The writing was beautiful, but I just did not connect with the story.
I usually eat up Ann Liang’s contemporary books, but unfortunately, this one didn't hit the same. :(
DNF 19%
e-arc provided by NetGalley

This was such a beautifully written book. The lush prose swept me up and I had an incredible time in this story. I wasn't previously familiar with the legend the story is based on, but I'm sure that just adds another layer to it

This book kind of snuck up on me. I was intrigued to begin with, a beautiful girl being trained as a spy to take down the rival king is a great premise. The first third or so is Xishi learning different things and starting to fall for Fanli. Their romance was kind of flat because there wasn't a lot of time and he didn't show much emotion. I would have liked to see him yearning more.

When Xishi first arrives at the palace, things are exciting as she navigates how to integrate herself to court life and get the king to fall for her. After that, a lot of time passes and the plot really slowed down. I got a little bored, but luckily it's not a long book so we quickly hit the climax of the story. The last bit is where things got wild and I ended up feeling surprisingly emotional. What a way to end the story!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the copy.

That was heartbreaking. I'm not often taken so off guard by the direction a story will take, but this time? I'm still reeling... I had previously not been exposed to the legend of Xishi or any retellings. I'm so glad I finally have. Xishi's struggle between her duty and forbidden love was expertly portrayed. Ann Liang's writing was beautiful. Not one word was wasted. I can't wait to pick up more of her work!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Man. I loved this author’s other modern rom coms SO much more. This book felt really blah and unoriginal. I know some people hated the ending, but I liked how unique and dramatic it was - definitely felt like a C-drama. I think teenage me would’ve liked this book tho. I just felt super bored.

2 stars

The only reason I'm giving this book 2 stars is because the writing is beautiful. But the depth to the characters was severely lacking. I had never heard of the legend of Xi Shi so cue my freaking surprise at that ending. This is not the time for me reading sad af stories, so I really wish I never picked this up. This was partially my fault since I could've read the legend and figured retelling meant retelling that freaking ending. It's also in the title sooooooooooo yay to my blatant ignorance of all the signs.

Also, what part of this was a fantasy? Yes, it was historical but there were no fantasy elements. Unless she was a siren with the way this book described her beauty. Fanli and Xishi's interactions didn't impact me enough to make is swoon worthy and I was wondering if he was even the love interest. At one point I almost just wanted her to be with Fuchai because they had more page time than any other characters. This book just fell a bit flat even though the writing was great, the depth to the story just wasn't there.

This book was so so so good!! I could not put it down. Liang crafted a beautiful, well developed story and I can’t wait to see what comes next!

A Song to Drown Rivers is a historical fantasy novel based on the Chinese legend of Xi Shi, a great beauty who was used as revenge against a rival kingdom.

Xishi has wanted revenge against the kingdom of Wu ever since their soldiers invaded her village, slaughtering her younger sister. When her beauty attracts the attention of Fanli, the advisor to the local King Goujian, she is asked to use her looks to seduce and spy on the ruler of their enemies. Xishi must shed her country ways and be trained by Fanli in palace politics to become the perfect concubine to King Fuchai—and bring down his rule from the inside. But in the weeks leading up to her departure, she finds herself growing closer to Fanli and hesitant to leave him behind.

I enjoyed many of the choices the author made in this story. She did a great job showing that there are no true heroes or villains in war—it just depends on which side you are on. Both kings in the story use commoners in their games against each other. Liang also shows the softer side of King Fuchai, whom Xishi was sent to destroy, as well as the guilt she feels over her role in toppling his rule. I found myself highlighting many passages and thought the writing was beautiful.

Overall, this was a nicely paced tale of a young woman asked to use her beauty to destroy a kingdom, only to find that nothing is quite what it seems.

I didn’t love this as much as I thought I would. Personally, I felt like there could have been more character development and more buildup and details on certain subplots. I feel like we only scratched the surface on a lot of things. The romance between Xishi and Fanli, Xishi’s reasons for revenge, and the way Xishi made Fuchai become utterly devoted to her. I liked it enough but I felt like there was more story to tell with all of those points. Ultimately, I think this book was too short and the lack of development in those areas caused me to not feel as connected to the characters.

Also, what was the deal with Xishi’s heart? It’s mentioned multiple times but I still don’t really know what the point of it was.

Very thankful to have read this buddy read with blank. This book was unlike any other book I have read, given that falls outside of the usual genres that I read. I had seen this all over social media and managed to pick it up as an arc, but let it get lost in the phrase. It tells the story of a young woman who is chosen for her beauty and trained as a weapon to put in the palace of the rival kingdom. The hope is that the king will fall for her, let down his guard, and she would suggest moves that would allow her kingdoms soldiers to advance and seek retribution for the damages thid king and his soldiers had cost her people. She is trained by one man named Fanli who is her true love interest through everything.

I found the pacing up to one major celebration of warrior skill in the book where a lot of things happened at once. I think it was necessary possibly to show how long Xishi had to work, to be poised and focused in order to do what her kingdom needed. After this battle competition, the plot rushes at full speed to a high intensity ending. I found myself extremely moved by the conclusion of the story and enjoyed how it came back to Fanli and Xishis story in the end. This novel had really nice imagery and made me want to read more books set in this sort of place and time. I would recommend it to others.

The mind destroys, the heart devours.”

An interesting historical re-telling of a story I'd never read or heard of before. And, although I found the story itself interesting, I'm not sure this story stands out in the pile of other stories. It's tagged as fantasy and romantasy and I definitely didn't get those vibes at all.

I thought the story took a moment to get going with a very slow start. Xishi's a beauty and we hear about that a lot. She's plucked out of a village to be trained as a spy. Once she gets to the palace, the story got going. Even then, I didn't find the intrigue of palace life to be more interested than the town story and, although I liked how she'd worked both the king and a few of the other concubines, I found the pacing slow. I flipped to audio and did enjoy it a bit more but, ultimately, I'm not sure the story will stick with me. If you like court, political intrigue, and spies, than you might like this one more.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Through ads, the enemies to lovers trope is what drew me in. When I first read the synopsis, I expected this to be a story in third person that was a mix between the unrealistic web novel and the serious historical fiction. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the first person perspective and the intense descriptions of the main character’s traumatic experience with war. The main character was also thoughtfully written and her perspectives changed with her experience which made it easier to empathize with her difficult situation towards the end of the story. I would technically rate this book 4.5/5 since I was completely loving the ending until page 283's interaction with the boy.

I loved the poetic, emotional feel of this one—it pulled me in with a haunting kind of beauty. The story had a lot of depth, and I really enjoyed how it dealt with themes like memory and healing.

A gorgeous book with a fantastical setting and intriguing characters. This was my first book by Ann Liang and I definitely look forward to reading more of their work in the future.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

This book challenged me. It challenged me because it wasn't what I expected. I walked in thinking "fantasy" and thought magicians, warlocks, or some type of magical system would be at play. It wasn't. It was a throwback to the "fantasy" of an imagined world with a unique history. It is historical in nature, it is a battle of people who don't exist in a complex world. I was expecting the main character to have a specific trajectory. I was wrong. Liang kept me guessing after each moment. Some parts dragged, but overall, it was an effective story about revenge, about war, and about those in power and how it affects those without power.

I was really excited by what I found in this novel. It was reminiscent of the books I loved as a child. Xishi is a unique character because she's real. She knows she's beautiful, she knows what power she has, and she uses it effectively. She makes blunders, makes mistakes, but overall uses her own set of skills to the very end to make sure those who harmed her do not forget her. I was so unbelievable impressed with how grounded she was.

I also enjoyed the power battle in these books. It isn't always good triumphing. Good doesn't always have the best plan for moving forward. But the motivations and characters reacted realistically and every move was led with emotion and feeling. The book lost me with the love story, but I also think that it was realistic for the historical time period Liang set us in.

Uhmmm, I felt lied to because how is this book so highly rated. For starters, this book is NOT an adult romtansy. The only fantasy element is the mention of ghosts and the after life for about 2 chapters, so it’s definitely not a major plot point. Secondly, the romance felt VERY flat and felt very young adult. They literally kissed once in a dream, and the rest is just pining. The ending of the book left others feeling heartbroken, and I felt underwhelmed borderline glad that the suffering is over. The only positive of the book is that the author’s writing is very beautiful.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Song to Drown Rivers tells the tale of Xishi, a young woman of unparalleled beauty who lives in Yue.

She is recruited by military advisor Fanli to get close to the ruler of Wu, an enemy kingdom with whom they are frequently engaged in combat. Xishi spies on the inner workings of the Wu palace and succeeds in getting close to the king.

This she does despite the feelings she has developed for Fanli.

I was not familiar with the legend of Xishi. It is a bittersweet tale that reminds me of The Sword of Kaigen in the sudden way things change. I tearfully read the last part and walked away thinking of the old movie The Ghost and Mrs. Muir as there are great similarities between the two. I thoroughly enjoyed this and highly recommend it.

This book was very heavy and beautiful at the same time. It is riddled with war, death, deception, and love. There were plenty of twists and turns and political plot points. It was written well to keep you on your toes while also weaving beautiful moments in. I did not expect the ending and it is not a happy ever after in my opinion. The end felt strange compared to the rest of the novel, but it makes sense after some thought. I’d still prefer it to end earlier.

The publisher sent me a copy of this novel nearly a year ago, and I'm sorry it took me this long to read it. Once I got started, I couldn't put it down.

If you ever watched the La Femme Nikita series, this has similar vibes. Xishi's beauty isn't the only weapon she possesses - she's also trained to bewitch, manipulate, and kill. Once she arrives at the Wu court, she knows exactly how to play King Fuchai as well as his advisors. Xishi may be in love with Fanli, but she's there to do a job, risking her life every day as her kingdom is depends on her. If you're a romance fan hoping for a lot swoon-worthy scenes between Xishi and Fanli, be prepared - he only appears in roughly 25-30% of the story.

Let's talk about King Fuchai. On one hand, numerous people have suffered and died because of him. But he's also been used, manipulated, and compared to his father nearly his whole life. He seems to genuinely love Xishi and would do anything for her. Looking at other reviews, there's an unofficial fan club for the guy. Kudos to Liang for creating a villain with depth who inspires feelings of empathy. It's a delicate balance to create a character like him.

The ending was unexpected and one I didn't see coming - but it was beautiful. Recommended for fans of morally gray characters, royal politics, and slow burn romance.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

What I liked
-very fast paced
-inspired by Chinese history
-great narration and audio experience
-beautiful cover

What didn’t work
-characters feel a bit one dimensional
-maybe because I already know the history, it feels very predictable? I wish the author took more liberty with the reimagining
-i would consider this light magical realism than fantasy. There’s barely any fantasy 😅
-emotionally constipated men are not my fav trope so the romance wasn’t that interesting to me