The prettiest packages can hide the deadliest of gifts. 

 

Xishi is reminded all too often of how beautiful she is, but being beautiful doesn’t help keep her mother and father fed or help her wash bolts of silk down at the river. If anything, being beautiful means she has to keep her guard up at all times, because in their war-torn country it would be all too easy for a soldier to capture her and no one would be any the wiser until she was long gone. 

 

But then Fanli, the king’s minister, shows up and begs her to be of service to her country: Will she come and train to be a concubine for their enemy’s king? She need not worry about bedding him. He has plenty of other concubines; but they will teach her to be a spy and how to twist the king around her finger to do whatever she says. In return, she will covertly ensure the way can be cleared for her countrymen to invade the enemy’s lands and take over. She’s the kingdom’s fairest maiden, and only she’ll do. 

 

Fanli should’ve recognized the inherent risks of training someone to be a spy: They learn to read you too. There’s also an inherent risk in training someone beautiful how to make men breathless: They’ll make you breathless too. Especially when they want you the way Xishi wants Fanli. They just have to make it through her assignment and watch out for the enemy king. 

 

A Song to Drown Rivers ended up surprising me in a good way. The very beginning is a little unsteady, maybe even a little slow. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but once Xishi and company started out on their adventure the story started perking up (along with myself). I started enjoying the characters and the story more and more as it progressed. By the time Xishi and her companion are dropped off in the enemy kingdom’s capital I was fully invested and ready to go. 

 

At heart, I see A Song to Drown Rivers as a political fantasy first and romantasy second. Most of Xishi’s inner narrative is about keeping her head and steeling her heart because there is an inherent danger with undercover and espionage work: the danger of going native, of falling in love with your mark, of growing to love your cage (these are not terms Xishi would use, of course, but no matter what time in history a story takes place in the dilemmas of war are the same). She’s there to sow division, exploit weaknesses, and to sway the king’s opinion. All of the romantic aspects of the story are a secondary element, especially in the first two acts. 

 

It’s a great standalone read and I highly recommend it. 

 

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you. 

 

File Under: AAPI Fiction/Fantasy/Romantasy/Folklore Retelling/Historical Fantasy/OwnVoices/Political Fantasy/Standalone