Race the sands / Sarah Beth Durst.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"National Velvet with monsters and a big helping of palace intrigue, Race the Sands is monstrous (literally), heartwarming, and empowering in equal measure. An incredibly fun and inspiring read." - Katherine Arden, New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale

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, who you are in this life will determine your next life. Yet there is hope--you can change your destiny with the choices you make. But for the darkest individuals, there is no redemption: you come back as a kehok, a monster, and are doomed to be a kehok for the rest of time.

Unless you can win the Races.

After a celebrated career as an elite kehok rider, Tamra became a professional trainer. Then a tragic accident shattered her confidence, damaged her reputation, and left her nearly broke. Now, she 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 needs 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.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

In Becar, the way one chooses to live their life determines what form they take in the next life. To ride kehoks means to impose your will over the monster beneath you--at one time a terrible person, now reborn as twisted in appearance as they once were in deeds. To win the Races means glory for the rider, and a chance for the kehok to be redeemed. Tamra used to be a famous rider, but a tragic accident took her livelihood and confidence. Unless she gains the Race winnings, Tamra will lose her daughter. Raia has the raw talent to ride, but needs a skilled trainer to join the Races and break free from her imposing family. Both women place their hopes on a strange new kehok, as wild as it is powerful. As they head to the Races, Tamra and Raia discover how far they will go to win--and the truly unique nature of their kehok. VERDICT Durst's latest delivers the same sweeping prose and lush worldbuilding as her "Renthia" series, with strong female protagonists and lively supporting characters. This compelling fantasy will please fans and engage new readers.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Publishers Weekly Review

Durst (the Queens of Renthia series) imbues a thrill-filled story about monster racing with impressive thematic depth and a refreshing spectrum of female characters. Whenever human evildoers die in the land of Becar, they reincarnate as vicious kehoks, hulking beasts that combine traits of different animals. Their only chance of being freed from this monstrous form is winning the popular desert races, ridden by risk-taking humans. Tamra Verlas, once an elite kehok rider, has fallen on financial ruin that puts her at risk of losing her daughter. When her wealthy patron, Lady Evara, challenges Tamra to train a new winner in exchange for a cut of the prize, Tamra takes on desperate rookie Raia, pairing her with an untested leonine kehok, unaware that this kehok may house a powerful soul that could play a vital role in Becar's future. Durst consistently defies expectations in both plot and characterization while exploring sophisticated themes of found family, integrity, and morality. This excellent epic fantasy will appeal to adult fans of YA authors Tamora Pierce and Megan Whalen Turner. Agent: Andrea Somberg, Harvey Klinger Literary. (Mar.)

Booklist Review

Durst moves beyond her Queens of Renthia series, last explored in The Deepest Blue (2019), to a fresh standalone novel. The empire of Becar follows two central tenets. Foremost is the people's staunch belief in the aura-reading priests who act as their moral compass, guiding souls towards their next life. Second is the epic Grand Becaran Race, an annual gladiator-style event with high-stakes betting and life-changing rewards for the winning rider and racer. To ride and control the monsters used for the race requires tremendous self-commitment and focused mental concentration, skills that take time and training to master. What do you get when a down-on-her-luck former champion risks everything to train a seventeen-year-old runaway as a novice rider for a lethal, man-killing monster in his first reincarnation? Add in an eccentric sponsor, the search for a lost soul, civil unrest, palace intrigue, and an impending invasion and you get a fast-paced, exciting new fantasy. A distinctive belief system melded with a complex political structure and internal turmoil will appeal to readers who enjoy well-developed worlds.

Kirkus Book Review

This stand-alone fantasy blends classic horse-racing tropes with political fantasy and even a dash of Pokémon. Those who live in the Becar Empire know that reincarnation exists. Those who are purest become augurs, able to read the past, present, and future of a person's soul; good people are reincarnated as humans; those with more flaws spend their next incarnation as animals; and the irredeemable sinners spend eternity incarnating as kehoks, vicious, mindless, chimerical monsters. Kehoks cannot be tamed, but daring riders can control them mentally through force of will and race them while risking dismemberment and death both from their competitors and their own mounts. Former grand champion--turned--disgraced trainer Tamra Verlas needs a winning kehok-rider pair who will garner her the gold necessary to retain custody of her daughter. Raia hopes that a new life as a rider will allow her to hide from her parents, who have affianced her to a rich but cruelly dominating man. And the metallic lion kehok she learns to race seems to have his own ambitions and intelligence beyond his apparently brutish nature. Meanwhile, Becar roils with uncertainty, because Prince Dar cannot succeed his late older brother, Zarin, as emperor until he locates his predecessor's current incarnation, even as the neighboring realm of Ranir threatens invasion. Of course, these plot elements dovetail in exactly the way you'd expect, but that doesn't mean that the race to victory isn't charmingly crafted and extremely enjoyable. Durst (The Deepest Blue, 2019, etc.) offers her patented mix of solid worldbuilding, characters with determination and heart, and a jab of violence to ensure that the result never cloys. Fans of Tamora Pierce's strong female protagonists will also appreciate the tribute that Durst pays her in the acknowledgments, the character name "Tamra," and the storytelling. If mostly lacking surprises, still guaranteed to check the boxes for fans of fantasy and horse-riding novels. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.