arc review: if you could see the sun by ann liang (10/11) ·˚ ༘♡ ·˚

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.

COMES OUT OCTOBER 11, 2022

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

preorder: bit.ly/34jG4Dt + goodreads: bit.ly/3Gx7ZNc

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. and i couldn’t believe this is a debut. hello? spare some talent for the rest of us ann liang, you brilliant woman.

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]. some slow burns fumble with the intensity of the journey and with the catharsis at the end, but this book never disappointed me. it’s honestly so impressive how well-paced the romance was with this standalone debut.

the plot was thrilling and always had me wanting more. the effortless switch in the tones of the story reminded me of the film parasite, with the build-up and intensity of knowing something horrible is about to happen and the oh moment of alarm and the need to go, go, go bursting off the pages. coupled with the steady worldbuilding and the fantastic cast of characters, i was overwhelmed by how magnificent the entire book was at weaving everything together. i mean, just thinking about how much detail and effort the endearing and hilarious side characters had during their spotlight moments (and how they weren’t ditched as the plot went on!) was enough for me to deeply enjoy the story, but add the excellent storytelling that kept raising the stakes, the painfully accurate social commentary on the discrepancy and unfairness of the social classes, and the slow-burn academic rivals to lovers subplot? this is obviously one of the top books of 2022 for me — and it’s only the 3rd month of the year.

i thoroughly enjoyed this book with my entire heart. please read it. 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.

thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me an arc for an honest review!

preorder: bit.ly/34jG4Dt + goodreads: bit.ly/3Gx7ZNc