A Song to Drown Rivers

I’m speechless. I can’t think properly because of what this book has done to me. My heart has been ripped from my soul, sliced into a million pieces and thrown into the fire to be burnt to shreds. Yet despite the pain, this story was so devastatingly beautiful that I would read it all over again just to experience the tender touch of each and every word one more time.

I have not read such an impactful masterpiece in a very long time. The last time I felt so heartachingly suffocated was when I read A Thousand Splendid Suns when I was 14 years old, and as you all know, that is my all-time favourite book. A Song to Drown Rivers absolutely took my breath away and moved me to tears. A rating system does not do this masterpiece justice.

Ann Liang’s writing is so lyrical and stunning, that I was completely transported back to the beautiful land of ancient China. Every word painted vivid colours of scenery, bloomed the scent of flowers under my senses, and played the sounds of water rushing along rivers in my ears. I could feel every twinge in my heart, every heat to the touch, every raw agonizing emotion of pain, heartache, guilt, loss and grief to the depths of my soul. I am so stunned at not only the impact of this story but also the way it was written. If this is not talent, then I don’t know what is. There are so many quotes that hit so deep, I almost wanted them to be etched into my heart.

This story is the reason why books are a blessing in life and I NEED this masterpiece on my shelf as soon as it releases. Thank you NetGalley and author Ann Liang for the e-ARC, it is a privilege to read this stunning work of art before its release. This is probably the deepest and most serious review I’ve written but I am so affected, I can’t recover, and in all seriousness please can someone help to piece my heart back together again.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Wow! It has been a while since I read a book so quickly, but this one was quite honestly captivating. The elements of Chinese mythology were very well incorporated throughout the book and the characters, particularly our main character, Xishi, were complex and likeable. From the very start of the book I was hooked on Xishi's story and the world that Ann Liang described, which was rich and imaginative. The writing itself was well-paced and the descriptions lovely. I definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in Chinese mythology, or just looking for a great new fantasy read!

This was utterly devastating. I’m left speechless upon finishing this book. Just go read it right now… and make sure you have some tissues waiting in the wings.

Huge thanks to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley UK for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

🌟🌟🌟🌟✨️/5
Dear Ann Liang, thank you so much for writing this masterpiece but also HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME??!! This book left me broken in a way I did not expect it to.

A Song to Drown Rivers is a gorgeous historical novel that retells the story of Xishi, one of the four great beauties of Chinese legend. This book gave me everything I'd hoped for and more. Liang weaves a stunning tapestry enlivened by rich historical details and references to Chinese myth. Her prose made everything about this appeal to the senses.

The characters have my entire heart. Ann Liang took tropes I never particularly liked and presented them in a fabulous way. Every character is morally grey and multifaceted in the true sense. The love story isn't a love triangle in the traditional sense. Fuchai is such a sweetheart!! I preferred him to Fanli (though he certainly had his flaws). Liang makes the romance shine without sacrificing plot for its sake. (This boon is far, far better than any romantasy out there). Masterful use of setting and court politics made this compulsively readable and I could not put this down.The ending shattered my heart into pieces and I'm still removing from this suffering this has caused me.

I'd just like to say that this doesn't feel like fantasy though many people have shelved it as such. It's historical and rooted in reality for the most part.

This is my first Ann Liang book and it definitely exceeded my expectations! I highly recommend this!

I Hate This Book

Because it RUINED me. It draws you in with its lyricism and the promise of a sweet romance but you're quickly subjected to heartbreak that will be sure to leave you DROWNING and CHOKING on your own tears. No other piece of Historical Fiction will ever come as close to A Song to Drown Rivers. I have been utterly picked apart (read: DESTROYED) by the literary genius that is Ann Liang in the span of 321 pages. No words, NONE, can do this literary masterpiece justice but I shall try.

ASTDR is breathtakingly beautiful. From the first sentence to the last, Ann Liang's rendition of Xishi's tale bewitches you with its impeccable imagery, poetic prose, and heartbreaking romances. While it shatters your heart into a million fragments, it'll leave you wanting for more, to re-read it all over and over again just so you could experience the gentle caress of its pulchritudinous storytelling.

Though ASDTR closely followed the tale of Xishi as noted in 吴越春秋, The Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, I loved how Ann Liang expertly weaved in the theme of the horrors of war and the foolishness of politicians as she retold this story. I found this quote perfect: "So long as we continue to put mortal men on the thrones and hail them as gods, sacrifice our lives to their legacies, history will repeat itself . Just as the ocean tides ebb and flow beneath the moon, empires will rise and collapse, wars will start and cease, and the rest of us will be left to struggle against the currents." Simply beautiful.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the palace politics, especially Xishi's scheming wit as she bewitches the King of Wu as part of her "sexpionage". Yet though we were told to hate the King of Wu, Fuchai, just as Xishi hated him for his role in warfare, human strife, and violence, we grow to understand him as a misunderstood individual who sought to be loved as well. AND THIS IS PRECISELY WHY MY HEART ABSOLUTELY BROKE FOR HIM. IYKYK.

Don't get me wrong, my heart ached for multiple characters. For Xishi, one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China, and the sacrifices and pain she had to endure while embodying selflessness, loyalty, and courage in an ancient land. For Fanli and all the gut-wrenching pain he experienced physically and emotionally inflicted upon him as a result of his love for Xishi. For Zhengdan and Xiaomin too.
Yet, my heart broke the most for Fuchai as I genuinely fell in love and sympathised with him; he deserved better though he was the reason I burst into an uncontrollable sob and had to take a 20 minute breather to calm myself down (Ann Liang you need to pay for my therapy idc).

The world-building? Phenomenal. Sucks you right into 473BC and leaves you salivating with the depictions of food, in amazement at the grandeur of Taihu and the Palace of Beautiful Women, and squirming in disgust at the horrors of war.

From plot, to pacing, to suspense, to wit, to characterisation, to character development, to emotion, to writing, EVERYTHING was simply perfection for me. This should 168% be adapted into a Chinese Drama starring Yang Yang and Dilraba because the vibes??????? A Song to Drown Rivers is by far the pinnacle of Ann Liang's mastery over her craft. She has consistently outdone herself from IYCSTS to TTIR to IHTDFY and now ASDR. I am in awe of her sheer talent and hardwork.

This is a MUST-READ of 2024, and frankly, for a long-time to come I fear.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC!

Oh boy, okay. I don't truly know where to start with this book. When I requested it on Netgalley, the thing that really caught my eye is that Shelley Parker-Chan and Samantha Shannon had enjoyed it, and I am a big fan of them. I've never read any of Ann Liang's work before, so I didn't really know what to expect when I started, but my expectations were thoroughly blown out of the water.

This book is about a woman with extraordinary beauty, and a young and very pretty military advisor that offers her the opportunity to wield her beauty as a weapon and become a hero to the kingdom. It is that, but it's also so much more.

Prose and Writing Quality
The prose in this book is nothing short of beautiful. It's not over the top flowery, and it doesn't feel like the author is trying too hard, which is something I'm always afraid of when it comes to a more poetic type of writing. It's absolutely beautiful. I had to stop highlighting on my kindle because I would've ended up highlighting every other line.

As far as the writing quality as a whole goes, Ann Liang knocked it out of the park yet again. This book feels like it should be held as a shining example of "show, don't tell."

The way emotions were described was so subtle yet so effective, and it added so much to the reading experience.

Without giving anything away, I really REALLY loved how the story was told. You'll see what I mean, but I won't say more.

Relationships
Now, this will be tricky to describe without any spoilers. I absolutely believed every relationship in this book. I believed the love, the hate. All of it. And I loved all of it too.

Basically it was great and I loved it, I don't really know what else to say on this matter to be honest. It was just fantastic.

Plot
PLOT. Plot. I like a good plot, though I care about characters a whole lot more. This plot was fantastic. It wasn't too complicated, it wasn't convoluted. It was the perfect environment to really know the characters, and it really kept me engaged the whole time. I loved it, 10/10 no notes.

Characters

This is another one I'm struggling to say much about without any spoilers.

The main character, Xishi. I adored her. I really loved her whole arc. She was intelligent, she knew she didn't know everything, and she made an effort to learn. I think she was fantastic, and a good example of an FMC that is not only beautiful, but smart too.

Fanli, I loved him too. I can't say much more without spoiling anything, as is becoming the theme of this review, but safe to say he's fantastic.

I won't give away any other characters here either because, again, the book isn't out yet and I'm being reeeally careful to not give even a hint of a spoiler.

Conclusion
This is one of my favourite books I've ever read. I'm a bit of a sucker for retellings of Chinese history and legends ever since I read She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, and in a way I was a little concerned that this wouldn't match up to the absolute adoration I have for that story. But it did, it's sitting in pride of place in my "fav books of all time" goodreads shelf, and when it's out I will be ordering the prettiest copy available and putting it on my special bookshelf where all of my favourite books live.

It was brutal, unforgiving, but had me absolutely hooked from the first chapter. 5 stars hands down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillian for approving me for this ARC. This is one of my top anticipated reads for 2024 so I was overjoyed to be accepted for this. This is my first novel by Liang as I’ve not read her contemporary YA novels. I’ve heard lots of comments about its emotional angst and how it made people cry.

The opening starts off with Xishi’s beauty. Usually stories which talk about how beautiful the FMC is and focus on appearances are not my thing. I tend to find them irritating but Xishi’s is more a curse and it’s something she knows she has but doesn’t think much about it.

About 10% into the book, I knew this was going to be an incredible book. Liang has a way with words that are descriptive without feeling overdone and flowery and yet manages to keep the pace moving, all whilst setting the scene detailing the history of the kingdom. I am incredibly impressed as she is only 24 and already has a few novels under her belt.

When I first read the synopsis for the book, it reminded me a lot of the Chinese film, Lust, Caution. The film was good but I didn’t love it so I’m glad I enjoyed this a lot more. The whole time I was reading it, it felt like I was watching a historical C-drama in my head and it reminded me of the ones I used to watch when I was young.

I really enjoyed this book. Xishi is generally quite aloof despite it being from her POV. I think it’s to do with her reserved nature and then the need to hide who she is and her not really knowing who she is anymore. I did enjoy her character growth. The romance is a slow burn, a truly slow burn, but it felt more real and fitting of the time period.

The ending was expected yet unexpected. I think some people may not be a fan of the ending but it felt right to me. There is a lot of emotional angst in this book. I didn’t cry but it did move me. I think I may have cried only a few times ever when reading a book and I’ve read over 2000.

Overall, I’ve given this a well-deserved 5 stars. It was a an epic tale reminiscent of a C-drama which Liang set out to do and achieved. The writing and descriptions are done well, and this is one of the few books I would re-read. I am going to be adding her upcoming dark academia novel, I Am Not Jessica Chen, to my TBR.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillian for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! I was shocked that I actually got the book ahaha.

"Isn't it funny? I used to dream of changing the world. Of working for the greater good. But what good is the world," he asks, "if she is gone?"

This is the best book Ann Liang has written by far, a stark contrast to her previous novels. A Song to Drown Rivers is a book of tragedy, as the title suggests, and Ann Liang delivers each line perfectly. The plotline is intricately woven with the complex yet unique backgrounds and character development of every single character, from side characters to the main characters. The fact that it's based on a Chinese myth makes it even better for a Chinese girl like myself since I rarely get to read more about my own culture due to my beginner level of Chinese. Ann Liang really knows her audience like the back of her own hand.

On a small side note, the one slight word I disliked was "yapping". I know, very small detail, but the use of GenZ slang just felt a bit inappropriate for such a historical book.

Overall, this book conveys emotions and literary detail that I am not able to express with the limited vocabulary I have - I wish I had Ann's talent with words. I look forwards to more devastating books from her!

"Do not presume to understand what she wants. You cannot know. None of us will ever know."