Reviews with content warning for Blood - A Song to Drown Rivers

This author has a way with storytelling - I was drawn in from the first page, which to me is always a sign of a wonderful story. While I didn't love the end, it wasn't because it was poorly written - it was because I wished for a happily ever after and knew I wasn't going to get it lol. In fact it was very well written. And maybe a controversial take, but Luyi was my favorite character

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booksandbujos's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I enjoyed this book, especially the ending and the message about who is good versus who is evil and how the side you are on can play a big part in that and not who the person is themselves. We start by not liking the Wu Emperor because of the war against Xishi’s people. But as Xishi spends more time with the Emperor, she learns her first impression may have been wrong and she experiences some really complicated feelings as a result. It was a really interesting discussion and I think it was done really well.

My one issue was that I felt this book had some pacing issues. The beginning, where Xishi is training to be a proper lady, seems very rushed. And then the middle, where Xishi is in the Wu kingdom, seems to drag a little but also rush at times. I honestly could have done with a few more pages to flesh out some of the parts that I wanted to learn more about.

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kapahl's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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nicolemarie1077's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

I enjoyed this read but I felt like there could have been so much more to the storyline and the characters. The first few chapters felt a bit rushed. Overall, again I enjoyed it but I wish there was more to it, there were so many ways this book could have opened and flourished instead of rushing through the first few chapters.

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novellisa22's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Ever admit to purchasing a book because of its cover? I will admit it, I did!

I am slowly adding fantasy to the genres that I read (I need an escape), but I don’t want them to be too far out there.

While reading A Song To Drown Rivers, I felt that this wasn’t as much the fantasy genre. It felt more like Old Chinese folklore,which was intriguing. The story had war, revenge, love and betrayal. It was a slow burn of a book while setting up the story and very detail oriented. It was beautifully written but at times I felt dragged just a bit. I could have been (while reading) a child being told the legend of the concubine, Xishi and how she took down a kingdom with her beauty.

Xishi has been asked to assist the Yue people and kingdom to be the Wu King's concubine as a spy. She will have to learn the ways of court, the palace and etiquette in order to become King Fanchi’s favorite. However, she falls in love with the minister who is training her to seduce the King. (And as we know, it's hard to remember your focus when you are in love!)

I enjoyed reading this and wondering how this was going to play out…I believe I just need a little more of an open mind when it comes to these types of books. It was good. It was sad. It had some words to take to heart. And I liked it.

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nina_elin's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I like how Liang shows both sides of war and manages to build sympathy for both sides equally by showing the pain of each kingdoms citizens. I also admire how she made both Fuchai and Goujian terrible people in the end. Fuchai reminded me of a petulant child for most of the story, so I pictures him younger than he probably was, which made me a bit uncomfortable with his deep-running love for Xishi. I don’t really understand his relationship with his father, but it heavily influenced the way he acted, so I wish that would have been fleshed out a bit more. But overall, his portrayal was really great and showed both his awful and caring side and I definitely understand why Xishi was so torn

when it came to killing him.

I did not care much for Fanlis and Xishis romance. It happened very suddenly and out of the blue and her tries at seducing him were rather embarrassing in my opinion. It truly made me cringe and want to skip these scenes. Plus, his constant coldness just wasn’t my thing. At no point before she left for Wu did he even indicate that he was interested in her. It really had me question his passion for her. I just didn’t feel like they had much chemistry. However, I am one for the dramatics and loved the end where

Xishis ghost/soul waited for centuries for them to be joined again

, even though they only ever spent a few weeks together. Very dramatic, and though it was different from the rest of the book to the point I felt like it didn’t really fit in (Maybe it was because Fanli was suddenly grieving her so fiercely, when he seemed mostly detached before), the writing was truly at its most beautiful in this last bit.

I liked the ending a lot, and I was very excited in the beginning, because the entire time Xishi was studying I was picturing a scene à la „Barbie- princess and the pauper“ and I was up for her learning both etiquette and political strategies. However, the middle lacked a bit of excitement for me. As soon as she was in Fuchais palace, there was not really any sense of danger or stakes. He read her every wish and I feel like it was just too easy for her to plan this entire attack and gain his trust. I must admit that I was a little bored in the middle there. I just wish there had been a bit more danger.

Overall, it was an okay read. Interesting, definitely, and I’m not mad I read it and had my fair share of fun. Will it be one of my all-time favorites, though? Probably not.

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mcbadger's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Wow.
The portrayal of the politics of war and many sides of it was incredible. The intricacies of the Wu Court and it's affect on Xishi marvelously described. I felt as Xishi felt, the dread and hope, hate and guilt.
I love Zhengdan and Xiaomin so much.

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lifeisjustafictionalrelm_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Ugh. It honestly makes me so sad to rate this book a mere 3 stars, because I previously could have predicted that I would have rated this book higher! However, I do want to start off this review by disclaiming that this book wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t for me!

Starting off, I do want to point out what felt enticing about this book for me, which was mainly the Chinese myths and stories surrounding the general plot line of this book! I found the political intrigue as well in this book to be fascinating! I appreciated how the how the author interwove some of the Chinese myths she was told about as a child into this story, I found that facet of this book to be endearing and emotionally motivated.

Now, with all of this being said, I will say that this book fell a bit flat for me because of the uneven plot structure and unbelievable character relationships. Not to give anything way in this book, I will say though that the romantic plot of the story felt very stilted and not fully fleshed out. Both of the two main characters spend a few pages with one another, and then the reader is meant to feel a romantic connection between them both when the majority of their romance is merely alluded to for the reader to interpret, which I felt took me out of this plot line of the book and I was not fully immersed in the potentiality of these two characters romance.

Also, the writing, whilst being deeply metaphorical and poetic (which is a positive aspect of this book!) felt unnecessarily dramatic at times, especially when describing a scene in this book that did not grant such emotionally charged descriptions for them, at least in my opinion. I felt that this aspect of the book also took me out of the story at times.

Yes, overall I would say that I am glad I read this book because I love learning about different cultures and all the lore surrounding their politics, religions, myths, values, etc. I am also glad I reaped the benefits of reading beautiful writing! I would just say that this book was not fleshed out enough for me in multiple ways for me to fully enjoy my reading experience.

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