Amazing story. Was drawn in and hard to put down. Would have loved for it to be a series or longer to delve more into the world.

I felt the beauty and the sorrow. The betrayal and the love. Each more moving than the last.
It’s a rare thing to fall for the enemy, all the while still rooting for and hoping for the original heroes. To be given characters that are so complex yet simple. So noteworthy yet entirely realistically human.
The way the ending had my emotions in an absolute chokehold.. I’ve never read Ann’s work before, this was my first mistake. Reading the ending right before I have to get ready for work would be my second mistake. (I’m not crying.. you’re crying). Not telling everyone about this book will NOT be my third. To the people who have to wait until October to read this, I feel for you. To not be able to witness this amazing writing and story yet..
This story will stay with me for some time. Until I read it again when it all starts to fade.

Thanks a bunch to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was genuinely so addictive, and so wonderful! From start to finish, I was sucked into this world that Ann Liang so beautifully brought to life. The book is classified as adult lit, but there were a few times where it felt a little YA (in a great way!). I wish there was more time spent with characters, to really get a feel for their relationship. Obviously, Xishi and Fanli are separated for most of the book, so I do get it. However, Zhengdan is supposed to be one of Xishi's best friends and I wish I got to see more of that! All-in-all I really adored the themes and Liang's story telling!

Actual rating: 3.5/5 stars

I respect the author very much for that ending. Not many would risk going that route, but it truly is what made the most sense for this story.

Overall, a pretty good read! The writing helped the story flow smoothly and I really appreciated the theme of rich, powerful men using war for their own selfish gains, with no thoughts of the citizens on either side, who are the true victims of war.

I do wish there had been more intrigue to the plot throughout the story and more depth and substance to characters and the relationships between them. Because without it, I was left with little attachment and emotion towards the story.

Xishi is a beautiful young women, the most beautiful woman in the Yue village. In her village that has been suffered from attacks from the Wu, beauty can be as much of a curse as it is a blessing. When Xishi finds herself facing certain death by a Wu solider, she is saved by Fanli, a handsome and reserved Yue military advisor. He presents her with an opportunity to use her beauty to become the most valuable weapon that the Yue will have against the Wu. She will destroy the kingdom from within and bring down the Wu king, getting vengeance for all that has been taken from her family and the village. She accepts, and her training with Fanli leads to an unbreakable bond between the two. One that if discovered, would mean certain death and war. However, success can also come at the ultimate price.

This book was beautifully written. It was heartbreaking. It's a love story, but it's also so much more than that. It’s the story of a beautiful women who becomes a true hero. My heartaches after reading this book. This is one of those love stories that will stay with me for a long time. Thank you so much to Ann Liang, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this amazing story.

A Song to Drown Rivers is an excellent historical fantasy. I was a bit skeptical about the plot - really our main character is so BEAUTIFUL it’s to her detriment? However, when she is presented with an opportunity to use her beauty as a weapon and avenge her sister’s death she jumps at the chance. Okay, so I definitely felt like I knew where this story was going, and while there were certain things I knew were going to happen, I was also pleasantly surprised by where the book ended up.

The pacing was really strong and the world building was very well done. More importantly, I was super invested by the plot AND the writing itself was really well done. I have not read anything else by this author, but apparently she also writes YA rom coms and I love those so I will have to check them out!

Thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Because I saw a lot of amazing early reviews for A Song to Drown Rivers, I was super excited that I was able to get an ARC myself.

While I enjoyed the book, I found the first 40% of the book to be rather slow. Compared to other fantasy romance books, it is on the shorter side and I felt like that worked against it. We don’t get to see a lot Xishi’s training to become a spy. Her training is supposed to span ten weeks and we barely got any of it. She just all of a sudden became very good at seducing and manipulating men.

The story became much more interesting once she arrived at the palace and started trying to gain the king’s trust. The plot was without a doubt the strongest part of the book for me. I loved watching Xishi slowly exert so much power and influence over the king. All the political moves she made were just excellent. She really took down a whole kingdom herself💁🏻‍♀️The romance on the other hand felt a bit bland. Fanli just didn’t do it for me. There was longing and angst between Fanli and Xishi, but I just never found myself invested in them as a couple. It doesn’t help that he is gone for most of the book. He really only shows up for the beginning and the end of the book. I actually ended up shipping Xishi and the king. What can I say? I have a thing for mortally grey men🤷🏻‍♀️

The writing was also very beautiful and I found myself getting sucked into the world the author had created. And so, all in all, I really liked this book and would recommend it if your looking for a good standalone fantasy read. But beware of that ending🫢

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

(Review will be posted on Amazon and on my Instagram the week of release)

This was a stunningly beautiful story. It hooked me from the first page and never once let me go. It was powerful and it was devastating. The characters were dynamic and layered, the physical descriptions were vivid, and the story came alive off the page. The pacing was excellent, never lingering and constantly moving the story forward. You could feel the struggle of the characters and they navigated difficult spaces. The end was heartbreaking but perfect. I’m so glad NetGalley gave me the chance to read this story.

This book destroyed me. I haven't been this completely consumed by a book in quite some time. The court intrigue was riveting, the villains were perfect. This book thrives in grey areas. I'll be thinking about it for a long time.

I was given a free advanced reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I knew nothing of Xishi and Fanli when I started this book, nor the Four Beauties of Ancient China. That's one reason I like books like this, they broaden my understanding and exposure to other cultures and histories. And this book delivered in that respect.

This book was lovely and sad at the same time, poetic and stark. The contrasts made it an enjoyable read, and I was often annoyed when I had to put it down. Ms. Liang captured a lot of different nuances of war, betrayal, love, and revenge, and Xishi was a well-fleshed-out and believable character because of it. The ending was one I didn't expect and will absolutely not spoil.

I do think it's misleading that this book is advertised as a fantasy story when there is very little fantasy in it. It left me expecting the book to be different than it was and therefore a little disappointed. I wish I had gone in thinking it was a romantic history instead.

Overall, I give this book 4 starts and I'm very glad I read this book.

This story is really fun and I didn’t know where it was headed. The writing is strong & the prose is beautiful.

I do think that it felt more like a historical fiction on its own than a historical fantasy. At times, this felt predictable, especially with the love triangle trope. I wish the world was more flushed out and I think if the book was a bit longer, I would have been able to grow more attached to the characters.

I think it’s so neat how this is based on real events and there were some twists and turns I wasn’t expecting!

writing this with shaky hands and tears streaming down my face.

i hate this book. it's so intoxicating that you are FORCED to leave other responsibilities in order to finish it as soon as possible. irreversible damage has been done to my mental health. and i'm also sleep deprived, but that doesn't matter because i just read this masterpiece.

this book is now the center of my universe. i am deceased ???

as a major history + mythology enthusiast, thank you ann liang for giving me everything i needed.
+ please do write more books in this genre, i'm begging you. my fragile heart can't take the amount of wasted potential for ann liang as a fantasy/asian mythology author.

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

5 out of 5 stars

Ann Liang has written an amazing fast pace, beautiful, and heart-breaking novel that I couldn't not put down.

Xishi is a force to shake mountains. Fanli is equally as magnificent. Every scene was perfectly crafted.

I didn't know it was possible for my heart break so many times before the end of a book. Liang has accomplished just that. The pages in A Song to Drown Rivers are filled with lyrical and mesmerizing lines page after page that keep you addicted. I could not stop, I had to know what was going to happen through the war, love, history, mythology, pain, beauty, hope and loss I was completely shattered.

This is not my first book by Ann Liang and as always, it did not disappoint. This is hands down going to be a top book for 2024!

TW: Gore, Murder, Suicide
#ASongtoDrownRivers #NetGalley

TY NetGalley, this was an honor to read!

A Song to Drown Rivers was so beautifully written! From the very beginning, Liang draws you in with her vivid descriptions of setting and situation - not only physical but also evoking the mood of the situation. There are so many sections I highlighted that felt like poetry.

This is the story of a beautiful girl who grew up in the shadow of war. She gets the chance for revenge and takes it. She realizes that maybe revenge and war are perhaps not as black and white as she imagined them. This was definitely another strong point of the novel - the horrors of war.

In that same vein, Liang did a great job building the relationship between Xishi and the Wu king. Such a conflicting relationship! Contrastingly, the relationship between Xishi and Fanli felt very "love at first sight." I wish that had been expanded on more. It felt rushed and rather basic. I wouldn't have said no to another hundred pages to flesh out relationships and experience more court intrigue!

Between the beautiful narrative descriptions of nature and the mysterious Fanli, I could imagine this being animated in a very Studio Ghibli/Howl's Moving Castle style.

Thank you NetGalley and Ann Liang for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGallery and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Very solid 4 stars for me. I enjoyed this one a lot. It had so many of the things I love in a good YA book, namely the forbidden romance and a bit of slow burn. My heart ached more than once reading this. The world building was also quite good and emotional at times.

The side characters in this were some of the highlights for me. I really enjoyed most of them, especially the enemy king Fuchai and maid/guard interactions. It made the world feel more real. I also really enjoyed some of the moral/grey areas the book brings up. I don't want to go into a lot of detail because of spoilers, but I thought the book brought up both sides of the Yue/Wu conflict well.

I would say the only things fell a bit flat for me were that the characters felt a bit one dimensional at times. The romance between Xishi and Fanli felt lacking at times. I wanted so much to love it, but in the end I found myself wanting more out of them. That said, it did not take away my enjoyment of the book. And the ending, WOW. No spoilers, just I thought the ending was fantastic and not the way I thought it'd end.

Very much recommended and definitely want to read more from Ann Liang!

This book was captivating! At times it was a little one dimensional (character and plot-wise) but endlessly entertaining! I was obsessed with the different relationships and the humanity portrayed time and time again! I love the constant themes of love (and all that pertains) and revenge. Be warned, it is a pretty violent book but I appreciate that there was no explicit sexual content.

I knew a little about the Chinese legend of the Four Beauties (including Xishi) prior to reading this book so I wasn’t sure what to expect, whether this was a reimagined story with the characters or a retelling of the tale. I was pleasantly surprised. It was both, and it’s beautifully written. There’s a deeper message about war and humanity that could have been buried in a romance which I’m finding more often than not in current books,. This book defied my initial assumptions that this would just turn into a historical romance. It’s not that at all.

→5✰
my heart is shattered.
ann liang, why did u do this to me? i am never recovering from this

-full rtc closer to the release date 💌

I went into this book without knowing at all what to expect. It is heartbreakingly beautiful in its story and it’s message. The ending is unlike any other I’ve experienced, but I found so much peace in it.

The political intrigue makes it such that you as a reader never know whom to trust. The book is short but makes its point incredibly well. Those who love Asian settings and culture in their reads will find this a perfect fit.

This reads along the same lines of The Lies of the Ajungo for me. The main character’s experiences drive home the themes without a need for elaborate world building or intense character arcs. I love this and cannot wait to have a physical copy on my shelf.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an eArc of this title. The review posted contains only my own opinions.

Shoutout to NetGalley for hooking me up with an early peek at this one. It's a gem—a hero's journey set in ancient China that had me hooked from the get-go. The vibe was new and original for me, and I enjoyed the mix of intrigue and romance. Our main character, Xishi, goes through some serious development, navigating love and doing what's right (even if that definition changes a bit along the way, as these things tend to). Romance, patriotism, and socialism take center stage, and the balance is excellent – no one theme steals the spotlight. Liang's descriptions are a feast for the imagination. I could practically taste, touch, and smell the settings. Emotions ran high, and though I wished a few things had gone down differently, it's still a beautiful story that's going on my recommendation list for the rest of the year. Give it a go if you're into ancient heroics with a side of romance.