“I promise… As soon as this ends, I’ll come find you, and we’ll sail the world together and live somewhere far from here, someplace we can be truly alone. And if my promise breaks…. Then let me suffer for as long as I live.”

Thank you @macmillan.audio for the gifted ALC!

Meet one of my favorite books of the year. This one blew me away.

Ann Liang’s writing is gorgeous and lush. The tension and longing she writes into Xishi’s story made my heart ache. And while I wasn’t familiar with the legend of Xishi, I just had a feeling that this one was going to wreck me…. And it did. I’m still not emotionally recovered.

A SONG TO DROWN RIVERS is set in ancient China with two warring kingdoms. Xishi is recruited to become a concubine for the enemy’s king and also the spy who will hopefully lead to his ruination. While Xishi and Fanli have major forbidden love vibes, Xishi and Fuchi have “I’m going to destroy you” and “I’ll let you” vibes.

While this one is being marketed as a fantasy, there aren’t really any magical elements to it but there is the tiniest bit of the paranormal (kind of). That’s all I’ll say without giving anything away.
If you love tragic love stories, spy stories and books with beautiful writing, pick this one up!

A SONG TO DROWN RIVERS is out now!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6210005339
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAqs2FnPGvt/?img_index=1

Oh my lanta. The most beautiful story I’ve listened to this month. I was in awe.

The way the narrator told the story of Xishi had me in tears by the end of the book. I truly had no idea what I was getting myself into since I didn’t know the lore of her.. but wow was I blown away. Natalie Naudus Could not have been more perfect to tell the story.

This was my first Ann Liang book and I was so very impressed with her story telling and writing. I was captivated from the beginning. This was one of those books I put off and regretted. Incredible beautiful.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

🎧: A Song to Drown Rivers- a standalone

✍️ By: Ann Liang-new to me author

🗣️ Narrator: Natalie Naudus voices all the characters. The narrator' s voice fit the characters with standouts from Xishi, Fanli, and King Fuchai. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrator worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrator paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.

🏃🏾‍♀️Run Time: 10:22

🗓️ Publication Date: 10-1-24 | Read: 10-9-24

Genre: Historical Fantasy/Fic, Romance, Mythology

Tropes: slow burn, Chinese lore, military/political intrigue

🙏🏾 Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Ann Liang for this ALC 💛! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

🌏Setting: Kingdoms of Yue and Wu

⚠️ TW: misogyny, death of sibling-h, grief, beating-H

POV: 1st person, single

💭 Summary 💭: Xishi is a renowned beauty in her village found by military advisor Fanli to save their Yue kingdom. He offers to train her to betray and avenge the enemy Wu kingdom by becoming King Fuchai's concubine. Along with Xishi another village girl, Zhengdan, will become a palace lady and protect Xishi in her duty.

🚺Heroine: Xishi-jie- 20, a beautiful Yue village girl tasked w/ infiltrating the Wu kingdom as a spy posing as the King's new concubine.

🚺 Hero-Fanli-22, a military advisor to King Goujian of Yue who enlists Xishi to save their kingdom. He offers to train her to conceal her emotions, fight with swords, and seduce the Wu King.

🎭Side Characters

-Zhengdan- beautiful village girl from Yue who agrees to become a palace lady rather than marry an old man her mother arranged for her. She protects Xishi when they arrive at Wu. Self-taught sword play.

-King Fuchai- ruler of Wu

-King Goujian-ruler of Yue

-Wu Zixu-minister to King Goujian

-General Ma-killed Zhengdan's father

-Susu-Xishi's little sister killed by Wu soldier.

-Luyi-a guard Fanli met when he was 15 and trained in combat.



🤔 My Thoughts: Xishi was a strong heroine I rooted for. Her and Fanli pined for each other but chose duty over their love. I enjoyed the morally grey "bad guy" who didn't behavior as harsh as Xishi thought. He treated Xishi with respect even allowed her to listen in on military strategy meetings. Fanli suffered at King Fuchai's hands by being beaten, stabbed, and tortured emotionally.

🎧 Narration 4/5
😭: Emotion 4/5
❤️: Couple 4/5
⭐️: Rating 4/5

A Song to Drown Rivers is a standalone story inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China. Xishi is an exceptional beauty who is plucked from her village and trained by the advisor to the king. She is then sent into a neighboring kingdom with the mission to bring them down from the inside.

I feel as though this is a book that was mismarketed. That is part of the reason for why I didn't like this one as much as I hoped, but this is also an example of a book I should have DNFd. I was probably sitting at a 3 or 3.5 until the end. I was hopeful that it would get better, but overall, it just really killed this one for me.

So to start with the mismarketing. This one is marketed as a romantasy, and it has very little romance and even less fantastical elements. It really read like historical fiction with the names of the kingdoms changed. The writing was very flowery and pretty. There were moments that I think I would have really reveled in the descriptions, but I feel like the audiobook did not do those moments justice. However, I struggle with reading this type of writing via audio, so that should be taken with a grain of salt. Aside from that aspect, the narrator did a fine job. I love the idea of this story. It's a fascinating premise, but I just didn't love the execution.

I was intrigued to see where it was going to go, and I continued to turn the pages. For the majority of the book, I was thinking that it wasn't bad, but that I also wasn't loving it. The characters all read very flat and two dimensional. And the biggest issue for me was that we were told things and then shown something very different. There were so many moments when I was smacking my forehead and yelling at the audiobook because Xishi was doing something so painfully stupid. And we are told that she was turned into this fantastic tactician who is so cunning and wily and smart. And then all I saw over and over again after the 20-30% mark was that she was making really dumb decisions and mistakes. I am not going to go into them all for the sake of spoilers, but I was super irritated by some of them. There were moments when she would think to herself "oh, I'll have to be careful because this could be bad in the future" and then completely forget about it and be shocked when it came back around.

I think that part of the reason the characters felt so thin though was the way that the plot moved along. I think we covered probably 5ish years in the span of the book. However, there are big time jumps that aren't really called out. So it's hard to say. But basically we are just sort of told a lot of things that have happened and get to see very little, considering how much time passes.

The other big issue for me is the "romance." She spends 10 weeks with this super handsome advisor and falls completely and madly in love with him, and then proceeds to mourn him for the next 5 years. There was never anything between them but attraction - nothing happened, and no words were exchanged on the subject. It was super unbelievable to me. Especially considering her relationship with the Wu king. Supposedly there also was nothing physical really that ever happened there, but she manipulated him into falling in love with her, all while remaining completely aloof. I felt like it was always going to take a turn into enemies to lovers territory or that there would be some sort of a love triangle, but no. It felt icky to me because I feel like his personality and past and motivations were the most well-developed (even though they were still pretty flat), and I didn't like that he was being manipulated into ruin the whole time.

And then the ending happened, and I just could not deal with it. All the pieces that irked me in the first 80% were really amplified in the last 20%. All the characters were making terribly stupid decisions, Xishi and Fanli making some of the worst ones. And the end was supposed to be tragic and beautiful, but I was just so frustrated with how all these people I was told were the most intelligent ever were handling things that I couldn't bring myself to care. I also kept waiting for some of the themes to be explored further. It felt like we were picking up the idea of good and evil in war, the experience of the kingdom versus that of the kings, womanhood and how that was viewed, and some others, but we never really did more than scratch the surface. And the fantastical element only showed up at the very end.

I ranted about this one to my husband for a while, and I could go on, but I don't want to go into spoilers. And overall, this just confirmed for me that I should have trusted my gut and DNFd it. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you for the arc!
I found this book very frustrating. It was such a strong concept that ultimately fumbled. Xishi is described as incredibly intelligent and manipulative, but she doesn't actually DO very much on page other than be in love with the first man introduced. It is amazing to me that she survived the king's palace. Her manipulation is chalked up to ASKING for things and getting the king drunk. There were very little court politics actually involved, and the side characters had no effect on the general plot.
Ann Liang's writing is gorgeous, and I'm definitely interested in reading her other books. I'd love to see her grow into adult fantasy as genre, I think she has a lot of potential. This book just needed more, it felt more like an outline than a fully fleshed out novel.

what a beautiful book. absolutely loved it and absolutely perfect for me to listen to on a flight from the east coast to hawaii. will definitely be reading the physical book asap!!

Such an amazing adventure! I loved this story and it has it all-forbidden love, revenge, sibling death, adventure. It is a book you won’t want to put down because you need to know what will happen next.

4.5 - 5 Stars

A deeply romantic, deeply beautiful retelling of a legend, for fans of The Song of Achilles, She Who Became the Sun and Daughter of the Moon Goddess.

This was a fast-paced story that pulls you in immediately, into an epic, romantic story full of love, betrayal, sacrifice, and beauty. Set in a world at war, where our main character Xishi knows very well the ravages and horrors that war can lead to. Her beauty is a blessing, and perhaps also a curse, when she catches the attention of her king's young military advisor Fanli, who presents her with the opportunity to wield her beauty like a blade, and potentially help bring down their rival neighbouring kingdom.

This is a story of womanhood, power, beauty, sacrifice, and what we do in the name of war and survival. I found myself deeply invested in the story and its characters, and as the stakes got higher and higher, I was more and more enthralled. This book kept me on my toes - causing me tears, and butterflies, at equal turns.

3/5 stars

A Song to Drown Rivers is a lush Asian-folklore inspired story about the beautiful Xishi who is recruited to spy for her now conquered kingdom by acting as a bride/concubine in the court of the conqueror. This book hits a lot of nice plot points for a romantic folklore story - the beautiful heroine, the handsome but unaccessible love interest, the independent, fiery best friend and sidekick and a promise of espionage and war. The writing is well done, with just enough description to paint nice pictures without being overly purple. Natalie Naudus does a lovely job as the narrator, as expected.

While nice, I find this book to be fairly one dimensional and forgettable. Maybe its because its the same narrator, but it gives me the attempts at being something like Daughter of the Moon Goddess, without the elements that made that story memorable or unique. The Asian-inspired elements feel very surface level and we get know real sense what the actual kingdoms are like, why the two kingdoms are at war and how they are different from each other. Besides knowing that some farmers produce silk - what kind of trade is there? Does one kingdom specialize in something? Are their landscapes different? Some plots points also seem to be introduced and then ignored. Xishi's heart problems occasionally pop up, but seem to have no effect on either her actions or the plot - why even mention them? Same with (mild spoiler) how she is attacked on her way to the Wu king - it happens but then there seems to be no discussion as to why, how it fits into the political scheming, potential consequences. It is just immediately forgotten.

It is categorized as fantasy, but so far there has been nothing that makes it fantasy in my opinion - no hints of mythical creatures truly existing, no daughters of gods or goddesses, nothing paranormal or magical. It is also categorized as adult, but the story beats read very YA to me - Xishi spends 10 weeks learning how to be a courtier and somehow becomes amazing at everything (a very YA trope to me), the romantic interactions are very quick and the longing is a bit over the top. The relationships seems a bit one dimensional as well, partially due to a lack of a good sense of how much time has gone by.

Overall, a solid story, but ultimately not memorable or unique.

This was such an incredible retelling of an ancient story. I was so invested in Xishi's quest, and just like her, I felt so conflicted about her relationship with the king. It was a bit of a slow start, but around 40% in I was completely devoured and couldn't bring myself to hit pause. I hope Ann Liang writes more of these stories, because I will voraciously read them all!

This book was both beautiful and devastating. It follows Xishi as she weaponizes her rare beauty against Fuchai thanks to the training she received from Fanli. Liang’s writing itself was beautiful. I was impressed with ability to keep readers interested and even invested in the flawed king, Fuchai. I do wish we got to experience more time with Xishi and Fanli. The chemistry between them was easy to pick up on but I wanted more than what we got. I enjoyed the world building, but it wasn’t over the top where readers would get lost in the details. The plot was well paced especially for a character and politically driven read. It kept my interest from start to finish. I was not ready for all of the heartbreak in the last chunk of the book but it was well depicted. I read this via audiobook and really enjoyed Natalie Naudus. Naudus’s narration was captivating and made sure my mind remained firmly on the book. Naudus played into Xishi’s emotions and made sure those came across in the narration. Overall, I would highly recommend the audiobook of this story.

3.5 / 5 stars, rounded down

Xishi is known in her village for being a great beauty, and her reputation reaches the king of Yue. His handsome, stoic young advisor, Fanli, comes to recruit Xishi for an important mission: she will go to the enemy king of the Wu as a tribute concubine, but she will in actuality be provided intelligence back to her own kingdom. Fanli trains Xishi in everything she must know to survive at court, but the two develop a forbidden bond before Xishi set out on her mission.

Once Xishi reaches the court, she finds that King Fuchai can be as brutal and capricious as the rumors warned, but he also displays a boyish vulnerability at times. Xishi uses her beauty and her newly honed wiles to win Fuchai's love, but she is playing a dangerous game with kingdoms at stake.

I appreciated listening to the audiobook for this novel since I am not familiar with the pronunciation of Chinese names. Narrator Natalie Naudus brought the character voices to life beautifully and helped me establish pronunciations that I never would have gotten correctly on my own.

I found the pacing of the novel to be a little off for me. The early chapters of establishing Xishi's character and her budding relationship with Fanli seemed to have missed the opportunity for the author to show their feelings for one another developing. When Xishi is getting ready to part from Fanli, she reflects back on the many tender moment that they had shared together, and I wish that the reader had been able to experience them as well.

The marketing of this book as a fantasy also seems to be a bit of a miss for me. There are some supernatural elements late in the story, but this book will likely not satisfy fans of the romantasy genre.

A lush historical fiction detailing a story that I didn't know, but I wish there had been stronger character development. The narration was excellent on the audiobook.

🌊A Song to Drown Rivers 🌊

THIS BOOK. Oofa, that was a journey.

Xishi is a beautiful villager who is selected by her king and training by his minister, Fanli. She is to be a gift concubine to the rival neighbor Wu king, to seduce him and then ruin him. Xishi also wants what she can’t have and Fanli is always just out of reach.

This is emotional and heart wrenching. Stressful and heartbreaking. WOW.

Check this one out for:
🌊 Romantasy / forbidden love
🌊 Master manipulation schemes
🌊 War time angst

I’m still REELING about the ending, y’all. What!!! So wild.

I alternated between the ALC and the ARC. The narration was absolutely fabulous, the intonation, and the fun of hearing the name pronunciations really added to the story experience.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for the ARC/ALC! A Song to Drown Rivers is on shelves now. My opinions are my own.

Thank you to St. Martins Press for my complimentary eARC, and to MacMillan Audio for my complimentary ALC of A Song to Drown Rivers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Song to Drown Rivers is an enchanting retelling of the Legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China. I had not heard of this legend, but it is now one of my favorites.

Love, betrayal, family, war and sacrifice are all front and center in this historical fiction/fantasy/ YA romance. I could not put this one down. I kept saying just one more chapter, and before I knew it, I had read half the book!

Xishi and Fanli are playing a dangerous game and kingdoms will fall. Will their love survive? Or will they fall victim to a ruthless king???

I paired the audio with the eARC, and Natalie Naudus is a wonderful narrator.

I was provided both an ebook and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

The audiobook narrator was great and really brought Xishi's story to life. Her story is an emotional one filled with sacrifice, forbidden love, espionage, and loss. The narrator does a wonderful job with the various characters and really brings the emotions forward when appropriate and masks them as Xishi would according to her training to carry out her mission.

I'm not familiar with the Legend of Xishi or the Four Beauties of China, but you bet I'll be looking into them after reading this. For me a good author inspires me to look more into what inspired the writing, and this certainly did. Our main character Xishi is very beautiful, and she has been selected to infiltrate the enemy kingdom and seduce their king and bring down the kingdom from the inside. She enters training to be his dedicated concubine and her goal is to pass information back to her people. She is all to happy to join the cause to avenge the brutal murder of her younger sister. As she spends time in the enemy court she learns much, but she never expected to gain the kings true affection and get to know him as a person.

This was a beautifully told story. It is filled with emotional moments as Xishi navigates the dangers and politics of the enemy palace and the enemy kings moods. She must carefully craft her every movement and everything she says to ensure she is portraying the loyal, faithful concubine while maintaining her double agent role. Everywhere she turns someone is plotting and she must be careful to not let something slip. She suffers great losses and must never let any emotions show.

This is my first book by Ann Liang, but it certainly won't be my last. It was such a wonderful book an it has such a beautiful cover. I highly recommend it if you enjoy historical fiction that feels a bit like a fairy tale.

This audiobook was a solid listen, especially with its strong narration bringing the story to life. The plot is inspired by the legend of Xishi, and while it doesn't stray too far from the original tale, it’s still enjoyable, particularly if you’re not already familiar with the legend. The story picks up after the second chapter and is packed with twists, action, and some emotional moments, especially toward the end. Fair warning, the last part might hit hard, so have tissues ready.

While the plot was a bit predictable in places and leaned more on telling than showing, the audiobook format definitely made it more engaging. If you enjoy ancient Chinese dramas or are looking for a new historical fantasy, this one’s worth a listen!

I really enjoyed this take on a historical fantasy story inspired by the legend of Xishi. It was different for sure. I enjoyed the infiltration of enemy territory aspect in the form of a woman going in to pretend to fall for the King. This story definitely had me intrigued the whole time and even though she was sent in as a spy, I felt chemistry so she did her job well. I definitely wasn’t ready for the story to end on such a cliffhanger!

Historical Romance • War Story • Fantasy
Publication Date • 1 October 2024

Thank you @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the free digital and audio review copies. #MacAudio2024

Memoirs of a Geisha meets Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in this historical war story set in Ancient China, with mild fantasy elements, and a star crossed love story.

Xishi, a rural girl of unparalleled beauty, is groomed to be the trojan horse that will bring her King’s enemies to their knees. Sent in as a tribute and concubine, a pawn in a den of wolves, she’ll have to manipulate everyone around her in a game of kill or be killed, while working her way into the heart of the enemy King Fuchai.

I absolutely devoured this book. I know some others said it felt more YA; I personally did not feel that way although there is no spice. There is plenty of romance and it worked for me. By the end I was heartbroken. War is never kind to either side especially long and prolonged wars.

I read most of this one with my eyes, caressed by the poetic prose, highlighting many passages. For this reason I recommend written format, although I listened to one or two chapters on audio and didn’t find fault with the narration.

I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you are in the headspace for a historical romance and love story. It’s a highly recommended from me.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC Audio Copy!

This is my first Ann Liang book so I did not really know what to expect from this story. I was hoping for a tale that was deeply steeped in mythology and tradition and found that that those elements were somewhat lacking. The world was somewhat vague but regardless of that it was still a beautiful story, very lyrical and whimsical. The FMC has to make the hard decision to leave everything behind to save her people from the tyrant king, it read a lot like a YA, which is not a problem at all, I read a lot of YA, I just though that this was an Adult book so that may have been where my disconnect lied. Regardless, I really enjoyed the story.

This was a beautiful book. I enjoyed the story very much. It tugged on the heartstrings and showed the hardships of war. I liked the fantasy aspects of the story, it added to it.
It kept my interest because everything was not as it seemed. It showed that in this was there were good/bad people on both sides. Sometimes the ones who are “supposed” to be the bad guys are not as bad as they seem and vice versa.
This was definitely a great book that would satisfy both the history and fantasy reader. I have read a few fantasy books set in China, and this one did not disappoint.
The audio version was excellent. I enjoyed the narrator very much; she made the narration flow smoothly and made it easy to follow along.