This book was really fun! I loved the way the invisibility was perfectly fit into the world we know. I loved how we got a glimpse of Beijing through the eyes of someone who clearly cares a lot about the city. Overall delightful!

If You Could See the Sun embodies everything I love about the YA genre. Snarky, witty, with loveble characters and insane teenage scheming that somehow just work out. Liang delivers a stunning debut, with a memorable, relatable protagonist in Alice Sun, plus a fantastic academic rival/love interest in Henry Li and their antics to keep Alice in school.

What makes this book for me was Alice Sun’s character. As a now-graduate student reading this book, Alice Sun embodies everything I was a highschool student, competing against classmates to get top grades, doing anything and everything for the most packed, well-polished package to bring to a college resume, but dialed to a 12. Seriously, this girl is insane, but simultaneously so relatable. Every thought she had, every action she took, was absolutely something I could picture myself or another friend doing to get just that extra edge. Perhaps this is cynicism on my part, but there’s this tone of optimism, the underlying tone of ‘if I can only get into the best university, my life will be set’ Alice has that so perfectly reflects how so many Asian Americans go through highschool that I’ve never quite seen reflected elsewhere and I really appreciate Liang for portraying that.

Plotwise, this book is half hilarious and half surprisingly depressing. Alice Sun, under threat of leaving her ultra-prestigious international highschool in Beijing, discovers that she can turn invisible, and immediately decides to monetize those powers to cover next year’s tuition. Problem is, she can’t actually control this power. Cue some of the funniest scenarios of her and Henry getting into shit while they wait for her powers to kick in so she can snoop on her classmates’ dirty secrets. Of course, under the glamor of fame and wealth, said classmates can have both dirty and just sad secrets.

I really like that Liang chooses to humanize (kind of) those classmates. A lot of books in this vein, rich kids are presented as villains, snobby and unsympathetic to the ‘poor’ main character. Alice’s classmates have a lot of heart, and while it’s clear they don’t really understand not having money, they’re sympathetic and, well, not utter assholes. Henry and Chanel are great sidekicks to Alice’s bullshit.

Overall, I rate this book a 4.5/5. I loved all the references to Chinese pop culture (the Xiao Zhan one got me laughing out loud), and Liang’s use of Chinese within the text! Alice’s mentality and hijinks were incredibly relatable and I think Liang really captured the high pressure many Asian American students find themselves in to get into top colleges in both a serious yet light-hearted way.

Review will go live on my blog 3 October.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Alice is a brilliant girl from a working class family who attends a prestigious (and expensive) school. She also randomly becomes invisible. After learning that her family cannot afford her school fees for the next term, she uses her powers of invisibility to make money by uncovering secrets, which eventually escalates to riskier tasks. Alice's journey is a powerful one of self-discovery, but there's more! This book has an absolutely adorable enemies to business partners to friends to more than friends element, which I loved. Henry is a wonderful character and I was rooting for them the entire time. There are also fun moments of tension when Alice is making her stealthy moves, as she never knew when she would become visible again. I flew through this one in two days and will definitely be adding a copy to my classroom library!

I originally wanted to read this because of how the author promoted the book as being a romantic rivals to lovers, and considering in a lot of her promotional videos the focus is on romance…I expected the book to also have a focus on it.

Sadly, it was barely relevant and I’m not against a slow burn but when the burn is arguably not there for most of the book, you can understand my disappointment. Not to mention the two people who knew her secret literally had zero reaction to it. I just felt like despite the plot being about magic realism, it was barely even explored.

Aside from that, I’d say the plot was interesting but just kind of underwhelming.
I will say though that some of the stuff I enjoyed were the descriptions of her childhood, Beijing, and food. You could definitely feel the authors emotions coming through on the page and I loved that.

Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for an ARC of If You Could See the Sun in exchange for an honest review! This book was an absolute JOY to read. It was lyrical, had insightful commentary, and had me kicking my feet and squealing. I truly loved it so much. A new favorite for sure.

I adored this so much! Alice as a character is one I found so interesting and I related to her strive for academic validation and success. I enjoyed seeing her friendship grow with Chanel and Henry a lot, and I definitely didn’t expect the lengths Alice went to with her invisibility powers. Overall, this was such a great read and I can’t wait to look into more books by this author.

First of all, I enjoyed the strong writing style that brought out this incredible setting as well as made the characters all seem like real-life people to me. Henry Li was my favorite character in this novel; I loved his complexity, his intelligence, his loyalty, his sense of sarcastic humor, and his willingness to sacrifice for family and friends. The family relationships/dynamics, friendships, and rivals/enemies to more all endeared this book to my heart immediately.

Secondly, I enjoyed being immersed in the Chinese culture, the arts, the cuisine, and even the tough parts of social inequities which made it feel real. The plot didn't shy away at the tough themes and I appreciated the tough look into racism, poverty, inequality, and bullying.

I enjoyed the suspense of the Beijing Ghost app tasks and found myself glued to the action to find out what happened next. However, I was extremely disappointed, if not frustrated, with the lack of consequences, especially for Alice's final task she accepted for payment. This made Alice unlikable to me and morally gray in nature, which is not a problem except Alice never seemed to accept responsibility for her choices and therefore, I don't believe she learned from her unethical mistakes and grew as a better person.

Another disappointing part of this plot was the lack of complete world building. How Alice turns invisible is never explained and this left me feeling unsatisfied with the magical realism this novel is based upon. Also, why didn't Henry and Chanel freak out about Alice turning invisible? Their acceptance of it took me immediately out of suspending my belief.

Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

If You Could See the Sun follows a young Chinese-American girl named Alice who attends an elite boarding school in Beijing. After finding out her school fees are no longer affordable, Alice teams up with her academic rival to monetize her newfound invisibility powers by completing tasks requested by other students.

Overall, I thought If You Could See the Sun was a fun read, but it definitely could have benefited from refining certain details and resolving the plot holes. Many aspects, such as the concept and setting, were really interesting, and I enjoyed Alice’s development and how supportive her family was of her. While I liked Henry, I felt like there were instances where he and Alice could’ve challenged each other more, especially considering their dynamic as academic rivals. For example, when Henry appeared apprehensive about a request they received, Alice was dismissive of his concerns and Henry went along with her plan anyways, and this would have been a much more intriguing point of contention if they had a proper discussion about it. Despite this, Henry was such a great love interest and there were so many cute moments between Alice and Henry as their relationship continued to develop. Chanel was also a great friend, and I would have liked to see more of her. The book did leave many questions regarding Alice’s invisibility unanswered, and I thought there were a lot of opportunities for her invisibility to be further explored. Though I believe parts of the story could have been improved upon, I found the book to be very entertaining.

thank you so much to inkyard press and netgalley for the e-arc! <3

4 (and a little extra) stars!

before i am even a human being, i am an academic rivals to lovers stan!!!

i requested this on netgalley simply because i saw it had my trope, but i ended up loving it even more than i expected.

this book is simultaneously deeper and also more fun than i expected. it addresses classism, racism, and other real world topics, but it also covers these things with a fun and fast-paced plot.

the story takes off quickly, and there’s never a dull spot. i had a few issues with the writing every here and there, but it never stalled the reading experience.

alice’s invisibility powers aren’t involved in deep lore - but for me, it absolutely worked. i immediately just felt like alice deserved a break because i loved her (and saw myself in her).

and i loved her and henry together. and i really really really loved henry. an angel. british, genius, tall… inserting him into a rivals storyline was absolutely perfect for me. teenage me would have been in love with him but current me felt like they were my sweet genius children and i needed to protect them forever. their push and pull banter was PERFECT and the little moments where you could see henry’s affection for her were sooooo good.

i won’t go into the plot too much because i recommend you read like i did and just go along for the ride! it’s 100% worth it.

there’s so much heart and culture involved in this book - i loved how real everyone felt.

a little fantasy a little romance a little drama a little action - a perfect escapist read and i highly recommend!!!

cws: racism, classism, violence, cheating

This is a story about class, academic rivalry, and being invisible. I loved seeing Alice and Henry grow through learning about each other's challenges and insecurities even though they are the top 2 students in their school. I also loved all the information about Chinese culture, and can't wait to try White Rabbit candy.

I could not put this book down. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I loved the romantic subplot and I felt that the characters were fleshed out and realistic feeling, given the magical nature of the story.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Man, genre-bending is effing correct. I won't go into the plot because 1) the summary is pretty thorough and 2) I actually think the less you know going in the better. That said, pick up this book if you love:
- Elements of magical realism
- An academic rivals to lovers story that is just *chef's kiss*
- An MC who is honestly kind of a villain but we love to see it
- The ability to learn more about a contemporary culture through fiction

I loved the premise of the book. Academic rivals to lovers is 100% my jam, but what I thought would be a book that would be fast-paced from the description, the pace was average and was less dramatic than the story’s promise. I enjoyed Alice and Henry as characters and found them fun and good characters that had a lot going for them, but their romance was only okay. The synopsis mentions tasks that escalate, but that just didn’t happen. I was also really bothered that the author didn’t even explain Alice’s powers? (Unless I somehow missed it.)
Overall, this book just didn’t quite do it for me and it was a 2.5/5.
Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the ARC.

It only takes Alice turning invisible twice for her to create a business plan. Instead of doing what other people would do, Alice decides to turn this in to a way to make money. She makes acquires an app, using her skills to do anonymous tasks. Anything from catching someone cheating, to helping taking someone's phone.

I thought the concept of this book was interesting. I was also drawn to the book because of it’s diversity. In a way, the story felt immersed in Chinese culture, which I appreciated. Henry was also a wonderful feature in the book, even though the book isn’t romance-centric. Henry and Alice both showcased well the effects of academic pressure on students, as well as the effects of income inequality.

Despite liking what she represented, I had a hard time liking Alice. Time and time again she made decisions that I wouldn’t have dreamed of making. Maybe we are just built from different things, but Alice made some terrible decisions in attempt to do what she wants. I thought she was pretty selfish and hurtful. I did understand her reasoning, but I didn’t think it was excuse enough for the things she did.

All in all, this book was an interesting read. I think someone ages 12-17 would enjoy it more, as this book is definitely targeted more towards pre-teens. The blurb for the book does mention it being YA, but it’s hard to know the age-range for that because everyone has a different interpretation of what YA means.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this ARC to for an unbiased review.

Content Warnings (for parents):
-Mild Swearing
-Minor Kissing
-Mild Violence
-No Sexual Content

If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang, 352 pages. Inkyard Press, 2022. $19.
Language: R (110 swears, 21 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Alice, a year twelve student, needs to be the best at school, and she’s been mostly successful so far – she didn’t even push her rival, Henry, off the stage when they tied for Top Achiever award again. But everything changes for Alice when her parents admit they can’t afford tuition after the semester and Alice suddenly turns invisible. Desperate, Alice turns to the only person she can think of for help: Henry.
The questionable morality of Alice’s and Henry’s actions stressed me out. On the one hand, they are the protagonists and I want them to succeed, but I also don’t believe that the ends justify the means. Liang has written a compelling story that elicits sympathy for her characters, sparks thoughts about ethics, and invites readers to think about what they really want.
Everyone is implied Asian. The text specifically says that there are Chinese, Malaysian, Singaporean, and Australian-born Chinese students, and it is implied that there are also some White international students. The mature content rating is for innuendo and illegal activity as well as for mentions of child molesters, pornography, sexting, condoms, sex, drugs, and alcohol. The violence rating is for fist fighting, knife use, and some blood.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

If You Could See the Sun is a young adult low fantasy or magical realist novel, depending on how one defines those terms, that follows Alice Sun, a low-income teen at an academically taxing school for the rich. When Alice's parents allude to taking her out of school, Alice uses her newfound invisibility to raise her tuition money by spying on her classmates. What follows ranges from innocent shenanigans to high-level crimes. The novel explores utilitarian moral quandaries. Is the promise of a better future worth breaking fundamental ethical principles? Or is becoming the type of person one despises too great a cost?
Ann Liang's work is certainly entertaining. The premise of a teenager with the power of invisibility coupled with high school drama is great YA fodder. However, what value exists in entertainment is overshadowed by poor, cliched writing and dubious morals. The central relationship between Alice and Henry has cute moments, such as an awkward comment about a praise kink, but lacks the tantalizing tension which usually makes enemies-to-lovers stories so enthralling. For such a sagacious girl, Alice is painfully oblivious to Henry's feelings for her. Henry takes the time to help her with an app despite being exceedingly wealthy and having nothing to gain. A picture of the two resides in his austere room. Since Alice is his academic rival, he would benefit from turning her into the administration, yet he does not. All of these factors should culminate in an overt case for Henry's feelings for her, but the thought does not cross Alice's mind.
Though, that is not to say what does cross her mind is wise. As the only scholarship student, Alice is privy to and critical of how the rich can get away with any unethical actions unscathed. Yet, she is willing to forgo any partially decent ethical code to get what she wants. One can argue Alice should not have been in the position of having to pay so handsomely for quality education, but this does not absolve her of moral culpability, especially given that she immediately resorts to spying on the other students with her invisibility powers before trying any other method. She does not explain her situation to the school, nor does she attempt to come up with alternative payment plans. Perhaps these efforts would have been in vain, but one can never know if they do not try. By the novel's end, the administration mildly reprimands Alice for her mistakes but not before Alice and her friends attempt manipulation or downright coercion. So, did Alice learn anything at all? Readers are expected to root for the misfortunate impoverished girl with a keen mind, yet she consistently inflicts misfortune onto others in the name of staying at a school for her academic prowess, which she fails to use in any part of the novel. Taken in aggregate, If You Could See The Sun is an adventurous YA novel with overt moral statements that are covertly contradicted. Some characters, such as Chanel and Henry, are loveable, but a puerile writing style and revenge fantasy overcome the potential for deep characterization or connection.

I really liked the premise of this book—academic rivals to lovers is my favorite! Unfortunately, however, I didn’t end up enjoying this book as much as I thought I would. I found it a little confusing that Alice’s invisibility was never given any explanation, and the characters felt a little flat to me. The story felt very lighthearted—something I enjoyed, but wouldn’t feel compelled to read again.

This book was very good and had although the themes around class is somewhat straightforward, it's well-written and super engaging! The setting is also really immersive, and it felt like the exact opposite of the stereotypical competitive and elite boarding school, but it still somehow really familiar? The characters are pretty well-rounded and distinct, and their development was also really good, and Alice and Henry's relationship seemed very realistic!

I'm actually obsessed with this book this is definitely one of my favorites of the year! The whole premise is just so interesting what with the academic setting, the superpowers, the academic rivals to lovers!!!! I definitely think this book would be an absolutely splendid adaptation what with the elite drama happening throughout the story. I'm literally at a loss for words because there's just so much I want to say about how interesting it was to make Alice decide to do seemingly innocent things that slowly seemed to escalate into the morally grey.

I also think it was such a cool discussion topic when Alice was discussing the lessons from Macbeth and how they paralleled her justifications for her actions. Of course, I really loved the friendships and romance because they felt really natural! The banter was superb and I just had a really great time with that.

The family relationships and especially the pressure a child feels to help their parents was something I really related to. I'm definitely going to be recommending this to everyone!

If You Could See the Sun is charming and fun ride. You will fall in love with Alice and Henry. Alice is invisible, literally. She finds herself turning invisible and doesn't know why. Then Alice's parents tell her they can't afford her boarding school in Beijing and she decides to use her invisibility powers to make some money to help pay for school. She starts listening to her classmates deepest secrets and sharing the information in exchange for money. This was a really interesting and fun read. I loved the characters and the writing was great.