Book Review: If You Could See the Sun

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: Fantasy

Sub-Genres: Romance, Magical Realism

Another academic rivals from Miss Ann Liang 💞. This one also has supernatural/fantasy elements, so I was really excited for this one. And I have to say, this exceeded my expectations. I was gearing myself up for another romance-based story, but this one, which did have romance aspects, was more based on exploring important topics and I’m glad I got to experience this version of Ann Liang’s writing.

Continue reading for more details. 

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

Alice is such a hardworking student and she’s a sweet girl. When she noticed her parents were struggling to pay for her really expensive boarding school, she wanted to make things easier for them. Her parents truly did want Alice to have an amazing future laid out for her, but this boarding school was ridiculously expensive and her classmates that attended this school were ridiculously rich. Though, not Alice. She didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the students who were children of businessowners and celebrities. Once Alice started to become invisible, she found a way to use her powers to help her parents out, but whether it was the best way or not is up for debate. I loved how her sense of humanity kicked in when she realized she was making a very bad decision during one of her tasks she was taking on.

Henry was giving such golden retriever vibes. The poor boy was confused when he realized they were supposed to hate each other. He was also so supportive of Alice, it was adorable. He arrived late to school because he was up all night making the app she asked him to make for her. He accompanied her on her tasks, helped whenever needed, and planned them out with her. He knew her better than she knew herself at times and helped her through her tough times. He was always there for her and didn’t hate her at any point throughout the book.

“I didn’t know you had such a praise kink.”

Ann Liang really understands academic overachievers like me because no other book has captured the struggles we face by having this mindset. There were multiple occasions where I truly related with Alice and was shocked by how accurate her thoughts were to mine. I also, in general, really understood why she felt the need to do the things she did since her struggles were so valid. Many people can relate to how Alice felt whether it be not fitting on or struggling financially. 

“I’d rather be the villain who lives to the end than the hero who winds up dead” 

Ann Liang’s writing style in this story really helped shed light on important lessons for students to learn especially through metaphors and beautiful phrases. I felt the importance of the lessons that Ann Liang included in this book and I really did feel them in my heart as someone who stresses for perfection and success. I was so proud of Alice at the end of the book and I loved how much she had grown. The pressure and worry which she was filled with at the beginning of the book turned a bit more into peace and acceptance which is much better for her.

“If I'm not swimming as hard as I can, feet thrashing at the waves, I'm drowning.”

The plot of this story was nicely paced. It wasn’t too fast or slow and the aspect of her turning invisible definitely kept things interesting. I love how her friendship grew with Chanel and loved seeing them work together. Chanel supported her so much and she slayed at the end (along with both Henry and Alice). 

Overall, this was a lovely read and captures the essence of high school (even though this a boojie boarding school) problems that students go through. It’s light hearted and fun while still covering important topics and situations in a way that touches the heart.

“Descartes was wrong, you know, when he said, 'To live well, you must live unseen.' To live well, you must learn to see yourself first. Do you understand what I'm saying?”

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