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

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

*vibes vibes vibes*

This book was written so beautifully. I think Ann Liang could easily become one of my favorite authors. Her prose is lush, atmospheric (like again, vibes vibes vibes!!!), and I loved reading this both with my eyeballs and listening to the narration. It flowed gorgeously!

However, I am not sold on the main romance in this novel. I was told that they were inlove, and not really shown it.

I hate to ship the main character Xishi with someone who is allegedly horrible and someone we are not supposed to root for (enemy king of Wu terrority, Fuchai).... but I did lmao. I'm not going to apologize about it either. They had *chemistry*. They had a connection that was built up and developed over years!

I'm sure I'll be in the minority here, but damn .... I did not know that was how the book would end, and I found Xishi's other love interest Fanli to be .... boring. His name should've been BLAND-LI (lol sorry that was corny, but I am a corny, unserious person). 

Anyway, I will continue to read from Ann Liang, but I also struggle to understand how this is marketed as "fantasy" ???? Can someone explain it to me like I'm five? Please?? 
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