A Song to Drown Rivers: A Novel
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER
OCTOBER 2024 GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK
An October 2024 Indie Next Pick • An October 2024 LibraryReads Pick
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“Exquisite and devastating. It won’t fail to move you.” —Shelley Parker-Chan, #1 bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun
Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic novel steeped in myth about womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love against all odds as the fate of two kingdoms hangs in a delicate balance.
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.
"Stunning and heart-rending." —Chloe Gong, #1 bestselling author of Immortal Longings
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Community Reviews
What’s it about?
This story was inspired by the legend of Xishi- one of the four great beauties of China. Xishi is in her late teens and lives in a small village in Yue. Xishi is a good girl known for her great beauty. To the villagers, her beauty insures a good match, and thus her family will be taken care of. When she accidentally meets a young military advisor from afar, her fate is suddenly changed.
What did it make me think about?
The complexities of war.
Should I read it?
OK- so I want to say this is a “fun” read but that seems wrong when it has some definite things to say about the futility of wars. BUT- it was a quick and easy read. I enjoyed the pace of the story. It kept you interested, and yet it took time to develop complicated characters. I was not surprised to learn later that it was written by an author who previously wrote YA fiction. My only criticism is that it was often a little unbelievable that adult characters would make some of the decisions these characters make. But I still really enjoyed this quick, fast, fantasy, romance, war novel. If you are looking for something original to distract and entertain you- try this one.
Quote-
“People always prefer the beauty who is oblivious, unaware of her own power, who blushes easily and is taken aback by strangers’ approval, who is soft and demure and lacking in just enough confidence so as to seek it out in the opinions of men. But these are such lies. All my life, the very same people had told me time and time again how gorgeous I was. How could I not know it? That was like growing up not knowing you were tall.”
I wasn't sure about this one at first... but I ended up being invested in it. The parts that got me were the relationships, and how they can break you. Also, I think I'm a Fuchai apologist. The poor guy was just clueless.
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