A review by moonlitreading_
A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

“The men will fight for their thrones and their power and their legacies, but to them we are nothing more than crickets and ants, insignificant, expendable.”
 
A Song to Drown Rivers tells the story of Xishi as she turns from a simple village girl in the kingdom of Yue to a spy disguised as a concubine in the kingdom of Wu. With the use of her beauty and training, she is tasked to deceive and distract King Fuchai of the Wu Kingdom as her home kingdom seeks their revenge. 
 
I just want to start this by saying I am a big fan of Ann Liang’s books. If it’s written by her, I would definitely read it. A Song to Drown Rivers was a pretty good book, it was very easy to follow along, and it was very beautifully written, albeit flowery at times. I do wish there was more politics to it, that was something I felt this book lacked. 
 
I really liked Xishi’s character. I think she’s really brave to have taken this task of pretending to be the enemy king’s concubine when all she had was ten weeks of training. It did think it was kind of silly that she only needed ten weeks to train and to study all that was needed to be the perfect concubine and spy. 
 
Xishi’s romance with Fanli was very much love at first sight which I really don’t like. In the span of ten weeks they fall in love with each other. There was so much yearning especially on Fanli’s part because he was the king’s minister and he’s a ‘duty first’ kind of guy. They were a nice pair but I do wish their relationship developed gradually instead of being in love with each other from the get go. 
 
King Fuchai was an interesting character. I actually liked him and thought he deserved better. He was someone who starved affection and I can’t blame him for that, especially with the circumstances of his childhood. 
 
I may not have loved this book as much as I do Ann Liang’s contemporary YA ones, but it was still a nice read. 
 
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest and review. 
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