The Ascended
Thais Morvaren spent her life hiding her ability to forge starlight while serving oysters in a quiet seaside village. When a ritual exposes her secret, she is forced into the brutal Trials of Ascension alongside her twin brother. To survive and kill the King of the Gods, she must partner with Xül, a necromancer prince who challenges her at every turn.
A half-divine woman living as an oyster farmer who is forced into a deadly trial to reclaim her power and confront the truth of her heritage.
No — The Ascended stands on its own as the first book of the Aesymarean Duet. It's set in the same Sundered Realms universe as the Esprithean Trilogy (Riftborne and Duskbound), and several reviewers note that reading those books first deepens the emotional impact of certain moments, but it isn't required to follow the story.
The Ascended is explicit and open-door, with multiple fully on-page intimate scenes. Reviewers commonly rate it around 4 out of 5 on the spice scale.
The Ascended is adult romantasy, not YA. Its protagonists are adults in their mid-twenties, and the book contains graphic violence, torture, and explicit sexual content.