what a good debut!

okay so i applied for this arc on a whim? i’d added the book to my tbr a few days before, but i never thought i’d actually get it. and when i did get it…it languished away in my phone because i was too lazy to read it. major mistake on my part, because this book is good! it’s a great debut!

the book follows alice sun, a scholarship student at one of the top international schools in beijing as she helps students at her school with problems, because she found out she can go invisible. tbh i forgot about the supernatural part of this book when i started to read it so i was like ??? i do not remember this book being supernatural. the plot isn’t super intricate or too complicated, and i liked that! i also think that the author accurately captured the environment and the characterization of the rich prep school kids well, as well as exploring classism and the feeling of not fitting in and not feeling like enough. i did enjoy the plot, however it’s very strange that no one was suspicious of beijing ghost like no shade but if this happened at my school i’m sure the admin would’ve caught wind of it and shut it down immediately. 

i personally enjoyed the characters the most, i think! alice is a very strong narrator; you can really grasp her voice and her character from the first few pages. she’s determined and smart and willing to fight for her goal. i admire that. i also feel like the supporting characters(henry and chanel) were great as well! alice’s classmates were also well-characterized; they did give off rich prep school and sometimes asshole vibes.

the romance! henry is a very charming love interest and so i liked it! i also really liked that he never disparaged or demeaned alice. their banter even when they became friends was great, and the fact that he fell first? immaculate. 

overall, this was a very promising debut! i enjoyed this novel and i was hooked on it. i’ll definitely keep an eye out for whatever ann liang writes and publishes next. 

also…chanel what a woman