Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me an arc in exchange for a review!

Alice is a student at an uber-prestigious international school who feels like an outcast because of her family background. So when she suddenly gains the power to turn invisible, she decides to use it to her advantage by blackmailing her fellow classmates. But when things escalate from petty secrets to dangerous plots, Alice is forced to decide her own limits.

Overall, great book! It was a very fun and fast read, and Alice was a great protagonist throughout. The academic rivals to lovers was incredibly well done and had me screaming at parts. I wasn't the biggest fan of how the invisibility was woven in. It felt pretty convenient at times and we never quite got an explanation for it. Honestly, was not really here for the main plot, just the romance part.

Imaginative and heartfelt, the cover initially drew me in and encouraged me to request this title, and I'm delighted that the plot delivered as well.

Alice is the only (low income) scholarship student at her elite Beijing boarding school. She works extremely hard (which, in turn, causes isolation from those around her) to maintain her grades and her standing as one of the top students. In the beginning of the book, her parents break the news to her that they can no longer afford to pay the remainder of her school tuition and next semester she must switch schools. Soon after, in the middle of an awards ceremony, she begins shaking uncontrollably and feels extremely cold and discovers that she cannot see her own reflection--she is completely invisible!

So she decides to seek out someone who is as cunning and genius as her. She seeks out her own nemesis, Henry. Together they develop an app to use this new ability to fulfill requests of their fellow students that only someone invisible could do. Of course, it takes some work to learn how to even master the invisibility, as it is something that comes and goes. But eventually, Alice earns enough money to...well, you'll have to read the book to see how the story ends.

I liked that there was such a climactic situation at the end that really threw a wrench in the whole story. All of the characters were very well written and this was a very unique story. Given the title I thought it was going to be a bit more flowery and profound, but I know the line in the book where the quote came from and it is significant.

Surprisingly a lovely read!! Its not what I expected but I love the academic rival to lover troupe in this book. It was well executed!! Both characters are also likeable, they are so cuteee. Highly recommend!!

I absolutely loved the commentary on class, status, privilege, and opportunity. The choices the main character has to make as a result of poor financial circumstances wonderfully illustrate how merit and intelligence often come second to money.

Really enjoyed, and would definitely recommend!

it's monday, and that means another review from the queue (tbh everyday of the week is fair game for a belated review, but here we are), this time for ann liang's ya novel 'if you could see the sun'. this book got really popular on #bookstagram when it first came out, but unfortunately this was just not my jam.

in short, the book follows alice, a girl from a poorer family on scholarship at an elite boarding school who suddenly finds herself able to turn invisible. seeing an opportunity to make some tuition money, she enlists the help of her classmate to create an app to monetize her new power, doing the dirty work of her classmates for a price. but as the tasks escalate to committing actual crime, alice must decide if continuing with this app is worth the high consequences.

this book overall felt like a rough first draft: the dialogue was very juvenile, and the plot felt very simplistic. none of the characters were particularly compelling, and the rivals-to-lovers romance that the book features left me feeling lukewarm. there was also no explanation for alice's sudden bouts of invisibility, and the reader was meant to just accept it at face value. it all just felt short-sighted, and the book could have used more time to develop its plot and characters.

This book is absolutely wild. Private school drama! Economic inequality! Random superpowers! I only wish the causes, etc. of the last one were better explained, as it seemed like there were some threads left unraveled. However, I haven't read anything quite like this before, and I really enjoyed it.

This book is full of twists a turns, it’s such an engaging and thoroughly entertaining story. The world building, the descriptions, these are just everything and makes the read so much more immersive, fantastic

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is one of those books that I had to put down and return to when I was in a better mindset for this particular story. Ann Liang has crafted a totally unique and wholly intriguing story that still has some tried and true tropes that make it accessible and familiar as well. I am a sucker for magical realism and it has been wonderful watching the teens I work with connect to this story and seek out more stories that feature magical realism! I am very excited for Ann Liang's future work!

This book has a really interesting premise but for some reason it didn't resonate with me. I had a hard time understanding the main character and her motivations and ultimately did not care about her very much which made the novel difficult to get through.

I was unable to provide review due to time constraints of me starting college. I look forward however to reading this book in the future simply as a fan, not a reviewer.

I had a lot of fun reading this book. I love a good “academic rivals to lovers” - just enough tension! I liked that the book focused primarily on Alice instead of the romance. However, I wish there had been more being invisible hijinks - and I wish there was a clearer resolution to the invisibility thing.

A stunning and heartfelt work. Perfect for those looking for meaningful drama and young adult character growth. Would recommend to young high schoolers seeking to find their place in the world.

I enjoyed this book so, so much. The superpower, the way she uses it, the romance, the setting, the themes...it was all so so good. Can't wait to read everything Ann writes!

4.25* (⅘)

Rep: Chinese cast of characters

‘If You Could See the Sun’ by Ang Liang is a young adult novel about Chinese American Alice Sun. Alice goes to an elite boarding school in Beijing with a partial scholarship. She finds out her parents can no longer afford her tuition, so she is faced with two options; go back to the States or go to a public school in Beijing. She one day has the availability to turn invisible and she uses this availability to her advantage to raise money for her tuition. Alice works with her class rival, Henry, and her availability to cause shenanigans to their classmates and peers.

This book was an action packed, fun and fast paced read. It has an academic rival to lovers storyline. The main character, Alice, is a relatable character to those who are ambitious in academics, I often find myself rooting and feeling for her. The side characters are amazing and bring life to the story.

‘If You Could See the Sun’ is a fun and entertaining read and it is an amazing read.

It was an interesting enough concept but I just couldn't seem to get into it enough to finish. Possibly I might pick this up at a later date to try again.

This was a fast read about a girl, who is trying to make her way in the academic world. Where her Chinese parents are trying hard to provide for her, she uses her abilities to help them, but things get complicated when her business and business partner/frenemy. Readers will fly through this book and wish it was longer.

If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang follows elite international boarding school student Alice Sun. She’s always felt invisible at school, especially since she is the only scholarship student. Alice’s parents break the news to her that they can no longer afford to pay for her to attend that school. One day, Alice actually starts to turn invisible. She decides to take this opportunity to monetize on her newfound power by discovering secrets. She does this with the help of her academic rival Henry Li. Things quickly escalate when discovering scandals turns to discovering actual crimes. All this goes down as Alice develops growing feelings for her rival.

This book is an utterly unique mix of contemporary fiction and urban fantasy elements. I liked how this book tackled classism, as since Alice was the only student on scholarship, she was treated differently than the others. I liked how Alice and Henry grew close because of this strange situation Alice was facing with invisibility. I think it’s awesome how she decided to monetize it!

Thank you to the publisher, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Inkyard Press and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Alice Sun is a scholarship student at an elite international boarding school in Beijing and despite being one of the top students, has always felt overlooked amongst the wealthy students. One day, she suddenly starts turning invisible, and uncontrollably at that. When her parents tell her they can no longer afford the fees for her private school, Alice sees an opportunity to use her new power to earn some extra money and pay her tuition. It starts off with little things at first, school gossip and scandals that she uncovers anonymously but when the requests on the anonymous app she has set up take a step up to unethical jobs and outright crimes, Alice must decide if this scheme is worth it.

YA contemporary is not a genre I typically pick up, but the synopsis hinted at a rather interesting mix of genres in this one which is why I decided to read it even though magical realism hasn’t worked very well for me in the past. I liked how the main plot started right from page one without too much dallying and the base of the story was neatly established within the first couple of chapters, while introducing the main character and her situation making it clear how high the stakes are for her. This was a fast paced and easy read and I finished it in a single sitting.

Alice was a great protagonist, smart and likeable, and she was very easy to root for and relate to. Alice’s new power of invisibility is not just a superpower but also a metaphor for how she feels, unseen by many of the rich and privileged students at her fancy private school who have no idea how people like her live and struggle in poverty. What I liked best about this book however, was the number of themes and strong messages like classism, poverty and racism that the author managed to integrate into it without losing the relatively lighthearted tone of the story. The romance subplot was kind of an undertone to the story, but unlike other books where this is the case, this actually made the story more likeable and I enjoyed it a lot more because of it.

It would have been nice to find out where Alice’s power came from but to be honest, I wasn’t really expecting that to be delved into. Either way, that aspect was left on a very vague note which made the book feel kind of incomplete. It was barely brought up in the last couple of chapters and there was no information on what happens, if she lost the ability, or learned to control it for example. Once Alice’s actions, to some extent anyway, are revealed, there was a startling lack of consequences for everything she did which didn’t really sit right after everything she did. I also found the mood of the book to be a little disappointing – from the looks of the premise I expected it to be more thrilling.

For a debut novel, this was quite good, if not as deep as I expected it to be given the themes and I liked the writing style as well. Overall, this was a fun read and I would definitely recommend it!