A Song to Drown Rivers (Ann Liang, Macmillan)

A Song to Drown Rivers is a bold departure from Ann Liang’s critically acclaimed YA rom-com novels (This Time It’s Real, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, If You Could See the Sun). However, it is a departure that has proven well worth making. Liang’s first adult novel is a historical retelling of the apocryphal myth of Xishi, a beautiful woman from the Yue Kingdom. Using a Trojan horse strategy, she sets off to bring the oppressive King Fuchai of Wu to his knees. A Song to Drown Rivers has all the makings of a great fantasy novel: a nation on the precipice of war led by a dictatorial monarch, a strong female lead with a mission, and a chiseled and stoic male lead in the military advisor Fanli. Liang’s writing doesn’t dawdle on flowery depictions of characters or scenery; instead, it sets the novel against a backdrop that transcends time and place and embraces its fantasy genre sensibilities. The story builds slowly to a climax, with Liang’s writing reaching a brilliantly tense crescendo as a series of emotional events unfold. A Song to Drown Rivers is a timeless cautionary tale of tragic star-crossed lovers for readers who enjoyed Shelly Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun. As a first-time reader of Liang’s work, I finished the novel an emotional wreck and hungry for more from this author.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Eman Mourad is an Australian-Egyptian emerging writer based on Gadigal land. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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