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.

This book contains scenes that depict the death of a child.

The best part about working on the BOTM Editorial Team is finding a book that we love and sharing it with our members. The worst part is waiting for the books to drop each month, because when I love a book, I just want to shout about it from the rooftops. So, this is me (virtually) shouting from the rooftops: You need to read A Song to Drown Rivers. Seriously, it is that good.

Inspired by the legends of The Four Beauties of Ancient China, our story begins in a small village with a young woman named Xishi who has been told often that her exceptional beauty will allow her to marry well. Enter Fanli, a military advisor for her kingdom, who is on a mission to find a beautiful bride to marry off to a rival king…and to turn that bride’s beauty into a weapon that will take down the kingdom from within. After meeting Xishi, the two agree to work together and Fanli trains her to become the ultimate spy. However, once Xishi makes it to the palace, she learns that the task ahead of her is far more dangerous than she could ever have imagined.

Ann Liang has created a beautiful, emotionally charged story in A Song to Drown Rivers that captures the complexities of what it is to be a woman, to love, and to sacrifice, and just how blurry the lines of friend and foe can become if we look closely.