I really loved the premise of this book and there were a lot of elements that gave this story promise. I had high hopes. Unfortunately, there was more I didn't like about A Song to Drown Rivers than I did like.

***There will be spoilers in my review***

A big turn-off for me was the past-tense story telling. I felt detached from the story as a whole and especially detached from the characters. It ended up being much more of a tell instead of show kind of story.

Another issue was that the total time this story is supposed to be taking place is over 2 years. Xishi receives 10 weeks of training in which we experience none of it. We're just told she's a master by the end of it as she displays her skills on a man in order to prove she is ready.

This was marketed as an epic historical fantasy, but I didn't feel any fantasy elements, however, there was nothing that made me consider this fantasy besides the legend it is inspired from.

Xishi and Fanli didn't get near enough page time for me to believe they were actually in love. Her training time would have been a perfect opportunity to explore this.

I was unenthused with the side characters and their plot lines. Xishi's heart defect was also lost in the plot.

I honestly believed this was a YA book and was shocked to learn it was adult. For a story about a concubine and a king I expected for a lot more steamy things to happen (even if they were off page) but that was never implied and I found it incredibly hard to believe that Xishi could seduce the king into doing the things she was or getting the things she wanted without using her body as a concubine would.

And even in the end Xishi and Fanli still don't get any page time. It just ends. That's it.

Lots of people love this story, so please if you are on the fence about reading it please do and decide for yourself.
These are my personal opinions on why I did not enjoy the story.

Thank you to the author, Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of A Song to Drown Rivers.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book is a retelling of the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China. I didn’t know anything about this tale going in, but I really admired a lot of the themes. It reminded me of the story of Esther, which I looked up to as a child - a young woman using beauty and elegance as a weapon to save her people.

The first 60% was extremely fast-paced. It really drew me in and I felt invested. However, there were several decisions and actions the main character made in the second half that I found extremely frustrating and unrealistic. This really pulled me out of the story.

I also wish we could’ve spent more time with the main love interest. We barely get to know him and so it made some of the emotional beats and big moments fall flat.

The ending felt too rushed and leaned into a trope that I don’t enjoy - switching POVs for the very last chapter.

Overall, I don’t think this retelling introduced any noteworthy or unique ideas, but I mostly enjoyed the journey. It felt pretty consistent with its other contemporaries of historical fiction/mythical retellings.

Note about the audiobook - I think Natalie Naudus brought a lot of feeling and emotion to the character with her voice.

3.5 stars / 7 out of 10

A historical fantasy retelling with an ending that will leave you with all the feels.

So this book is inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, which I am not familiar with. But I love that the story centres on Xishi, an uncommonly beautiful young woman who is selected to be a spy to get revenge for her sister's murder.

This book follows similar beats to other YA/new adult fantasy adventure stories. We have the training montage, the almost getting caught, the supportive side characters, the love interest she needs to deny in order to fulfil her plan. I'm not taking away from the story with this comment at all. These beats are used for a reason, because they create a compelling and fast-paced storyline.

Where the book really hits is at the end. I won't spoil anything, but I'd say the ending really elevates the impact of the book and I'm so glad Ann Liang took the story there.

So the first run of this book will feature a gold foiled cover, gorgeous sprayed edges with stenciled artwork, as well as exclusive metallic ink patterned endpapers and unique foiled front and back case stamps. And I think this absolutely fits the vibes of the book. It is ethereal and beautiful.

This book is best read by a river, while your lover watches from the opposite side.

Okay. This book started out with so much suspense! I really enjoyed meeting the characters and learning more about the world Xishi came from and lived in. The people she met along her quest were interesting and supported the story.

I got a bit lost as the story progressed (about 33% into the book). I felt like the story was so strong at the beginning but certain characters that were introduced later just weren’t strong enough and took away from the writing style, storyline and main characters. This said, the ending was well written and powerful. It brought me to tears and had a beautiful conclusion.

A Song to Drown Rivers was an excellent standalone fantasy novel. My only complaint is that it wasn’t at least 100 pages longer because I desperately needed more. Beautiful writing, strong heroine, forbidden romance, and a smitten villain. The true villain here though is not a rival king, but the devastation of war. I loved the themes of womanhood and sacrifice. Talk about the most heartbreaking ending ever. I might never survive the pain Liang handed on a silver platter. I was tearing up. For being on the shorter side, this impressed me with how powerful it was.

I really can’t recommend this book enough, it was fantastic. Highly recommend to fans of The Celestial Kingdom series and The Night Ends in Fire.

🪷 Book Review 🪷

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Publication: October 1, 2024

Rating: It was okay!

I think this would have been an amazing read if there was more beef added. More fleshed out characters, more depth to the war issues, more romance or none at all. This is also advertised as a fantasy read. However, it should be classified as historical fiction.

For fans of:
🪷 First person
🌸 Ancient China
🪷 Chinese folklore
🌸 Historical fiction
🪷 Kingdoms at war
🌸 Insta love
🪷 Sprinkles of romance

Ann Liang has been on my to-read list for quite some time, as several friends have recommended her novels to me, so I didn't think twice when I saw that her new book, which is a historical retelling of a Chinese legend, was coming out this year. I knew I had to read it.

The first thing I want to highlight is the good character construction, and the wonderful narration of the author. The story flowed in my mind like river water. I could easily visualize the different scenes that the author presented to us, which made the reading much more agile.

The tension between Xishi and Fanli kept me entertained during my reading. The intentions of both characters were very clear and evident, but it was funny to see how they would end up expressing them to each other.

Overall, this has been a very entertaining story, I want to read more Ann Liang novels, I hope to do so in the next couple of months. Highly recommended for romance readers!

A Song to Drown Rivers did something to me. And I think I'm changed forever.

Rating: 4 ⭐️

"So long as we continue to put mortal men on thrones and hail them as gods, sacrifice our lives to their legacies, history will repeat itself. Just as the oceans tides ebb and flow beneath the moon, empires will rise and collapse, wars will start and cease, and the rest of use will be left to struggle against the currents."

This book broke my heart. It was not at all what I thought it would be. But, honestly, I think it was better. The characters felt so real. The conflicts felt real. Even the politics felt real.

I have read many books with this premise before: a beautiful girl tries to seduce the king in order to take down his kingdom. However, this one felt very different. It was not so much a romance as an exploration of the will of kings.

I loved Xishi. I felt so connected to her struggles. Her guilt, her rage, and her compassion felt human and relatable to me. Her relationship to Fuchai was one of the highlights of the book. It was so complicated, sweet one second, frightening the next.

This book was paced so well. We never stayed in one location or conflict too long and were moving through time at a realistic pace. This felt like a normal timeline, unlike some fantasy novels that take place over two weeks.

I will say, even though I understood the ending and its importance to the book, a part of me hated it as much as I loved it.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It is Ann Liang at her finest. If you're in need of a bit of a cry about the unfairness of the world, this one's for you.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me A Song to Drown Rivers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is a hard one to review because another reviewer ruined the ending for me (and I will never forgive your for that, NT!) So I wonder how much of this is the result of my tainted feelings while reading and how much comes from my true impressions of the book. There is another issue for me that comes in the form of a Chekhov's Gun. I cannot explain that further without going into spoilers myself, so I will have to just say that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it should also hide during hunting season.
Anyway. A Song to Drown Rivers is a retelling of the Chinese myth of The Four Beauties, with the focus on Xishi. It is a complicated story of love and betrayal. It is relatively short in length, and the characterization misses some marks because of this. Still, the story is interesting and tragic.
This book would be great for fans of Nataly Gruender's Medusa, which came out earlier this year.
I also listened to the audiobook, and Natalie Naudus did an amazing job narrating.
True 3.5, rounding up to 4.
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy to review!

4.5⭐️
Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC of this book.
Honestly I went into reading this book not really sure what to expect. It was my first Chinese historical fantasy I’ve ever read. However, I was SO pleasantly surprised by it. I loved the complexity of Xishi’s character and the ongoing journey of emotions she felt throughout the book. The one thing I didn’t expect was the last few chapters. The ending was so emotional and devastating for Fuchai, Fanli, and Xishi. If you love romantasy books with forbidden love, unexpected love, bravery, betrayal, grief, and so much more I highly recommend reading this one. But beware to have you heart ripped out more than once 😭

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had anticipated. Although, I do think part of the issue might have the way I was reading it. Recently, the only time I've had to read books is during my 15 minute break at work. I wasn't able to sit down for a good chunk of time to immerse myself in the story, which I think is necessary for this book. Because of this I couldn't really get to a point where I cared about the characters either, apart from Zhengdan. Which was strange, because usually I'm invested in the relationship between the characters in Ann Liang's books. But, I just couldn't get there with Xishi and Fanli. However, I do think that the plot itself is an intriguing idea. I plan to reread this after official release, and hope to enjoy it more the second time around despite the lack of the element of surprise. And all of these things being said, I still believe Ann is an extremely talented writer who deserves all the recognition she gets and more!! I hope any of you who are intrigued by the plot of this book are able to enjoy it, I just encourage you to set enough time aside so you can truly follow the story! Thank you to both Ann Liang and Harper Collins Teen for my ARC 💙💛

4.5 stars and my eternal thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

Xishi, my love. Fanli, my dumbass.

Xishi is plucked from her small village to be a spy for her king to topple a rival kingdom, while also trying not to fall for the king's advisor, Fanli. With only her training and her wits, Xishi has to survive her new role as a rival king's concubine long enough for the job to be done.

I loved this book so much more than I was expecting. Xishi and Fanli's love grew so slowly and was so quiet and sweet. I understand why he kept her at arms length for the majority of the novel, but goddamn was I U.P.S.E.T.

A Song to Drown Rivers was absolutely captivating. I loved seeing the tragic story of XiShi play out especially since I’ve never heard of the original tales.

The way Liang wrong about XiShi’s relationship with the King, it gives a lot of conflicting emotions to the point you flip sides and want to root for the King instead. It was hard to root for FanLi because I felt like we didn’t get to really dive deep enough in to their relationship to the point it didn’t make sense how attached the two of them were.

Overall, this is an absolutely amazing adult fantasy debut from Liang where her writing really shines.

I really didn’t like this very much. For me it was hard to follow and the characters were a bit bland.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a *powerful* story that has stayed with me long after I finished it. I waited to write the review until I had a moment to reflect, and I'm still thinking about this book nearly two weeks after consuming it. Ann Liang is a gifted author, and I've loved absolutely everything she's written, but this was her first foray into historical fiction, so I didn't know what to expect. The world-building is well-done and authentic, the romance is heartbreaking, and the pacing is great (though the beginning is a bit slower than the rest of the story).

I highly recommend, and only wish this was the first in a series. My hope is that Ann Liang does more in the historical fiction genre.

This book was amazing! It had intrigue, pining, philosophies about war/innocent civilians, and beautiful writing. I cried during this book and the ending is a bit more bitter than sweet. This is a powerful book that people interested in historical fantasy that's a little bit darker will enjoy! The characters caught and held my attention, as did the writing itself, and the setting. The plot is less important to me as a reader, but if you'r okay with a slower build-up it is also a strong contender.

Xishi is the most beautiful woman in Yue. Fanli,the aide to the king has been looking for someone to present to the enemy king of Wu as a gift of friendship to end the war. In truth, Fanli wants a beautiful woman to spy on the enemy kingdom and offer a swift defeat.

This book was marketed as a romantasy and therefore my expectations were different when I started it. However, Xishi and Fanli’s chaste forbidden romance drew me in. This is a sad story about what one will do for their country, the sacrfices they are willing to make and coming into your own as a woman. If strong female characters and sad forbidden love stores are something you enjoy, this may be for you.

This book is absolutely amazing! I don’t think any review I can write will do it justice. I read this slowly because I wanted to savor every second of it.

This isn’t my typical genre, but it sounded intriguing so I decided to give it a go. I am so glad I did! I would have missed out on what easily became one of my favorite books of the year. I am jealous of anyone who gets to read this for the first time.

The story pulled me in from the beginning. The main plot is interesting and suspenseful. There are a few love stories going on and it’s heart wrenching. The MC is definitely placed in a tough position. This book has it all: suspense, thrill, fantasy, myth, and romance. It is a very moving and thought-provoking story.

This book better be one of the most popular and talked about books of 2024 as it deserves to be! Due to release in October.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an electronic advanced readers copy of this novel.

Xishi is seen as the most beautiful girl in her hometown of Yue, a place ravaged by war with its inhabitants struggling to get by. One day, she attracts the attention of war advisor Fanli, who explains that he is looking for a beauty to tempt the King who conquered their kingdom and caused so much destruction to her people, including the death of her beloved sister. A Trojan horse disguised as a pretty woman.

Bent on revenge, Xishi agrees to the plan and trains to be the most successful concubine in the kingdom. But she is also attracted to stoic Fanli, but knows that her duty is to avenge her people.

A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang was an intriguing tale which is based on the legend of Xishi. I hadn't heard about it at all, even with my Chinese heritage, so it was nice to read about it. It is pretty long so be prepared for this.

Beware this is not a fast read and you need to push through the beginning. If you are a fan of ACOTAR, you know this all too well. The good news, is this is just one book and not a series! But it was really good, the storyline was incredible and I really really enjoyed it!