Oh My...
FIRSTLY, ANN LIANG HAD HOLD OF MY HEART WITH THIS TALE. It's tragic and gripping and honestly just WOW.

You can expect an epic fantasy, that explores womanhood, beauty, war, sacrifice and love, which will grip you from page one and pull on your heart strings.

Not only is "A Song to Drown Rivers" a captivating read with a exquisite romance, but it's a tale that explores how war effects everything, how kings often fight not for their people but power and how women navigate war, love and sacrifice. It's a tale filled with strong women standing up for what they believe to be right. The espionage and political intrigue was on POINT, the characters were all realistic and complex, the world was well crafted and I know this tale won't leave my mind anytime soon.

Ann Liang has crafted a seamless and beautiful tale, one that gripped both my attention and my heart.

So, I've read Liang's first two books (Her third is sitting on the top of my physical TBR; I promise I'll get to it soon), both of which have been YA. With how much I enjoyed her writing and characters, I thought they would translate well into this book.

I've been wrong about numerous things before, and I will continue to get things wrong.

Despite the depth and lush Liang puts into setting and descriptors, the character building I've come to expect from her has vanished here. We're told who the characters are through Xishi's eyes, but I personally couldn't find much interesting about anyone them beyond what they do/say throughout the story. It doesn't help that Xishi is so mind-numbingly obtuse about Fanli before continuing to pine for this dude after spending two and a half months training with him (They only see each other in person one time while she's in Wu). It's even worse when you consider the training is brushed away in three chapters, leaving all their development and relationship building completely obscured to the reader. I could care less about this romance. Xishi dying and Fanli's mourning of her didn't magically make it better for me.

One thing I will give Liang is the country-girl-turned-spy. Despite me suspending my belief at the timeline, spy Xishi was actually interesting. She had to blackmail fellow concubines, and she actually started to sympathize with Wu's king (Who I didn't find as dynamic as Xishi was, but her sympathizing with her kingdom's number one enemy was in itself pretty intriguing). There were also some hints that Yue weren't any better, that both sides' views of the other were a reflection, but it's not as explored in depth as much as it should.

Overall, this book wasn't for me. It's clear this will touch a lot more people than I, and I wish them all the best for it.

I had high hopes for this following the slew of excitement that surrounded Ann Liang's announcement of an adult romantasy book. Unfortunately, this book fell short on both the above aspects for me.

The world-building was minimal, but more or less sufficient to establish a sort of context for the characters. Context, because I feel that it wasn't enough to really flesh out any background. Unfortunately, with this pegged as "adult romantasy", I expected more in terms of a magic system, or even just any element that could be considered marginally fantastical. This can't even be pegged as an alternate history, but rather, it falls awkwardly in between fantasy and history. All that was present, however, felt more YA than adult, whether in content, characterisation or writing style.

There are a lot of myths surrounding Xishi, and I really appreciated this attempt to humanise her, but it didn't hit for me: descriptions didn't seem to go past her looks, even with her love interest (who was introduced in rather a shallow manner, I felt, albeit at a very opportune juncture), who didn't make much of an impression at all. However much Xishi got in personality, Fanli got even less, simply because of how they seemed to be falling in love with each other, the moment they met. This insta-love trope might have worked out, had they gotten more chances to interact down the line, but instead, Xishi spends her time pining while Fanli is supposedly performing his soldierly missions elsewhere.

The pacing was also a little clunky for me. The story was a slight drag, with Xishi supposedly being the emperor's concubine, but we never had anything in that area that would qualify as "adult" in the least. The book picked up a little toward the last quarter, but with the lack of eventful-ness in the first three quarters, the timeline felt excessively rushed.

I do wish I could have enjoyed this as much as many others seem to. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

unfortunately i ended up dnfing this at 25% - as much as i was excited for the story and to read a retelling of xishi i just could not get into this.

i think it would work well for ya audiences though!

thank you so much to netgalley, the publisher and the author for the arc 🫶🏻

A Song To Drown Rivers was a wild ride.

ASTDR was engaging from start to finish and I respect Liang for the ending she gave but I do think my man Fuchai deserved better.

It read like a YA fictional historical romance to me, and I think it worked as a YA novel but not a an adult novel for that I think more detail could have been added in during the 'battle' scenes - as short as they were, more exploration of the military history/history in general, just something could've elevated the story more. I'm glad that the initial instant love between Fanli and Xishi was developed through her training, that natural progression stopped the romance from being totally insta-love. Although, there was a lot that didn't make sense in some of the actions of the characters that made me think the novel was more YA than Adult. For example, Zhengdan's Inigo Montoya moment going totally against her training. I'm not sure what the fantasy elements were supposed to be if that categorisation referred specifically to the last few pages but I thought it was misleading in that sense. I also like Fuchai and whilst I am aware that ASTDR is inspired by the legend of Xishi, I think Liang could have done something more with his character who was in a way pathetic, perhaps a redemption.

The ending was brave and Liang hit home with the emotional torture I just went though.

Thank you to Ann Liang, Pan Macmillan, Tor and Netgally for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

BOYS WHAT WAS THAT ENDING THIS BOOK WAS PHENOMENAL.
Ok first off i personally loved both Fanli and Fuchai 🫡🫢 soooo whooo do should i chose to love more…. (I haven’t decided yet but if i have to make a guess i think i like Fanli more even though we didnt get to see relationship/romantic Fanli 🫥💔)
SECONDLY WHY DID THEY ALL HAVE TO DIE BROOO MY HEART CANNOT TAKE THIS I WAS SO PREPARED TO SEE XISHI AND FANLI’S FUTURE TOGETHER. FANLI IS TOTALLY A GIRL DAD YOU CANNOT TELL ME HE IS NOT.
THIRD WHY IS THE KING STILL LIVING AND RULING 🤨🤨🤨 BRO NEEDED REVENGE FOR KILLING OUR GIRL LIKE THAT LIKE HOW DARE HE 👿 HE IS THE REASON WE GET TO SEE XISHI AND FANLI’S ENDING HOW DARE HE STEAL OUR FLUFFY ROMCOM SCENES.
NOW DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON THAT PLOT BOYS IT WAS SOOO GOOD. I kept thinking of the other concubines and it was giving the book The Selection and i was so scared that it was going to turn out a disaster like that but my girl Ann Liang just knows how to write a good book just like every other shes written so far shes just a queen.
BACK TO THE PLOT BOYS THAT ENDING I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING I WAS LIKE FANLI’S NOTE IS SO STRANGE THEN BOOM SHES THROWN INTO A RIVER?!? 😨
….Honestly such queen behaviour death like shoutout to xishi for dying in such a dramatic flawless way.

ALSO BIGGGGGGGG SHOUTOUT TO NETGALLEY FOR GIVING ME AN ARC THEY ARE THE REAL ONES HERE THEY JUST KNEW I NEEDED AN ANN LIANG BOOK AND WAS LIKE I GOTCHA🫡😋 (delulu)

OKAY NOW FOR MY FAV QUOTES 😈😈😈
(Only a few since netgalley doesnt have highlighters 😔💔)

Fanli-“i do not need the silk to remember you” she was literally the reason he was sent there 😜 bro was disappointed his secret crush was the girl he was going to have to send away
Fanli - “But what good is the world..if she is gone” (he needs a wee hug fr)
Fuchai - “I dont think I will ever tire of hearing you call me by my name” (Hes so me - A hopeless romantic🥰 )

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.
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.

Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC.

So. This was most definitely NOT bad by a longshot. As a retelling of the legendary Xishi, it started off unremarkable but decent in the first 20% ... then got MUCH more interesting once she got into the enemy king's palace as a honey trapper, so much so I breezed through that portion quickly ... and then it fell flat hard. The ending left me so dissatisfied; given how Xi Shi's life ended on different accounts, Ann Liang sure picked the most unsatisfactory one. And in a way that robbed her of all agency in life.

You've got such great potential of a honey trap story in Xishi, but it was all rushed, too easy/convenient, far too insufficient palace intrigue, and ultimately felt like one big wasted opportunity. Firstly, it felt too unbelievable that a rural young girl could be trained to be a refined lady skilled in education, the arts, etiquette, and manipulation in all of two and half months. She would be competing with practically a hundred other women who have been groomed for half their lives. At least the original tale of how she took three years was more believable.

Then, what bored me the most was her romance with Fanli, the Yue king's strategist who is the mastermind of the honey trap. Yes, he's handsome and saved her life, but they barely spent enough time developing a proper love story, given that he had to train her in everything and then she's off to carry out her mission. I can somewhat see why Xishi would fall for the first decent man unrelated to her, but Fanli falling *desperately* in love with her felt shoehorned in. I didn't care their romance at all and ended up skimming their scenes. I wanted to read more of Xishi's mission!

The book also did attempt to introduce some moral conflict in Xishi, by having her question that not all of Wu are the enemy like the soldier who murdered her sister and their brutal king. But it all felt like an afterthought and poorly developed. Honestly, while this is marketed as an Adult book, it could've easily been upper YA given how everything felt like a sanitized and simplified tale of what is essentially sexpionage, repackaged for a younger audience. I don't require explicit scenes, but there was not enough cunning or ruthlessness or complexity offered.

While all this sounds like I'm hard on the book, it's because the parts that I DID enjoy felt like it was building up to something great. Xishi's resourcefulness in thwarting a jealous concubine, her strategy to reel in King Fuchai by playing hard-to-get... I wanted more of that, especially when you want me to buy that Fuchai fell in love with her to the point of irrationality.

Lastly, and this is a minor ick ... the book title doesn't make any sense. What song? Xishi doesn't depend on her singing. What rivers is she drowning? There isn't even a made up proverb to allude to that.

DNF after 20%.

The pacing is absolutely insane, you never really stay in.a scene for a while and everything feels extremely rushed. Things just happen without any rhyme or reason but just because the plot needs it to happen.
I basically know nothing about any characters except the FMC and the Love Ineterest are both extremely good looking, the FMC lost her sister and doesnt have a poker-face and the LI is extremely good at everything. They don't really feel like people and the dialogue is very to the point and without much personality in my opinion.
Everything just feels very shallow and while there are a lot of flowery descriptions they too feel empty and like they don't mean anything.

This book will find it's audience in people who enjoy an easy, fast read with nothing much to think about but it's not for me.

I couldn't push myself to read further. Due to a flowery prose and a lacking characterization, I didn't care at all for the protagonist nor the story. The romance was lackluster and there was barely any fantasy element to deserve to be tagged as fantasy. It's a pity that I didn't reach the end, because I know that I would enjoy an anti conventional ending, but I didn't care for the characters.

the mind destroys, the heart devours

I am devastated. What a story, what an ending. I'd be crying rivers if it weren't for the very last paragraph.

But let's breathe and start with the beginning. This is a retelling of the Four Beauties of Ancient China with Xishi at its centre. The core plot is rather straightforward, with Xishi being sent into the enemy's palace - and bed - to spy and topple kingdoms.
However, the way this is executed is so so well done and will leave you with all the feels. We are deep in Xishi's POV, and from the very first chapter my heart was aching for her. She's a tool, a pawn, but she's also given the chance to achieve greatness....or become a monster.

The story is super tight and there is not an ounce of fat, as every word and sentence is deliberate and masterfully placed.

The people around her - most of all Zhengdan, Fanli und Fuchai - are well formed, but they're serving to heighten Xishi's tragedy. Which is not a criticism at all, because this book might be about war and kingdoms, but it is Xishi's story.
Don't expect romantasy or even a lot of fantasy elements - because this book is not about that. And it doesn't need it.

Be ready to get your heart devoured.

5/5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @panmacmillan for the eARC!

#ASongToDrownRivers #Netgalley #Bookstagram

A song to drown rivers is a retelling of the story of Xi Shi, one of the legendary "Four Beauties" of ancient China, and known for her role in a tale of espionage to weaken king Funchai and defeat the Wu kingdom.

The story is mostly aligned with what I know of it, except for the training time Xi Shi endured with Fanli (3 years vs 13 weeks in the book). I wish the author have kept the timeline, showing us more of Xi Shi training to become a spy. I believe this would have had a great impact on character development, which feels a bit poor in the book, adding layers and angst to the main characters storyline. Also, though her beauty was a great asset, only combined with other skills could she really tilt the balance. This could have also worked to give us more historical background, which I consider relevant in the genre.

I loved the writing style, which drew me in the story immediately after I started reading it. The ending was very emotional and it was my favorite part of the book. I’m sure it will break many readers hearts.

Recommended for YA and new adult historical fiction readers.

<i>I would like to thank Pan Macmillan | Tor and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Thank you to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this
book. Overall, this adaptation of the retelling offers an intriguing premise
and showcases a distinct writing style that I appreciated. However, I found
some portions of the narrative to be rather slow and unengaging. Had this
not been an ARC, I might have struggled to finish it.
Additionally, the pacing of the story was challenging throughout, leaving
me only fully invested towards the end. The genre classification as
historical romance fantasy seems misaligned, as the book read more like a young
adult novel.
Thank you again for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was not a bad book, but it was definitely not great. Whenever it comes to fantasy I have high expectations, so naturally I expected a lot from this book. I expected a brilliant plot, beautiful prose, heartwarming romance, in-depth political themes and historical background, and cunning plot twists. This book struggled to deliver most of them.

First, this book was marketed as New Adult, but it was mostly YA. The only adult-ish stuff was the slight violence but combined that with the slightly juvenile dialogue and basic plot, it seemed off. Our MC is a concubine, set to seduce our King, yet all they did was talk and cuddle? See I'm not a fan of smut, but this is one of the books where smut scenes felt necessary to aid the plot. Even if they're faded to black, or just casually mentioned. It also seemed a bit too easy too, how he trusted her.

Second, the plot was original enough, but overall there was nothing special about it. There weren't other plotlines weaving through our main one and adding depth, so the story felt flat. I wasn't bored, the book was too fast-paced for that, but this wasn't the most interesting book I've read.

Third, speaking of pace, this book seemed rushed. The writing was beautiful, I'll give Ann that, but there was definitely a lot of telling and not showing, especially when it came to describing the passage of time. We're told that several weeks pass at a time, and but we're not shown any of it. Every phase of the book passed like this so quickly, that it came off as rushed and unrealistic. For example, Fanli and Xishi spent ten weeks training, but this was only around 50ish pages in the book.

Fourth, now for the romance; it was cute. Nothing special, we don't really get a lot of Xishi and Fanli content, but what we do get, I enjoyed. It also seemed a bit rushed, but for once I'm not complaining, I had fun with it. I also have a lot of things I want to say about Xishi and Fuchai, but for the sake of not leaking spoilers, I'll keep my mouth shut.

Fifth, I have issues with the political background. The world building and the history of the two kingdoms we're told felt threadbare. It was an important part of the plot, but we're only told the bare outlines. There was so much potential to build up depth, to bring in parallels from history, to show us the truth about war and its side effects. We had segments where Xishi learned that it's not all black and white, and that both sides suffer. But we barely linger on those moments, and that felt like a huge loss to me. It all felt flat. Ann's specialty is romance, I don't think she was equipped enough to build up a proper Fantasy world and background. Which is to say, the political themes felt amateurish, I don't know if Ann is the right author to handle it.

Sixth, the ending. I won't spoil it, but it was definitely my favorite part. It also seemed slightly rushed, but after how predictable most of the book was, the twist caught me completely off guard. I know most people won't be happy with it, but I was glad to see something original and exciting. It was probably one of the only saving graces of the book, my rating would've dropped to two stars otherwise.

To conclude, I've read worse books. But I was still disappointed. I think Ann should stick to romcoms and contemporary books, they're her speciality. I'd recommend this book to a new fantasy reader, but if you've been reading fantasy since day 1, you can save your time and pick up a better book.

Xishi , if people have ever been into the Chinese books they may heard the beauty xishi who seduce fuchai of wu kingdom. The original plan was a scheme to win the war against Wu's. So much the book actually written base on this script. The story start how when xishi went to wash silk in the river he saw some Wu's guys chase a girl to cause harm. it seems like she take one pear from them so the guy decided to kill her when xishi heroisem worked and she throws a stone and broke the pursuer to become the new target to be killed when suddenly Fanli the adviser of the goujian great army showed up and scare the Wu guy. As the story goes, fanli decided that xishi is a good candidate to be sent to the King of Wu fuchai who is known to only care about woman and drinks so she could spy and also interfere in the affairs of Wu and also if possible seduce fuchai so he become corrupted and wouldn't be able to conclude a good decision and lose the war.

The story is xishi pov and from the start we only have the view of third person and xishi. Her opinion in the book is somehow mixed up with modern girl like " how could one don't know she is beautiful when been told all her life , and be expected to act shyly?" So I think it's kind of foreign to think like that when it's completely shows the old Chinese don't look at woman more than a tool of marriage and follow up. Specially when xishi sent by fanli to be prepared for the kind of thing the noble girls should learn for their future as wife or concubine, you understand that the woman technically were seen as insignificant, they should only serve well , bow well and compliments well 😑. And even be thankful to be treated like that. So yeah minus for the guys behavior . Also there is this bravery that look far when you compare her with reality, if people seen Mulan they would know if a girl interfere in military thing they would be killed and so but it's completely shows the heroics attitude from both xishi and zhengdan , her best friend who accompany xishi in the mission as her maid cause she couldn't bare to marry some lousy guy. And also the fact they both have the courage to retaliate and don't back up both in speech and actions, another traits when you compare the due with other girl in book cause mostly all the ladies are timid, shy ,and tender 😑.xishi and zhangdan consider feisty and furious.

Fanli and xishi hit up from the start , but the guy really act as hero , sacrifice you for the world cause fanli was the one to suggest the operation seducing fuchai and also it was him who goes around to find a girl to go as tribute and perform the role. At the start he only said interesting and suddenly said ," your pretty, go and spy fuchai by seducing her in bed and let us win the war and conquer, be our hero" . And xishi also be like " yes my destiny is doing exactly that " and the story proses . I say yes their attraction spark whenever they are with each other but somehow it's like just a fluke .fanli was attractive, ambitious and smart , based on xishi knowledge for herself , he also should know how he influences others as well , unless he couldn’t be an advisor in a supposed great army. I sometimes thought he is manipulat but when you continue you understand he was also a young man who tend to be oblivious, though the also woken up and found out what a wrong mistake he did but still if the cost foe awakening is to losing someone it's not worth it .

I rate the book 3 , don't like the spice it's sound too clichés so 1 , not gonna lie I appreciate many things , the death and some reality that add the touch of emotive side is working really good , I myself getting emotional over some occasions in the book but I think why the sad simulation. Why not the happy kind of bubbles cause the main story is during a war and something is really near the reality, the people losing their dear ones , the losing of one themselves, the pain the survivors feel when they face the fact they will miss the one who left , it's making me speechless. there is this sentence circulat during the war " I wish there was never a war " and suddenly when I read this book I thought about it alot

I had the highest expectations for this one, it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year
Unfortunately it was not one of the best, at least for me
The premise of the book was amazing, but the fact that the book had insta love made me less interested in other things
Also it was not that much fantasy?? Or maybe im blind??
I do think that if you like insta love you’ll enjoy this more.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc

This was fine, it's not a bad book but it's not for me. The writting is beautiful but the romance was lacking. It has insta love wich i hate and a stupid love triangle wich i hate even more

Instant 5 stars honestly. I will never get over how captivating Ann’s writing is and the thrill you feel while reading. I felt like i was being stabbed in the heart repeatedly throughout this book but the pain was heaven. This story was so unique and i love how it explored different perspectives of love and war. The female lead, Xishi, was so painfully realistic, not perfect but still strong, becoming more so with every heartbreaking experience, which is why her relationship with Fanli, her love interest, and how it fell through hurt me that much more.

This book was not entirely what I expected it would be, but it absolutely blew me away!

I thought the writing style was excellent, and it really drew me into the story. It was also such an emotional story, and the emotions were really brought to the forefront of the story by the writing.

The characters were all formed so well, with strengths and flaws which made them all feel so real. I particularly liked Xishi and Zhengdan, and the relationship between the two of them was wonderful to read.

I will definitely be recommending this book to people!

I’m so grateful to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for offering me the opportunity to read an ARC of A Song To Drown Rivers.
As a lover of both historical fiction and high fantasy, this book is the best of both. An epic tale based in ancient Chinese legends, this is a beautiful, tragic story of hearts and kingdoms conquered alike.

Ann Liang brought the Wu Palace to life as Xishi serves as her enemy king’s prize concubine, as a spy for her people’s king. She weirds her beauty, and her intellect, as a weapon to ensnare her enemy.

This story felt so alive to me, I was enraptured by the setting, I could hear the birdsong and war screams, I felt the love and the pain as if it were my own.
Not only is this an epic tale of war and legends, but it includes some of the most authentic banter and court games I’ve read in a long time - not to mention a love triangle with the highest stakes.