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A review by lifeisjustafictionalrelm_
A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood