A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang

Item: A Song to Drown Rivers
Rating: 5
Author: karenbaron

Posted October 26, 2024 by karenbaron in Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Review, Series / 0 Comments

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A Song to Drown Rivers

by Ann Liang

Published by St. Martin's Press on October 1, 2024
Setting: Ancient China
Genres: Fairy Tales Folklore Fantasy
Pages: 327
Format: Audible Audiobook, Hardcover, Kindle
Source: the Publisher
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon

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.

A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang tells the story of Xishi helping out her people.

Can Xishi topple the kingdom of Wu?

Xishi

Xishi is a beautiful young lady from a small village in the kingdom of Yue. Her mom had Xishi hide her beauty with a shawl so no one could kidnap her for unseemingly things. Xishi got hired by Fanli, the military advisor for the kingdom of Yue, for a mission that could easily be Xishi’s end. The reason is that her beauty would be perfect to use as a weapon against the Wu. Xishi ends up honing everything Fanli has taught her and does excellent work in getting everything the kingdom of Yue needs.

I must say that I loved Xishi and how she has done everything. Xishi is an excellent character, and I like how Ms. Liang tells her story.

The Story

Xishi ends up leaving her small village to help her kingdom get the kingdom of Wu to go down. She uses everything Fanli taught her during their lessons and while she was in the kingdom of Wu, getting their king wrapped around her fingers. Xishi does this for revenge. I have to say that I did look up Xishi, and her story is sad. Ms. Liang does an excellent job of telling the story in her own way while also giving the story an end that the original legend never did.

Five Stars

Ms. Liang is a fabulous storyteller and this one is my first story from her. My rating is five stars for A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang and I’m recommending it. Ms. Liang brings forth a fresh look on a legend while giving enough angst to bring everyone to tears.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang.

Until the next time,

Happy Reading!

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About Ann Liang

Ann Liang is the New York Times and Indie bestselling author of the critically acclaimed YA novels This Time It’s Real, If You Could See the Sun, and I Hope This Doesn’t Find You. Her books have sold into over twenty foreign territories. Born in Beijing, she grew up traveling back and forth between China and Australia, but somehow ended up with an American accent. She now lives in Melbourne, where she can be found making overambitious to‑do lists and having profound conversations with her pet labradoodle about who’s a good dog.