Week 8 Review: Race the Sands

From Goodreads:
In this epic standalone fantasy, the acclaimed author of the Queens of Renthia series introduces an imaginative new world in which a pair of strong and determined women risk their lives battling injustice, corruption, and deadly enemies in their quest to become monster racing champions.

Life, death, and rebirth -- in Becar, everyone knows that who you are in this life will determine what you are in your next life. The augurs can read your fate in your aura: hawk, heron, tortoise, jackal, human. Armed with that knowledge, you can change your destiny with the choices you make, both in this life and your next. But for the darkest individuals, there is no redemption: you come back as a kehok, a monster, and you will always be a kehok for the rest of time.

Unless you can win the Races.

As a professional trainer, Tamra was an elite kehok rider. Then a tragic accident on the track shattered her confidence, damaged her career, and left her nearly broke. Now Tamra needs the prize money to prevent the local temple from taking her daughter away from her, and that means she must once again find a winning kehok . . . and a rider willing to trust her.

Raia is desperate to get away from her domineering family and cruel fiancé. As a kehok rider, she could earn enough to buy her freedom. But she can't become good enough to compete without a first-rate trainer.

Impressed by the inexperienced young woman's determination, Tamra hires Raia and pairs her with a strange new kehok with the potential to win -- if he can be tamed.

But in this sport, if you forget you're riding on the back of a monster, you die. Tamra and Raia will work harder than they ever thought possible to win the deadly Becaran Races -- and in the process, discover what makes this particular kehok so special. 

My Review:
Oh, wow, I loved this book! The world was so incredible, and I loved reading about these characters! How both Tamra and Raia have their motivation to be a part of the Races, and that they have to win on top of that. I was rooting for them!

So first off, this world with who you are in your current life, affects what you'll be in your second life, from human again, to various animals, to Kehok, which is what you become if you were a horrible person. Not fun! There's the augurs who try and help people be the best they can be, so there is that!

Tamra was the main narrator, but as we went on, we had more and more perspectives, and while we didn't have much time in say, Augur Yorbel's head, or Emperor to Be, Prince Dar, well, they all played pretty important parts in this book!

So there's the whole race bit, but there's also the politics as well, since there's a rule that the incoming ruler can't be crowned until the host of their predecessor is found, and Prince Dar's brother, Emperor Zarin, his host can't be found, and tensions are high as the government is ground to a halt. Loved watched everything come together!

This was a fantastic book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!

Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Read: February 17th, 2020
Source: Edelweiss
Reason Why: Love her writing so much and it sounded fantastic! And it's a SAC 2020 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Expected Publication: April 21st 2020

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars