ULTRAVIOLET Review - R.J. Anderson

ULTRAVIOLET by  R.J. Anderson
My Recommended Age Group: Young Adult to Adult
Released: June 2011 (UK), September 2011 (U.S.)
Other work: Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter, Wayfarer (Faery Rebels), Arrow. R.J. Anderson (Knife)
Our Rating:

From Goodreads:

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.

Sixteen-year-old Alison has been sectioned in a mental institute for teens, having murdered the most perfect and popular girl at school. But the case is a mystery: no body has been found, and Alison's condition is proving difficult to diagnose. Alison herself can't explain what happened: one minute she was fighting with Tori -- the next she disintegrated. Into nothing. But that's impossible. Right?

My thoughts:

Many of the books I come across have been highly recommended and promise to be great.  Occasionally, however, I come across a book that, for whatever reason, I really haven't heard too much about.  Typically it's the cover that attracts me to these books; sometimes it's the blurb.  In the case of ULTRAVIOLET by R.J. Anderson, I honestly can't tell you what made me decide to give it a try.  I hadn't seen the cover or read the blurb - there was just something that drew me to the story.

Wow - what a story.

Based upon a natural phenomenon, ULTRAVIOLET follows Alison, a girl whose senses are extraordinary.  Where most people may hear a noise or feel a sensation, all of Alison's senses seemed to be tied together.  Words have colors and tastes, names carry emotion and feeling with them.  Her world is one of color and light which may sound great at first, but even on the most dreary day, too much color and light holds the potential to drive anyone crazy...

When schoolmate Tori winds up missing, Alison is thrown into a mental institution.  It's only later that she recalls admitting to murdering Tori and subsequently going crazy.  But in Alison's world - nothing is as it seems.  Where is the line between reality and not?

The one thing that I absolutely adored about ULTRAVIOLET was the intensity of it.  From Alison's mental episodes, to her internal struggles, and out to the troubles of those she encounters, Anderson keeps us hooked from the first page through to the last.  Throughout the story, there really is no slow moment stuck in to beef the book up.  Instead, every sentence draws more of our emotions and pulls us further into the book. Suspenseful?  Yes.  Slightly dark?  Yeah, probably.  Full of action, mystery, and great characters that make you want to read the book in one sitting?  Definitely.

As Alison progresses through the story and learns, so does the reader.  It would have been easy for Anderson to explain to us what was going on with Alison up front and then let us watch her live it, but where would the fun it that be?  Instead, we find that in the beginning of the book we are just as clueless as Alison.  Her struggles become ours and we fight alongside her through to her triumphs.

Fans of fiction that tip-toe the line between reality and fantasy will love ULTRAVIOLET.  This was a different story than the one I was expecting, but it ended up being really good.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking to branch out and try something a bit different.