If You Could See the Sun, is a Young Adult Novel, written by Ann Liang, a Chinese-American debut author. This book falls under the genres of fantasy, magical realism, and romance. It is a great novel, depicting how far we are willing to go for our ambitions, and not to mention, how important of a role our conscience plays in our lives. Throughout the book, it mentions experiences that most Chinese-Americans face, and how it feels to be an outsider in both of their homes.

The novel takes place at the elite Airington International Boarding School in Beijing. Alice Sun is an ambitious Chinese American girl, who is constantly in competition with her academic rival, Henry Li. Unlike the majority of her classmates who come from rich, prestigious families, Alice is from a low-income family who struggles to pay the other half of her scholarship fees. Although Alice has yet to realize the extent of her family’s financial troubles, her main priorities are surpassing her seemingly flawless rival and making a name for herself at a school- filled with the children of elite socialites. While she accomplishes the latter, she cannot help but feel invisible and as though she does not belong. To contribute to her feeling invisible, she begins to turn invisible unexpectedly. She decides to make a profit from her newfound ability by exposing the scandalous secrets of her classmates and executing certain tasks for a hefty price. However, she soon learns that there will be a price that she too has to pay.

The book was well written because of the anticipation it gives readers, which makes them yearn to know more. In my opinion, it can be described as “unputdownable” (a book that is so captivating that you’re unable to stop reading it by choice). It was what I expected it to be, because it included the tropes I expected to find and the dialogue between characters was relatable. Although it was quite cliché, I would recommend this book to others, because the plot was very enjoyable, and the character development was beautiful.