admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for romance, and it's not terribly done so… 😏 When he calls her my star, I was gone.

It took me a while to realize it wasn't just a fantasy world, but rather a dystopian/post-apocalyptic one. The history was not explained. I'd love to know what happened for the world to end up the way it is currently in the book. Also, a map would be quite helpful, I don't remember there being one. Which leads me to the biggest fault of the book. The worldbuilding.  I could not wrap my head around it at all. Now, I'm not one to usually be bothered by this because I speed through everything. But with this book, I was really trying and still couldn't figure it out. I'm hoping the sequel clears things up. History and world building-wise. I have numerous questions. Why was Koral the first renter to enter the glory race? If technically it's not forbidden, and she got in easily. Did no one before her try? Furthermore, what is the renter/lander thing? I'm assuming the landers are those who live on the (main) land. But why renters and for what reason are they inferior? A considerable detail I could not understand at all were the maristags. I gathered they're water creatures, but sometimes they read as horses. They had stables… (filled with water? Or like an aquarium?), also the races themselves were confusing. Do they swim? Or run through the water? Because at some point it was described how it's feet hit the ground. And occasionally they attack people. But the people aren't in water? Do they survive on land? Furthermore, gills/lungs, how do they breathe? I need a picture of this maristag. And a lot of explanations. The cover is stunning, though. Can't wait for my pre-order to arrive.

Arc provided by publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

sydney

This isn't bad I just think it could have been workshopped a bit more. I don't feel a strong connection to any of the characters and I think the relationships should be built a little more. I hope it gets better in the second book.

I received a book through netgalley.

What an awesome debut with great potential! Monsters Born and Made can be easily compared to The Hunger Games. You’re either a Renter, which they’re essentially poor and live above land so they’re exposed to the elements and monsters of this world. The sun is a big enemy for them. Or you’re a Lander, the elite of society. They live underground in a very high tech society full of everything they need to survive. Once every four years, The Glory Race is hosted. One person will win by the end and only the Landers can enter but of course, our MC finds a way to enter the race and it takes of.. literally, from there.

Such a cool concept and interesting world but I still was having a hard time to really understand it all. It definitely didn’t feel like the whole world was flushed out, I didn’t know why the sun was so harsh and why it felt like there were no other civilizations.. a lot about this world was unknown. It made it very hard to feel committed at times and I kept putting it down.

What I did love were the action sequences and the ending scenes gave me chills lol I LOVE Koral’s  ( the MC) budding relationship with her maristag (monster from the book) and would have loved to see Dorian and Crane some more!

Overall, I believe this is the first in a series judging from the ending? But if it is, I will definitely pick up the second one in the hopes the world is more flushed out! I would love to see more from this story!

Courtney Passio

What an awesome debut with great potential! Monsters Born and Made can be easily compared to The Hunger Games. You’re either a Renter, which they’re essentially poor and live above land so they’re exposed to the elements and monsters of this world. The sun is a big enemy for them. Or you’re a Lander, the elite of society. They live underground in a very high tech society full of everything they need to survive. Once every four years, The Glory Race is hosted. One person will win by the end and only the Landers can enter but of course, our MC finds a way to enter the race and it takes of.. literally, from there.

Such a cool concept and interesting world but I still was having a hard time to really understand it all. It definitely didn’t feel like the whole world was flushed out, I didn’t know why the sun was so harsh and why it felt like there were no other civilizations.. a lot about this world was unknown. It made it very hard to feel committed at times and I kept putting it down.

What I did love were the action sequences and the ending scenes gave me chills lol I LOVE Koral’s  ( the MC) budding relationship with her maristag (monster from the book) and would have loved to see Dorian and Crane some more!

Overall, I believe this is the first in a series judging from the ending? But if it is, I will definitely pick up the second one in the hopes the world is more flushed out! I would love to see more from this story!

courtofkayla 

"I am a hunter. I have grown up in the sea. I will win this, no matter the odds." -220

A dynamic fantasy world with churning oceans and sea creatures sure to haunt your dreams mixes with a Hunger Games dystopian competition and a sink or swim journey of self-discovery and the innate power of oneself comes together to form the anticipated novel, Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah.

Monsters Born and Made follows Koral, in a world split between renters and landers, and her hunter family that lives near the sea to catch, breed, and prepare the mystical Maristags for the Glory Race. The ruling elite, the Landers, has a historically fueled deadly chariot competition for gold and glory, and when her sister falls gravely ill and her family's meager stability shifts, she has no choice but to cheat and enter the deadly competition herself, with a wild maristag that only she seems to be able to be near. Political powers wage as the tension between renters and landers expedites, and with every race, Koral is brought to question her place in this churning world and the land of sea, what exactly she stands for-- and who she wants to become amidst the cunning world trying to tear her down at every opportunity.

Three Things I Loved:
1) The fast-paced plot. This novel starts going on page one and does not slow down until the very end. Everything hits the ground running and doesn't slow down, and as a reader, I loved it because it added to the tense atmosphere and glory race moments two-fold. This novel is easy to get into, and once you're in... you're in until the end.
2) The Maristags. These mythical sea creatures are a core part of this book and society, and the sea horse meets deadly venomous creatures was such a fun addition. Not only does this book have sea raptors and sea bats, but its main stage is taken up by these beautiful and deadly maristags that kept me hooked.
3) The Glory Race. In a world divided by gold, the race was such an interesting culmination of both history and tension. I found the races extremely fun to read and I was on the edge of my reading chair the whole time wondering what would happen next.

Overall, Monsters Born and Raised is definitely a book you want to have on your radar. I highly recommend it! On sale 9.6.22

4/5 Stars.

*Thank you to SourceBooksFire for sending me an ARC of this novel. My review is in no way altered by early access and all reviews and thoughts are my own.*

Monsters Born and Made

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