2023 book 158

 Sarah Beth Durst's Race the Sands

Durst can be hit or miss for me, but I’d heard enough good things about this one that I figured I’d try it. And it’s interesting, with great characters! It’s set in a world where people are reincarnated into animals based on how good (or not) they are, and the most evil people turn into monsters that are then raced for sport for some reason (like horses). The main character is a single mother who trains said racers and has to have a winning season, and ends up with a brand new monster thing and a brand new rider (also a POV character). The thing is that the first half of this is kind of slow, especially since it’s obvious to the reader what’s going on. I did like the politics/intrigues aspects of the story, and things picked up in the second half, but the end was kind of eh. But like I said, great characters and very atmospheric. B+.