A Song to Drown Rivers was so beautifully written! From the very beginning, Liang draws you in with her vivid descriptions of setting and situation - not only physical but also evoking the mood of the situation. There are so many sections I highlighted that felt like poetry.

This is the story of a beautiful girl who grew up in the shadow of war. She gets the chance for revenge and takes it. She realizes that maybe revenge and war are perhaps not as black and white as she imagined them. This was definitely another strong point of the novel - the horrors of war.

In that same vein, Liang did a great job building the relationship between Xishi and the Wu king. Such a conflicting relationship! Contrastingly, the relationship between Xishi and Fanli felt very "love at first sight." I wish that had been expanded on more. It felt rushed and rather basic. I wouldn't have said no to another hundred pages to flesh out relationships and experience more court intrigue!

Between the beautiful narrative descriptions of nature and the mysterious Fanli, I could imagine this being animated in a very Studio Ghibli/Howl's Moving Castle style.

Thank you NetGalley and Ann Liang for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGallery and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Very solid 4 stars for me. I enjoyed this one a lot. It had so many of the things I love in a good YA book, namely the forbidden romance and a bit of slow burn. My heart ached more than once reading this. The world building was also quite good and emotional at times.

The side characters in this were some of the highlights for me. I really enjoyed most of them, especially the enemy king Fuchai and maid/guard interactions. It made the world feel more real. I also really enjoyed some of the moral/grey areas the book brings up. I don't want to go into a lot of detail because of spoilers, but I thought the book brought up both sides of the Yue/Wu conflict well.

I would say the only things fell a bit flat for me were that the characters felt a bit one dimensional at times. The romance between Xishi and Fanli felt lacking at times. I wanted so much to love it, but in the end I found myself wanting more out of them. That said, it did not take away my enjoyment of the book. And the ending, WOW. No spoilers, just I thought the ending was fantastic and not the way I thought it'd end.

Very much recommended and definitely want to read more from Ann Liang!

This book was captivating! At times it was a little one dimensional (character and plot-wise) but endlessly entertaining! I was obsessed with the different relationships and the humanity portrayed time and time again! I love the constant themes of love (and all that pertains) and revenge. Be warned, it is a pretty violent book but I appreciate that there was no explicit sexual content.

I knew a little about the Chinese legend of the Four Beauties (including Xishi) prior to reading this book so I wasn’t sure what to expect, whether this was a reimagined story with the characters or a retelling of the tale. I was pleasantly surprised. It was both, and it’s beautifully written. There’s a deeper message about war and humanity that could have been buried in a romance which I’m finding more often than not in current books,. This book defied my initial assumptions that this would just turn into a historical romance. It’s not that at all.

→5✰
my heart is shattered.
ann liang, why did u do this to me? i am never recovering from this

-full rtc closer to the release date 💌

I went into this book without knowing at all what to expect. It is heartbreakingly beautiful in its story and it’s message. The ending is unlike any other I’ve experienced, but I found so much peace in it.

The political intrigue makes it such that you as a reader never know whom to trust. The book is short but makes its point incredibly well. Those who love Asian settings and culture in their reads will find this a perfect fit.

This reads along the same lines of The Lies of the Ajungo for me. The main character’s experiences drive home the themes without a need for elaborate world building or intense character arcs. I love this and cannot wait to have a physical copy on my shelf.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an eArc of this title. The review posted contains only my own opinions.

Shoutout to NetGalley for hooking me up with an early peek at this one. It's a gem—a hero's journey set in ancient China that had me hooked from the get-go. The vibe was new and original for me, and I enjoyed the mix of intrigue and romance. Our main character, Xishi, goes through some serious development, navigating love and doing what's right (even if that definition changes a bit along the way, as these things tend to). Romance, patriotism, and socialism take center stage, and the balance is excellent – no one theme steals the spotlight. Liang's descriptions are a feast for the imagination. I could practically taste, touch, and smell the settings. Emotions ran high, and though I wished a few things had gone down differently, it's still a beautiful story that's going on my recommendation list for the rest of the year. Give it a go if you're into ancient heroics with a side of romance.

Perfection!! this was absolutely amazing!!!I devoured this! this was so much more than what I expected!
OMG I'm literally speechless. when I tell you I ran to preorder this! I mean look at the cover it's stunning and those edges !! chef's kiss!
Can't wait to have this beauty on my shelf! Amazing read, definitely recommend! 10 stars!!

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review*

A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang
★★★☆☆
---

ARC received on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Song to Drown Rivers was a beautiful novel to read. The prose is captivating and lyrical, quite reminiscent of traditional Chinese poetry. The questions and ideas posed by Ann Liang within the story were thought-provoking and interesting to read. With this alone, I’d recommend A Song to Drown Rivers for anyone to read.

There were however, many things that made the book fall flat for me. What I loved about the novel was also its downfall. The excessive amount of poetic descriptions made the pace of the story feel rather slow. Xishi’s concubine training in 10 weeks from the poorest farmer girl to a snake in human flesh was simply unrealistic and glossed over. The romance between Xishi and Fanli was not compelling. Similar to the issue of the concubine training, it occurred off screen, and I would have found the tension and yearning more convincing had there been more development during their time living together. I would have been interested in reading a potential love develop between Xishi and Fuchai in comparison, despite how the legends go. Fuchai felt like the second-most fleshed out character in the story, apart from Xishi. There were a few more gripes that I had, but for the sake of avoiding spoilers I will omit them here.

This is not to say that A Song to Drown Rivers is a bad book by any means. While it is not a book I would re-read, I plan to read Ann Liang’s other stories in the future.

This book was the equivalent of being stabbed in the heart with a bejeweled dagger by someone who you called a friend. It was beautiful and heartbreaking and I don't know if I will ever recover from that ending. Ann Liang's contemporary novels are amazing, but they don't hold a candle to what she can do with fantasy. Liang weaves a breathtaking tapestry of star-crossed love, sacrifice, betrayal, and the reality of how blurred the lines of war are. I don't know if I have ever read a novel that tugged at my very soul like this before. A Song to Drown Rivers exceeded all of my expectations-- I cannot recommend it highly enough.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher that I was able to get an arc in exchange for an honest review.

We enter the Wu and Yue kingdoms, where a war has taken place and the Yue have fallen but want their revenge. We then meet Xishi, who is elegantly beautiful and can use it as a weapon. We then meet Fanli who recruits her on their mission to avenge the Yue kingdom and defeat the Wu. Xishi must captivate the king, Fuchai, and have him consumed by her while she takes the kingdom from the inside.

Ann did such a beautiful job with the writing style where she was able to express the background and different details of the characters and keep you hooked still on every word.

This is one of my first works by her and I am excited to see what else she has and has planned.

This story was a beautiful tragedy and I have no words to describe how much it broke me but how much I love it.

The only comment I want to make on this book is it left me feeling utterly destroyed in the best way possible. Immediately reading the rest of the authors catalog but also slightly concerned with what I may be getting myself into.

I received this book from NetGalley. Like all the other books I have read from NetGalley, I am not obligated to write reviews. I liked this book so much I preordered a copy for my shelves.
It is inspired by one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China.
Readers who enjoy historical fiction, strong female, and male characters, slow burn clean romance, Ancient China, and Chinese legends will love this book. It is about what it means to be a woman, a person. Where your value and worth lies. It is also about duty, war, revenge, and seeing both sides of a coin.
I truly enjoyed it.

Description
Preorder now and receive the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last―featuring a gold foiled cover, gorgeous sprayed edges with stenciled artwork, as well as exclusive metallic ink patterned endpapers and unique foiled front and back case stamps. This breathtaking collectible is only available on a limited first print run, a must-have for any book lover.

“Exquisite and devastating. It won’t fail to move you.” —Shelley Parker-Chan, #1 bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun

Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic historical fantasy about womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love against all odds as the fate of two kingdoms hangs in a delicate balance.

Her beauty hides a deadly purpose.

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.

"Stunning and heart-rending." —Chloe Gong, #1 bestselling author of Immortal Longings

Wow! What a rich, beautiful story!
This was truly an experience and I could not put down my kindle.

The world building is exquisite. From the smallest of details to the overarching plot... It was just perfect.

Liang does an excellent job reimagining the Legend of Xishi. You feel Xishi's emotions, the rawness and the anger.
And what absolutely broke me was her acceptance at the end. How unfair and tragic was that ending.

That said, there were some issues with the pacing/timing in a few places, that caused me to do some back reading. The time that threw me off the most was when it was implied that about a year has passed in one spot, but then Xishi refers to it only having been a few weeks. This was mildly distracting, as her interaction with another character would have made sense with the time only being a few weeks, but not it having been a year.

This was still a solid 5⭐ read for me though!

I'm withholding my review in solidarity with the St. Martin's Press boycott and will be happy to post my review once the #SpeakUpSMP demands have been met.

This was genuinely one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read!

I haven’t read many other historical fantasies but this has convinced me that I need to read more because of how much I loved it.

The writing was absolutely stunning . It made the story so much more impactful and really made me feel connected to the characters and their stories. The characters she wrote were so complex that I couldn’t tell who I was supposed to love and hate at times.

The romance in this book was done so perfectly!! There was soo much tension and longing. I felt more through one of their glances than I have through some entire romance books. I also appreciated how the love story never took away from the important messages in the book but it was also never overshadowed by them.

Thank you to Netgalley, Ann Liang, and St. Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I finished A Song to Drown Rivers less than five minutes ago. I am broken and I am healed and I am changed. Xishi -the girl who becomes the blade- has carved her name into my heart. This is my first Ann Liang book and I am absolutely blown over by the beauty, the tenderness, the soul tearing heartache of this story. The ugliness of war is perfectly balanced by the delicate gentleness of love -between mother and child, lovers real and counterfeit, long-lost fathers and their daughters on a bloody journey for vengeance. The Asian representation I've longed for is so present throughout the entire book. Xishi's mind is so vivid, handled with such care -from the details of the food she eats to the description of the silk threads she washes in cold river water. I can only hope that we are lucky enough to meet these characters again in another story from Ann. I will think of Fanli and Xishi and Fuchai and Luyi and all the rest fondly until then, or until we meet them again on the other side of the river.

Ebook received for free through NetGalley


An incredible with characters and scenery and everything that grabs you and doesn’t let you go. I’m so glad I came across it.

I absolutely love Ann Liang’s books, and it was cool to see her writing a different genre! I will say, I don’t think the genre is really for me. But, that being said, there were still moments I enjoyed, and I think the overall story has a lot that can be taken away from it.

“I would burn this kingdom down into ashes, turn all its men into smoke”

‘A Song To Drown Rivers’ is a gripping tale about politics, war, sacrifices, and brutal yearning. It is, without a doubt, in my mind that Ann Liang is a brilliant writer. Her prose was vibrant and dreamlike — I was lost in the world she designed. This book was an utter, irrevocable gut-punch, filled with furtive glances and clandestine touch.

It makes me sad that I didn’t enjoy this as much as I hoped I would. While the writing was intricate and captivating, for 80% of the book, there was never enough suspense or stake. Xishi always wins in everything she plans: she managed to drew in the King from the first moment they met, and turned her court enemies to allies with one conversation.

Many Thanks to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC! <3