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.
- Title: If You Could See the Sun
- Author: Ann Liang
- Publisher: Inkyard Press
- Publication Date: October 11, 2022
- Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary
- Targeted Age Range: Young Adult
- Content Warnings: mild violence, kidnapping
- Rating: ★★★★★
Ann Liang’s If You Could See the Sun has been on my radar for well over a year — I mean, a speculative YA novel about “academic rivals selling secrets at their elite Beijing boarding school”? How could it not be on my list of most anticipated 2022 releases?
If You Could See the Sun follows Alice Sun, Airington International Boarding School’s only scholarship student. When she finds out that her parents can no longer afford the exorbitant amount of tuition and her only options are to go to public school, or to go to school in Maine, Alice is determined to find another way to stay at Airington. After all, she’s worked so diligently and so hard for something — not to mention, neither option would allow her to continue taking her IB courses. But no matter how hard Alice works, she’s still tied for first place — Henry Li, future heir of SYS, has shared every spotlight with her. When Alice starts turning invisible, she finds the cure to her problem — team up with Henry to develop an app called ‘Beijing Ghost’, and unearth her classmates’ secrets.
Unsurprisingly, I loved If You Could See the Sun. As someone who went to international school (not boarding) as a child, I found it incredibly easy to picture the halls of Airington, as well as the students and their many, many secrets. If You Could See the Sun” is the epitome of “I support women’s rights, but more importantly, I support women’s wrongs”.
Alice was an incredible protagonist — she’s ambitious, complex, and she has so much weight on her shoulders. I was rooting for her throughout the book, despite some of her choices being a little bit more questionable. In all honesty, her questionable choices made her even more likable and realistic. We’ve all made questionable choices, we’ve all done things we’re not proud of, even if our initial intentions are good. And for Alice, all of her choices are rooted in her situation: in wanting to raise enough money so she can stay at Airington.
As our love interest, Henry was incredibly endearing. The academic rivals to lovers pipeline remains superior once again. He’s kind and compassionate, and complemented Alice in all the best ways. In a way, the two of them remind me of Peace by Taylor Swift — Henry’s an ocean to Alice’s fiery self. The two of them helped each other grow so much and their dynamic just made my heart so happy.
But as much as I loved Alice and Henry’s dynamic, or the characters themselves, what I loved most about If You Could See the Sun was its examination of class, privilege, and the American Dream. Alice, though born in China, immigrated to the United States at a young age with her parents, then moved back. The American dream is the idea that “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. While this can happen anywhere in the world, I’ve rarely seen it explored in Non-American contexts. If You Could See the Sun dives into who really gets to achieve the American Dream,and whether or not that’s actually attainable for people. Over the course of If You Could See the Sun, we learn how acutely aware Alice is of her parents’ sacrifices and love, and how that’s a driving force behind not just how much she pushes herself, but also why she’s so desperate to raise enough money to stay at Airington. Despite being Airington’s only scholarship student, her scholarship still doesn’t cover her entire tuition. Not to mention, all of her peers have never had to think about money, work, or any sort of sacrifices.
Overall, I loved If You Could See the Sun, and I couldn’t recommend it more highly! It’s definitely a book that stole a bit of my heart, and one that I’m sure I’ll reread on a rainy day.
Links for If You Could See the Sun: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Ann Liang is a recent graduate of 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 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.
