This didn’t live up to its hype as I hoped it would. I was looking forward to story brimming with romance and fantasy centering around Chinese mythology but there was none to be found. There was zero fantasy elements and for the protagonist being a lover/concubine, there were barely any scenes that displayed love.

A Song to Drown Rivers is a story of sacrifice, war, a woman’s power and love.

At the center of the story is Xishi, a beauty so unparalleled that her looks alone can change the fate of country. But Xishi is more than just a pretty face. She’s smart and cunning and driven. Xishi knows the power of love and loss and harnesses that to achieve her goal. There’s a lot of morally grey stuff here, but Xishi remains a sympathetic character.

Author Ann Liang perfectly paints her picture, giving readers an emotional hook even before introducing her well-realized world. You care about Xishi almost from the first page, and eagerly anticipate her path.

A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic romantasy contained in a stand alone novel. Liang’s pacing is strong and her story even better. And unlike many novels written in this genre, it’s less about sexual encounters and more about the characters. It could easily be classified as a slow-burn read.

Wow. Absolutely stunning and heart shattering.

The character development and the world building.. *chefs kiss*

I was not familiar with the legend of Xishi or the Four Beauties of Ancient China before reading this. Now I have completely gone down the rabbit hole of reading more about these legends.

I definitely liked this, but it took me a while to get into it. I have to use too much concentration on Asian names in fantasy novels. For whatever reasons, my brain can't keep these names straight. The story was beautiful.

"A Song to Drown Rivers" by Ann Liang is well deserving of all the recognition it has received since it was published in early October, 2024. It is an epic story of love, sacrifice, and war. The worldbuilding and character development are top notch; the richly detailed writing paints a vivid picture of Xishi's life and experiences. I loved the strong women characters and how, in a time where women were seen as objects to be admired and not as actual people with their own thoughts, they used whatever talents they had, including their looks, to change the world right under the noses of unsuspecting men. Xishi is an admirable heroine and I absolutely loved reading about her.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this fabulous book, destined to be considered one of the best of 2024.

This book is based on a Chinese legend of one of the four beauties of Ancient China, Xishi has grown up hating the Wu Kingdom for their part in her toddler sister's murder. When she is approached by a handsome Yue military advisor who wants to use her renowned beauty to take down the Empire from the inside it is an opportunity hard to resist. When Xishi arrives as the perfect concubine in Wu she is surprised to discover that the people are not that different from her own. Can she still follow through with her plan and navigate the dangers of life in court? And can she keep her own heart's desires hidden?

I thought this was beautifully written. This particular story was a bit dark, and I wasn't a huge fan of the ending, but I do understand it is a retelling. There's only so much leeway in what can happen. The author did well at exploring the nuances of each character and making the reader see how the definition of an enemy isn't black and white. Good and bad exists in everyone and it's possible to feel a little sympathy for people who commit horrible acts.

I did find it a little hard to believe that a concubine could go years with only giving the king some passionate kisses, especially when he is used to getting everything he wants. Xishi also goes from being unable to mask any emotions on her face to being a complete pro at it in only a few weeks. The romance aspect was a very slow burn, and Xishi and her true love are only in the same setting for a short time. But the depth of their feelings for each other was described well. I really enjoyed the character of Luyi, and the friendship between Xishi and Zhengdan.

I am a big fan of retellings of myths and legends, and this book was no exception. If you are familiar with the story already, or go in knowing nothing like I did, you should give it a try. This is a fairly quick read and leaves you thinking about some of the deeper points after you've finished. I would definitely read more from Ann Liang. I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for my opinions.

Ann Liang’s "A Song to Drown Rivers" is a mesmerizing historical fantasy that dives deep into love, sacrifice, and the role beauty can play as a weapon. The novel shines in its atmospheric storytelling, with Liang’s writing bringing a rich cultural world to life. However, the book's pacing can be a little slow at times. "A Song to Drown Rivers" is a richly layered, character-driven story that explores the depths of feminine power and the resilience required to survive in hostile territory. Liang’s prose captures both the beauty and tragedy of Xishi’s world, resulting in a spellbinding tale perfect for fans of historical fantasy.

It's been a while since a book has left me so emotionally distraught as this one has, so buckle up, because you're in for an emotional review.

A Song to Drown Rivers retells Chinese folklore so beautifully. Liang's command of language is nothing short of masterful. Her prose is beautiful, but never purple. I've read some reviews that said that this book had a slow start, but I was immediately drawn in by the writing and the depth here.

Xishi was such a wonderfully complex character. We as the reader live inside her head as she deals with this emotional and physical trauma and it was so refreshing to see her provide such a nuanced take on what it means to be a hero.

And Fanli, oh Fanli. The restraint and sense of yearning that lingers between Xishi and Fanli had me on the edge of my seat, gripping the pages just to read about the brushing of hands. I think it's rare to read about a romance quite like this one and I think you need to experience it yourself to truly know why.

There is also a lot of sorry that is folded into the pages of this book. There are characters who suffer greatly throughout this book and that adds to the beauty and tragedy of it all. We see in this book what war does to people and what the price of power really is. I think this book will sit with me for a long while and I think that's the way that it should be.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Author Ann Liang tackles the conflict between the Yue and Wu nations in A Song To Drown Rivers, a retelling of the legend of Xi Shi, who is one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China. Like most legends, there are multiple iterations of the tale, with this book mostly sticking to the basic story line.

Xishi is washing silk at the river when a young girl, begging for mercy, collapses in front of her. A Wu soldier is chasing the child with a drawn sword, clearly planning to kill her. Xishi intervenes and expects to die in her place as a result, but the most beautiful man she has ever seen arrives just in time, saving her life. His name is Fanli. Dressed in silks and clearly of the noble class, he nevertheless claims that he is there to see humbly born Xishi. Whispers of her exquisite loveliness have reached as far as the palace, and he, the emperor’s chief advisor, needs just such a woman. There is a plan for vengeance afoot that requires courage as well as charm. Xishi, who lost a sister to Wu violence, is more than happy to be a part of it.

Just like that, her adventure begins. She undergoes thirteen weeks of intense training to become a spy for the Yue. She will be sent as a concubine to the Wu capital, where she is to seduce their young emperor, Fuchai'. Once she has him in her thrall, it will be her task to drive him to do two things: empty the treasury and build a canal that will connect the two kingdoms so the Yue can more easily attack the Wu.

After her short training period, Xishi enters the Wu court with her handmaiden, Zhengdan, a close friend and confidante from the same village who is well-trained in swordsmanship. But it is not easy to gain Fuchai’s attention. He has many concubines, and the battle for his affection is fierce. It is especially difficult for Xishi to seduce this man whom she despises when she already holds her rescuer in her heart.

Several things work well here. The author does a nice job of introducing the conflict between the Wu and the Yue and also showing us how, in reality, the people we think are monsters are often just people who think the same of us. I liked the depiction of the devastation of war; almost everyone we encounter in these pages has lost someone to the fighting. The pacing is brisk, the prose is lovely, and it was refreshing to read a story based on a non-western legend.

There are also some negatives, however. How well you tolerate the flaws in the narrative will depend upon whether or not you are someone who enjoys romantasy. Like most (all?) books in that genre, the court politics here make no sense and problems tend to be resolved far too easily. There is a scene toward the sixty percent mark in the story where Xishi does something that is so stupid I wanted to reach out and smack her. The characters have a lot of modern sensibilities and they are also a bit immature; young/new adults although the positions many of them hold would require someone with greater wisdom and experience. The author fails to create any tension in the story since Xishi is never truly conflicted. In many ways, it is a teen/twenties romp through history.

For some audiences, none of that will be a problem. For others, it will be completely unacceptable. Again, the degree to which you can accept it will all depend on whether or not you enjoy the genre.

There are a few things, though, that the author could have done better, even within the confines of her chosen literary form. One is to have created a real romance between Fanli and Xishi. The two spend almost no time together, and their love is all cryptic comments, stolen moments, hasty kisses, and longing glances. In the legend, Xishi trains for years, and shortening it to months for the sake of the story made it seem almost ridiculous. The court politics should have been handled in more detail and, most importantly, what made Xishi so alluring for Fuchai and why he succumbs so easily to her machinations needed to be addressed more thoroughly. In this tale, Xishi is one pretty girl among many, but she’s meant to be a beauty birds would descend to get a closer look at, and the moon would hide from in shame. Removing that Xianxia (fantasy) element hinders the believabiity of this story. In fact, magic plays almost no role in the tale till the end. Xishi and Fanli have personalities made up of only love and hate: love for each other and hatred for the Wu. More depth is needed to make them something beyond caricatures in a legend. Fuchai makes no sense - he would have been deposed if he were as bad at his job as he is here. Although I would have preferred the author to choose the happier of the two possible endings to the tale, I didn’t grade down for the way the story ends, but I want to warn readers that there isn’t an HEA here. In China, epic romances often have the HEA take place in the next life due to one or the other characters dying within the tale. That happens here, with Xishi and Fanli’s souls reuniting at the very end of the story. This is slightly different from Western romance but conveys a far more epic and timeless feel for the love affair. Still, I wanted to warn those readers who require a traditional HEA of this fact. 

I’ve gone with a B as my overall grade for A Song to Drown Rivers because it is a good, if not great, example of romantasy - and because I enjoyed this look at a legend from a different culture. If you like either of those factors, I would recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. I enjoyed this but I didn’t love it. It was a good read, I would have liked it better if the romance between her and Fanli had been better developed, it went from he’s cute to I love him so fast that I wasn’t invested at all. This spans a long period of time, but seeing more of their relationship building would have really helped.
Even so, it was a very interesting read and I do recommend it.

I came to be an Ann Liang fan via her YA romance books, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this more adult fantasy to see what Ann could do!

Here are the things I loved about this book:
1. All the strategy that went into going behind enemy lines was fantastic. From the picking of the two girls, to their trainings, to their time spent in the enemy territory, it was all incredibly thought out and totally realistic for a devastated time.

2. Despite having moments of heaviness, I couldn’t put it down! I wanted to know what was going to come of the characters, both good and bad. Some of the things I foresaw coming, but some completely caught me off guard! Liang did a great job keeping the characters and settings interesting and balancing the heaviness and the light.

3. I loved the feminist aspects that came out in the writing tone. As a girl born to be the most beautiful woman, Xishi sure did have some thoughts about people only seeing her as a pretty face. And she definitely lived up to being more than one as well.

4. I completely loved Fanli. He was smart, a brilliant fighter, a total servant to the cause, and yet he was only human and couldn’t deny his feelings for Xishi. Their moments together before she left (one in particular around his scars!), were so fraught with intimate tension that you couldn’t help but root for them! Also, when he got brought to behind enemy lines and was all but tortured but didn’t let the enemy see it?!?!? If I wasn’t in love with him already, I would have been at that point.

5. I loved this lurking message of no one was exactly what they seemed. The beauty wasn’t all beauty, the other “girl” could fight better than the top solider, the robotic mastermind wasn’t void of feelings, and the villain wasn’t quite as unredeemable as one would hope.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Ann Liang for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

This story is about the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic novel that is steeped in myth about womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love against all odds as the fate of two kingdoms hangs in a delicate balance. It is an amazing story to read. I find myself in another world as I read it. I have decided not to give the details of the story. It is something to discover yourself the reader. I enjoyed the story.

After reading and adoring Liang’s YA speculative novels I was SO excited to dive into her adult fantasy debut, and needless to say it didn’t disappoint! Inspired by the Chinese myth of Xishi, A Song to Drown Rivers is gorgeous and tragic in equal measures and I absolutely devoured every word. I should’ve known that I would leave this destroyed emotionally by the strength of the yearning and the depth of the prose alone, but I truly wasn’t prepared for how exquisite that devastation would be. What can I say, I love a book that will hurt me! The pacing was spot on, the yearning immaculate, and I loved the atmosphere and setting. For all its depth and delicacy it was a surprisingly quick and immersive read. Xishi and Fanli have my entire (broken) heart and I honestly can’t find a single complaint with this book. All of the stars!!

Rating: 5/5
I received an eARC and audio for my honest opinion.

Okay, I was not ready for this book at all, I was not ready to love this book so much even knowing that I still cried. This book was so beautifully written with a YA fantasy, romance, mythology, love triangles, and it being set in historical time. You will find tropes like forbidden romance, arranged marriage, and hard choices.

I loved this book so much, I smiled, I laughed, and of course I cried. I loved that this author knows how to write a book that will suck you into it and with her words I felt as though I was there with them and not reading it, her words were so lyrical. I thought the world building was done well, and the pace of the book was perfect. I didn’t feel at all that the book was lacking in anything. The plot was well developed and the characters too, I could see the development of the characters throughout the book, and it wasn’t just at the ending.

The characters as I said are well developed, and easy to connect with. I loved Xishi so much, I found her character to be so strong in her choices even the dumb times she would slip up. She felt like a real person to me with flaws and her willingness to learn and overcome things that she didn’t know. I loved that she was smart, elegant and loyal. Not just to her friends and family but to her country as well, you can feel the love that she has for all of them. Fanli I loved this character right away, the swooning moments he would have with Xishi and his love for the country but you will slowly see cracks in his armor and see that his feelings are more than they seem. I wanted so much for them to have that HEA.

I also received the audio for this book, and I found the narrator to be amazing. She knew when to draw the listeners in and I could hear the emotions in her voice. I see what she was saying just by her descriptions on the page and really when the crying started for me it was because of this narrator understanding the importance of that moment and making sure that the readers really understood it as well.

I will be reading more books from this author, and this will be one of the books that I recommend to everyone.

I want to thank NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan audio for the opportunity to review this book.

God but I love a historical/folklore/mythological retelling. Especially one that focuses on women. Especially one that focuses on women that I don't know anything about. This one hits all those marks. After reading this book, I have searched for additional reading on Xishi and the Four Beauties of Ancient China - and I am desperately hoping that Ann Liang chooses to take on the stories of one of the other three, because I am enraptured. I will say that I wish she had chosen a different ending, and I found the romance confusing - I almost wish there had been no romance at all. However, this was an easy read that at least one person will be receiving from me for winter holidays!

She’s killed me. I’ll be spending the rest of the day staring at the wall. Possibly longer. Such a BEAUTIFUL ADDICTIVE & AMAZING story!!!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I was not familiar with the Four Beauties of Ancient China but was interested to see what this would hold. This did not feel fantasy to me so not sure why that was chosen for a genre. Seeing what Xishi went through in order to help her kingdom and then truly understand the price of her betrayal was well written and the ending was not unexpected. My guess is someone more familiar with the legend could see if this is only a straight retelling or if more was added. I felt this was just fine for me. 2.5 stars.

I think this was an incredibly beautiful story that was executed in a way that didn't quite work. I always felt some detachment from the characters and a lot of the story felt more like it was telling a lot more than it was showing. The training montage was an example of this which like, I would've loved to have seen what kind of training one would have gotten to defeat a general in one on one combat.

But also what threw me the most about this book was there wasn't a ton fantastical about it. Nor romantic - we see her pining over this guy after they met for maybe three chapters, and we don't get to see them together enough for them to fully feel realistic to be in love.

I will say the ending was very very sad but also expected (not in a negative way!). Like - I have a sinking feeling this will happen, and I thought overall that was effective.

But this was a fine story. If nothing else, it has inspired me to learn more about the original myth.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a chance to read and review.

I really enjoyed this one! It had a lot of elements that I love- forbidden love, war, political intrigue, power plays, and endearing friendships!

- There was a lot of imagery here which I enjoyed! Ann Laing is quite adept at adding those vivid details and beautiful prose that appeal to all the senses, draw you in, and immerse you in the world.
- The rich imagery seamlessly infused with mythology and folklore really made this a compelling read and added to the world building
- I really loved the characters and their relationships and friendships. Xishi was very well developed. I *felt* her internal struggles and conflict. “History is written by the victors.” Xishi’s story shows the complexities of that sentiment so well.
- I think the romantic relationship between Xishi and Fanli needed more page time to make a deep seated love that transcends space and time more believable.
- I did feel the pacing was a bit off as well. There were some jarring time jumps that impacted the rhythm and momentum for me.

Overall I really enjoyed Xishi’s story, and would definitely recommend! I couldn’t help snagging a physical copy with the beautiful sprayed edges!

Thank you to St. Marten’s Press and NetGalley for providing an eArc for review consideration!

Thank you so much to the publisher for the eARC!!
Brilliant, showstopping and amazing!
Ann Liang never misses! The angst, longing and heartbreak in this book is unlike every other. I think about Xishi from time to time and never fail to tear up.
I did feel like the romance between Xishi and Fanli was a little forced which is why I couldn't fully love this book. Honestly, Xishi had so much more chemistry with the king from the enemy kingdom (I forget his name).
Overall, really lovedddd this book!! Took a while to review due to the SMP boycott😭

Rating: 4.25 stars