3.5⭐️

I loved the narrator for this! She kept me on my toes and engaged in the story.

Overall, I did enjoy the story. It feels really unique in the sense that I haven’t read another book where the concubine works behind the scene to overthrow the king. I have seen other kdrama or cdramas where the concubine works in secret… So it was nice to see this in a book format.

I think the thing that fell flat for me was I wanted to see more power struggle when she was trying to become the top concubine. It felt like a very easy win for her… I thought things moved a little too smoothly…. And I think her journey to becoming the favorite concubine should’ve been explored more.

I also wished that Fanli’s story was a little bit more flushed out. It kind of felt flat.

I’ll start of by saying this book will NOT be for everyone.

This is a story that is slow going, tragic, and it’s more about coming to terms with/learning how the world works with people in power. The stakes don’t seem very high when Xishe infiltrates the palace of the neighboring to be a concubine spy because the king seems like a lost puppy and easy to manipulate. But that’s NOT the point.

It’s about the destination not the journey with this one. I’ll admit that for 75% of the book I was just coasting along waiting for the ‘good stuff’ to happen, but then I got hit with the last bit of the book and it made much more sense. It’s dark and raw and unveils the reality of war when you least expect it. If you want a full out fantasy, this is not for you. If you want a romance for the ages, this is not it. If you want an action packed spy book, sorry but no.

This story is about endurance, patience, loss, survival, and power — who has it, who doesn’t, who wants it, and what one will do to get and keep it.

Loved the audio! The narrator did such a great job!

“What a bittersweet fate we shared, balanced so precariously on the fine line between life and death, union and separation, joy and despair.”

Fantasy is a genre completely outside of my wheelhouse but a fellow reader suggested I give this new novel a try. Inspired by an Ancient Chinese legend, Ann Liang provides stunning imagery with her prose and after one chapter I was hooked.

Xishi has a rare and exquisite beauty and a thirst for revenge. A young minister to her king recognizes her exceptional elegance and makes her a pawn in a dangerous game. After rigorous training, Xishi is embedded into the court of a rival kingdom, to seduce their king in hopes of gathering intelligence to regain her kingdom’s independence. The minister Fanli guides her through lengthy training and delivers her to the den, setting into motion an entangled plot where life hangs in the balance for multiple characters.
Xishi’s beauty is a blessing and a curse as she navigates a minefield of duty, affection and guilt, while she is confronted with blurred lines about heroes vs victims.
The Helen of Troy (the face that launched a thousand ships) undercurrent is just one aspect of what made this an appealing read for me, and those who enjoy Madeline Miller mythology retellings, may find this to be their ideal fall book.

Natalie Naudus has become a go to narrator for me and her performance, as anticipated, was outstanding!

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and Net Galley for the early copy in exchange for my honest review!

Generous 3 ⭐ - until the end I was really rating it 4-4.25 ⭐

<b>GOOD:</b>
Don’t get me wrong, I binged the audio hard and adored 75%. The audio was extremely immersive and I loved the narration by Natalie Naudus. There were so many parts of this book I loved. The setting and the writing were some of my favorites. Espionage, power games and court politics in a warring kingdom? YES PLEASE. I loved when Xishi started to realize she had her own power even if it was different than that a man has.

<b>BAD:</b>
Where was the fantasy? Other than being a world loosely based off a Chinese myth, there is absolutely no magic or fantasy elements. Our FMC was just a random village girl with immeasurable beauty & her friend felt like a knock off Mulan even though we forgot about her quickly.

<b>UGLY:</b>
The ending made me rage - a few days later I'm still pissed while writing the review. I cared for the relationship and interactions with the king, not her insta-love wannabe romance. We never saw any of the pining and tension between Fanli and Xishi. The relationship that Xishi built over multiple YEARS with the Wu King Fuchai was more impactful to me than the 10 week relationship she decided she had with Fanli.


Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio & St. Martin's press for the eARC & ALC of A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang

I am one of an apparent minority on this book since it’s been chosen as a Good Morning America Book Club Pick, an Indie Next pick and a LibraryReads pick for October 2024. But it just did nothing for me.

The story is based on a Chinese legend about Xishi, a famous beauty from centuries ago. This should be promoted as historical fiction, but seems to be marketed as fantasy. The only fantastical element came at the very end and it was pretty small, not impacting the rest of the tale at all. It also felt very YA to me.

There were a lot of descriptions of flowers and scenery but I never got the feel of really being in ancient China. The characters were pretty stereotypical and flat. I didn’t find it believable that a country bumpkin, no matter how pretty, could be trained to be a super spy concubine in a matter of ten weeks. (We only read about her learning to play an instrument and learning to school her facial expressions.) The love interest was barely there. There was very little court intrigue explained on the page and that could’ve made the story more interesting. Xishi has some sort of heart problem that is never explained and never becomes important to the plot, so why include it? I could go on.

Although I bounced between the ebook and the audiobook, I mostly listened to the audiobook and that was an excellent choice. Natalie Naudus did a beautiful job with the voices and (I assume) the Chinese pronunciations. Because I was so bored, I did speed it up a lot, though.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity listen to a review copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

🌊 Book Review 🌊

A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang
🌊
This is a captivating, poetically written, stunningly tragic book filled with yearning, heartbreak, female rage, and vengeance. It’s an epic tale about war, duty, sacrifice, and love. I adored the characters, especially Xishi, Fanli, and even Fuchai. This book was intriguing, fast-paced, and almost hauntingly beautiful. Natalie Naudus does an excellent job with the audio. She truly embodies Xishi, and brings her character to life perfectly. I was completely unprepared for the ending; it absolutely destroyed me, and I may never recover. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.
🌊
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️
🌊
Read if you like:
▫️Chinese legends
▫️historical fantasy
▫️warring kingdoms and court politics
▫️arranged marriage
▫️forbidden love
🌊
Thank you to St. Martins Press, Macmillan Audio, NetGalley, and Ann Liang for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang is an ambitious retelling of Chinese myth, and, for the most part, it is an incredibly intriguing story. I found myself leaning in to the characters right off the bat. (Plus, the audiobook narration is superb!)

This is my first book by Liang, and her writing is truly a gift. I will be reading more by this author in the near future.

However, I did find myself waning interest as the story progressed as my investment in the characters waned. That being said, it is still worth a read (or a listen).

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the early audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.



I will be posting my review to social media on October 9th.

This was easy, in the way that, I couldn’t stop reading! it was intriguing, almost mesmerizing.
Not your typical, ordinary ending and one that I’m actually, in a way, happy with.
Felt the full range of emotions, with lovable characters and a story that I’ll remember for years to come.

Wow, what a captivating story. This was a fascinating look into how men overlook beautiful women. There's so much more here, too. This story, narrated by Natalie Naudus, one of the best, hooked me right from the beginning. Xishi's beauty was legendary, and it was so interesting to read a book about how she used and didn't use this for what she needed out of life. The training she took to become the king's concubine was also captivating. I didn't realize how much training there was, and it made her life even more complex. There is no steam here - even with her palace job. I didn't want to stop listening and the way the author wrapped this story up just left me speechless.
Macmillan Audio ALC

Set in ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers explores the legend of Xishi, blending history with a compelling story of love, duty, and loss. The historical setting and cultural backdrop were beautifully crafted, and I loved the immersive world Ann Liang created. While the book is tagged as fantasy, it read more like historical fiction to me. There was maybe one part at the end that could have maybe been a little bit of a fantasy element, but it also could have just been the afterlife?

The story itself is very tragic - I wasn’t expecting that level of heartbreak and am still unwell over the ending. The sacrifice, betrayal and moral ambiguity of this story kept me turning the pages. And the exploration of power dynamics and morality in war was really well done. I listened to the audiobook, so I can't refer back to the exact words, but there is a line towards the end about what difference is it who is in power if people are still suffering and their lives are exactly the same, and that really made me think as it's still applicable now.

I did think the romance felt a bit underdeveloped. Xishi’s relationships with both Fanli and the king span over years, but we don’t get to see much of their development, which made it hard to fully believe in the connections. It felt like a lot of important moments were glossed over, particularly during Xishi’s training with Fanli where they supposedly fell in love, but this was told to us rather than shown to us.

Despite these things, I really enjoyed A Song to Drown Rivers and I will be thinking about the ending for a long time to come. The audiobook narrator was fantastic as well. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or is interested in a book steeped in Chinese culture/mythology, as long as you are ready for some heartbreak.

A historical fantasy that tells the legend of Xishi, a famous beauty of Ancient China, who infiltrates the rivaling Wu kingdom, to spy for her people and save her country. There’s war, there’s deception, there’s love, and there’s even a bit of wit and humor. Overall, a well rounded story that kept my attention throughout.

I was not familiar with the story of Xishi or any of the Four Beauties of Ancient China, so it was fun to learn a bit of mythology from another country. The characters were strong and I appreciated their unique and sometimes complicated personalities. While labeled a historical fantasy, it leaned more towards a historical fiction romance, so if you’re interested in a story with talking dragons that’s dripping in magic, this isn’t it. If you like complex characters, messy love triangles, and unexpected endings, go buy this book now.

A couple critiques, though minor… I might mark this more a YA than Adult novel. It was well written, but sometimes a bit simple and in particular glossed over romance scenes that could have used more - not that the book needed smut, but for context and better understanding of our characters and their relationships. Second, there was a small plot hole I’m still curious about. Did Xishi’s heart magically heal? Was that the fantasy element? What happened there? We never find out.

I’ve seen a few reviews that say the story got a bit slow at times, but I was fortunate to have received an advanced digital and audio copy. Having both mediums might have helped elevate this issue for me, but not once did I feel like stopping from boredom. In fact, it was rewarding to be able to both see and hear certain word and name pronunciations and the narrator was exceptional with their pacing, articulation, and voicing of a wide variety of characters.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the advanced digital copy.

Rating Ann Liang's A Song to Drown Rivers is very difficult.

On one hand, there's instant love with little rooting value between the main character and her love interest, the beginning is hard to get into since its very choppy, there are several plot conveniences that are difficult to ignore, the dialogue is too modern, and the motivation for the main character's actions aren't established well enough.

On the other hand, the descriptions are beautifully written, the dynamic between the main character and the antagonist is very well done, the court politics were excellent, and climax of the novel was very emotionally gripping.

The aspects I love most about the novel (politics, female relationships, etc) make the flaws so much more glaring. There's potential for a masterpiece here, but it was never more than partially realized.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This wasn’t for me. I feel like the world building wasn’t fleshed out enough, I needed more.

The romance piece also wasn’t developed enough for me. All in all, I needed more from this book.

Review: Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I definitely think it reflects more of a romantasy vibe in that the romance is much more built up and focused on than the actual fantasy aspects of the book. But it kept me interested the entire time. I absolutely loved the writing and the story telling and the interactions between the three main characters. This is an example of a well done romantasy standalone.

Synopsis: Xishi’s beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue—convinced that the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When Xishi draws the attention of the famous young military advisor, Fanli, he presents her with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon. One that could topple the rival neighboring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her people, and avenge her sister’s murder. All she has to do is infiltrate the enemy palace as a spy, seduce their immoral king, and weaken them from within.

Trained by Fanli in everything from classical instruments to concealing emotion, Xishi hones her beauty into the perfect blade. But she knows Fanli can see through every deception she masters, the attraction between them burning away any falsehoods.

Once inside the enemy palace, Xishi finds herself under the hungry gaze of the king’s advisors while the king himself shows her great affection. Despite his gentleness, a brutality lurks and Xishi knows she can never let her guard down. But the higher Xishi climbs in the Wu court, the farther she and Fanli have to fall—and if she is unmasked as a traitor, she will bring both kingdoms down.

3.5 ⭐️
This is definitely well written, but as a fantasy book it sort of lacks,, fantasy. i cannot even think of a fantasy element in this story. I understand this is a debut fantasy but it NEVER felt like a fantasy book to me. i also didn’t care about most of the characters that much? i liked Xishi’s friend the most and we didn’t even get much from her. As someone who loves slow burn, the romance was kind of painful at first. They liked each other immediately and i just did not get it. The story was definitely entertaining but it’s nothing that memorable to me.

The ending was shocking and tragic but it just didn’t hit like it could have because the romance wasn’t incredible.

This was an absolutely stunning beautifully written book. A very rich tale that will rip your heart out in the same tragic vein of Song of Achilles. Did I enjoy it…yes. But now there is a hole in my chest that was previously not there before I started this book. The narrator did an amazing job.

Wow, what an incredible read! I finished this book so quickly because I couldn't put it down. It's a beautifully crafted historical fiction story about war, power, and beauty. I loved the romance and the various perspectives on the king. I found myself screaming and crying; the book took me on an emotional rollercoaster. I definitely didn't expect the ending! This book is just perfect—long enough to immerse me without feeling rushed.

(I will make a Tik Tok review and will come back to share the link)

This read like an old tale passed down through cultures. I loved and hated it, the way one does with tragedies!! Xishi had such complexity, though her beauty was her weapon there was so much more to her! My heart broke over and over, and I felt joy over and over. The way great stories should make you feel!

*3.5 Stars*

I'm very sad to say that this did not work for me. It was a little too insta-lovey several times over. And I just didn't feel the MC's feelings. I didn't even understand it. The whole setting and world were very interesting though. And I liked the MC but a lot of this story was about her feelings for men who simply did not deserve her. She was a badass fifty times over and she deserved better from beginning to end. The plot still kept me on my toes though and I was very surprised by the twists.
So yeah, this, overall, did not work for me but I'm still really looking forward to reading more books by Ann Liang.

3/5
This book is nothing special. It doesn’t add anything new to the genre and lacks in world building. The writing is beautiful in some places, but overall felt very rushed. The romances felt very superficial and needed more development.