I wanted to enjoy this a lot more than I did. It had a lot of emotion in the tragedy of Xishi and Fanli’s romance and the way it ended. It had heart. But for a lot of the book, the lack of action let it down.

There was plenty of political scheming from Xishi, but though I enjoyed that, it just wasn’t enough to excite me. It also left a whole big part of the book where Xishi was being trained where there just wasn’t much happening.

I liked how well thought out the characters were. The fleshed out, well roundedness of the spoilt king really went to show how pointless it all was for Xishi to be seducing him at all. The way she learnt, over the course of the novel, that there are two sides to this war and her side was hurting just as many people as the other. There was a poignance to it that the author captured really well.

Overall, it wasn’t a book for me. But I’m glad to have read it. It gave a message that I really enjoyed.

I really enjoyed A Song to Drown Rivers. It's pacy but emotional and keeps the balance of plot to characterisation really well. I found the narration of the audiobook so engaging that I had to stop other tasks to just listen at various points. Xishi is well-rounded and complicated, given that she's intially the focus of the story because she is devastatingly beautiful. Because I am unfamiliar with the story the book is drawn from, I was also really surprised and affected by the ending (in a good way). This is definitely an adult historical fantasy that is not too graphic but doesn't hide from various brutalities. Some readers may wish to check trigger warnings. I hadn't read an Ann Liang before but I will definitely read another again!

3.5 stars
Overall the pacing was uneven and I wish we got to see more of the Fun Li relationship develop on page. I feel like this would’ve made an amazing duology. But there were some great parts to it and I’m glad to have read it. And the audiobook narrator is great- Natalie Naudus never misses and makes the emotions and characters come to life!
More specific thoughts while reading:
• The stakes don’t feel high/ the plot isn’t super interesting until a third of the way in and then things pick up
• Don’t love that a lot of the relationship building is done in montage/ fast forward
• I do feel the tension when she put on her wedding robe and put the ointment on him. I was holding my breath. I wish he lost more control and just kissed her ahhhh
• Ughhh the foreshadowing (“in the future I would look back at this moment and XYZ”) already happened multiple times and it annoys me. Ruins the tension. I want to *think* and wonder, I don’t want to be told and spoiled as to what will happen. Happens multiple times throughout
• It’s so relieving hearing her escape that evil dude's machinations
• Pleasantly surprised by some of the punches that were not held back
• I wish we got to know the handmaiden lady better, she felt flat even though the idea of her (so great at fighting) was interesting. Made what eventually happened not have as big of an impact as it could’ve
• The pace is definitely picking up. I like her scheming
• Nuanced in its take on vengeance
• The king (Fu chi) is a layered character
• UGHHH brooooo don’t call her out in front of everyone!!! Why ya gotta blow her cover like that ffs
• Damnnn!!! He wants her to kill him 😨😱 I cannot believe she did it holy shit
• I was not expecting that ending what the heck
• Go Fun Li!!!
• You know what, I actually like the ending. I do wish it provided more closure about the kingdoms fate (it feels pretty pessimistic on that front) but otherwise it was really unexpected and fitting for the story. I can see it being polarizing but I think it feels realistic
Big thank you to Macmillan and Netgalley for an audiobook arc for review, as always all thoughts are my own :)

4.5 stars.

Xishi's beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue - where the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When Xishi draws the attention of Fanli, the famous young military advisor, he presents her with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon; one that could topple the rival neighbouring 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.

First of all, it was so refreshing to see a legend I had heard of and watched on TV growing up captured as an English book!

Xishi’s story broke my heart in many pieces. She didn’t ask for the beauty she was born with, but she managed to use what she had, not only to survive in life, but also to influence the fate of a nation. And she had to endure mountainous sufferings for it.

I loved Ann Liang’s portrayal of Xishi in this book. Despite of having little control over her own life, she was far from being portrayed as a dainty, weak woman. She was assertive, smart and ambitious. I also loved Ann’s lyrical writing style, which made the storytelling felt ‘true’ to the Ancient China legend vibe.

A Song to Drown Rivers is a heartbreaking retelling of Xishi, one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. This beautiful historical fantasy had me tearing up on the train to work!!

The romanceS (yes plural) in this book had me absolutely torn! I had no idea who I was rooting for, my mind changed every few pages! I think that’s the romance was woven perfectly into the wider plot, which was filled with deception and political intrigue. The book is pretty fast paced and definitely had my heart rate acting up in some scenes!

A Song to Drown Rivers is a deeply emotional read and I would recommend it to anyone in need of a good cry 🤣

💙Read A Song to Drown Rivers if you love💙
🌙Political intrigue
✨Corruption arcs
🌙Vengeance
✨Female rage
🌙Slow-burn forbidden romance
✨Tending wounds scenes

I don't know how to feel about about this book. On one hand, I think the writing was beautiful, lyrical, undeniably well written, but on the other, I found the story slow. Time was taken to describe some things to the point I became bored while also skimming over things I was really interested in. The romance felt rushed, to the point where I just didn’t feel the connection strong enough to really root for them - yet the ending emotionally killed me. A real mixed bag, but I would gladly read more books by this author.

This book is something else! It sucked me in and tore me apart at the same time. The writing is gorgeous, and the characters are so real and complicated. I loved every minute, and I can't stop thinking about how it ended! This was my first time hearing about the legend of Xishi and its made me want to read other Chinese legends!

Ann Liang’s A Song to Drown Rivers masterfully captures the high-stakes tension of an undercover mission that hinges on lies, manipulation, and betrayal rather than romance alone.

The story follows Xishi, a beautiful commoner thrust into a deadly game of deception for her nation’s survival. Alongside her loyal friend Zhengdan, Xishi uses her beauty and cunning to serve her homeland, hiding her vulnerabilities beneath a composed facade.

Her forbidden love for Fanli is intense yet hopeless, contrasting with her complex, underdeveloped relationship with Fuchai—a historical figure who adds layers of intrigue (I could not help but root for him too).

This retelling of the Legend of Xishi, one of China’s Four Beauties, shows beauty as a powerful, often underestimated tool.
The ending was absolutely heart-wrenching but beautifully done.

4.4 stars

First up, the narration and overall the production of this audiobook enhanced my enjoyment of A Song to Drown Rivers. Natalie Naudus helped bring the characters and story alive, and I found hearing the names pronounced useful too.
Now to the novel itself. A Song to Drown Rivers was well-paced, I found myself immersed in the story from the opening encounter between Xishi and Fanli, and Lian’s use of language was breathtaking, the story absolutely devastating. The novel was advertised as a historical fantasy – on reflection, there was more of a historical than a fantasy feel to it in my opinion. So it’s perhaps something useful to know, but not something that influenced my overall enjoyment of the novel. I absolutely loved the ending, even if it hit me as hard as the ending of The Song of Achilles.

I didn't really know what to expect when I started this book, as I was not familiar with the original legend. in my experience, retellings work either really well for me or they just don't hit the same mark as the original story (or other retellings of the same legend), so it was great to start this with a clean slate.

I really loved the story arc, the character growth, and the writing, I think the author has a sensational grasp on her craft. I'd also like to note the pacing, there was never a dull moment, I found the balance between world-building and action impeccable.

the reason why I'm taking away one star is while it's advertised as a fantasy, there aren't many fantasy elements to it, and even then they only appear in the last 5% of the book. so I kept waiting for something fantastical to happen, and this did leave me a tiny bit disappointed in the end. I think if I would reread this book, I would rate it higher, but I couldn't fully enjoy it this time around due to this.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tor, and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The story is an interesting premise, with a focus on Chinese legend, Xishi who is given a unique task to assist her country in gaining an advantage in the war.

This book is described as an epic historical fantasy with romance. I personally didn't notice much of a fantasy element apart from the stories of legends. There was very minimal world building and I was left trying to figure it all out myself as it went. Xishi role of a spy was severely underdeveloped and we were given hardly any information on the intricacies. Instead, we were given 'telling rather than showing' of how great of a spy Xishi was.

While this story does contain romantic elements, it's definitely not a romance book. The romance came across as instant love and I struggled to value their connection given how things transpired throughout the book. At some stage the story began teasing a 'love triangle' however, I couldn't entertain the morally grey character. I found it interesting how this perspective humanised the King.

Liang embraced a new writing style and delved into some darker themes. I appreciated the high stakes in this story and the FMC's devotion to her country, however, I just wish she didn't go into things so naively.

There's a heavy focus on female beauty, womanhood and the male gaze. Liang's poetic prose touched on these subjects in an insightful way. I believe the storyline is intentionally commenting on real world events and how war and sacrifice have two sides.

While, I did enjoy aspects of this story I did find the direction it took predictable. I wasn't emotionally invested in the characters which impacted my experience reading this when the events took a darker turn.

Overall, the narrators did a fantastic job of capturing the essence of this story.

Thank you Macmillan UK Audio for the arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to the publisher & the author for this arc. I opened this book thinking i was going to devoured it & all i found was a long introduction of a plan that only develops in a handful of paragraphs & a lot of things to fill in the gaps. This is my first time reading the author & honestly, i think is going to be my last because whatever attempt this was at a fantasy, a retelling or an adult novel failled miserably. It took me days, weeks even, to read past the first quarter of the book & only managed to finish it thanks to the audiobook (also provided by the publisher). The main character loses everyone & then her life at the hands of another character that has no development whatsoever, the characters surrounding her are pushed so far to the side that we can not really establish a connection with them to the point that when we lose them, it doesn't really affect the continuation of the story or makes a halt on the plan of our main character. The world is not even that well developed for such an introduction (that takes at least half the book) & half the 'plot twists' are explained so far ahead in the book that doesn't really take you by surprise. Adding more trauma to the story does not make it more appealing, or the fact that takes several elements from another stories we have read in the last several years & adds nothing different to them. While at some point i did like the romance, the ending of it just left a sour taste on my mouth. Especially how all the things end in the last 10%, how it attempts to touch the delicate strings at the heart of the reader but truly (& this is all my opinion), fails completely. It also attempts to leave a deeper message that there are no really good or bad side in war but everything ends up being horrible, like there is no bright side in any of this but doesn't go further than to a hint at a happy ending. All in all, i didn't like it.

I, however, did like the narrator of the audiobook & the voices they made for the characters. The pace was nice, their voice went along with the story & the feelings of the characters, and how it all came to be. So that is why i'm giving the audiobook a better star review than the book but my main issues are at the beginning of the feedback & why the rating is so low on the actual story.

Thank you so much for letting me listen to this audiobook. This is an incredibly beautiful and heart wrenching story.

First of all, the voice artist and production of the audio book are both amazing, I had a brilliant listening experience. The performance given was stunning and complimented the beautiful prose perfectly. Liang writes beautifully, and I really felt the inspiration of the ancient story of Xishi in the lyrical turns of phrases and flow of the writing. The writing felt like the character of Xishi and with the wonderful voice performance it felt like I was listening to her recount the story in real time.

My main negative from this book is that the beginning third felt very rushed. Xishi is a regular common girl (other than being incredibly beautiful) who doesn't have any training in dancing, poetry, music etc. and yet manages to learn all of this, plus how to be a good spy and concubine, in a couple of months. I read that in the original story, she trains for three years, which I think is much more believable and also could have served for a slow burn romance with Fanli rather than the instant love we got.

There needed to be more conflict/problems for Xishi, especially whilst in the palace. I felt that she had two or three minor obstacles that she overcame incredibly easily and then all the other parts of the plan went smoothly and without a hitch. I think that this didn't have to be outer obstacles - it could have been as simple as adding to her hints that she felt bad for Fuchai, or that maybe she realised she had feelings for him in some way and teetered between following through or abandoning the plan. This would have developed the (I think underutilised) parts of the story where both Xishi and Fuchai saw how their actions impacted the common people of both kingdoms, and could have brought more nuance to these two characters, which (especially in Fuchai's case) would have made their ending that much more impactful.

The last two or so hours of the audiobook are my favourite, and I like that Liang went for the tragic love story ending (upon further reading of the story the book is based on there is also the classic love story ending, which is hinted at by Fanli at the end of the book), but I think this could have been even more impactful if more had been done to develop the relationships between the main characters throughout the book. I also think that maybe there could have been a couple of hints on what Goujian planned for Xishi the whole time, like maybe him commenting that she's too good at the job etc.

On a side note from what I thought of the book, I'm seeing this book being marketed as romantasy/fantasy - I wouldn't say this has any fantasy elements and is just straight historical fiction.

A beautifully written story with wonderful tension between the two main characters that kept me hooked from start to finish. The dynamic between them was engaging and added depth to the plot.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audiobook and will definitely be keeping an eye out for more from this author in the future!

I loved the cover design instantly, and when I saw that the audiobook is read by Natalie Naudus, one of my favourite narrators, I knew that this must be a fantastic book. And it is exactly that. Scheming, spying, political manoeuvrings in the royal palace and romance of course. The ending left me quite sad but I will remember to read everything from Ann Liang in the future.

This book was very beautifully written and narrated, there were various points where I was brough to tears because of it. The story, the characters and the relationships between the characters were so beautiful and tragic that you can't help but feel attached to them.
I had to rewind the last chapter because I refused for that to be the ending. It was tragic and beautiful but I am glad they are together after all they have been through.
The only negative thing was that the passing time wasn't very clear, and I fully thought it was a few months that passed in between, while afterwards I saw from the author that it was three years since she entered the palace, which then made the aftermath so much more impactful and sad.

Thank you to Net Galley and MacMillan UK Audio for the audiobook e-ARC!

A Song to Drown Rivers is a historical fantasy inspired by the legend of Xishi, and is filled with romance and sacrifice. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it is narrated beautifully by Natalie Naudus, who you might be familiar with from Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Realm Breaker and Kiss her once for me (To name a few): it is always a joy to listen to an audiobook narrated by them. The plot itself of A Song to Drown Rivers was captivating the whole time through, making me laugh at times and also wanting to cry at moments. For a standalone fantasy, A Song to Drown Rivers achieved a full fleshed out story with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. It is filled with yearning and heartbreak that made me connect so deeply with Xishi and Fanli. Even the antagonists in this book felt real enough for me connect with. I cannot wait to read more from Ann Liang!

I would highly recommend A Song to Drown Rivers if you are a fan of historical inspired fantasy, court politics or books with layers of disguise and deception tactics.

The book has taken me on such an emotional ride. This has perfect blend of mystery, romance, mythology, history and intrigue. The characters were so mysterious and not what they appeared to be. I must say the female main character is so strong, clever and determined

Xishi is exquisite. She gets an opportunity to be a spy and takes revenge for her sister and save her people from the rival neighbouring kingdom. Though Fanli did offer her opportunity but things take a different turn and unexpected happens. I felt the book was so emotional. The ending was so heartbreaking. I deeply felt for the characters. The book is about love, war, sacrifice and womanhood. The narrator did a good job.

Thanks to the Publisher, Author and Narrator.

4/5 Stars⭐️

This was the first book of Ann Liang, and boy what a introduction to her writing it was!
We get thrown into the plot rather quickly, but the world- and character building starts immediately and manages to create an interesting and captivating story about Xishi, who is send into the enemy‘s kingdom as a concubine to take it down from the inside.

This book made me feel all the feels, the author did an amazing job at making us feel all the pain, love, lust and nuances of her relationships and tasks. AND THAT ENDING? I saw it coming and yet hoped it would not be so. The last 10(ish)% had me crying silent tears (and I would do it again in a heartbeat).
The narrator did an amazing job, she conveyed emotions and dialogues in a way that felt very genuine without being overly dramatic.

One thing I will note is that the book hardly had any fantasy elements in it, it‘s more historical fiction. While it didn‘t bother that much I can see how others might have different expectations!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan UK Audio for the advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review.