Heirs Of Bone and Sea by Kay Adams is an enemies-to-lovers, LGBTQIAP+, pirate fantasy that has the undertone of chinese mythology (IMO). I listened to the audiobook and the narrators, Catherine Ho and Hayden Bishop, blended together well, and I appreciated the dual perspective.
The story follows Princess Kalei and Queen Evhen, whose kingdom's are at war, as they form a fragile truce to join forces and end the violence between the two kingdoms. Gradually, trust forms between the two young women and a bond greater than friendship grows. That bond, and the belief in each other, helps them survive the wrath of a brutal king who will let nothing stand between him and immortality.
The storyline is interesting and flows well. The characters are well developed and realistic. I did see mentioned that Kalei couldn't possibly be that naiive, but I disagree. She lived in a world completely filtered by her parents, who had a very specific ulterior motive that relied on keeping her in the dark.
I look forward to seeing where the second Dark Depths book takes us.
Thank you #NetGalley, #Dreamscape Media, and Kay Adams, for access to this enjoyable book. It kept me rooted and interested from start to finish!

The tale of the two Queens was a compelling one with complex female characters that had their strengths and flaws, making them relatable to readers. The story's uniqueness and magical elements added to the overall appeal of the narrative. As a fan of world-building, I found the world created in the story to be engaging and fascinating, leaving me wanting to read more. I believe that if the writer can further develop the saga, it has the potential to be a great one. The audiobook was equally enjoyable, with the narrator delivering a flawless performance that deserves recognition.

This book had so much potential, but it just kept jumping around making it incredibly hard to follow. The 2 FMC voices were too similar so that didn't help either.

Sadly I didn't like this one as much as I was hoping. It's a sapphic enemies -to-lovers magical pirate story, so I really expected to love it but It was kind of dull. It relied heavily on the naive "I had no idea what they were doing or that the bodies I kept bringing back to life were soldiers" "oh but I thought all those treasures were gifts not spoils of a war I didn't even know was going on" princess trope and it was irritating. Neither of the two girls really stood out to me as a character I could get a feel for.

The pirate ship has weirdly few people on it. The guards on the island are weirdly absent. Everyone is super mysterious all the time.

The audiobook narrators were lackluster. One of them unexpectedly had a bit of a southern twang which felt off. One of them kept pausing. To breathe in. Weird places that really. Threw me off and made it hard to keep track of. What was going on. The voices they chose for the characters were all fairly monotone and impossible to distinguish, but at least one occasionally went really high and squeaky as if on fast forward.

I eventually gave up when the annoying narration outweighed my desire to find out what was happening.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for providing an early copy for review.

One princess' seafaring parents are killed by a rival king. That country's princess can raise the dead. What happens when the seafaring princess and the princess of the dead team up in a begrudging attempt to figure out what is actually going on and end the war? Why, unwelcome feelings happen, of course! This is the first novel in an enemies to lovers ya fantasy series. I think it was a bit long, some of it could have been cut, but overall this was an enjoyable book.

I really wanted to like this one. Queer pirate magical fantasy? Right up my alley! But unfortunately it was a serious miss. The rules of magic were just weirdly muddied and hard to understand which is a huge pet peeve of mine with magical worlds. There was also so many injuries (broken bones, bleeding, cuts, etc) to the extent where it was distracting trying to figure out how characters were still even standing. I am pretty good at suspending my disbelief but it got ridiculous. And so much of the first half of the book relied on just terribly poor communication between all characters which is not my favorite trope.

Oh my god. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect but I saw gay princesses and fantasy together and immediately needed to read and it absolutely blew my mind. I ended up finishing this in less than a day because I was just in shock. This genuinely felt like everything I want from a YA fantasy and then sprinkled in Disney princess elements. A princess who has long magic hair that heals and hasn't been allowed off the island because of her father the chief and a new Queen who liked to play around as a pirate??? This was an amazing debut for Kay Adams and the narrators were also incredible and perfect for the characters. I will be telling everyone I know to read this book and I can't wait to watch Adams' writing grow throughout her career.

DNF at 7%

I think the book might be good, but I'm not enjoying the narrators. The first narrator is a little stilted, and the second narrator is not keeping me engaged enough to pay attention to the story. I will have to read the book to give a proper review.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media the the AudioARC.

I had really high hopes for this book which makes it sad that I sadly didn't like it. I didn't see the connection between the two characters and the writing isn't my personal taste but I do think this book will find it's audience since it does have potential.

Heirs of Bone and Sea written by Kay Adams and narrated by Catherine Ho and Hayden Bishop is a powerful debut that is sure to be the beginning of an epic series

Catherine Ho has dulcet tones, like velvet but strong when needed, able to flow through nuances like a breeze, absolutely stunning. Likewise Hayden Bishop has agile vocals, versatile and adaptive, bith narrators were a great choice for this audiobook

This tale of two Queens is glorious, each with her own strengths, each with her own reasons for going to war, the enemies to lovers slow burn romance is molten lava and just as powerful. The storyline is unique and original, the magic novel and well thought-out. An absolutely brilliant audiobook

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, the author Kay Adams and narrators Catherine Ho and Hayden Bishop for this epic ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own