Loved this unique fantasy/historical read. It took me a bit to get sucked into this story, but the last 30% had me completely hooked. That ending… 😭 The only thing keeping it from 5 stars is i wish there was a bit more actual romance in the pages.

Thank you so much to the author & publisher for this ARC!

In war-torn Yue, Xishi's exquisite face is more a curse than a blessing. It takes the acumen of Fanli, the deposed King Goujian's most trusted advisor, to see a third option and hone her beauty into a weapon. He trains the country girl as a courtesan and sends her to seduce and ruin King Fuchai, who overthrew Yue. While both Xishi and Fanli are too dutiful to act on their mutual attraction, it throbs on every page. Based on a Chinese legend, but the characters all seem fresh and vibrant.

ARC Review:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang

A beautiful woman, Xishi, is given by the Kingdom of Yue to their oppressors in an effort to gain back some trust. While training to be a spy from within the enemy’s court, Xishi develops a relationship with Fanli, the Yue’s military advisor. Will Xishi be able to help her Kingdom by taking down the king of the Wu?

This was such a beautiful story. It’s based on a legend I was unfamiliar with before reading this, but I can’t imagine this not doing it justice. The writing was descriptive, emotional, and flowed so well that I would often finish “just one more chapter” until I was long over due to stop reading. I liked the characters love story, but to me the best part was the way it discusses war and all the complexities that encompass it.

Thank you #netgalley and St Martins Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Such a beautifully written story. Filled with longing. I told Ann that I slowed down while reading so that I could savor it.

For a book told in first person, Xishi felt very distant. Her feelings for both Fanli and the king felt told rather than shown - especially the king as she supposedly grows more and more attached to him. I wanted to see more of her internal conflict, rather than just a handful of moments where she goes “well I guess he as a person isn’t so bad.”

What I loved most were the descriptive passages: the gruesome and violent tournaments, the opulent and elaborate palaces, the flashy and colorful banquets and dances. There were also some really good character death scenes, though specifying which ones would be major spoilers.

The passage of time was fairly unclear, though I suppose when looking back it’s obvious that certain things would take weeks or months to do, but as things were happening, the time needed to make them happen was unclear. I also had a hard time connecting the opening scene with the rest of the book; what was the point of it beyond introducing Fanli and Xishi without the barrier of Xishi’s unnatural beauty?

Overall, though, would definitely pick up more books by this author.

My second Ann Liang book. 4⭐.
I ummed and ahhh’ed about whether I wanted to give this book 3.5 stars or 4 stars... I think I'd just indulge Ann.(*shrugs)
The prose is surprisingly beautiful. Ann's writing is excellent, there were times she pulled me into the moment. The tension, the back-and-forth? Delicious.
Ultimately, though, I wanted more from this book.
Cons: too rose-tinted. The political scheming is amateurish and juvenile (never write schemes like that again plz, 这些基础的宫斗套路已经被中国女频网文用烂了😿). And each character just so flat that feels like a young adult, which, in my opinion, is the most YA aspect of this book. (Like, have you ever seen a 20-something king resists having sex with a stunning beauty who belongs to him and he's madly in love with for several years? Ridiculous.🤦‍♀️) But err I vibed with it anyway.
The ending was okay. I get it, and the way how Fan li handled Xishi's reputation did improve the ending's quality.
I think the story could have been longer, more comprehensive, and more detailed. It shouldn't have been limited by its length. In the end, I still appreciate Ann for telling the story of 西施 and 范蠡, creating a retelling that, while not highly original, is still beautifully done.

2.75 Stars

It was… fine.
I don’t know if it even deserves the three stars and I’m a little confused if I read the same book as all these five star reviews…

From the very beginning, I was disappointed with the instant love between Xishi and Fail. It felt so forced! She kept monologuing things such as “I only wanted the familiarity of Fanli’s touch” and “But I knew Fanli all too well” when she quite literally does not. They were together three months and then separated for years! She does not know him!! There were at least three other pairings in the novel that had more chemistry.
So much of it felt like filler. The actual plot lines were much too fast and shallow, leaving me underwhelmed and unaffected by what was clearly meant to be shocking and heartbreaking.

Mild, Vague spoilers below:

In addition, the “foreshadowing” wasn’t foreshadowing at all. The characters quite literally say aloud what their deaths ultimately will be. I caught on immediately and it took all suspense out of the novel. Finally, the end began to touch on some very important aspects of politics but only glossed it before going into depth about a lack luster romance.

The whole book completely fell flat, could have been a novella or at least much shorter, and read almost like a YA novel.. and not in a good way, unfortunately.

A Song to Drown Rivers is a historical fantasy based on the story of Xi Shi, one of China’s legendary Four Beauties. It follows the events of the legend very closely, with a few exceptions.

Xishi is so stunning that she comes to the attention of the King of Yue and his advisor, Fanli. They decide to train her as a spy and send her on a revenge mission to the neighboring King of Wu, using her to topple his regime. Posing as a concubine, she is meant to distract the enemy king and open the way for her people to invade.

It’s a beautiful story with skillful writing. I love a woman using her intelligence and turning men’s weakness, and incomprehension of her as more than an object, against them. The romance is bittersweet, (though not very spicy, for those looking for that) but what I liked most about this story was Xishi’s character growth. Her family experienced trauma at the hands of Wu soldiers, and so it’s understandable that she has a deeply ingrained hatred for all Wu people, considering them all heinous, murdering villains. Once forced to live among them, she begins to realize how similar Wu and Yue people are, and that the only thing truly separating them is a line on a map. She meets people who experienced the same atrocities she did, but at the hands of her own people. You can see as her world expands.

My only quibble is that there are aspects of this story that are unrealistic in terms of adult behavior, and the timeline is ridiculous – an untrained, innocent village girl is trained to become a royal spy extraordinaire in only 10 months? – but keep in mind, this is a YA book, so I don’t really count that against the story at all.

And that ENDING! Now that was entirely unexpected, and I loved it. For me, that ending made up for any minor criticisms I may have had along the way.

If you like historical fantasy, particularly inspired by Chinese legends, and you like YA romantasy, check this one out.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

i was NOT prepared for that ending...
like WHAT?!?!? why ann liang?!??!
i have actually not read a bad ann liang book, and i've read all of them now (if you could see the sun, this time its real, i hope this doesn't find you, i am not jessica chen)
she know how to write a perfect book in length, characters, general writing, and making you FEEL THINGS
i always love the chinese connections
and how can she write every genre so well
if you want a sad, historical fantasy, inspired by old chinese legend, beautiful characters and so much more, this book is definitely for you
i honestly don't know what else to say except read this when it comes out, as well as, ALL of ann liangs other books!
i loved absolutely everything about this

I loved this. Let me start by talking about the romance. A love triangle. Normally I'm not into this. It feels overdone and not unique anymore but this one really worked for me. The writing in this book is so good. The characters feel real. The ending was just ugh. I cried a lot.

Favorite Quote: How many women throughout history were blamed for the weaknesses of men? We made such convenient scapegoats. We were raised to be small, to be silent, to take whatever we were given and no more.

Story Synopsis: Xishi is the most beautiful woman in all the kingdoms, but lives in a poor village ravaged by war from the neighboring kingdom of Wu. She is selected to become King Fuchai’s concubine, but in doing so, also agrees to be a spy for her homeland, Yue. Trained and sent into the lion’s den, Xishi orchestrates a series of events to help bring down Fuchai and Wu. She must learn about love, loss, war, family, and her people.

Why does this book beguile? I LOVED this book.

Until the very end.

This is a fast, thrilling, and heart-rending read. But spoiler: no happy endings to be had. A Song to Drown Rivers is about sacrifice and sadness (not songs or rivers). As a reimagination of a Chinese legend, I didn’t expect a happy ending, however, this book ended similarly to The Song of Achilles (which I detested with the fire of a thousand suns). Great book til the last two chapters and then it all fell apart for me.

°˖➴ ꒰🪐꒱ <b>plot 〰️</b>: xishi is known for her beauty and is seen as a blessing to her village, yue. when xishi meets fanli, a military adviser, he proposes the idea of using her beauty to defeat the rivaling kingdom, wu. xishi agrees and becomes a spy, living with the king who is enchanted by her beauty. the only downside is: if xishi gets caught, then both kingdoms will be taken down.

౨ ✉️ ৎ <b>my opinion ✔️</b>: i really liked this! it held my attention and moved fast enough that i was interested <u>most of the time</u>. that being said, i did still have some issues, causing this to be not quite a 4star, but a 3.75. in usual ann liang fashion, both characters were amazing, both separately AND as a couple. the ending was bittersweet, sad yet later happy. i still dont know how to feel but i think i liked it? im glad that there was hea-ish ending <3 i also really enjoyed the writing! i've previously read '<i>i hope this doesnt find you</i>' and '<i>if you could see the sun</i>' both by ann liang and i liked the writing in those too! i have to say that i think <u>her writing had improved</u> in this book!

°˖➴ ꒰🪐꒱ <b>what i didn't like✖️</b>: as i said before, i was interested and entertained <i>most of the time</i>. this did get boring for me at times. it went pretty fast for most of the book, but at some parts it was SO SLOW! im glad i followed through with it though bcs i ended up really enjoying!

········· ꒰🏹꒱ <b>recommend❔</b> 👍🏻∿👎🏻
જ⁀➴ ···· ౨ 📖 ৎ ⤳ <i>yes!</i> if you usually like ann liang's books then i would say that yes! this is worth it! it is pretty different from her usual fluffy, cutsey, short, love-filt romances <i>BUT</i> it is still <u>just as good</u>!
<b>౨ৎ release date</b>: <u>10/1/24</u> ⁺˖ ✉️❕

Part historical fiction, part legend, “A Song to Drown Rivers” by Ann Liang is exotic and fascinating. This novel is based on the legend of the 4 Chinese Beauties. Xishi reportedly lived in China, in the Yue dynasty in about 400 B.C. She was a young girl in a poor village when she was picked to be a spy and infiltrate the court of the enemy, the Wu Dynasty.

Her story is written as beautifully as a lotus. Besides her exquisite looks, Xishi is intelligent, wily and persistent. She succeeds in her intelligence mission, but pays a terrible price. I found her sorry to be fascinating. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

✩˚.⋆4.75⋆⁺₊✧

“Don’t be a fool, I wish to tell him. I will meet you again in every lifetime there is.”

☾ ARC Review ☾

~ Filled me with pain and hatred, I love it. Her best so far. She needs to write more angsty stuff. I wouldn’t personally classify this as fantasy but I guess it is. It’s more historical cdrama vibes. Some interesting realizations about war and politics that I was hoping to touch on more. Satisfied my need for sadness and yearning. The rage, shock, and pain gave me physical reactions. The ending was complete enough and wasn’t something I guessed.

I have not stopped thinking about them since I finished this. I cried. The absolute heartache that it gives me to think about these characters, especially Fuchai. He’s kind of golden retriever/Cardan vibes. Like hate him all you want but that poor man deserved better. I love men in love I can’t even lie. Like I kept forgetting the bad things he had done because he was just such a simp and honestly I want him.

Thank you net gallery for the advanced copy of this book. This was a historical drama with tragedy and a little bit of forbidden love. A peasant girl is chosen to be a bride and a spy. The first-person narrative at the end was a little strange

Love the title and the cover. The title alone is a great example of what the book is like- very poetic. I really enjoyed it! I wish the backstory about the war was given more time to be explained. Overall, an enjoyable read if you like fantasy and retellings!

I am still crying over this book. Xishi is beautiful beyond and comes across Fanli, King Goujian’s adviser. He proposes she use her beauty to topple the Wu Kingdom. Their story becomes legendary and cautionary.

Best book I have read in a long time!

The book blends Eastern mythology with impressive world-building to tell a powerful and emotional forbidden love story with longing. I am interested to look into her other work! :)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reader's copy of the book. I give the author a huge round of applause and all the kudos. This book really kept me guessing what would happen. I honestly thought it would go one way, but then it went a totally different way and I was stunned. This is a beautifully written story and I became immersed in the world and didn't want it to end. Although it didn't end the way I expected it to, it was fantastic. I will be recommending this to all of my friends and family who read as well as to random strangers I meet. 10 out of 10.

I would love to review this book but unfortunately, St. Martin's Press still hasn't offered tangible steps for how they are going to mitigate the harm their racist employee caused, nor addressed how, moving forward, they will support and protect their Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and other BIPOC influencers, authors and readers.