Review: If You Could See The Sun

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Book information


Title: If You Could See The Sun


Author: Ann Liang


Where to buy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble

‘To live well, you must live unseen. To live well, you must learn to see yourself first.’


- Mr. Chen


That is mainly what the book is about. A girl who isn't that rich, or rather not rich at all, until she got a scholarship for a school for rich kids and she needs to fulfil very hard and complicated exams, so that her grades don't drop.


I usually don't add any synopsis of any book, but I think it's necessary to understand what I'm about to write next.


You see the book covers the themes of school stress, exam stress and also the pressure of wanting to be perfect. To be liked by others. To be SEEN. And well, our Sun Yan has the perfect condition as she turns invisible. Very much to her liking (not).

Honestly, that might sound biased but I mainly liked the book due to me being able to relate to things. It made me feel understood and I just couldn't but nod all the time I read the book.


There was also an emotional scene about 45% in the book. Due to me not wanting to spoiler I just say vaguely that it has to do with exam pressure and the symptoms of it like hyperventilation. I also really felt the statement that when you done anything 'wrong' or 'unusual' that they always pick on it and never see all the things you achieved. You can have so many achievements but as soon as you only make ONE (1) mistake they all see it. They see it more than your accomplished things and they pick on it. Again. And again. And the book also spoke about this and how unfair it is. There is lots more of moral things in this book, but this one spoke to me the most (was relatable, etc.)


What I was really relieved for this book was that no characters, including Yan our protagonist made any stupid decisions. You know, the ones where you know it's only for the plot or even worse, not even that it has no purpose just pure stupidity. But Yan never did that. Only near the end if you can call that 'stupid decision' as I think that's rather controversial. Nevertheless, she had a good reason, good intentions and even if it was 'stupid', she fixed it at the very end and learnt from her 'mistake'. 

I also liked how we always got explanations for culture based things as Yan has grown up in America but in Beijing at the same time. And we get to know lots of backstory which I don't want to spoil. Just wanted to mention the explanation thing AND that not just her but Henry aren't flat characters and we definitely get to know them. So for people who hate flat characters; Don't worry. I got you. 


The only thing I disliked was how Yan's Mum said that family comes first and then only health. And how her father once gave a hint that he hits his daughter. In the end they both were in a positive spotlight, but I still can't forget these tiny details, which make me think now that they might not be that good parents. 

How it works: Only everything that is lower than 9 gets reduced from the final rating. Depending on how strong it inflicted the overall enjoyment of reading it affects differently. 


Story 10 / 10

Characters 8 / 10

Triggering 0 / 10

Topic/Genre 10 / 10

Writing style 10 / 10

Grammatic and spelling 10 / 10

Personal enjoyment 9 / 10

Ending 10 / 10


Final Rating


4/5

Hi I'm Mika! Reviewer of ARC's but I also review unknown and small presses. My favourite genres are horror, thriller and graphic novels. I tend to be a strict reviewer but my average rating for small presses is 3.7

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