*this review is mostly spoiler free- I do have some very brief mentions of a couple plot points so if you want to go in completely blind feel free to scroll away<3*

This book explores the legend of Xishi and Fanli. Xishi is known as one of the four great beauties, and this retelling of the story was beautiful. Fanli finds her in a village, and trains her and her friend to infiltrate an enemy court and take that kingdom down from the inside.

Honestly, I had to give myself a few days to fully absorb it before writing this because I was a sobbing, shaking mess when I finished it. I haven’t felt this much of a gut punch in forever and feel like i should send Ann Laing my therapy bills after this. This was my first book from this author and I truly enjoyed it. The writing style was so rich and descriptive, and you can really feel the weight of the choices these characters are facing. I was on the edge of my seat as I read this. It was a beautiful, poignant, tear-jerking read (seriously, you should see the notes I took while reading this- I was losing my sh*t constantly ahaha.)

I do think that the book would have benefitted from a bit more substance in the middle. We get a lot of tiny scenes and then time jumps, and I would have liked to see more of what was happening in the enemies palace, and to get a bit more buildup/more of a chance to explore there. However, it was still absolutely wonderful, and I would love to read more from this author.

The end of this book was unlike anything I’ve ever read before and I will leave it at that. Just know it’s absolutely worth reading! And if you’ve read it and need someone to scream/cry/laugh with about it, feel free to reach out haha.

Thanks to the publisher for providing this ARC via NetGalley!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book.

I'm not sure I can sum this book up any better than Shelley Parker-Chan: “Exquisite and devastating. It won’t fail to move you.” The book is inspired by the legend of Xishi who was one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China. This epic historical fantasy centers around Xishi who goes from a beautiful girl in a village to having the fate of two kingdoms in her hands. Fanli is a military advisor who has come up with a plan to take down the rival kingdom of Wu by sending the most beautiful woman he can find to become a spy in the enemies' palace and seduce their king. Fanli trains her to be the perfect blade while becoming closer. Once she goes to the palace, her task begins but the king is not everything she expected. Moving and heartbreaking until the very end.

Tears shed for tragic star-crossed love.

The immense sacrifice, the not knowing who to root, the yearning felt through the characters... everything about this story was devastatingly beautiful.

Loved it!! Great characters and story — can’t wait to reread. Ann Liag has yet to dissapoint. Thank you NetGalley & publisher for the ARC!

Ahhhhh this was just such a great read. I just didn't want this book to end and I was sad to turn the last page. I'm so excited to see what's next from this author.

What I loved most about this book is that it's completely gray. There are no villains in the whole bc who you see as monsters, depends on where you stand.

The female characters are strong; this could've done without some of the romance and still been a very good book. No one wins in wars except kings. The people are left to suffer no matter who rules.

thanks to netgalley & st. martin's press for the free earc in exchange for a fair and honest review!

i don't generally cry during books, so imagine my shock when my eyeballs started spontaneously leaking as i finished the final chapter.
this book is absolutely soul-destroying in the best possible way. i will forever read anything ann liang writes, and her historical debut is incredible. xishi is incredible, and i love that despite her spy training and manipulative behavior, she never loses her empathetic personality. i enjoyed the political intrigue, and liked that it wasn't unnecessarily prevalent in the story; as interesting as politics can be, i generally read stories to avoid those kinds of stressors in the real world. the way the kings interacted with each other and how things progressed later in the story left me feeling a little shaken, probably similar as to how xishi felt at the time.
overall, read this if: you like ann liang's other books (which you should), you enjoy heartwrenching historical fiction, or need a character to obsess over for the foreseeable future. xishi is living rent-free in my mind now.

**eARC provide by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

More? Of course I wanted more. This was such a beautiful book and I'm crying at 7:46 in the morning because of this eternal longing.

When I started this book, I knew it would not have a happy ending, which is arguable, of course, but all the same, I wanted Fan Li and Xishi to drift aimlessly, propelled by love.

I think this is one of my fave reads ever, but that doesn't mean it's perfect. I wanted more from the dialogue, at some moments, and more of the building relationship between Fan Li and Xishi. Like I definitely understand their longing but there wasn't a lot of build up to it at the beginning and I wish there had been. This book could be 50 pages longer and it would have filled me with so much happiness and it would have given us a bit more time to flesh out Xishi's conclusions about the othering of the Wu's and the inevitable bloodshed that's she's unleashing on the palace (including maids and servants).

Ann Liang is an incredibly skilled writer and I found myself compelled by all the characters, including Fuchai. His dynamic with Xishi is top tier. Like after so many years of pretending she's in love with him, when he's not cruel to her, of course she feels something when he dies.

thank you netgalley for this arc
i am crying
this story was so tragic and beautiful and heart wrenching
these characters mean the world to me
all of them 😭😭😭
i am so upset but i loved this book so much
xishi
zhengdan
fanli
fuchai
😭😭😭😭
close to the ending of this gave me the ending of titanic vibes when rose is like “the name is dawson. rose dawson”
JCRRJWCJQRHCRQHCHRQHCRQHDCQ
tragic tragic tragic tragic i just want to stamp my feet around and pout over this because i want to reach into this book like it’s a terrarium and change things around, i want to fix the outcome of so many instances so everything can be perfect 😭😭😭😭 my heart isn’t okay i am heavy

"A Song to Drown Rivers" is a masterpiece that will leave you breathless and emotionally shattered. Ann Liang has crafted a hauntingly beautiful tale of forbidden love and political intrigue set in the tumultuous world of ancient China.

From the very first page, Liang's writing grabs hold of you and refuses to let go. The story follows Xishi, a young woman whose beauty is both her greatest weapon and her greatest curse. Trained by the enigmatic Fanli, Xishi is thrust into a world of courtly manners and espionage as she navigates the dangerous politics of the Wu Kingdom.

Liang's characters are vividly drawn and utterly compelling. Xishi's journey from innocent village girl to powerful political player is both heartbreaking and mesmerizing, while the forbidden romance between her and Fanli adds layers of tension and longing to the narrative.

But it's not just the romance that will keep you hooked. Liang skillfully weaves together themes of sacrifice, duty, and the relentless pursuit of power, creating a story that is as thought-provoking as it is emotionally resonant.

In conclusion, "A Song to Drown Rivers" is a stunning achievement that cements Ann Liang's place as a master storyteller. If you're ready to embark on an unforgettable journey through love, loss, and betrayal, then this is the book for you. Just be sure to have plenty of tissues on hand, because you're going to need them.

Ann Liang wrote a beautiful historical romance. I wasn’t sure what to expect going to this but I was shocked. It was a haunting tale of that shows it is what is on the inside that truly matters. I didn’t expect to cry but the story was so well done and I was so wrapped up in the characters that it destroyed me. It has the perfect combination of political stakes, romance, and action. I will be purchasing the physical copy immediately.

⭐️ 4 stars ⭐️

This book was beautifully written and I really enjoyed it as if i was watching a historical cdrama! I couldn't put it down because I really wanted to know what's going to happen! However, I wish it was longer so that we can actually see how the characters fell for each other. It felt like insta-love due to all the time jumps. I was seriously confused when they started to love each other out of nowhere! I didn't really connect with any of the characters but I keep thinking of Fanli because little ol me imagining him as beautiful actor HAHAH Still a wonderful story,, ending shocked me

Although billed as a fantasy, the fantasy element doesn't really become apparent until the end, and even then, I don't much consider this a fantasy. But that's not really relevant to me. This was an historical fiction about a beautiful young woman, Xishi, who is sent to live with an enemy king in the Wu court as his concubine, with the mission of becoming a spy. She's a young village girl who's always been defined by her beauty, and that beauty is what's needed. She hates the Wu court because soldiers killed her baby sister. She's trained in how to be a perfect court concubine by Fanli, the advisor to her king, and how to use her beauty as a weapon.

This is a very good first novel. I felt Xishi's hate for the Wu court early on. I believed her confusion once she's in the Wu court, because Fuchai isn't what she expected. I appreciated that Fuchai wasn't stereotyped as being bad, that she seemed genuinely to be conflicted about him at times.

I do have a few quibbles. I had some trouble really buying her obsessive love for Fanli. I feel that we don't see enough of their budding relationship while he's training her for me to understand her feelings. Also about 2/3 of the way through the book, it's almost like she forgets entirely her family and her dead sister in her obsession over Fanli. There were several chapters right around that point that I felt floundered, but then the book gets back on track for the ending. The pacing was a little uneven at times, but on the whole, this was a really good, really solid book. And I found the ending affected me a lot more than I thought it would.

I don't read a ton of romance or young adult books but I was captivated by the cover of this book to be honest. It is beautiful and caught my attention immediately. I'm so glad it did because the story inside is amazing!

I loved so much about this book:

* The Plot - This book is a page turner from the start. Xishi is beautiful and values her family above all else. When her sister is murdered by the Wu military, Xishi dreams of revenge. When Fanli, a young military advisor for the Yue, proposes a way to bring down the Wu people and their king, Xishi knows what she must do. Xishi may soon learn that even the best laid plans never turn out the way you expect however.

* The characters - The cast of characters in this book is phenomenal. Liang does such a great job developing them. As a reader you feel like you know each one. Along with that, you discover even the ones you probably shouldn't be rooting for start to grow on you.

* The writing - The writing in this book is gorgeous. Setting descriptions are so vividly detailed that it's not hard to imagine and even feel what is being described. Liang paints a beautiful picture with words.

* The conclusion - Wow! Unexpected and original!!

I love when I read a book that I don't want to end. A Song to Drown Rivers was that type of book for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced readers copy of this book to read and review.

the last two chapters oh my god i rarely ever cry when i read books but tears couldnt stop spilling from my eyes. i truly wasnt expecting it. ann liang definitely needs to write more fantasy.

Elegant prose creates world building that ensnares you from the first chapter. Liang creates characters that are relatable and magical.

A really great debut novel! Good story with lots of historical details of Chinese culture - not sure how long ago, but pre-industrial and feudal. Mainly about court life and political intrigue. A bit YA for me; a fairly straightforward storyline with clear goodies and baddies. However, credit to the author for muddying this a little towards the end, when Our Hero realizes that perhaps things aren't as clearcut as she'd thought. Of course, this is a first novel from a young author, so with that in mind it's really impressive. I look forward to more books from her!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

i truly believe that this is a book that everyone who enjoys fantasy should read. i cried like 5 times reading it?? the characters pull you in and the plot keeps you intrigued the entire time. xishi and fanli were the definition of what characters should be. that’s all i can say without spoiling the book but i highly recommend this to all readers, the imagery and writing were perfect.

see the link below. my review can be viewed on GoodReads.

loved this with all my heart and it was refreshing to see ann laing writing books that aren't in the genre that she is known for.

5.0 ⭐️
Poetic Fairy Tale for adults. A peasant-to-palace story of sacrifice, bravery, passion, trust, loss, strength and revenge.

🏰 Every little girl’s fantasy, to have a King that loves her so much that he would move the moon and stars, he would build a palace, and even change the course of the rivers, just to show his love.

Yet every adult girl’s reality…the King is not her one true love.

☕️ Grab a hot beverage and snuggle up in a blanket, because you will want to devour this novel.

👸🏻Xishi, a beautiful peasant, is sought out by the fallen King of Yue, to use as a weapon of revenge to take down the reigning King of Wu. She will train diligently on every aspect of Royal etiquette - from how she walks and talks, to how she eats and entertains, until she is the perfect submissive concubine, ready to manipulate her way into King Fuchai’s heart and seize his mind while King Goujian, King of Yue and his army execute his revenge attack.

⚔️ Panli, protector of his King, his country and his emotions, is responsible for training Xishi and ensuring she completes her secret mission successfully. But emotions get tangled at the instant connection between himself and Xishi, begging the question of what the biggest sacrifice is they are ultimately making - is it for their country? Or for their happiness?

🤴🏽King Fuchai of Wu, one of the villains, is a romantic at heart, who just wants to be loved while he carries out his duty to the throne. Trapped in his dead Father’s shadow, he overcompensates by leading with power and fear, but deep down I think he really just needs a strong woman with a voice of reason to course correct his childish ways. Like…his Mommy, perhaps?

🥰 Going into reading this based solely on the title, I fell in love from the very beginning of the story. With the writing style, with the romantic entanglements, with the level of ultimate sacrifices made, and with the emotional strings that were tugging from my moral compass. So many moments and passages captured my heart, either from a poetic, romantic or realistic food-for-thought perspective.

🎬 The descriptions are so visual, the passion and sacrifice so intense…I really hope they make this into a movie one day. My popcorn is on stand-by.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Ann Liang for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!