I adored this book! Fast paced, action packs and of course, almost everyone's favorite tropes: enemies to lovers. I almost couldn't put this book down.

Alice and Henry are both charming. The way they interacted and bantered was so much fun and I couldn't wait for their relationship to develop.

I cannot wait to get a physical copy and recommend it to everyone!

There’s good books. And then there’s “stay up late reading in bed and wake up with the book next to your head and spend the entire day reading because you can’t stop” books. This one is the latter.

★★★★★ (5 Stars)
"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"

Going into this book, I thought I would just get a sort of superhero story where someone can turn invisible, but that was not the case. This knocked me off my feet (metaphorically speaking, of course) and completely demolished my expectations.

If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang is a story about a 16-year-old Chinese American girl named Alice Sun who goes to an elite international boarding school in Beijing where she always feels invisible. Her school is filled with rich and famous students while she is the only one there on a scholarship, and then her parents tell her they can no longer afford the tuition. After an awards ceremony, Alice goes cold and soon learns that she has actually turned invisible, but she doesn't know how. With no other option, she seeks out the help of her rival: Henry Li. Alice begins to use her newfound power to earn money through her peer's requests, but she questions herself more and more as the seriousness of the requests grows.

Let me just say, Ann Liang is a clever, creative, and astounding writer. This debut contains such a unique concept with an all Asian cast and a phenomenal love interest with a British accent. To see a power that is uncontrollable used by a morally gray main character was so interesting and something I've never read before. I had such a difficult time putting this book down as I could relate to Alice with her anxiety and loved seeing her journey and being with her through the tough choices she had to make. The writing style was also amazing and highly enjoyable.


pros:
HENRY. LI. Alright, another book boyfriend added to the list. Henry is so amazing and caring from the beginning. When Alice first starts feeling the symptoms associated with her invisibility, he tells her she doesn't look well and tries to make sure she is okay. He keeps this compassion through all of Alice's ups and downs and her good and not so great choices. Can I mention the fact that there wasn't a miscommunication trope??? And.. it gets better... HE FELL FOR HER FIRST. Yes, he's incredible and has a dimple, and, did I mention a British accent? Because he has that too. The enemies-to-lovers was *CHEF'S KISS* for sure.

The relatability and anxiety representation was so so incredible. The best way that I can show how relatable the rep is would be to provide some quotes, so here they are.

"No point making myself feel worse with imaginary scenarios - even though that seems to be what I do best"

"It sounds like I'm hyperventilating. F**k. Am I hyperventilating?"

"To my absolute horror, a pressure begins to build in my chest, climb up to my throat. My eyes blur"

"I hate that this is always my first instinct: self-doubt, anxiety, the nagging feeling that I did something wrong"

And a comment made by a teacher:
"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"
This part seriously made me tear up. I felt like the teacher wasn't just saying this to Alice but was speaking to me as well.

The discussion of class was so great, and I'm the glad this was touched on. The reader can really see how Alice's financial situation compared to her peer's can be so drastically different and how others don't even realize that she can't afford shopping sprees like they can.

Alice was relatable because of anxiety, but she is relatable in many other ways as well. Her thoughts are realistic, and there were many times when I had a similar thought process as her, could feel her emotions, and relate to certain experiences.

The magical realism within this novel is well-developed, and the reasoning for it in the end makes sense. I won't reveal it since it's something developed throughout the story, but I think it has a beautiful explanation that isn't stated clearly. The meaning is shown instead of stated, so you're able to develop a full understanding of it yourself, and I loved that.

The pacing of the novel was well done. I didn't feel that there were any points that dragged on or were boring; I was gripped by the words in every chapter.


cons:
The only thing I can really comment on are some grammar mistakes, but I'm sure those will be fixed before the novel is published.


Overall, this story was so so wonderful. Having a main character that I can relate to makes a book so much more special and impactful, and I enjoyed all of the smiles, laughs, tears shed, and heart-wrenching moments throughout. The cover of this is also so beautiful, and the title is very impactful after you read the story and understand its meaning. Also, I've talked to the author briefly on Instagram, and she is so sweet.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for sharing this stunning novel with me in exchange for an honest review.

**Note to publisher: Review will be posted to Instagram (@a.bookish.plant.lover) closer to pub date (in late October) and to Amazon (account is ABookishPlantLover) when published.
***Review has been posted to Goodreads (goodreads.com/abookishplantlover)

This book!! I loved it! Fast-paced, action-packed, with a sweet academic rivals to friends to lovers romance sandwiched in between. Taking place in Beijing, China, our main character Alice Sun attends a prestigious international school filled with genius rich kids such as Henry, her academic rival. When Alice discovers that she can randomly and mysteriously turn invisible, she enlists Henry’s help to solve the problem. After realizing she can make a profit off of her new abilities, she finds herself getting way over her head in some tense situations.

This novel was truly something else. The characters were written so well, it was like I was best friends with all of them. It also really captured the loneliness that comes with being gifted, different, and studious. Alice makes bad decisions, but they’re decisions that make sense for her character.

There were only a few things that I thought could be improved. Sometimes, pop-culture references would be dropped and fall flat, other times, dialogue would sound a little clunky and awkward. We also didn’t get to learn anything about whether Alice’s powers stuck around at the end.

I’m giving this book a 4/5. Altogether though, this was an amazing YA novel. I’ll definitely be putting it on my shelf in the future!

Thanks NetGalley and Inkyard for the ARC!

I would like to point out that that is a pretty clever title.

Anyways, I will always support a story that battles the Model Minority Myth.

I loved how not perfect Alice was. Most of the time, when characters in books are labeled as being "smart" they seem pretty unrealistic. They always seem to know exactly what to do. I loved that Alice had to really work for all she had and couldn't afford to slack off or take a rest. It honestly just really made me admire her and want to root for her even more. She didn't get things for free and you could really see the desperation in her actions.

Strangely enough, the book felt a little too short. Even though everything wraps up nicely, I still like the end came too fast. This could be a good thing, depending on how you look at it, but even the romance, which basically took the entire book to arrive, felt like it arrived super fast.

I'm still thinking about this book after finishing it and I want to desperately reread it immediately. And I RARELY reread a book! LOVE

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

If you suddenly had the power to become invisible - what would you do with it?

Alice is one of the top students in her school and suddenly discovers this happening to her. She decides to use this new ability to spy on her classmates - in a way. She learns all of their secrets and desires. She learns more than she wants to. Along the way, she learns more about herself.

This book takes place in an upscale (expensive) international school in China, which made it really interesting. It was fun to learn more about a different culture.

This book was about the magic of invisibility, but it was also about her friendships, a possible romance, and a lot of personal growth.

I absolutely loved the first 75% of this book. I struggled with the last part because I questioned not only the decisions that Alice made, but also Henry, her rival/crush. I didn't sense thier change in ethics along the way, but the final task they take on didn't quite ring true to me. And I didn't like the resolution. I thought the consequences should have been more severe.

Overall, this was a fun, enjoyable book that would be fun to discuss. What would you do if you had this power? Do you think it would change your morals/values? And if I was much, much younger, I am sure I would have had a book crush on Henry.. :)

Thank you to the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review. 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

Okay, so this book is literally one of the most amazing things I’ve read. Words cannot describe my love for this. Like, academic rivals to lovers? Perfectly executed. The BANTER? Absolutely adorable. Like the entire premise of the book is just amazing. And the CHARACTERS, omg I love them all so much.

Henry and Alice both just so charming in their own way and their banter was just so fun. You couldn’t just not ship them from the start. I was literally yelling “JUST FALL IN LOVE ALREADY” every other page. The slow burn was just so well executed and I loved every second of it.

This book was such a fun read. I was hooked from the start. Like there were just so many little moments that made you fall more in love with the characters. But it also made me cry more times than I’d like to admit. And I love the all Chinese culture the author included in the book.

Anyways go read this book.

YES!! i have been waiting for a book like this forever. academic rivals to lovers is officially the best trope, quote me. the characters were so well developed and relatable, and i could not put this one down. ann liang writes with such precision and happiness, i could not recommend this one more.

I absolutely adored this arc and would love to get a physical copy to review if one becomes available. I’ll have an article on pop-culturalist and my bookstagram account during release week!! I loved the taylor swift references and the chemistry between the characters.

<i>Thank you so much to Inkyard Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!</i>

This was a solid YA contemporary with magical realism and academic rivals to lovers! The premise of the story seemed super interesting and I really liked how the novel was set in a private high school in Beijing as opposed to an American high school, which is typically what I've only read in the YA thriller genre. This allowed the story to offer nuances of exploring one's East Asian identity & socioeconomic status as either members of the East Asian diaspora living in East Asia compared to their peers who were born and raised in East Asia.

The academic rivals to lovers arc was also really unique compared to other academic rivals to lovers arcs I've read about. Alice and Henry start working together right from the beginning of the book, and while they do keep their banter and rivalry up throughout the novel, it was interesting to see them get along so quickly. There were so many moments between them that I adored in the book, including the fact that Henry keeps a picture of him and Alice taped to his desk, that he immediately denied to Jake when Jake claimed Henry was into another girl at their school (not Alice) in front of Alice, and was like "I don't hate you" when Alice casually mentioned that she always felt like he did hate her. Not to mention the fact that he immediately agreed to help Alice out on the Beijing Ghost project? He truly would do anything for her and it was the absolute cutest thing ever.

I think the only reason why I gave this 4.25 stars instead of five was because I felt like the characters seemed so nonchalant and chill about the Beijing Ghost project considering how extreme and high stakes it felt? I was first surprised that Henry didn't seem to freak out about Alice's invisibility as much as Chanel did and the consequences after people found out that Alice was behind Beijing Ghost didn't feel as harsh as I thought they would be considering some of the secrets Alice was unraveling, tasks Alice was carrying out. I wish the ending had also been a little stronger, but overall, I definitely enjoyed this book and I'm super excited for its release in October!

Full review here: https://maeflowerreads.wordpress.com/2022/03/09/if-you-could-see-the-sun-review/

TLDR: I thought this was a super fun and meaningful read. It really surpassed my expectations, and I loved the character dynamics. Highly recommend to anyone who loves academia novels.

4.5/5 stars

I liked this book a lot, but the ending fell a bit flat. I would have liked to see some actual fallout and consequence. I could see the character growth but it would have been better if the ending was something "forced" on her. I just felt like she has this thing where she has to be the best at everything, in control, etc. so the exact opposite would convey character growth more in my opinion.

That being said, the ending was still good. And I'm sure some people would disagree with me, but this is just something that was on my mind. I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. I don't make a habit of giving critique on creative decisions because it's something the author did, and I know hard it is to finish a book.

At first, I was going to wait closer to publication day to post this review, but it's been a while since I finished a book in one sitting (or rather one morning).

Set in Beijing, If You Could See the Sun is not your typical immigrant story about chasing the American Dream. Born in Beijing, Alice Sun moved to California with her parents when she was seven, only to return to Beijing after facing financial difficulties. We're introduced to Alice at a defining moment in her life, i.e., when her parents break the news that they can no longer afford her tuition at Airington, the elite Beijing international boarding school, where Alice is the sole scholarship student. As Alice tries to come up with the tuition on her own, she comes to terms with who she truly is and what her dreams truly are.

I was hesitant at first about If You Could See the Sun, thinking that Alice's *superpower* would serve as a distraction from the overall narrative -- but this was far from the case. If You Could See the Sun is a coming-of-age YA masterpiece with commentary on class and what is worth aiming for in a society obsessed with money and accomplishments. There's also some academic rivals to lovers romance for the hopeless romantics out there. I spent my morning laughing and crying -- and I owe it all to If You Could See the Sun.

I feel that If You Could See the Sun will resonate with many readers who identify as Asian. I could see myself in Alice and my parents in Alice's parents. I can't wait to hold a physical copy in my hands on publication day!

**Note to publisher: I will post this review on bookstagram @movedbyprose closer to publication day**

Full review and links to social will be posted closer to publication date.

I'd like to thank the publisher Inkyard Press and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely ADORED this book. Liang depicts the feeling of invisibility in society so brilliantly, and this book took me for an absolute wild ride in the day it took me to fly through it.

First and foremost, this cover is gorgeous- the layered colors convey a weight and ecclectism of emotion our heroine must navigate through her journey. The book has a beautiful hint of a coming of age story, as many YA books centered around identity do, but with a high stakes, exciting storyline involving what starts as simple dubious activities to gain money and finally culminating into bigger discoveries and a foray into the criminal.
Readers who enjoy stories centered around finding security in one's identity will love this story: our heroine is a Chinese girl living in China, attending a prestigious international school via academic scholarship that costs more than it should- as someone who was in an almost identical situation, I identified strongly with her struggle to fit in. Many children of immigrants find themselves struggling when living in America or coming back to their homelands, too ethnic for America or other White dominated cultures and too 'mixed' or Westernized for our home countries. Throw in class struggles, and that's what this book does super well; it is a powerful commentary on the intersectionality of social identity and status. I only give it 4 stars as I felt the climax came on and ended too quickly, not matching the pace of the rest of the book well enough- but really that just means I wish the book was longer as I enjoyed every moment with Alice, Henry and co.

a chinese american girl using her new found invisibility powers to discover and sell her wealthy classmates' most scandalous secrets while dealing with an academic rival (to lovers plot line)?? what more could you ask for?

i thoroughly enjoyed this book. it surpassed my expectations on every level: plot, characters, worldbuilding, romance, etc. and continued to make me wish i had an academic rival where bragging rights are spoken with a hint of superiority and a tension of intensity.

alice was an excellent protagonist. i enjoyed every second with her of her journey and getting to know her ambitious, compassionate, and complex character leading the way to victory (in this case, lots of money). the accurate portrayal of the lower-middle class hit home for me, making me empathize and root for alice the entire time, only wavering but still understanding when she makes questionably, morally-gray decisions. her mistakes and her faults only make her more endearing and brave (because i, too, have cried over a test before).

the moment henry li was mentioned, i loved him already. he's confident and assured, the calm ocean to alice's anxious, fiery, and bold strides towards greatness. it's notoriously hard to keep henry's attention, yet with alice, his eyes are always on her because what else in the room could compare? these two are a power couple that i'll never live down. they're so intelligently compatible, yet such sweethearts for one another that it makes my chest ache. because this is one of the best slow burns i've ever read. their romantic plot line was secondary to the overarching plot of alice getting her bag, but the slow burn never failed me. it was at such a excruciating and delicious pace that it kept me at the edge of my seat, violently yelling for them to look at each other, to hold hands, to do anything at all! and then when the end was finally here, the slow burn ended in the best way that left no room for complaints. it was [chef's kiss].

i thoroughly enjoyed this book with my entire heart. it made me giggle and gasp, and i was surprised when it even made me cry. i want everybody to read this book. highly recommend. october can't come soon enough.

If You Could See the Sun is about Alice Sun, a girl who monetizes her newfound powers of invisibility with the help of her academic rival Henry Li.

When I first read the synopsis, I thought, "Wow, this book was made for me." It was even more unbelievable when I got approved for an ARC from NetGalley. It took me about two days to finish his book, and I enjoyed every second of it. Although I would consider myself a pretty fast reader, this book was also an extremely fast read, and I mean that in the best way possible. I loved Alice and Henry's banter; their dynamic was adorable! I think something that the author exceeded at was recognizing her target demographic and making her main character as relatable as possible. As a Chinese American myself, I was really happy to see splashes of my culture in the book. I did have some small problems with the book, though.

For one, I felt that the pacing was off. I did not like how most of the Beijing Ghost tasks were sped through and glossed over, with only two or three that were described in detail before getting to the climax. I felt that the book didn't follow the traditional format of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action. Instead, imagine a calm, mild sea with small, occasional waves. That was what reading the book felt like. It was very... mild. I really would have liked to see more of everything, I guess.

All in all, a dazzling debut from Ann Liang. If you are looking for a character-driven book with lovable characters and good Asian representation, this is the book for you.

What can I say about this book without the redundant use of amazing, fantastic, emotional? Ann has created a book I wish I had when I was a teen. Full of relatable dialogue, scenes, swoony feels, and an MC boi who has my heart, I'm in LOVE with everything within IF YOU COULD SEE THE SUN.

Henry is my bean child, we MUST protect him at ALL COSTS. He's such a fluffy simp and I'm OBSESSED with him. Alice is me as a teenager, the part where she was crying over her test because she forgot to study the night before....it was like looking in a mirror. Her flaws and imperfections were achingly relatable and Ann, let me marry at least one braincell of yours because this book is a flipping masterpiece.

Also, the cover?? 10/10. STUNNING.

For those sensitive to content, there is some pretty frequent swearing throughout, so just be aware if you are sensitive to that. :)