This was a beautifully written historical fantasy. Based on the description, I was expecting a romantasy book, but the romance, although present, took a back seat to other elements. I really enjoyed the book, especially its influence from Eastern mythology.

Ann Liang is such a fantastic writer that you can't help but get swept away when reading her books, A Song to Drown Rivers included at first. While not my favorite book of hers, this was still beautiful to read. Filled with adventure and love,I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good historical fantasy.

A Song to Drown Rivers started off strong, and I really enjoyed the worldbuilding at the start. My students tend to be very interested in the romantasy genre, and I know that the Eastern hemisphere broadly is underrepresented on my shelves. Unfortunately, I don't think I will be recommending this one to students in the end. The main character, Xishi, wavers between Mary Sue and simpering, and while much is made of her intense and overwhelming beauty, little is made of her actual abilities. My girls are already insecure enough about their looks. Every single piece of media they choose to interact with reinforces the idea that their physical form is the only thing that gives them any value or merit. I am not particularly interested in adding even more to a pile of media with the worst intentions and effects. That is especially true since there isn't a single functional relationship in the book. The text treats Fuchai remarkably warmly, despite establishing him as a despot, Xishi spends the whole book mooning over Fanli, who has basically no established personality, the only character with any particularly interesting motives or movements was Zhengdan, who died halfway through (which reinforces the idea that the quiet, "good girl" who is sexually submissive to a tyrant gets all the rewards). For a story based in such a strong character and fascinating legend, it left me feeling at best "meh", and at worst, scummy.

Don't get me wrong, I think this book will have an audience. I am certain a lot of people will read and enjoy it and not think critically about it. I could see it doing well on TikTok, which might be the only thing that matters from a publisher perspective. I just think it needs some really thoughtful revision.

I'm going to have to re-read this a couple of times. This is a book that once you start reading, you can't put it down. I admit this isn't my normal style of book, but it was interesting for me to venture out of my normal domain

This book was beautiful. The world building and almost poetic language was enthralling. I loved the love triangle, the themes of sacrifice, betrayal and war. It was so well done. I loved the elements of mythology, it really added a whimsical element to this stunning story. I really have nothing bad to say. I loved this book and I don't want to add spoilers but do yourself a favour and read this!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Giving this a 4.5 our of 5. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This is my year to read all of the Asian mythology inspired stories, and this one did not disappoint. While a lot of the development of the Xishi's love interest happens off script, the romantic tension between those two could be cut with a knife. It reminds me a lot of Pride and Prejudice, in that little touches or glances here or there are relaying their desire instead of explicit scenes.

The pacing of the story starts off a bit slow during Xishi's training, but then once she is in the WU empire I feel like things start moving really really fast. You are jumping ahead months to a year from one chapter to the next, and I understand why this had to be done, but it was still jarring a bit while reading.

Overall this is a fantastic story and I hope the author continues with stories of the other Great Beauties of Chinese mythology.

Wonderful! I would love to read more books like this from the author! Personally I did love the love triangle that was in this book. Even though the main interest was obvious I still had such a fun time reading it. This was a beautiful and emotional book that had me sobbing by the end.

Incredibly moving and well written. The prose and imagery are beautifully done; the story broke my heart. I am so glad that death was not the end.

“A Song to Drown Rivers” is a beautiful and heartbreaking story! Readers need to get the tissues ready! Xishi’s grace and beauty is well known within her village of Yue. She is to be used as a weapon against her enemies, by hopefully making the enemy king fall in love with her while she schemes behind his back. It’s a dangerous game!! She evolves from a simple village girl to a pivotal player in the political intrigue of the Wu Kingdom.

Ann Liang is an amazing writer! This book delves into power games, espionage, and the irresistible power of beauty, with great characterization that allows us to engage with each character deeply! The story was very well paced and I was on the edge of my seat from chapter to chapter! The ending was shocking! I LOVED THIS BOOK! I wish I could give it 10 stars!!!

Big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this so much. It’s rare for a book to make me feel something, even rarer for a book to make me cry, and this book did both. I love tragedies, and that’s what A Song to Drown Rivers was.
The characters were very likable yet complex; I like how their morals weren’t perfect, yet they were still good people. Xishi’s care and sympathy for others battling against her need for revenge balanced the narrative.
The romance was insta-lovey, or at least not the most well developed due to the pacing of the book and the scarce time Xishi had together, but I still found it compelling.
4.5 stars rounded up. I wish it had been longer, as that would have given to the potential to have been even more devastating.

Ann Liang’s A Song to Drown Rivers is an emotional exploration of sacrifice and revenge.

Xishi is an unparalleled beauty who lives in a remote Yue village, terrorized by nightmares of her younger sister’s murder at the hands of Wu soldiers.

Enter Fanli, a famous military advisor to the Yue King. Fanli is searching for a beautiful girl to send as a bride to the Wu King, someone who can be trained as a spy and work to undermine the Wu kingdom.

Enlisting Xishi for this mission, Fanli trains her in deception, cunning, and intrigue. Xishi learns to use her beauty as both a weapon and as armor.

As Xishi climbs ranks with the Wu court and captures the attention of the Wu King, she finds it harder and harder to maintain her hatred. Yet, ultimately, she knows what she must do and the price she must pay for failure.

How much must Xishi sacrifice? For her family, her kingdom, and to avenge her sister? Who is the true enemy within this complicated web of lies?

This is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I loved the character development, the pacing, and the rise and fall of emotions. If this doesn’t leave you teary-eyed, you may have a heart of stone.

A Song to Drown Rivers is an incredibly interesting concept. Our primary character is a peasant in a village that was a part of the Yue Kingdom, but is currently ruled by the Wu Kingdom. The author does a good job of making you hate the Wu Kingdom. You are led to feel like they are the ones totally at fault for the troubles in the village; their poverty, the soldiers who use too much violence, and the death of her younger sister some time prior to the story itself. Likewise we are led to love our primary characters and get very in depth with their flaws and traits. The character development was really well done from the ones we love, to the ones we hate, and the ones we're honestly sure how to morally pin them.

The story itself was a bit lost on me, personally. The plot felt a bit too far fetched at points and that there were some portions of the story with too much detail and others with not enough. For example, being instantly willing to stand up to people who surely pose a threat to her; Foreshadowing that something would happen to her parents by saying she would regret leaving in the night without saying goodbye only for them to be totally fine when she returned, and the last chapter and a half of the book feeling completely detached from the rest of the story. I also struggled to follow the timeline to the story, she spoke of things taking a year to pass by at times, but then followed that by something that would have happened within the years time.

Overall the concept really drew me in. Peasant girl is called upon to be a spy to help save her kingdom and create peace, yet is that really the way to create peace. Can we create peace when those in power only want to maintain their power and continue to grow the land they own? Just wish the book felt a bit more believable and put together.

Wow, this book really took my by surprise. I loved this so much!

This book was heartbreaking, intriguing, layered, and for some reason gave me similar vibes to the Poppy War? I truly loved the characters in this book, especially the main character. It's very rare you come across an undeniably beautiful character. Most fmc's are "not like other girls" or "average" and somehow snag the hot bad boy, but this one was different.

I truly loved the plot of this book. It was enchanting, and super fast-paced. I honestly didn't see the ending coming. I really wish this book was longer, or maybe even a series because I would have loved for the author to take more time with developing the timeline and relationships between the characters. I just wanted more time and details with this story because I loved it that much!

Provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful retelling of the legend of one of the four great beauties of China! I do hope Ann continues to write the stories of the other three women, because that would make an incredible collection!

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and shed many-a-tears.
This is a retelling of a Chinese folk-story - Xishi is one of the Four Great Beauties in Chinese legend. The story stays true to what is typically understood (minus some timelines), including the names of important people (Fuchai, Goujian, FanLi). Nobody really knows what happened to Xishi at the end, I admired how the author weaved those two endings into the story - and chose what I think was the most impactful and appropriate ending for her (much to my chagrin, but a necessary one).
As a Chinese immigrant, I really cherished this digestible, and authentic version of the story for my understanding - so I could gain a piece of my heritage.

The book wasn't perfect - I thought the writing was adolescent, and many plot items just wasn't there - happened off-page. For example, the development of the romance, although convincing enough I weeped (because I'm a sucker), was really fast and -just happened-. I think the author's writing can benefit from more 'showing' rather than 'telling'. This is more largely apparent when we get to the latter half - when she's enticing the enemy, being a feminist spy icon, and illustrating the book's overarching lesson (which I'm very glad there is one) - it was all very direct and unconvincing. I never learned who Xishi really was - how was she so charismatic, and smart, and brave to topple a kingdom?

I hope Ann Liang continues with the 3 other Great Beauties in a series, and continue to develop her writing.

A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Ling is a beautifully written story about love and revenge. The words falling across the page like poetry, touching memories I had long forgotten and breaking my heart. Xishi and Fanli's story is a heart wrenching slow burn of forbidden romance. I read this book in one sitting, engrossed with the story and the characters, highlighting line after line of quotes. I have recommended it to everyone I know and plan to re-read it before it releases.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this copy of A Song to Drown Rivers in exchange for an honest review! I think this book is a wonderful historical fantasy novel! It surprised me in many ways. I found it to be a little light on the fantasy and more of a historical fiction novel. That did really work for me though as that's one of my favorite genres. But I think it's important that people aren't expecting a more traditional fantasy style book. I definitely did enjoy this story and I think others will too. The prose is wonderful and the story is one you can easily read in a single sitting. I would say overall this is a 4.5 I would round up to a 5!

Fair warning that A Song to Drown Rivers is not a romance. There is a love story, but this is not a romance. I don't think it's advertising itself as such at all and I never thought it was a romance. But in case someone is confused I just want to make sure that's clear. Now that we know that, I do want to compliment the love story. It was one that I was actually expecting not to like because it is a love triangle. I'm just never really a fan of those. That's why I was pleasantly surprised by how well this one worked in the story. It actually fit in the context of the story. Xishi is a beautiful woman working with and being trained by Fanli to turn her beauty into a weapon. They grow closer and have a connection. She wants revenge against the Wu Kingdom and is sent to seduce the king of the Wu Kingdom, King Fuchai in order to achieve that vengeance (among other reasons). This creates an interesting dynamic for the two of them, The story is woven with these complexities and is primed for betrayals that it makes the love triangle make sense while being so beautifully painful and tragic. Ann Liang has done a masterful job, especially with a trope I truly never seek out.

A Song to Drown Rivers did a great job with the characters. Fuchai is my favorite, but everyone is so well-crafted and feels real. That makes the sacrifices and the losses so much more heart-rending. I also think this book does really well with the world-building. It gave me what I felt was necessary and I was never confused, even with the complexities of warring nations and political intrigue. I think the plot is engaging, though at times, especially earlier in the book, things work out a bit too conveniently for Xishi in my opinion. The twists at the end had me completely shocked. I would say that was well-done in how things were unexpected while still making sense for the story. But wow was I caught off guard!

This book will break your heart in a way only a talented author can do to you, and if that's something you want then A Song to Drown Rivers is worth a read!

What a wonderful read! Heartbreaking and emotional, this story will take you on the most rewarding adventure.
Beautiful prose, the writing is top notch and while I won't give any spoilers, the last 1/4 of the book will have every bit of your attention! That's not to say that the rest isn't good...far from that...but i could NOT PUT THIS DOWN!!

Love, betrayal, war and the ultimate sacrifice. Stunning!!!!

"The mind destroys; the heart devours."

Xishi is such an amazing character - beautiful and strong and brave, but scared too. And the more she learns, the more dangerous she becomes.

"It is quite a different thing to help someone when it puts yourself at risk." But this is what I adore about Xishi. Though everything seems to change, her soul does not.

"She would have been trapped there forever, a bird caught in a cage. Everything within her would have wilted until only her beauty remained. But here, she was radiant."

The danger is quite real. This story moves at lightning speed. And the ending hurts like a knife.

Wow, this was excellent. It’s a retelling of the life of Xishi from Ancient China—I wasn’t familiar with the original story, but this book was compared to *She Who Became the Sun* (which I loved) so I picked it up right away. It definitely had similarities: the writing was top notch, we had an amazing female protagonist, and the characters were all complex and interesting.

I couldn’t put it down.

I do want to note: I’m seeing this shelved in lots of places as fantasy or romantasy, and while it is the retelling of a legend, there aren’t really any fantasy elements. Don’t let that stop you, though! It certainly *reads* like a fantasy book in terms of scope and pacing.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press!