MONSTERS BORN AND MADE

A young woman defies the caste system by entering a competition reserved for the elite.

In Sollonia, a world where the line between upper-caste Landers and lower-caste Renters is strictly defined, Koral’s family is condemned to fall in between. As a Hunter, a member of a Renter subcaste, she captures and trains maristags—deadly, temperamental sea monsters—for Landers participating in the Glory Race, a lethal chariot competition in which only one Champion is crowned. Forced to serve Landers but shunned by Renters as sellouts, her family’s crippling debt worsens when they fail to capture a maristag and can’t afford the medicine for Koral’s ailing younger sister. Driven by desperation and rage, Koral risks it all to sneak into the Glory Race. While other competitors have spent their lives training, Koral must rely on pure grit and her knowledge of maristags to stand a chance of surviving and saving her family. The Landers are determined to destroy her, but the Freedom’s Ark, a fractious and riotous band of rebels, may prove to be her downfall. Berwah’s worldbuilding is intense, depicting a cruel society in which the power-hungry elite are just as monstrous as the terrifying oceanic beasts. Readers will feel the rawness of Koral’s suffering, beg for a reprieve for her, and question how she can possibly still be alive after being ridiculed, chased, and attacked at every turn. Characters are diverse in physical appearance.

For dystopian fantasy fans seeking something fresh and savage.