I enjoyed listening to this, I liked the premise and I felt it was well thought out, but at times I found myself a little confused and having to play bits back, the prose was fluid and I think the way I listened maybe lulled me into a drift. It was narrated well, but perhaps could have been paced a little differently, or maybe it was just my attention span on the day. I'd re-listen it was a very prettily written book.

I enjoyed this story and thought it was good to finally read another standalone book.
But parts of it felt very rushed and where hard to understand.
And sometimes things where a bit to easy.
The narration was very good.

surprisingly strong enough to be a standalone. i didn't expect to like this one at all but it wasn't terrible. has a little more consideration and care put into it than other books of a similar ilk.

Very enjoyable.
I loved the enemies to lovers element.

The magic system of being able to feel what was wrong with someone through song was great!

Not going to lie, I have no idea what happened in this book so my rating isn’t very accurate! I just got lost with it and struggled to focus on the story, just wasn’t for me unfortunately.

A good book with a good premise but just not for me. I found it hard to engage with the characters. It just couldn't hold my interest.

Thank you to netgalley and the author for allowing me to listen to an advanced copy of this audiobook in return for a fair and honest review.

The Anatomy of Songs is a unique fantasy about two Gods, one who sings songs of healing and life and the other death. I loved all the twists and fun and interesting cast of characters, especially Kasira was a great strong female lead. Although this was cliché in parts as most fantasies are I loved listening to the two narrators and I would love to read a second book.

I loved listening to this one. In fact, I found the protagonist really cool and the entire setting fantastic. I felt like I was watching a show while listening to it. Definitely recommend it,

I'm so glad I requested this. Bolinda audiobooks are always so good. I know they won't disappoint and I'm glad I always request for them. Please give this a listen. You won't be disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for the advance audio book.

The premise of the book was very promising, the idea that there are two gods; one for healing and life, the other of death and killing. A assassin who has both sings within her and struggles with all that comes from this and the two different sects who can access the songs of the gods.

I found this quite difficult to finish and get into, the readers were amazing and helped me finish the story but there just felt like a lot was being said but not a lot was happening. That is apart from the last few chapters where it felt like everything was rushed.

I also need authors to stop using SA to ‘enhance’ and move a plot along. Also including female characters to just be used by male characters.
I think that played into my overall enjoyment of the book, because the story could have been what it was without the SA.

I am also not sure if this is a standalone or meant to be the start of a series. As the ending feels like it wants a continuation.
This was a 2.5 rounded up to 3.

This was such an enjoyable read! It had it all! Life, death, a king, a prince, a healer, an assassin, a whole sect with a High Priest, a queen with her own agenda. If you are looking for a fantasy book with a young woman devoted to her people, to the ones she loves, blessed by two gods, with the powers to heal and to kill, then this is the book for you!

Kasira Severen is a special person, but only a very few people know what she is capable of. She is a blessed Daughter of Silba. She can hear the song of life, understands the parts of the body that need healing and helps them recover with the proper medicines and herbs. She is curing for the Lowtown of Sundsvall, the people that are left to their own fate, while the trained Daughters of Silba live and train in their tower on the Keep, treating the royal family and the nobles. When she is not trying to keep the Lowtown people alive and well, she is Sundsvall assassin. This however, is not widely knows as Sundsvall assassin works in the dark of night, and if you come across her path, then your time has come.

Veridian Erris is the Crown Prince of Livadha. His father is a relentless king. His sister is on a wheelchair and his mother is not well in her mind. With the soldiers up on the northern borders dropping dead like flies, and noblemen being found dead in the docks, he knows his name has been drawn as well. He needs to stay safe, to stay alive and find a way to make peace with the exiled but powerful Queen. The Queen has a large and strong army, but their own coffers are almost empty and they cannot fund a war and win it. He and his friends have been dealing with mostly whisky, but now he needs to find a way to save his kingdom. If he survives the attempts on his life, that is.

I really liked the fantasy background of the Songs of Life and Death, fueled by the respective Gods and how they people with the ability to hear those songs where treated. I liked the prophecy of the one child of both Gods that was there, but never out in the open, as if it had nothing to do with why everything was happening. I really enjoyed Kasira’s part with the anatomy parts on the beginning of each chapter, that were relevant to what was going to follow in the story. I also liked very much how she described every procedure she was doing, giving the impression that she knew very well what she was doing, like a modern time surgeon. How Silba’s song was calling her, guiding through the patient’s body. And on the very opposite, how the song of Death was calling for her to take life. It was marvelous!

Amazing worldbuilding, wonderful character development and a heartbreaking ending, this book was had me hooked! The narration of the audiobook was also captivating immersing the reader into the story!

Thank you to NetGalley & Bolinda Audio for an advance copy of this book. The views expressed are my personal and honest opinion.

DNF at 20%

I found the story quite dry and really struggled to engage with it and keep paying attention to what was going on.

This was an excellent fantasy set in a city where two gods sing to people songs of healing or death. I loved Kasira as she tried to balance both sides of her life and sim to change things for the better. Prince Viridian annoyed me no end at the start of the book with constantly being drunk and useless but he improves! I was constantly surprised by this story and intrigued as to what would happen next. I was lucky enough to listen the the audiobook which was excellently performed.by two narrators.

Really enjoyed the audible version of this book.

Both characters have great narrators. The two POV give a good story line which is easy to follow and the concept of the magic is really different!

I can see why someone else would like this, and the narrators were very good, but it felt too formulaic for me, so I struggled to get into it and simply did not want to listen as I wasn't being drawn into the story.

There were some things that seemed far too easy (surviving a massive explosion for example) and she gets into the palace way too easier. It undermined the stakes for me, making it hard to care if she made an attempt on his life as he'd proven he could survive. As this tension is probably supposed to be the core of their relationship, it completely ruined my ability to find tension between them.

The narrators were good and I liked the use of healing like a science in the book, but it wasn't enough to keep me listening.

So this review is my Dads take as he listens to audio books and not me.

First off he loved the narrators and that was what made him listen to the whole book, not sure what would of happened if he didn’t

He struggled to get into the book at first and said it was a little slow but then it picked up and he enjoyed it from about half way

He said he would listen if there is a second part

Thank you Netgalley for the audio for an honest review

I really liked that the female main character was an assassin, even the best assassin in the city, and that the male main character was a prince who is aware from early on of her nighttime activities and even knows some of her victims. It definitely added a complexity to their relationship that was built on throughout the book but I definitely struggled with some of the prince’s morals in the story. With an assassin, you expect them to be shady but the prince seemed to accept that people in his own keep regularly assaulted vulnerable women (and children), thought he should get a pat on the back for distracting a man to reduce the amount he abused his wife, and doesn’t seem too troubled by the king’s bad deeds. So, weirdly enough, I liked Kasira’s character in all her bloodthirsty glory and couldn’t stomach Prince Veridian’s lack of action where it mattered most. There’s a lot of politics and intrigue in this book and it’s difficult to guess the character’s motivations until it’s all slowly unravelled towards the end and it was difficult to keep track of at times.

I read the audiobook and thought both narrators were great to listen to and suited their characters well. They were the right choices to bring Kasira and Veridian to life even if I have mixed feelings about the characters themselves.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

Overall it was a great audiobook, I just struggled to get into it and keep interested at times. The idea behind the story - great.

We all have two sides to us in one way or another don’t we? Perhaps though none of us quite have the angel and the devil on our shoulders in the way that Kasira does. With the power to both assassinate to order and heal at will.

This wouldn’t necessarily have been a top pick read for me, but I was drawn to the blurb, I wasn’t disappointed. The world that the author has built and presented holds great mystery that’ll keep you guessing and keep you turning the pages. The world and the people are deplorable, as is Kasiras father, yet Kasira herself is captivating and I was extremely fond of her. I admit to getting a little lost from time to time, some of the story was a bit hard to follow, otherwise I’d have added an extra star. It is excellent, I enjoyed most of the narration too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bolinda audio for the opportunity to listen to this audio book in return for an honest review.

I found the story hard to get into, was quite slow to start with. Told from dual POV and with great writing skills I can see how some would love this book but the story was abit bland for me.

A fantasy world ruled by the Gods of Life and Death, the book has assassins, treachery, plots and scheme to overthrow the ruler, conspiracy and a feeble prince. Here's what I felt:

✅ The reference to Anatomy and Physiology in Practice book
✅ The character development of the protagonist (Kasira)
✅ World build-up and explanations (the power of songs)
✅ Loved the background sound and narrators
❎ The writing style- not so much

Special mention:
The narrator who played Veridian had such a deep voice that suited perfectly to the character.

Thank you @netgalley @bolindaaudio @meganwhiteauthor for the Audio ARC

Genre: #fantasy #adult
Rating: 4/5 ⭐️