This review will mostly be me screaming about Henry Li...but to be civilized and posh I will start with the plot. Liang paints a clear picture of what it’s like to struggle for certain advantages that are seemingly handed to others, skillfully exploring themes of classism and privilege via a sympathetic protagonist who feels—sometimes literally—invisible."— Publishers Weekly Though, I don't think we actually get any closure of why Alice turns invisible. Was it just a random thing or something, or did we actually get an explanation and I missed it? He's so nice. He doesn't mean anything bad to Alice but somehow gurlie always misinterprets. He lied and ruined his reputation for Alice. He punched a dude in the face for Alice. He fainted for Alice. Oh, the setting! I love a good boarding school setting and this one certainly stood out to me. It’s set in an elite international Beijing boarding school and I just LOVED it so much. The setting’s descriptions made me want to know more and it was so interesting, how the author explored the deep constrasts between all the privileged, rich and influencial teens and Alice, the only scholarship student.

You're still a kid, you know. Even if it doesn't feel that way now, you're still only a kid. You're too young to be this hardened by the world. You should be free to dream. To hope.❞ Chanel was also a great character, she was so nice and friendly and seems like she would make a great friend, but none of these characters are real which pains me to type out. Alice realises there’s an upside to her strange new power ― unparalleled access to the secrets of China’s most rich and influential teens. Soon, Alice has a new plan: offer her invisibility services to find out what her classmates want to know ― for a price. Alice was in general such a fun character!! I enjoyed her inner monologue and thoughts so much! She’s just so interesting and loveable. I loved being in her head and seeing her perspective on things and events. She’s definitely a favourite character of mine now! Alice Sun has always felt invisible as the only scholarship student at her elite Beijing boarding school. Her classmates are China’s most rich and influential teens, while all she has going for her are her grades. But one day, Alice uncontrollably turns invisible — literally invisible.

‘If You Could See the Sun’ published on October 11, 2022

Love and hate are separated by a thin line, and parallel to it are the blurred lines that Alice starts to cross when her intentions start off reasonably and turn into criminal activity. How far is Alice willing to go? i also feel like i'm in my ya era rn and i love Ann Liang's writing style soo much 😭 so i've officially read both books by her and absolutely LOVED it so much!! the fact that i could connect so much with the mc is another plus. I received this book for free from Harper360UK in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. I was really excited to read IF YOU COULD SEE THE SUN. I love me some magical realism and it's always awesome to see YA that isn't set in the United States. This book is set in a very exclusive school in Beijing, and Alice, the heroine, isn't going to be able to attend much longer even with her scholarship due to her family's dwindling funds. she was so funny and adorable, i loved her. I relate to her on so many levels, even though I'm shit in studies. She was a try hard and a perfectionist, and it was written well instead of being annoying or cringey like our star, naomi witt. I did hate the fact that she always put down the rich kids as if it was their fault that they were born in such a family, but she did end up realizing how she was being unfair and I loved that about the book. Ann used Alice to show that everyone makes mistakes no matter how perfect they are or how hard they try, and it was one of my favorite aspects. She was sarcastic and made me laugh so hard, all the snarky comments about Henry made me scream and die. She's one of my favorite characters 🫶🏼.

this is one of my favorite young adult romance books. it was so so enjoyable. alice was such an interesting protagonist, and i loved reading about her type a, workaholic personality. and henry!!! god how can you not love him. their reluctant alliance and the forced proximity that resulted had me screaming crying bc they are SO CUTE. I do hate you. I hate everything about you. I hate you so much that whenever I’m around you, I can barely think straight. I can barely even breathe.❞ All I have to say is, if your man can’t SENSE YOUR PRESENCE when you’re literally INVISIBLE because of how well he knows you, you need a better man. Henry Li supremacy.

Alice is a really realistic main character, and I relate to her with all of the worrying about your academics and all of that, and I love that she wasn't perfect, which makes her incredibly relatable. She makes certain decisions that had me questioning her, but I can understand why she made them, because she was just trying to help her family, and speaking of which, I also loved her dedication to family. the plot. oh my god, she makes an app called beijing ghost to carry out her classmates' tasks that they don't want anyone to know about, because she's invisible, has henry li for a partner, and ends up making money from it.. my mind was racing while reading!! i didn't know i needed this book as much as i did 🤧🤧 If You Could See the Sun is Ann Liang’s debut novel. While it starts a little slow, it takes off in a direction I didn’t expect. It’s a fun boarding school drama and a sweet enemies-to-lovers romance with a dash of magical realism.

Ahhh! I loved soft-boy, ride-or-die Henry. If Alice said we need to go bury a body, he would grab a shovel. He cares so much and is much sweeter than what I intentionally thought when going into this! The build and slow burn for him wasn’t directly shown to us, but cmon we know he has liked her for a while! He had his own surprises in this story, but it’s the fact that he is a Swiftie, a British accented, handsome nerd, and keeps a picture of his crush on his desk for me! If You Could See The Sun is one of these stories that captivated me, right from the very beginning. Alice, our main character, is fierce, determined and absolutely endearing. I could deeply relate to her reaching for perfection, to her trying, wanting to be perceived, seen, loved and yet, not so much. I loved her and how she grew as the book went on, learning to speak up for herself, learning that she’s more than just a study machine… and most of it all, learning that she’s just a kid. Still. Alice realises there's an upside to her strange new power -- unparalleled access to the secrets of China's most rich and influential teens. Soon, Alice has a new plan: offer her invisibility services to find out what her classmates want to know -- for a price.Then her parents drop a bomb -- they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship. But that's the least of Alice's problems, because she has started uncontrollably turning invisible. As in completely, physically invisible. Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she's the only scholarship student in a sea of uber-wealthy classmates. But she has a plan: be top in the class, attend a prestigious university, secure a killer job, and finally lift her family out of poverty. Liang will serve as an executive producer on the project. Today, she said, ”I truly couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Bound Entertainment on this adaptation, and it’s both a dream and an honor to get to be involved in the process. I’m so excited for everything to come.” The only thing that kind of was a minus for me is that it was so short and how abruptly it ended… I wish we could’ve seen more of Henry and Alice together at the end and maybe even an epilogue. i quite honestly thought that the invisible part of the story would be too unbelievable for me to read, but the author wrote it beautifully. i just wish i could have known a real reason for why she became invisible.

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. Utterly unique, thought-provoking, and wonderfully written, If You Could See the Sun was a thrilling ride that hooked me from start to finish. Ann Liang is a fantastic new voice in YA!' 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. Also the fact that they had to work together?!?! And Alice hated it so much but at the same time was falling for him?? I died dead!!!Utterly unique, thought-provoking, and wonderfully written." —Gloria Chao, author of American Panda and Rent a Boyfriend