Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC of A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang. I absolutely loved this epic fantasy novel. Rating: 5 stars.

One of the unique aspects of this book is how it beautifully blends elements of womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love. Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of Ancient China’s Four Beauties, it’s a captivating historical fantasy that left me with happiness only a 5* read can leave.

Synopsis:
Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic historical fantasy that explores womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love against all odds.Xishi's beauty is seen as a gift to her village, where a woman’s best fate is to marry well and support her family. But when she captures the attention of Fanli, a young military strategist, he offers her a different path: use her beauty as a weapon to infiltrate the enemy kingdom of Wu, seduce the immoral king, and weaken them from within. As Xishi trains under Fanli’s guidance, perfecting everything from classical instruments to emotional concealment, the attraction between them grows, though both know the risks. Once inside the enemy court, Xishi must balance power, deception, and survival, knowing that one wrong move could bring down both kingdoms.

Things I loved:
• Xishi is an incredible main character with depth.
• The themes of war, womanhood, sacrifice, and the personal cost women pay in these battles.
• I appreciated the exploration of who the real monsters are when kings fight for power.
• The retelling of an ancient Chinese legend enriched the story and made it even better.
• The love story between Xishi and Fanli was beautifully written.

Things I disliked:
• Nothing! I loved everything about this novel.
Highly Recommend.

e-ARC from NetGalley.

This is truly a tragic tale overflowing with beautiful writing. Unfortunately, I did not feel the way I was meant to feel

The relationship between Xishi and Fanli never felt real or established to me. Their first interaction held so much promise, but the rest of their time together felt like wasted potential. I did believe in Xishi and Fuchai, but not enough time was spent with just the two of them, and Xishi's (understandable) refusal to accept her feelings for him stole some of the impact from the conclusion of the story.

I think this is a good story that was well executed, but I think I'll love it more when/if it's translated to film.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. I have read Ann Liang's other young adult novels but was incredibly excited to see a historical mythology retelling. This is a retelling of Xishi--one of the famed Four Beauties of Ancient China. This book was lush, poignant, and yearning. Xishi is selected by Fanli, royal advisor to King Gouchian of the Yue kingdom, to act as a courtesan and infiltrate the court of their enemies, the Wu. There, she attracts the attention of the Wu king Fuchai. The pacing of this novel was great, balancing small everyday details with the larger sweeping tale of wars and battles among empires and royal courts. As I was reading, I only wished that the beginning 3rd of the book held more details about how Fanli and Xishi fell in love while she was training to be a noblewoman. However, this is a tiny criticism as their love story felt beautiful and poignant, particularly by the novel's end. The ending of the story is heartbreaking and poignant, but ultimately satisfying. As a fan of the recent Asian mythology retellings written by Sue Lynn Tan and Elizabeth Lim, I think anyone interested in ancient China will love this story. I began by reading the Netgalley digital version of the story but quickly invested in the Barnes and Noble 1st edition printing with its sprayed edges because it was so beautiful. The book's cover matches the beauty of the epic story. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

THE ENDING????????? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME???? AHHHHHHHHHHH

A Song to Drown Rivers is based on a traditional Chinese legend and follows Xishi, known in her village for her great beauty, who is sent to the Wu Kingdom under false pretenses as a bride to King Fuchai where she is tasked to spy on the kingdom and turn the tides of battle. It was an incredibly captivating and breathtaking read. Not only was Xishi a great fleshed out character but so were our other two main characters General Funli and King Fuchai. I really found myself wishing better for Fuchai despite him being the enemy. My biggest and only complaint is that I wish the weeks Xishi spent in the beginning of the book with Funli were more detailed. Overall and incredible read and I would love to read more fantasy from Ann Liang. 4.5

A beauty who is tasked to seduce an enemy king in order to avenge her sister's death and save the lives of her people...but finds herself for the handsome military advisor, a heart breaking story of sacrifice, forbidden romance, and womanhood. Xishi is a beauty, which would be seen as a. blessing as she would be able to secure a good marriage to support her family... except she draws the attention of a famous military leader, Fanli. Fanli offers her an opportunity: in exchange for her using her beauty to seduce and help destroy a neighboring kingdom that seeks to ruin them and work as a spy.... he will protect her family and she would save their people. Xishi and Fanli grow closer and closer.. but as she delves deeper into the enemy king's court the higher the risks become and the deadlier the game gets as all eyes are on her and if her act isn't perfected then she could lose her life and the life of everyone she holds dear. This was a fantastic read and the ending was heartbreaking. I am a sucker for stories like these and this one was inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China. This is a beautiful story of the lengths that we would go to to protect what we love, the endurance and constant trials that Xishi is put through is just testament to her strength. I really had fun reading this one and would absolutely recommend it! If you love forbidden romance, political intrigue, and inner strength, I would absolutely say add this book to your TBR.

Release Date: October 1,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

this novel would have benefited by being at least 100 pages longer. a lot of things just felt underdeveloped, but ann liang’s writing is beautiful and the imagery of the world was the best part.

This is the book all of the little girls who watched Mulan and are now adults! I absolutely adored this book! I’ve never read an Asian fantasy so I am glad this is my first. It was easy to get into and to fall in love with the characters quickly. Sometimes fantasies can be confusing and I loose interest quick especially with a lot of long and unique names. This was not the case with this gem! Perfect for those who are just getting into fantasy.

A Song to Drown Rivers is a beautifully written and captivating tale about love, war, and sacrifice; about a woman tasked with using her wit and beauty to topple an enemy kingdom, all while navigating danger, potential war, and every difficult decision - but between her heart and the good of an entire kingdom, in the end, what choice does she really have?

I absolutely loved A Song to Drown Rivers, and I loved the well-written characters, emotional writing, twists and turns filled plot, and most of all, the forbidden romance.

Xishi and Fanli's story was as devastating as it was beautiful. It was bittersweet and heartbreaking to know that they belonged together, but may never have a chance to be together. But that made every sweet, even slightly romantic scene between them all the more precious. Everything was so emotional, from when they spent time together during her training to when they parted ways as she went to Wu.

But her time in Wu was just as engaging, and the plot was constantly filled with twists and turns. I was afraid to put the book down as Xishi navigated the court and it's advisors. It became apparent that she was a strong and brave FMC, and so much more then just her beauty.
This is also where Fuchai, the King of Wu, is introduced. He's written as a tormented boy, given a throne he doesn't want, and unsure of who to trust in his own court. I wish he was written as more "evil", because I felt bad for him, but I also couldn't deny Xishi's need for vengeance and the cruelty of his actions.

The fast pace of this book definitely made it engaging, but it also made it so I had no sense of how much time had gone by. Ten weeks seemed to pass by just as quickly as two years, and I wish there had been more of a difference.

The ending though, was so defined, so final, so matter of fact, and shocking in every way. I was unable to do anything but keep reading. It's devastating, yet oddly fitting. There's no doubt that this is how the tale was meant to end, but it doesn't erase all the emotions that come with the ending, all the emotions that set in after I flipped the last page and put the book down and took a moment to process everything I'd just read.

Final thoughts: A Song to Drown Rivers exceeded and defied my expectations in every way and I'm so glad I got a chance to read and review this book. It's one I could never forget and I don't think I could recommend this book enough!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would! I thought there was great world building and I quickly found myself transported into the story. There were so many times when I was gasping out loud. I look forward to more from this author!

Short synopsis: Ixshi is one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China. Approached by the military man Fanli, Ixshi is going to use her beauty as a weapon to defeat the King of the rival Kingdom of Wu.

My thoughts: I was immediately drawn into this sweeping tale of revenge, forbidden romance, and strong women!

The strength portrayed in this one, was remarkable. I’m a huge fan of a strong female character but I absolutely adored how the author used Ixshi’s beauty to hide her real identity and true mission.

The ending in this is one that you just might need tissues for. Luckily for me, my box came equipped with some. But definitely came unexpectedly and one I won’t forget anytime soon.

I adored the audio narration of this! The narrator told the story so beautifully, and I can’t get the way Fenli says Ixshi’s name out of my head!

Read if you love:
- Chinese Legends
- Forbidden romance
- Strong female protagonist
- Revenge
- Slow burn

3.5⭐️
A Song To Drown Rivers is a beautiful Chinese inspired historical fantasy. It follows main character, Xishi, a peasant girl who lives humbly with her parents in a small village in the middle of a war. As a young woman with extraordinary beauty, she has been hand chosen as a concubine offering to King Fuchai. Little does the King know that she is really being trained as a spy for the other side.

I really loved the writing style and storytelling in this novel. The writing style is very beautiful and it captured my attention from the beginning. I really fell in love with the main female character, Xishi. I loved seeing her growth throughout the story and as her training progressed. I did find myself getting a little bored towards the middle of the story. The seduction of King Fuchai felt a little repetitive and slow at times and I was left waiting for a bit more action. The other romantic storyline was lacking chemistry for me as well unfortunately. I felt we were more told than shown the connection and it happened a little too instantly and intensely to feel believable. Though this is labeled as fantasy, there aren’t actually many, if any, magical elements other than the fact that it is based on a Chinese legend.

That said, I found the “grey area” to be super interesting in this story. At times you’re left feeling confused on who you should be rooting for and who the real heroes and villains are since we’re seeing it through one perspective only. Though the story is predictable, the ending did leave me shocked!

Thank you to NetGalley, Ann Liang, and St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Content warnings: blood, violence, murder, war, injury/injury detail, child death, torture, drowning, grief

3.5 stars
First off, the cover is gorgeous! I don’t own any physical books but this is one I’d consider keeping! While it felt like a forced proximity/almost enemies to lovers storyline, the tension came from outside forces. I liked that it wasn’t a toxic dynamic between the two main characters. The writing style was easy to follow, which allowed me to connect more with the story. I plan to check out the author’s other works soon!

A beautifully written and emotional read. I was hooked from the start. I would recommend this books to fans of historical romance or mythology. My only complaint was that there were no fantasy elements.

3.5 stars

This was a tricky book to rate, because the premise is so cool, but the execution was lacking in some parts. I do think that this will largely be one that people either love or hate. It's based on the Chinese legend of Xishi, which I was not familiar with until reading. We follow Xishi, a 19-year-old Yue peasant girl of legendary beauty, as she is recruited from her home village for a special mission by Fanli, a Yue military advisor. Her mission is to infiltrate the conquering kingdom of Wu's palace as a gifted concubine for the young king, seduce him, and pass information back to the Yue government from the inside. 

Basically, it's ancient Chinese "John Tucker Must Die". But of course there is romantic tension between Xishi and Fanli, and then the king isn't as bad as she thought, but palace life is full of professional liars. How could this possible have been boring, you might be wondering. I don't know, but for 3/4 of the book I felt like nothing was happening. Fanli trains Xishi to become an expert spy and seductress in 10 weeks somehow, but we don't actually witness most of this. We also don't witness any actual sex scenes between her and the king. Which is fine, but that's like ... a big part of the story. I was not super into Fanli, but our girl Xishi was obsessed with him even for the over TWO YEARS she was at the palace after knowing him for 10 weeks. K.

There wasn't a ton of world-building, and until I read reviews I hadn't realized this was set in like 500 BC. I also am still not sure if it's fantasy, or if there was any magic in the world. It's classified as a fantasy book, but I don't remember there actually being anything fantastical. I did like the palace shenanigans, Xishi, and the king, as well as the moral questions posed throughout the book and especially by the ending. But I didn't feel particularly strong connections to any of the side characters, and if it weren't for the ending of this I'd call it forgettable. As it stands, I don't know what to call it. But if you read it, let me know, because I need to discuss the end with someone. Thanks to St. Martin's Press and the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This story is based on the Chinese tale of Lady Xi Shi, one of the Four Great Beauties of Chinese history, who trains and goes undercover to infiltrate the enemy kingdom and help win the war for her people. I love the cover art for this book and I really wanted to love the book so much but it fell flat for me. There were parts where I was truly engaged and empathizing with the characters… I was really rooting for Xishi and Fanli throughout but it also seemed to drag on with only some excitement or plot/character development here and there. I did keep reading as I was drawn in and wanted to see what happened at the end but it is a sad story and many of the outcomes I was hoping for never came to fruition, leaving me feeling disappointed. I was also hoping for more fantasy elements, based on the cover and synopsis. I liked the premise of the story but feel the execution could have been better. Thank you to NetGalley, Ann Liang, and St. Martin’s Press for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The war has ended with the Wu, but many are feeling the aftermath. Xishi and her family included.

Xishi has always been known for her beauty, which is why her mother has her wear a veil when going out so men do not fall all over her.

One day, she attempts to save a girl, but ends up being saved by a mysterious handsome man, that she never learns his name.

The following day, this same man comes to her family’s home and says he is looking for a potential bride of unmatched beauty for King Fuchai of the Wu Kingdom as tribute from the Yue, and he thinks Xishi is the perfect candidate to go as the bride and be their spy.

She now has ten weeks of excessive training, that will be overseen by Fanli, to become the perfect candidate as a bride for the Wu king, to seduce him and bring about revenge against him and his kingdom.

So so good!!! That ending though 😭😢😭😭😭 This story left me an emotional wreck!

This to me was a masterpiece of playing with your emotions. The romance in here left me WANTING and dragged my heart through the mud. It was horrible and wonderful at the same time. It was so heart-and-gut-wrenching.

The world was not largely built on, but I think the focus was more on the fact that no matter who rules, the same outcome may come about regardless who is on the throne, and how women were treated as pawns and discarded when no longer needed. It was such a moving story involving so many emotions. The moment you think “yes, we’re getting what we want”, or “yes, things are going well”, then it doesn’t or it doesn’t go the way you expect.

I’ve never felt such pining for a romance before. This was such a slow burn, with a huge twist. I have to read a more lighthearted book after this one because that ending, though realistic and very well done, left me a mess.

I truly loved this moving book and highly recommend this read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted e-ARC to read. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The premise of finding someone who has no training in court manners, arts and literature, and spying to be a court spy in another kingdom and training this person for 10 weeks is too much for me to buy. And the worst is that after these 10 weeks, that we get a brief overview, she is portrayed as the best in everything that she never had any contact with. It's just so unbelievable.

The love interest is present for only 25% of the book and it's extremely instalove-y.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this one! Great world-building, Eastern mythology, and forbidden love. I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it and plan to read more books by Ann Liang in the future!

— Historoical romance
— Chinese mythology
— Love triangle

A Song to Drown Rivers is about a girl named Xishi of the Yue kingdom, who is so beautiful that everyone is convinced it's unnatural and inhuman, and that it defies nature. She has to wear a veil and never show her face outside of her home. Which is why she is chosen for a secret mission to use her beauty to seduce and spy on the Wu King, Fuchai, to put a stop to the war between their kingdoms.   

I absolutely adore this book!! The writing is beautiful, and I was hooked right from the beginning. I love Fanli and Xishi's interactions, I was rooting from them ever since their first meeting! There is a bit of a love triangle since Fuchai falls in love with Xishi, but she only truly loves Fanli. I highlighted so many passages of this book while reading; the imagery and the tragic love story was so heartachingly beautiful. The ending reminded me a lot of The Song of Achilles. This book has to be right ag the top for my favorite reads of 2024!

I would highly recommend reading this book!

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𝑨 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒐 𝑫𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔




After reading this all the way in February I am finally ready to write my review for this book. I did eventually decide to drop a star after having noticed some points the second time around which escaped my notice the first time, which, considering that ending, I’m not at all surprised about.




Soo, let’s talk about the following points:


𓆩☾𓆪Plot
𓆩☾𓆪Pace
𓆩☾𓆪Writing
𓆩☾𓆪Romance
𓆩☾𓆪Characters
𓆩☾𓆪Further points
𓆩☾𓆪To conclude
𓆩☾𓆪End quotes






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༊·˚𝑷𝒍𝒐𝒕


Even before ASTDR was written, I always used to think how while I love reading stories with badass fmcs that wield swords and are deadly fighters, I’ve experienced those kinds of characters in quite a few different books. There’s another type of power too, in manipulation, in politics, in being able to crush your enemy, not with a giant mace, but a single word. To utilise the charms, talents and skills that you have naturally available to you but are considered unimpressive for some reason. To pave your way with intelligence and strategy.


Which was why from the moment I read the blurb I could not wait to immerse myself in this story and I think from that aspect, it did indeed deliver in what it promised.




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༊·˚𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒆


The pace was one of the slight issues I had this time around. I personally felt that it was a little slow up until the point where Xishi enters the Wu palace, from where it definitely picked up. The chapter lengths also felt a little long and inconsistent, some were double the length of others which made it feel more difficult to get through.




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༊·˚𝑾𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈


One of my favourite parts about this book, Ann Liang’s writing is absolutely gorgeous. The pictures she paints with her words, the descriptions of palaces and scenery and clothing, it’s all so pretty and vivid.


-rolls of glimmering fabric so soft they looked to have been spun with magic, glittering hairpins carved into the shape of butterflies and cranes with jewels for eyes, zodiac animals shaped from melted gold sugar, pastries pressed into intricate flower moulds-


A set of wedding robes had been laid out on my bed that night. They were the deepest red—the red of spilled blood, of spoiled wine, of kissed lips—and embroidered with gold thread. All along the sides and down the wide sleeves and sash, there were images of soaring birds and phoenix tails and floating clouds, chrysanthemums and lilies in full bloom, stars crowded around a blazing sun.


A series of wide green canals glittered in the late afternoon light, the clouds fat and heavy and brushed gold-pink at the edges. On each side of the banks stood neat clusters of houses, their smooth walls faded white from the steady erosion of wind and water, their roofs curved with slate-grey tiles, strings of round lanterns hung from their balconies, fringed with delicate silk tassels. We floated under little arched bridges, their reflections swimming over the canal surface so that from afar, they formed the perfect shape of a full moon. It was not a land of corpses and smoke as I’d thought, but one of ponds and gardens, water and earth, fishing boats and floating lights.


I mean, exquisite, ethereal, elegant, excellent. There are so many more, ugh.




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༊·˚𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆


Here’s where it gets interesting.


Firstly we have Xishi and Fanli, the man she loves. Their romance was definitely very sweet, I did notice this time that Xishi does spend a little too long gazing at Fanli and admiring his features which made it a little repetitive and boring in my opinion. I’m hesitant to call insta-love, partly because what we see mostly is Xishi admiring how Fanli looks and acts, which-despite being a little overdone at times-is natural as despite the kind of romance, attraction is a necessary and essential part of that. Furthermore neither of them have any hope of their attraction becoming anything more since they’re stuck in their respective roles, so love doesn’t really enter into the equation until later on.


Then we have Fuchai. In my opinion, I don’t view this as a love triangle at all. The reason being that Xishi was literally instructed to go and seduce him, it wasn’t that she just happened to be there and they bumped into each other causing her to second guess her feelings for Fanli. So… I don’t think it can be called that when the circumstances weren’t even natural, but planned.




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༊·˚𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔


Xishi:


I really liked Xishi, she was brave and quick witted and strategic. Despite being told over and over how beautiful she was, it never made her into a narcissist, which was a very real possibility. She understood that she was here for a job and that she had to follow through with it, despite whatever may come. I loved how she was so ready to manipulate everyone and honestly, I was impressed by her disregard for the consequences others faced at her hands. I know that sounds callous but when you remember that she’s in the enemy’s territory and after what she suffered herself, I feel like her reactions were understandable. That’s not to say she was cold-hearted though, by the end of it you could definitely see how guilty she felt.




Zhengdan:


My favourite character, I love her so much. She was so brave and determined and fearless and then her bond with Xishi, like that of two sisters, was so so so beautiful and heartwarming and I loved how she’d go from Xishi’s determined protector one moment to her little sister curled up next to her for comfort and affection the next. How she was always determined to be strong and never show weakness, even when she was really hurting inside. She had a lovely personality and brought such a fun side to everything.




Fanli:


I don’t have much to say about him as he wasn’t around for much of the story but I would absolutely love to read a book on his backstory, how he reached the position he has today and more time seeing his mind work, from his own perspective.




Luyi:


I just loveee him, he’s so funny and brought so much character to the story and everyone around him.




Fuchai:


When I went into this, I was expecting Fuchai to be a typical, ‘morally grey’, sarcastic, flirty man who followed all the stereotypes and would be super predictable. Instead I was pleasantly surprised to find a… boy? I suppose? I mean, he was the same age as Xishi but in some ways he was just so much younger. We see this even in the way he interacts with her and he’s not after something sexual necessarily, but just her company and knowing that there’s someone who actually cares about him. Not for his title or wealth but for him as a person, that there was someone on his side, with him against all those who just sought to use him to further their own purposes. I just wanted to give him a big hug and tell him he’s not alone.




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༊·˚𝑭𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔




This is sort of related to what I was saying about the romance and Fuchai, but I wanted to touch briefly on how through Xishi and Fuchai’s relationship, which I definitely wasn’t expecting, Ann Liang reminds us of how many different kinds of love there are. It’s not all just lust and sexual and rushed feelings and flings. Love can be quiet. It can be subtle. It can be slow. There’s the love between a child and their parents, of all the memories they share, their lives spent together and the warmth and comfort they hold. There’s the love of a dear friendship, of nights spent laughing and sharing secrets. The love of siblings, protective and firm, despite how badly you may want to strangle them at times. Love that grows even deeper through promises and assurances that they’ll always be there for you, that you’ll never be alone. A love that is born purely of knowing you matter to someone. And I love that despite the actual romance being somewhat limited, all these other, just as beautiful kinds of love were thrown into such sharp relief.




Another thing I love is the idea of duty before self, mostly because it just makes everything far more painful when it comes to the individual and the self, but also because it puts everything into perspective. That you’re just another piece of the puzzle, that you have a purpose here that isn’t necessarily to make yourself happy and enjoy life. That one day, you won’t even be remembered. But yes, primarily because of that sense of helplessness and sorrow (I’m a sadist, I know) with knowing that you have a task to accomplish and nothing, nothing can come before it. I admire those characters for being selfless enough to push aside their grief and desires and move forward regardless, because they can see a bigger picture that does not show itself to just anyone.




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༊·˚𝑻𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆


This was a beautiful, emotional, heartbreaking read that made me feel like I was reading a c-drama at some points. I’d definitely recommend you try this if you enjoy Historical Fiction, Romance, beautiful writing and despair.




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༊·˚𝑬𝒏𝒅 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔




It was a reversal of the popular stories passed among the villagers. The beautiful girl with blood under her nails, who did not need saving from danger but was instead the danger itself.




“So this is how it feels,” he murmured, almost under his breath, “to be cut by your own blade.”




“When the hares have all been caught, the hunting dogs are cooked.”




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