Review: If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang

If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang is a fantasy YA novel set in an elite school in Beijing, and it is the September book pick for my school's Book Club, for which I help choose the list of books that then get voted on. Now, If You Could See the Sun is our book club's first read, and because of this, the recommendation was intended to be appealing to the most high-schoolers possible. Fantasy, young adult, some romance, and crime were combined into one in this novel, so it touches on so many genres/topics that at least some people must want to read it!

5 star read

Careful! THis nExt section may contain spoilers...

Following the context for how I acquired this book, I can't help but be disappointed by the actual story. Maybe it is because of the rush I was in to finish it, or because it was early in the morning when I read it, but overall, I found the story predictable. Now, that is not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case, it just means I was a bit bored. Alice's sudden realization that she should not partake in a kidnapping right after delivering Peter to the "bad guys" was anticipated from the very moment the scheme was planned, and the happy ending where Alice finds that "I just want to be happy" was very cliche. That's not to say I hated the book, because it was still a fun read, but I definitely did not love it. I would say to those who want to try it out that they should go for it, but to definitely remember coming in that this is a very fun YA novel, not some amazing crime novel. For my rating, it comes in at a 3.5 out of 5, which is actually on the lower end (once again, I have a tendency to rate everything very high if I like it for even an instant), but I would make the case for If You Could See the Sun that being rated right after me reading The Priory of the Orange Tree (the previous review and an amazing read) probably does not help in terms of comparison.

The Summary:

Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student among China’s most rich and influential teens. But then she starts uncontrollably turning invisible—actually invisible.

When her parents drop the news that they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship, Alice hatches a plan to monetize her strange new power—she’ll discover the scandalous secrets her classmates want to know, for a price.

But as the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes, Alice must decide if it’s worth losing her conscience—or even her life.

In this genre-bending YA debut, a Chinese American girl monetizes her strange new invisibility powers by discovering and selling her wealthy classmates’ most scandalous secrets.

The author:

Ann Liang is the author of If You Could See the Sun, This Time It's Real, and the forthcoming I Am Not Jessica Chen. Born in Beijing, she grew up travelling back and forth between China and Australia, but somehow ended up with an American accent. When she isn’t writing, she can be found making over-ambitious to-do lists, binge-watching dramas, and having profound conversations with her pet labradoodle about who’s a good dog.