Firstly, thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC ebook edition of this beautiful story for an honest review. This was a beautifully tragic love story that transcends time and space. There was so much that I enjoyed about this book, but there's also a few things that left me scratching my head over.
Pros:
-I Loved the FMC, Xishi! She was smart, savy, kind, wholesome, compassionate, honest about her feelings, and so much more.
- I was not expecting the ending at all and idk whether to be sad about it or ecstatic about it. Maybe a little bit of both.
-The imagery, while it could be quite extensive in some places was also nicely done.
- the story itself came off perfect for the folktale it was inspired by and was a cautionary tale for younger generations. Especially, when it came to wars. I adored the take that the author went with, that know one actually wins in war.

Cons:
- while it was obvious that we were led to believe that Fanli was meant to be the main love interest and the one she should end up with, I was left feeling lack luster by his passion. I am a sucker for a "I will burn the world down for you" personality and while Fuchai was the villain, he definitely gave off that energy. I am a sucker for enemies to lovers and the author did such a good job humanizing him. I am not saying he was perfect, but I was left wanting more for him and felt he deserved a happy ending. That just might be a me thing and could say a lot more about myself than the author's choices. I didn't have anything against Fanli but felt his fire and passion came out a little too late.
Overall, great story with a surprise ending with a folksie vibe. 4 solid stars.

This book is so beautiful. And heartbreaking as well. It was an easy read with a wonderful story. The ending made me cry. Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy. I will be adding this to my library when it is finally in print.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ /5
5/5


firstly, i would like to thank net galley, the publisher and ann liang for generously granting me a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review.


spoiler free.


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<b>and that beauty is not so different from destruction.</b>



<b>xishi</b> a courageous woman who is extended an offer by the king of yue to overtake the king of wu with her cunning beauty. her character is one i’m confident you will fall in love with. from the way she cares for others to her smooth, silver tongue.



<b>fanli</b> this man, i fell in love with him two chapters in and that doesn’t happen often. even though we rarely see much of him throughout the book. all fanli has known is to be loyal, to serve his king and to not show weakness. but what happens when he discovers he truly does have a weakness—xishi? their love is one that seized my heart.



<b>king fuchai of wu</b> i fear that in the end, my opinion of him changed drastically. to outsiders, he has fallen into his father’s shadows. a man built only to take down others, to kill, to shed blood, to be ruthless. but, behind closed doors he is only just a boy—a boy wishing to be loved. to be a child once again. there’s so much i wish to say about king fuchai.


<b>overall</b>


this book is written beautifully and in a manner that will have you enraptured in the world from the start. it’s a harrowing tale of sacrifice, love and feelings of grief. if you decide to pick this up when it releases, i can only hope to see your review.


i know i will for sure be picking up a physical copy. the need to annotate it is incessant—i have even highlighted a myriad of quotes on my kindle—where this arc shall always remain. to remain vigil of a beautiful story.

I"ll admit that this story was a bit of a rough (and by rough, I mean sorta boring) start but once Xishi gets sent on her first mission things went up a notch.

Things I liked:
- the exploration of womanhood through the main character and the female side characters
- the ending... tragic and beautiful

Things I didn't like:
- the pacing... it was slow in the beginning and then it would pick up quickly and almost feel rushed.
- the romance was a bit juvenile... too much will they/won't they but not in a good way
- not sure it should be an adult fantasy (that's how it was marketed on NetGalley). I'm not certain what the ages of the characters are supposed to be but it felt very YA to me and the fantasy was very minimal.

Overall, it was a good read and I would recommend it to anyone who like a YA novel.

Ann Liang knows how to sweep someone off their feet in a short standalone.

this book needs no review. if perfection was a bunch of pages, this book would be it. and besides, ann liang can do no wrong.

thankyou netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review. all opinions are my own!

The synopsis and title held such promise that I felt quite let down by this book. I loved the characters and the plot, but I just found it... boring to read. Something about the narrative style just wasn't compelling and even during moments of suspense or intrigue, I didn't feel unsure or like I even cared.

A Song to Drown Rivers is Ann Liang's adult debut based on the story of the Four Beauties of Ancient China. In this standalone historical fantasy, we follow Xishi as she trains to use her famous beauty as a tactic for spying as she then enters the king's palace to bring him down. While I can appreciate the historical background of this book and its rich atmosphere, I had a difficult time with the pacing, as well as, the character developments, or rather the lack thereof.

I was at first surprised that this was a standalone novel, and believe there was a lot of room for Liang to explore the character dynamics in more depth, along with adding more tension and action as there was a war going on. I'm not sure how old everyone is supposed to be, but as this is an adult novel, I felt the characters acted very juvenile and at times, immature. Being inside Xishi's mind at first was refreshing as she's not the firey heroine we're being made to read about these days. Instead, she was soft and gentle, and I appreciate that about her. However, those same traits started to become grating and I found the plot unbelievable and at times poorly paced. There were not many scenes where I felt there was tension that kept me from turning the pages. I found Xishi's relationship (romance) with Fanli based on nothing as there was a long period of time where they were away from each other. At the same time, Xishi's relationship with the king was very childlike and for that reason, at times disturbing.

I believe if this was marketed as a YA fantasy, it would fare better in terms of expectations and plot.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the digital advance reader via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this completely blind, not knowing much about the author or the premise of the story - only that it is historical fiction with a strong female character. Some of my favorite books are in the genre of historical fiction, fantasy, or retellings so I am happy this book found its way to me.

I loved this book. This was a beautifully written story filled with sacrifice, yearning, and tension. There is a lot of "will they/won't they" between the romances within the book and at times you are left questioning who you should be rooting for.

Once Xishi got sent off to start her mission, I was unable to put the book down. The ending left me utterly devastated. I was emotionally crushed.

I hope the author writes more books within this genre because I loved it. You will definitely find this in the Staff Picks area of my library as soon as it comes out.

This is such a beautiful story filled with yearning, tension and sacrifice. Ann Liang has a beautiful way with words and I fell in love with this story from the very first page.

Great fantasy novel. Enjoyed this one a lot, with lots of worldbuilding and interesting details. Thanks to Netgalley, author & publisher for arc.

A Song to Drown Rivers is simply stunning. It’s an achingly beautiful story based on the legend of Xishi. I loved the exploration of womanhood in this story. Xishi’s story is about the will of kings, but I really enjoyed how the author gave us the women’s views and interactions during it all. Many aspects of womanhood were portrayed in this book through Xishi herself and the female side characters.

I’ll be thinking of this book for a long time and will recommend it to many readers. Ann Liang deserves for A Song to Drown Rivers to dominate reading lists. Overall, it’s a 5/5 for me. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hell freaking o. I didn’t understand why everyone was crying over this until it hit…

My first historical fiction and my last because it was so good I did not expect to be this emotionally attached-

The ending omg…like I understand it but I’m confused bc I don’t want to believe it happened like let me breath😭 every second I was HIT I couldn’t be happy for a second

I need to schedule my therapy date for a sooner session after this

A Song to Drown Rivers is a completely engrossing tale of sacrifice,revenge and loyalty. Yet at its core this is a beautiful haunting love story that is oh so emotionally charged. The immersive characters and setting will grab hold of you and will not let go. Ann Liang’s writing is stunningly beautiful, vivid and deeply tragic. I could not put this one down. Excellent!

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book prior to its release!

A Song to Drown Rivers is an absolute masterpiece. I was instantly captivated by Xishi and Fanli’s story. The sexual tension between the them and then the character development with her “fake husband” was amazing. It actually made me wish this wasn’t YA because I would have loved to see them all behind closed doors.

This was my first book by Ann Liang and it certainly won’t be my last. As someone who typically finds historical fiction novels a little slow, I was pleasantly surprised with how interested I was in the story and I was unable to put it down.

Arc provided by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

**around 3.5 stars

the problem with fast paced books for me is that they can easily go from fast to rushed. i feel i would’ve liked this even more if we just got a little more time to develop relationship dynamics and characters. instead we were hopping from plot point to plot point so fast i never quite felt like it had time to breathe. while the writing was good, and i really loved the setting and atmosphere, i felt there was a lack of time put into making sure the relationship we’re supposed to care so much about is fully fleshed out.

i think i’m being a little harsher on it because it’s supposed to be an adult fantasy and it just really felt like i was reading a YA novel. i don’t think simply making your characters be in their early 20’s instead of late teens is enough to call a book adult. still, i can see why people will really love this book and i did think the ending packed a good punch. overall there were just some issues that stopped me from being truly invested.

A Song To Drown Rivers is a compelling Historical Romance based upon the Chinese legend of Xishi, one of the four beauties in Ancient China. In A Song To Drown Rivers, Xishi is given the opportunity to use her exquisite beauty as a weapon to infiltrate the Kingdom of Wu. Specifically, Xishi will use her beauty to make the King fall to his knees for her, allowing for an inside takedown of the Kingdom.

Tropes you’ll find in A Song To Drown Rivers:
- Forbidden love
- Based on legend / retelling
- Morally grey characters
- Betrothed to the enemy

A Song To Drown Rivers is my first Ann Liang book and I had a lot of fun reading this! It was captivating and easy to read, somehow making “historical” beautiful. Although the writing was a little more juvenile than I would have liked for an Adult fiction novel.
Interestingly though, I’m unsure as to why this is marketed as “Historical Fantasy”, “Epic Historical Fantasy”, or just “Fantasy” in general. There was absolutely zero fantasy elements aside from maybe the last 2% (even then) of the book.

The characters were fine, I would have enjoyed more character development. For being an “epic romance” I found most of the romance building was actually done… off page? We were only given a glimpse of the dynamic that would have built this “epic romance”. Honestly it felt a little forced, the way it unfolded on page.

A Song To Drown Rivers definitely tugs at the heart strings so grab some tissues. For being written to tell the story of an old Ancient Chinese legend, you’ll never feel like you’re in a stuffy classroom or that the lesson is dragging. It’s a fun read that is captivating and devastating.

The prose of a poet and a truly beautiful book! An amazing, and heartbreaking, story that immediately draws you in and gently unspools keeping you enchanted the entire time.

I wasn’t aware going into this book that this was a retelling of a traditional tale and feared in the beginning that Xishi was going to be another “not like other girls” girl that have been popular in fantasy recently. This absolutely wasn’t the case and her motivations and characterization were well defined and compelling.

I think this will be a five star read for many people. Unfortunately, I was not in the headspace for a tragic story and for this reason it didn’t resonate as much with me as it might for others. Absolutely no fault of the book - just the type of story that I generally prefer. However, I would like to reread this book at a later date since I’m now prepared for all the emotions that the ending made me feel!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have been provided with a review copy of this title from NetGalley for an impartial review. I was just drawn into this story and I just couldn’t get enough of it. I was so disappointed to turn the last page and I immediately wanted more. I can’t wait to see what's next from this author.

When beauty is wielded as a weapon. A weapon to save a kingdom. A kingdom that betrays.

Xishi's beauty is renowned for her beauty in her village. One day, Fanli, young advisor to King Goujian, approaches Xishi's family with a plan. They will train Xishi to be a perfect concubine and send her as a gift to King Fuchai. She will work as an undercover spy.

The story that unfolds is one filled with longing, fear, and intrigue. It's captivating and just the right amount of gut-wrenching. Helen of Troy's beauty launched a war. Xishi's beauty saved a kingdom.

One of my favorite things about this book is the balance. We first meet Xishi by the river, when Fanli suddenly appears. And we see Xishi for the last time, by the river when Fanli arrives. There's a poetry in it. One I lack the words to describe. But it's beautifully heartbreaking.

If there's one thing Ann Liang does really well, is weave an enticing tale of love and angst. It's her bread and butter and I am all here for it. This novel broke my heart. And it is very well worth it.

Rating: 4.25/5

* ARC courtesy of NetGalley *

I almost don't have words to describe this book. It was beautiful and heart breaking and, while I found myself crying frequently I also enjoyed that it was making me cry. The world building was immaculate - I could easily feel the silk and smell the incense within my own mind. It was lovingly told and tragic and, even though the ending was not one I desired, it was one that I admired.