I COULD GIVE YOU THE MOON

Will shared visions of a possible future fate bring two teens together or set them on a course to ruin each other’s lives?

Chanel Cao, daughter of a model and a nightclub-owning billionaire, is the it girl at Beijing’s Airington International Boarding School. Ares Yin is the brooding and mysterious new student who seems “not just intimidating, but actually dangerous.” After Chanel spots Ares sitting alone at an exclusive restaurant one night, she’s intrigued enough to follow him into a park. She approaches him as he stands beside a lake—and when the moonlight shines upon the water’s surface, they both see a vision. Chanel sees her childhood home on fire with her mother inside and Ares standing nearby, holding a lighter; Ares sees his missing brother across the street from the burning house. Each teen becomes convinced that the other is key to their future—saving Chanel’s house and her mother’s life and finding the brother who’s been gone for three years. Chanel, who plots to save her mother by getting Ares to fall in love with her, was a minor character in Liang’s debut, If You Could See the Sun (2022), and this enjoyable stand-alone companion novel gives her room for compelling growth. Liang also explores complicated familial ties with nuance. Ares and Chanel have palpable romantic tension, and the development of their relationship drives a great deal of the story’s momentum.

An appealing, complex romance infused with magical elements and balancing tension and heart.