Winning a scholarship to California’s most prestigious art school seems like a fairy-tale ending to Sabine Reyes’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.
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“The gripping plot moves within romance and mystery, hovering its lens on Sabine as a painter…Will surely spark deep discussions around contemporary art and the economic pressures of attending art school.”
— School Library Journal
“Linka balances multiple plot threads with unusual grace…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)“An engrossing novel about art, self-expression, and making amends.”
— Kirkus Reviews“Linka crafts a unique story, both a twisty thriller and an indictment of education’s high cost and the risks taken in pursuit of a dream.”
— Publishers Weekly“Linka delivers intrigue, betrayal, and a feast for art lovers.”
— Mary McCoy, author of I, Claudia“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, 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 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 LetterBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Catherine Linka is the author of A Girl Called Fearless, an Indie Next Pick and winner of the Southern California Independent Booksellers Award, and its sequel, A Girl Undone. She has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Frankie Corzo is a film and voice-over actress and audiobook narrator. She obtained a BA degree in theater studies from Montclair State University.