Presenting Author - Ann Liang

[Viviana Kingston]

Name: Ann Liang
Main genre: YA Romance
Main audience: Young adult (18 - 26) but I genuinely believe it can be read from 16 or 15 upwards. There isn’t anything inappropriate for a younger audience but it relates more to college going-people and school-leavers who are transitioning into adulthood
presenting writing still: yes, she’s still writing
main books: If You Could See The Sun; This Time It’s Real
Short summary:
Ann Liang is a Chinese - Australian author, a recent graduate of the University of Melbourne. She’s 23 and managed to publish two books already - with three announced (and hopeful many more) books to come.
My take:
Ann Liang has a creative way of putting her ideas out there, while combining it with your typical cliches and troupes! Her first book is a rival to lovers while a second book is a forced proximity/fake dating troupe, both catching the essence of young love! I noticed a pattern in her books, she gives her main character a moral dilemma and makes them own up and face the consequences of their decisions at the end of the book while still leaving enough mystery for you to come to your conclusion. I honestly think that makes her writing refreshing! Her books are currently in the same universe and have subtle crossovers.

[Viviana Kingston]

Title: If You Could See The Sun
Author: Ann Liang
Genre: YA fantasy fiction and romance
Rating: 4/5
Page count: (ebook) 243 pages
Category: Traditional publishing, standalone (has future crossover potential)
Age rating: young adult
Warnings: mild kissing
Synopsis:
Alice Sun has always been in the shadows at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student among China’s most rich and influential teens - except in academics where she finds herself fighting for the number one spot with her sworn rival, Henry Li. But then she starts uncontrollably turning invisible - like ghost, transparent, cannot see her at all invisible.
When she finds out her parents can no longer afford to keep her at her boarding school, Alice hatches a plan to monetize her strange new power—she’ll uncover the scandalous secrets her classmates want to know, for a price.
But as the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes and Alice is stuck with the dilemma of her morals and safety.

Comments + opinion:
After hearing so much about this book, I knew I had to read this to see whether the hype is worth it. And my conclusion? Perhaps it is…it depends on the person reading it. Ann Liang takes us back to her home city with this debut - the cultural elements aware always my favourite thing that authors bring to the table. Monotony is not a bad thing but I love authors who bring real life elements from their culture or experiences that won’t make you say ‘hey, that’s so typical.’ My favourite thing about this book is how Ann threw her main character, Alice, into such a precarious situation and made it seem normal. I’ve watched many anime/Japanese/Korean movies and series where characters gain strange powers or have strange things happen to them and there’s always someone who doesn’t bat an eye. In this case, it’s her aunt. The only thing that prevented me from giving it a full five stars is how nonchalant everyone was about the situation when they found out about it and how Alice was careless about who she told about her new power. I’d at least thought she’d take a bit of care with that information. Like she tells her roommate about it, and I understand that the situation surrounding why she decided to reveal the truth to her roommate, but it didn’t seem consistent with the idea that she wasn’t close to anyone. If I had a power, I wouldn’t just tell people I didn’t really associate with but I understand she was trying to build a bind with her roommate once again without having to admit she didn’t want to embarrass herself with their social differences (wealthy vs middle class). Now don’t let me get started about Henry Li. A perfect book boy right here. When Alice asks him to jump, even though they’re apparently rivals (more one sided than anything else), he jumps without a word, and lets her figure out things for herself rather than force his morals onto her. The cover is aesthetic, pretty even but I don’t really like it (no one come at me for this, it’s hard enough trying to be an honest reviewer, I’ve never done that before I started arc/beta reading). I definitely recommend it - though raise an eyebrow or two to how delusional and oblivious the main character can be sometimes, it will add to the appeal.

[Viviana Kingston]

Title: This Time it’s Real
Author: Ann Liang
Genre: YA romance
Rating: 5/5
Page count: (ebook) 270 pages
Category: Traditional publishing, standalone (subtle crossover with first book)
Age rating: young adult
Warnings: mild kissing
Synopsis:
When an essay an aspiring writer does for a school assignment goes viral, Eliza Lin finds her life changing overnight. From new kid, she becomes a writing sensation. Only catch? Nothing she wrote about in her essay is real! To keep up her lies, she forms a mutually beneficial alliance with her classmate, the rising actor, Caz Song that will last the duration of her writing internship. Easy right? Wrong. Get ready for angst.
Comments + opinion:
I’m so in love with this book. Everything about it screams relatable and it’s really deep and meaningful the more you think about it. This time the cultural elements served a greater purpose - Eliza school hops because of her mother’s job and she struggles to find her identity and sense of belonging. This the crux of her characterisation. Not only that, you’re given a taste of the pressure of being famous, cynicism of love, the struggles of long distance friendships and more moral dilemmas. The romance is the sweetest! Caz Song is like the most perfect book boy ever and he isn’t afraid to show it. He’s considerate, observing, a gentleman with his own fears and issues that he’s working through own issues. And Eliza - ahhh her denial and delusion is the cutest thing ever. I found myself relating to the book as a whole and I’m lamenting the fact I’ve never gotten into such a crazy situation like this before myself.