If You Could See the Sun
Ratings28
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings28
Average rating3.7
"Utterly unique, thought-provoking, and wonderfully written... a thrilling ride that hooked me from start to finish." --Gloria Chao, author of American Panda and Rent a Boyfriend 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. 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.
Reviews with the most likes.
“And while it's important to know how to fight your way to the top... It's always nice when there are others to help lift us up, don't you think?”
WOAH.
I am so annoyed that I haven't picked this up earlier. I have heard constant good things not just about this book but about Ann Liang in general and I was not left disappointed.
I admit I went into this blind and didn't even read the premise so you could imagine my surprise when Alice began to turn invisible. I had to pause for a second and yelled at the top of my lungs “Wait, this has magic in it?” and instantly knew I needed to eliminate all distractions and devour this book.
If You Could See The Sun should be read by everyone. This is what I'm going to start advertising to everyone at least. This book made me feel so attached to the characters. I fell in love with them so deeply. Alice and Henry are now so special to me.
This book has left an everlasting impact on me and taught me the important lesson, sometimes you will feel invisible and forgotten but the right people will never lose sight of you.
My only negative is that there isn't more of this book.
super cute book. i wasn't all that invested into the story and it lowkey sent me into a mini reading slump but towards the end i really liked it. definitely liked this book a lot but it's not super special to me and wasn't a page turner
i think this is a case of wasted potential? also the mood shift halfway through was a bit much, i would have preferred it if the story had stayed more grounded.
i liked the characters and the setting, though. and i did like the sentiment that the story was trying to convey.
I'm not much into YA contemporaries these days but just the cover of this book and the slightly magical elements in the premise intrigued me and I couldn't resist.
I loved how the author establishes the setup and stakes in just the first couple of chapters. Alice as a protagonist is brilliant, smart, sarcastic and very easy to like, so we are immediately drawn into her troubles and feelings. We loathe her rival Henry just like she does and really hope she'll be able to make the money to keep continuing to study at her school. And slowly, we get to see her discover secrets and truths and grapple with what she thought about others, what the actuality is, and how justified is what she is doing with her invisibility powers. Add to this a very intriguing rivals to lovers dynamic, and this makes for a very enjoyable story.
But what really made this book good for me was how the author managed to integrate so many themes in the story while also keeping it lighthearted enough and fun. Alice's invisibility doesn't just signify her newfound powers but also the way she feels invisible and not seen in many ways by her friends because they just can't fathom what it is to live in poverty or less financial wealth than them. The classism here is really on point, because while it may reflect modern Beijing, it's also true for most metro cities around the world, and it starkly depicts how unimaginable it is for wealthy people to fathom the kind of privileges they enjoy, and how much the things they take for granted are not true for others.
Overall, this was a great YA book with light speculative elements that don't really overpower a more contemporary story, great characters who are easy to fall in love with, and excellent commentary on classism, racism, wealth inequality, poverty and more.
