Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet
By R.J Anderson
Sept 2011
Netgalley (312 pages)

“Once upon a time there was a girl who was special....This is not her story. Unless you count the part where I killed her.”

Summary: Alison has always tried to hide that she senses things differently from other people. Sounds can be seen, lies can be tasted and letters have colours. She’s been pretty good at hiding it from people, until she gets in a fight with Tori, who disintegrates. Now Alison finds herself in a mental institution trying to figure out if her powers actually killed Tori and is she really crazy or is the world perhaps more complex and complicated than it seems.

Review: Ultraviolet was a fascinating read with a lot of surprising twists and bold choices by the author. This could have easily been a story about a regular girl in a mental institution, or about a girl who has paranormal powers, or about aliens, but it’s kind of a little bit of all three which makes this novel full to the brim. Alison was a likable character; insecure, quick to question and like many heroines, in need of some self discovery. Readers who are not interested in the science fiction part of the story will still find something intriguing in Alison’s Synesthesia and experiences in the institutions. While the pacing was a little uneven and the story went places I found a little strange it did a great job of blending genres and standing out against the crowd of YA novels.

Also by R.J Anderson: Wayfarer and Arrow

If you liked Ultraviolet, you might also enjoy: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore and It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Additional Info: Wikipedia article on Synesthesia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

Author website: http://www.rj-anderson.com/index.htm

Rating:
Writing: 3/4
Characters: 3/4
Plot: 2.5/4
Originality: 4/4
Popularity: 2.5/4
Cover: 4/4
Grade Level: S