Monsters Born and Made

You swim with monsters, these people cannot scare you.

Sixteen-year-old Koral and her brother, Emrik, risk their lives 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 ruling elite have indentured her family to provide the maristags for the Glory Race, a deadly chariot tournament reserved for the upper class. The winner receives gold and glory. The losers—if they’re lucky—survive.

When Koral fails to capture a maristag for this year’s race, her family can’t afford medicine for her chronically ill little sister. Koral’s only choice is to do what no one has ever dared: cheat her way into the Glory Race.

But Koral must race against contenders who have trained their whole lives and have no intention of letting a low-caste girl steal their glory. And when riots break out, Koral has to do more than win the race. She’ll have to stop the whole island from burning.

Monsters Born and Made is an epic South Asian–inspired fantasy debut that will leave you breathless until the very last page.