A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann LiangMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was provided both an ebook and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.
The audiobook narrator was great and really brought Xishi's story to life. Her story is an emotional one filled with sacrifice, forbidden love, espionage, and loss. The narrator does a wonderful job with the various characters and really brings the emotions forward when appropriate and masks them as Xishi would according to her training to carry out her mission.
I'm not familiar with the Legend of Xishi or the Four Beauties of China, but you bet I'll be looking into them after reading this. For me a good author inspires me to look more into what inspired the writing, and this certainly did. Our main character Xishi is very beautiful, and she has been selected to infiltrate the enemy kingdom and seduce their king and bring down the kingdom from the inside. She enters training to be his dedicated concubine and her goal is to pass information back to her people. She is all to happy to join the cause to avenge the brutal murder of her younger sister. As she spends time in the enemy court she learns much, but she never expected to gain the kings true affection and get to know him as a person.
This was a beautifully told story. It is filled with emotional moments as Xishi navigates the dangers and politics of the enemy palace and the enemy kings moods. She must carefully craft her every movement and everything she says to ensure she is portraying the loyal, faithful concubine while maintaining her double agent role. Everywhere she turns someone is plotting and she must be careful to not let something slip. She suffers great losses and must never let any emotions show.
This is my first book by Ann Liang, but it certainly won't be my last. It was such a wonderful book an it has such a beautiful cover. I highly recommend it if you enjoy historical fiction that feels a bit like a fairy tale.
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