If You Could See The Sun #BlogTour #YoungAdult #Fantasy #Contemporary

When Justine from Harper Collins invites me to join a blog tour for a new book I’m always guaranteed a great read. If You Could See The Sun may seem like your typical girl-gets-a-new-superpower-and-turns-invisible story, but this debut novel by Ann Liang blew me away with its cultural richness, humour, and heart.

About The Book 📚

If You Could See the Sun

Ann Liang

On Sale Date: October 11, 2022

September 14, 2022

9781335915849

Hardcover

$18.99 USD

Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / Contemporary

352 pages

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/if-you-could-see-the-sun/9781335915849

IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335915849

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/if-you-could-see-the-sun-ann-liang/1140845015

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/If-You-Could-See-Sun/dp/1335915842/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

“In a YA debut that’s Gossip Girl with a speculative twist, a Chinese American girl monetizes her strange new invisibility powers by discovering and selling her wealthy classmates’ most scandalous secrets.

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.”

About The Author

“Ann Liang is an undergraduate at the University of Melbourne. Born in Beijing, she grew up travelling back and forth between China and Australia, but somehow ended up with an American accent. When she isn’t stressing out over her college assignments or writing, she can be found making over-ambitious to-do lists, binge-watching dramas, and having profound conversations with her pet labradoodle about who’s a good dog. This is her debut novel.”

Author website: https://www.annliang.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annliangwrites/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/annliangy

My Review

› If You Could See The Sun is about Alice Sun. Her Chinese name is Sun Yan. She was born in Beijing and moved to California with her parents when she was seven. They move back to Beijing after Alice’s mother is injured when their family grocery store is robbed. Sun is an anxiety-filled, straight-A overachiever “Study Machine”. She feels like her grades are the only thing she can control. She has a half scholarship at Airington and feels out of place amongst the other students who come from rich families. Alice always ends up sharing the awards for the highest achiever with her high school nemesis, Henry Li. When her parents take her out for supper she knows they have big news. They can’t afford to pay for her school tuition at Airington and she needs to either attend a local school or go back to America and attend public school.

The next day, Alice suddenly turns invisible. And not just once. She begins turning invisible with very little warning and she’s not able to control it. Alice teams up with an unlikely partner – Henry Li. Together they create an app where fellow students can pay to have tasks completed by an anonymous person (invisible Alice) so she can save up the money to pay for her tuition. How far will Alice go to stay at Airington?

› I use the CAWPILE method to rate books.
› Characters: 9
› Atmosphere: 7
› Writing Style: 7
› Plot: 10
› Intrigue: 10
› Logic: 8
› Enjoyment: 8
Average 8.4

My Rating ★★★★

› Final Thoughts
• If You Could See The Sun is one of the best debut novels I’ve ever read. Certainly top of the tier for YA books for me. This is a heartfelt story about parents sacrificing for their children. It’s about the stresses of school, the importance of friendship, and the impact of racism and class. This is about actions, consequences and the dangers of unchecked ambition. There’s also a cute love story and humour. What a great book! I can’t wait to read more by Ann Liang.