Chat Over Chai: Interview with Ann Liang, author of If You Could See the Sun!

Dark Academia? Check. Rivals to lovers but he’s always been in love with her? Check. An ambitious girl who monetizes her invisibility powers? Check. If any of these things got your eye, I’m sure you’re going to have fun reading If You Could See the Sun!! I’ve had so much fun reading this book; the academic vibes, Alice and Henry and the way it slipped in socio-economic commentary, all combined into this story that brought Beijin to life. I’m excited to have the debut author, Ann Liang on the blog today for this interview as we get her insights on the characters and themes and also some cool memes that totally did not make me miss Alice and Henry.

About the Book

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.

In this genre-bending YA debut, a Chinese American girl monetizes her strange new invisibility powers by discovering and selling her wealthy classmates’ most scandalous secrets.

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Hello Ann and welcome to the interview section, Chat Over Chai! For our readers, can you introduce yourself and introduce your debut IF YOU COULD SEE THE SUN as fun facts?

Hi! Thank you so much for having me! I’m Ann, the author of the YA speculative novel IF YOU COULD SEE THE SUN, which is set at an elite Beijing boarding school inspired by the one I went to as a teen, and which was written during my exchange semester in California and during lockdown in Melbourne. Before I wanted to be a writer, I actually wanted to be a professional horse-rider, and I’m really glad that didn’t work out. 

I love the concept so much that I have to ask, what sparked the idea to write this book? How did the plot and characters come to be?

For this book, the setting definitely came first! I knew I wanted to write something in that kind of Gossip Girl-esque private school environment, but with all the unique features of the international community in Beijing. I was also really interested in writing a protagonist who was more morally gray and struggled with feelings of self-worth and the weight of her own ambition, so once I had the general atmosphere, the character, and the invisibility element, the plot developed quite naturally from there!

The dark academia vibes and the rivalry between Alice and Henry is chef’s kiss! What was the writing process for such a setting like?

I’m glad you think so! Honestly, at both the schools I attended when I was a teenager, there was a lot of emphasis on academics and a great deal of pressure that came with that, so it wasn’t like I was trying very deliberately to capture those dark academia vibes in my writing—I was just writing what I was already familiar with. 

If You Could See the Sun examines class privileges in its prose and combines it with Alice monetizing her invisibility powers. What prompted you to include this theme and accurately portray the experience through her character?

One thing that really drew me to the concept of invisibility was that it also functions well as a metaphor; it can reflect both Alice’s internal emotions and her external environment. Another thing was that when you’re Alice’s age—or any age, really—the desire to be truly seen can be so intense, and I think that aspect of class differences adds another layer to those desires and fears concerning how we see ourselves or how others might see us. 

Generally speaking, I knew that if I were to write a book set in the world of the rich and famous, I would want to write it from the perspective of someone who’s a bit of an outsider, someone who has to work that much harder for everything they have, so that hopefully readers who are experiencing similar struggles might feel seen, or less alone. 

Alice is one such character that I can vouch for falls into the morally gray category, but her situation and ambitions only make her more interesting. Using her invisibility powers to pay for her tuition fees and the increasingly dangerous tasks show the lengths to which she’s willing to go. How did you manage to establish her as an authentic yet competitive protagonist?

I love reading and writing characters who exist in that murky, morally ambiguous space, so it was a lot of fun crafting Alice’s character! This sounds a bit counter-intuitive, but instead of thinking of ways to make her likable, I gave myself permission to make her unlikeable. I tried not to shy away from her insecurities or her envy or her ambitions and I let her make terrible choices because that’s just what people are like in real life, and I think characters tend to feel more authentic when we see ourselves in them—both the good and the bad.

 If you could represent Alice, Henry and Chanel as memes, what would they be?

Okay, so for Alice, it would definitely be that ‘I support women’s rights but more importantly I support women’s wrongs’ line!

For Henry, it would be this very iconic scene. I like to think this is exactly how he’d react if Alice were to ever hold a knife to his throat. And I can confirm that Alice has imagined herself stabbing Henry before.  

And lastly, I want to give credit to @lili.scribbles on TikTok who posted something like this, which I think really captures the trio’s entire dynamic: 

You have two more books lined up! Can you tell us something about each of them to excite us even more?

So my next book is THIS TIME IT’S REAL (out Feb 7, 2023 from Scholastic), which is a YA fake-dating rom-com also set in Beijing, and it has one of my favorite “quick, kiss me when everyone’s looking” scenes—that’s all I’ll say for now!

My 2024 book is the speculative dark academia I AM NOT JESSICA CHEN, which I’d describe as ‘This Is Me Trying’ by Taylor Swift in book form. 

Just want to shout out to all the reviewers, bloggers, and influencers (like yourself!) who take the time to pour labour and heart into books. Authors are nothing without readers, and we don’t easily reach readers without reviewers and marketers doing so much legwork. It is hugely appreciated, and thank you for all you do ❤ 

Anything else you’d like to add?

Only that this has been so much fun, and thank you so much for the lovely questions!

About the Author

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.

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