Hello Lovelies and Happy Saturday!!! Welcome to my Blog Tour Stop for What I Want You To See by Catherine Linka hosted by The Fantastic Flying Book Club. Today, I’ll be sharing my review and a giveaway. Also don’t forget to follow my Instagram for details about the Instagram Exclusive giveaway.

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Release Date: February 4th 2020

Genre: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover, 384 pages

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Winning a scholarship to California’s most prestigious art school seems like a fairy tale ending to Sabine Reye’s 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.

A Unique, Alluring and Fascinating Story About Art, Deception, Beauty, and So Much More

This book was surprisingly fun and quite intriguing. What I Want You To See by Catherine Linka is a unique and captivating story about art, beauty, imperfection, and learning how to be true to yourself.

I like to think of myself as an artsy person. I love arts and crafts, I love being creative. I’ve done scrapbooking, jewelry making, pottery, and even started my own handmade nail polish business a few years ago (I don’t do it anymore though). But, I personally don’t know that much about art criticism and theory so reading this book and learning about that was very interesting for me.

WIWYTS is different from anything I’ve read before, but I really enjoyed it and connected with Sabine more than I expected. Her struggle to gain the approval of her professor, Krell, her insecurities and fears about never being good enough, her passion for what she loves, and every other emotion she experienced I could also feel. I’m really shy and was one of those students who dreaded being called in class, and doing presentations and speaking in front of everyone. So, I could easily sympathize with Sabine and my heart just ached for what she’s dealing with.

Linka’s writing style has its own allure and I enjoyed it. It’s  easy to read and the pacing, while slow at times, had a nice flow. I liked the storyline which is well written and engaging. There’s enough intrigue, conflict, thrills, twists and excitement. I won’t go into details, but through all the lies, forgery, and deceit, I found myself on edge a few times and hoping the best for Sabine. Another thing I liked is how Linka vividly described the art pieces. It made me feel like I was there looking at them and that was really fun for me. The romance aspect of the story didn’t really do it for me. Maybe I was into the other parts of the book, but usually I enjoy romances so that was kind of a bummer. As for how it all ends, I have mixed feelings since I was hoping for more, but I think Linka wrapped up the story pretty well.

Sabine is a complex character, but all her flaws, fears, and vulnerabilities made me root for her. As I’ve already mentioned, I felt a connection with Sabine from the start so watching her story unfold was at times heartbreaking, but also quite riveting. I was engrossed and while I did put the book down a few times, I couldn’t wait to pick it up again and continue. I wanted to know what she would do, what would happen next, and what the ending would be like for her.

All in all, this book is different from what I’m used to reading, but in an unexpectedly good way and I quite enjoyed it. What I Want You To See is a unique, thrilling, and fascinating story that I’m sure would appeal to plenty of readers. This novel is so much more than what it seems and there are so many aspects of the story that will make you think and see things differently.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the author and publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review and for participating in a Blog Tour hosted by The Fantastic Flying Book Club (FFBC). I also received free hardcover copy of the book for joining the Bookstragram Tour also hosted by FFCC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

TOUR SCHEDULE LINK

January 29th

INSTAGRAM TOUR LINKS

January 29th

Win a copy of WHAT I WANT YOU TO SEE by Catherine Linka (US Only)

Starts: January 29th 2020
Ends: February 12th 2020

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Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d9681b86451/?

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.

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Thanks for stopping by sweeties! Hope you enjoyed this post and don’t forget to add this book on your TBR and follow the rest of the tour.

Have a wonderful Sunday loves!!!!