The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: If You Could See the Sun

Series: Standalone (though a book from the same world is releasing in 2026)

Author: Ann Liang

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Magical Realism

Rating: 4.25 stars

Review

Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her international Beijing boarding school, where she is the only scholarship student in a school full of China’s most rich and influential teens. But then Alice starts turning invisible- actually invisible! When her parents tell her that they can no longer afford to pay for school even with the scholarship, Alice devises a way to make money using her new power- she’ll discover the scandalous secrets her classmates want to know, for a price. But when the tasks move from petty secrets to actual crimes, Alice has to decide if this is worth it.

What would you do if one day you could turn invisible? Would you start a crime ring? Because that is exactly what Alice Sun decided to do.

I have to admit I was super hesitant to read this book. I loved Ann Liang’s other books, but after reading the synopsis I didn’t think this was going to be my cup of tea. And I was a little nervous this book would be super dark.

If you have similar worries, I shall put them to rest. What Alice does isn’t super terrible, nor are they described in a lot of detail. A lot of what she did seemed more like what a private investigator would do (from my understanding of private investigators). The biggest crime was committed at the end of the book and involved a kidnapping, though this was quickly resolved.

I actually really loved this book. I shouldn’t have worried; I like all of Ann Liang’s books. She has a way of writing main characters that makes you feel seen. All of her characters feel real, which I really like, and are not too perfect.

The story itself was interesting. I have long wanted to be able to turn invisible but have never considered it for being able to operate a criminal enterprise. I don’t necessarily support Alice’s choices, but her ingenuity was entertaining to read.

I will say that I read I Hope This Doesn’t Find You first and it is a very similar story. The ability to turn invisible and taking place in Beijing are different, but the storyline is similar. This didn’t bother me, but I thought I should note it.

I don’t know how I feel about the ending. While I think Alice deserved consequences for her actions, I don’t know how much I actually like what happened. This is more of a personal issue, though.

Also, I wish the romance was a little more focused on. I could sense it was coming, but it was still sudden towards the end of the book. I think if had been developed a little more over the course of the book, then it would have been even better. However, the aunt meeting the love interest was my favorite part!

If You Could See the Sun was a wonderful young adult novel! It has realistic characters, a gripping storyline, and a cute romance. I highly recommend this book to any clean romance fans!