Published by Disney-Hyperion
About the Book:
Title: WHAT I WANT YOU TO SEE
Author: Catherine Linka
Pub. Date: February 4, 2020
Publisher: Freeform
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook
Pages: 384
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD
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.
“Linka delivers intrigue, betrayal, and a feast for art lovers.”―Mary McCoy, author of Printz Honor Book I, Claudia
*”Clear-sighted and heartbreakingly true, this is a genuine portrait of a girl in quiet crisis learning to see things as they are.”―Booklist (starred review)
“Tense, smart, and engaging . . . What I Want You to See is a stunning portrait of deception, artfully peeling back layers of secrets to reveal a meticulously crafted crime.”
―Elle Cosimano, award-winning author of Nearly Gone
“A messy, heartbreaking and very real journey of learning to let others see who you truly are.”―Carrie Arcos, author of the National Book Award Finalist Out of Reach
“A stunning page-turner that will tear your heart and paste it back together.”
―Kim Purcell, author of This is Not A Love Letter and Trafficked
EXCERPT
Then, just when I think it can’t get any worse, Krell stands and begins to circle the room. “Questioning. Provoking. Agitating. CALINVA’s mission is carved into its very walls.”
I know that what comes out of his mouth next will eviscerate me, and I grip the easel as the blood drains from my head.
“This piece, this pretty little craft project is insignificant and utterly forgettable. ART should never be insignificant. It should never be forgettable!”
At last, Krell stops and looks from me to the rest of the class, and I brace myself for him to make an example of me.
“Ms. Reyes,” he says, “until you risk failure, until you face the fear that there’s nothing uniquely creative floating in the inter-cranial recesses of your mind, until you express your ideas in a way that is not literal, but entirely unexpected so our experience of art is altered—until then, your paintings will be a waste of paint and canvas.”
I can’t feel the floor beneath my feet. I lift my painting off the easel, and say, “Thank you, Professor Krell,” in a voice so strained it’s hoarse.
I take my seat. It’s my own fault, I think, shoving the canvas into my portfolio case. But obviously Krell enjoyed humiliating me.
Catherine Linka has been immersed in books her whole life, most recently as a writer and bookseller. She’s the author of the young adult novel WHAT I WANT YOU TO SEE as well as the dystopian duology A GIRL CALLED FEARLESS and A GIRL UNDONE. Catherine lives in Southern California and watches hawks and hummingbirds when she should be writing.
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Giveaway Details:
3 winners will win a signed finished copy of WHAT I WANT YOU TO SEE, US Only.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
2/3/2020 | Texan Girl Reviews | Excerpt |
2/4/2020 | What A Nerd Girl Says | Review |
2/5/2020 | Kait Plus Books | Excerpt |
2/6/2020 | Savings in Seconds / @savingsinseconds | Review |
2/7/2020 | Lifestyle of Me | Review |
Week Two:
2/10/2020 | Do You Dog-ear? | Review |
2/11/2020 | BookHounds YA | Excerpt |
2/12/2020 | fictitious.fox | Review |
2/13/2020 | momfluenster | Review |
2/14/2020 | Hurn Publications | Review |
Week Three:
2/17/2020 | PopTheButterfly Reads | Review |
2/18/2020 | A Bookish Escape/lindytgomez | Review |
2/19/2020 | notinjersey | Review |
2/20/2020 | Nerdophiles | Review |
2/21/2020 | Comfort Books | Review |
Week Four:
2/24/2020 | She Just Loves Books | Review |
2/25/2020 | One in a Million | Review |
2/26/2020 | Fyrekatz | Review |
2/27/2020 | Two Points of Interest | Review |
2/28/2020 | ChristenKrumm | Review |
The book looks great! Cant wait to read it
Congrats on the new release! Great excerpt. Thanks for sharing.