Much thanks to Disney Hyperion and The Fantastic Flying Book Club Book Tours for sending me a copy for review and for inviting me to be a part of this tour. This review is voluntary and opinions are fully my own. Also, all quotes are taken from the ARC and may or may not appear in the final published copy.

 Amazon|| Book Depository|| Barnes & Noble || Apple Books

Kobo || Google Books|| Goodreads

Book Details

Title: What I Want You To See

Author: Catherine Linka

Date Published: February 4, 2020

Number of Pages: 384 pages

Publisher: Disney – Hyperion

📚 Series:  No, standalone.
📚 Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Fiction
📚 POV: 
📚 Cliffhanger: No.

⚠ Content Warnings: Kidnapping, Abduction, Violence, Trauma, PTSD,
⚠ Read if: you are a fan of

Book Blurb

Winning a scholarship to California’s most prestigious art school seems like a fairy tale ending to Sabine Reyes’ awful senior year. After losing both her mother and her home, Sabine longs for a place where she belongs.

But the cutthroat world of visual arts is nothing like what Sabine had imagined. Colin Krell, the renowned faculty member whom she had hoped would mentor her, seems to take merciless delight in tearing down her best work—and warns her that she’ll lose the merit-based award if she doesn’t improve.

Desperate and humiliated, Sabine doesn’t know where to turn. Then she meets Adam, a grad student who understands better than anyone the pressures of art school. He even helps Sabine get insight on Krell by showing her the modern master’s work in progress, a portrait that’s sold for a million dollars sight unseen.

Sabine is enthralled by the portrait; within those swirling, colorful layers of paint is the key to winning her inscrutable teacher’s approval. Krell did advise her to improve her craft by copying a painting she connects with . . . but what would he think of Sabine secretly painting her own version of his masterpiece? And what should she do when she accidentally becomes party to a crime so well -plotted that no one knows about it but her?

Complex and utterly original, What I Want You to See is a gripping tale of deception, attraction, and moral ambiguity.

About the Author

Website || Twitter || Facebook || Instagram || Goodreads

Catherine Linka is the author of the young adult novel WHAT I WANT YOU TO SEE as well as the dystopian series A GIRL CALLED FEARLESS and A GIRL UNDONE. A GIRL CALLED FEARLESS was an ABA Indie Next Pick and won the Young Adult Novel Award 2014 from the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association. A frequent speaker at writing and teen conferences, Catherine received her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and worked as a young adult book buyer for an independent bookstore for seven years. Prior to pursuing a career in publishing, she studied international politics at Georgetown University followed by a master’s degree in business at the University of North Carolina.Catherine is married and lives with her husband in the San Gabriel foothills. Visit her at http://www.catherlinelinka.com.

My Favorite Quotes

“You cannot be wrecked. You are a survivor.”

♡♡♡

“It is good to question, but deadly to doubt. You cannot leap if you are afraid to fall. That is how you get injured.”

♡♡♡

“Who are we if the truth depends on how people see us and everyone sees differently? If assumptions form the lens through with which we can see someone, can we ever grasp that the lens is faulty?”

♡♡♡

“I didn’t hit the bottom because of what life through at me. I got there because of what I did to myself.”

Review

Are you looking for an intriguing book about art, crime, and mystery? Congratulations, this book promises to give you just that.

What I Want You To See tells the story of Sabine Reyes and her journey through her first year at CALINVA, a prestigious art school. She has been struggling in a painting class, as she feels that she is not meeting the expectations of her professor. Aside from this, she is also dealing with losing her mother, being under much debt, and becoming homeless.

Sabine is a morally grey lead, which means that she has made several questionable decisions and she is also struggling on weighing things around. She is also surrounded by different people that also affect most of her decisions and molding the person she is turning out to be.

If I were to be honest, this book is a little slow in its pacing and it could be improved a little. Though I was expecting a thriller, the crime part of this story is a bit set aside, which made me feel a little sad and wanting.

But, there is no denying that this story is very unique and talked about topics that are not usually read in young adult novels. This story also shed light in important issues and finding yourself after all the challenges that life throws at you.

Overall, this book offers a great way to understand art and giving a glimpse of a young adult’s journey in knowing the right thing to do and knowing one’s self.

My Book Rating Breakdown

🌼 Blurb:⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
🌼 Main Character:⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
🌼 Significant Other: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
🌼 Support Characters:⭐⭐⭐☆☆
🌼 Writing Style:⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
🌼 Character Development:⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
🌼 Thrill Factor/ Mystery: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ 
🌼 Pacing: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
🌼 Ending: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
🌼 Unputdownability: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
🌼 Book Cover:⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

☁ FINAL VERDICT: 3.72/5 ☁

⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌼🌼 GIVEAWAY 🌼🌼

Get a chance to win a copy of this book! Open for US Residents only. Giveaway ends on January 21st.

Check out all the other posts! 🙂

♡ Yna the Mood Reader ♡

📚 Goodreads♡ Bookstagram ♡ Facebook ♡ Twitter 📚