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    Ultraviolet
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    Ultraviolet
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    Ultraviolet
    Ebook312 pages4 hours

    Ultraviolet

    By R. J. Anderson

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “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 wakes up in a mental institution. As she pieces her memory back together, she realizes she’s confessed to murdering Tori Beaugrand, the most perfect girl at school. But the case is a mystery. Tori’s body has not been found, and Alison can't explain what happened. One minute she was fighting with Tori. The next moment Tori disintegrated—into nothing.

    But that's impossible. No one is capable of making someone vanish. Right? Alison must be losing her mind—like her mother always feared she would.

    For years Alison has tried to keep her weird sensory abilities a secret. No one ever understood—until a mysterious visiting scientist takes an interest in Alison’s case. Suddenly, Alison discovers that the world is wrong about her—and that she’s capable of far more than anyone else would believe.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLerner Publishing
    Release dateAug 1, 2014
    ISBN9781467768252
    Unavailable
    Ultraviolet
    Author

    R. J. Anderson

    R. J. Anderson isn't trying to hide that she's female, she just thinks initials look more writerly. According to her mother she started reading at the age of two; all she knows is that she can't remember a single moment of her life when she wasn't obsessed with stories. She grew up reading C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, watching Doctor Who from behind the sofa, and hanging out in her brothers' comic book shop. Now she writes novels about knife-wielding faeries, weird science, and the numinous in the modern world. Quicksilver, her latest novel, also has soldering and pancakes.

    Read more from R. J. Anderson

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    Reviews for Ultraviolet

    3.5/5

    170 ratings46 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Wow, a second top-rated book in less than a month! I hadn't thought I'd encounter another one of those for at least another year! I must have won the "great reads for you" lottery, because this book completely blew me away.

      Using superb writing and astonishing characters, Rachel Anderson has crafted a Young Adult novel which is intelligent, consuming and enthralling. I couldn't put this book down and read through the night to finish it with tears in my eyes and a song in my heart. Honestly, I don't know how I'll find the words to do this book justice, but I will try.

      Alison experiences the word differently from everyone else she had ever met. She sees the shapes of sounds, she hears the light of the stars, she physically feels sounds. Since her early childhood, she believed that this meant that she was crazy and she had been working very, very hard to hide not only how different she is but how she reacts to events - which serves to make her seem even more psychotic to the psychiatrists who have to evaluate her when she lands up in a mental institution, which is where the book starts.

      The thin line between psychosis and the supernatural/paranormal is one which I had always found fascinating and almost hypnotic, and Alison's rigid control over her emotions and reactions as well as her constant questioning of her sanity and whether she could trust her own thoughts and feelings was something I may even have over-related to, which may have coloured my entire view of the book. Fair warning!

      Anderson's writing skill is simply astounding. Her use of language to explain Alison's perceptions is incredibly well done and I would not hesitate to rank her as one of the best stylistic writers I have ever read. The writing was just that good, so even if the plot or character hold no interest for you (which I find hard to imagine!), Ultraviolet would be well worth the read for the exceptional writing alone.

      That said, I found everything else about the book to be admirable. I have seldomly identified so strongly with a character as I did with Alison, despite the fact that I do not experience the world as she does. Her character is amazingly sympathetic and fully developed. The secondary characters are also vibrant and authentic although the reader's perceptions of them are heavily reliant on Alison's first-person narrative.

      The plot is absolutely astounding. It hooks you from the first page and takes you on a roller coaster-ride through Alison's mind and life at a mental hospital. The final piece of the puzzle was totally unexpected even though it was clearly foreshadowed, once you knew what to look for - even this veteran of mysteries was fooled!

      Ultraviolet is, in one word, fantastic, and I can't recommend it strong enough.

      Who would like this book? To be honest, it's hard for me to imagine who wouldn't! It's just so well done! That said, this is a YA book with elements of sci-fi, the paranormal and an exploration into the nature of mental illness. There is also a sexual assault, which may upset and/or trigger. The ending may not fall into everyone's comfort zone, either.

      Disclosure: I received a pre-release electronic copy from Netgalley with no obligation to rate the book or even review it, so everything in the review is my own, personal and honest opinion.
    • 4/5
      Honestly, what's not to love? It's set in Northern Ontario. The main character is awesome. AND she has synaesthesia (probably the best depiction I've ever seen in fiction).
    • 5/5
      I've been interested in synesthesia since I read an article about it a couple of years ago. I've batted around ideas for using it in a novel, but wasn't satisfied with my concept. Anderson's concept was amazing. This author went where no one has gone before.We begin with a mystery. All the way through, we have hints as to what really happened to Tori, but it isn't until three-quarters of the way through the book that things start to come together.Anderson flawlessly blends the mundane, the mental health system and family dynamics, with the improbable.For a moment, the reader is shocked at the strange turn of events, but then realizes that the story was leading toward this bizarre and fantastic event all along.At it's heart, the novel is about a young woman who sees the world differently than most people and, for that, she is treated as mentally ill. It raises fascinating questions about perception.
    • 3/5
      Ultraviolet Ultraviolet introduces us to Alison, a sixteen year old girl who finds herself committed to psychiatric hospital after what others believe was a psychotic episode. Alison is convinced that she murdered her classmate but she can’t explain how she did it or where the body is. Her fractured relationship with her parents make her reluctant to be honest with her doctor, but when a researcher arrives and with his tests uncovers what Alison has worked for so long to keep secret, she begins to discover some difficult truths about herself. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I had briefly heard of synesthesia in Raw Blue but Ultraviolet definitely piqued my interest in the subject even further. Alison’s unusual way of sensing things was described in such detail, I was absolutely fascinated. Alison’s character was extremely well developed, flawed in very real ways and her journey to understanding herself and accepting her abilities as well as her faults was beautifully written. The negatives for me was that the romance felt forced and weak and a little uncomfortable. I don’t think that it was necessary to the story and I think that it would have worked much better without it. The sci-fi aspects were also rather weakly done, in my opinion. Where Alison’s time in the hospital was intriguing and emotional, the direction the story then took was a bit dull in comparison. Overall, I really enjoyed Ultraviolet and would absolutely recommend it to anyone who would enjoy a beautifully written story that includes aspects of mental illness, sci-fi, and paranormal abilities.
    • 2/5
      I almost abandoned this one around page 150 or so, but reviews kept saying there was a twist. It doesn't come until quite late, though, and even when it does come, it isn't great. Even after, the characters become more stereotypical, not less. The book was actually better early on when it was a "Speak"/"Cut" knock-off.
    • 3/5
      Ultraviolet Ultraviolet introduces us to Alison, a sixteen year old girl who finds herself committed to psychiatric hospital after what others believe was a psychotic episode. Alison is convinced that she murdered her classmate but she can’t explain how she did it or where the body is. Her fractured relationship with her parents make her reluctant to be honest with her doctor, but when a researcher arrives and with his tests uncovers what Alison has worked for so long to keep secret, she begins to discover some difficult truths about herself. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I had briefly heard of synesthesia in Raw Blue but Ultraviolet definitely piqued my interest in the subject even further. Alison’s unusual way of sensing things was described in such detail, I was absolutely fascinated. Alison’s character was extremely well developed, flawed in very real ways and her journey to understanding herself and accepting her abilities as well as her faults was beautifully written. The negatives for me was that the romance felt forced and weak and a little uncomfortable. I don’t think that it was necessary to the story and I think that it would have worked much better without it. The sci-fi aspects were also rather weakly done, in my opinion. Where Alison’s time in the hospital was intriguing and emotional, the direction the story then took was a bit dull in comparison. Overall, I really enjoyed Ultraviolet and would absolutely recommend it to anyone who would enjoy a beautifully written story that includes aspects of mental illness, sci-fi, and paranormal abilities.
    • 4/5
      Almost everyone I know loved this book and recommended that I read it super soon, including the wonderful Blythe. Ultraviolet is one of the books that makes you question everything and consider the world in a different light. It will likely surprise you, and it's rather difficult to review without spoilers. I will try my damndest not to spoil anything, however.

      Alison suffers from synesthesia, though she doesn't know that's the name for her condition. I say "suffers" not because I think synesthesia is a curse, but because Alison does, her mother having punished her for mentioning what she could see and others could not. Alison has always thought she was crazy, and her mom has always loved Alison less for being an odd child. I love the descriptions of Alison's synesthesia throughout the book. They're beautiful, poetic and almost like sensing another dimension.

      The story opens with a bang. Alison wakes up in a hospital, about to be transferred to a mental institution. A classmate of hers, Tori, disappears, last scene fighting with Alison. Next thing anyone knows, Alison shows up ranting that she killed Alison, disintegrated her into a million pieces. Alison is a mess, a danger to herself, thus being sent to the mental hospital. When she first wakes up, she remembers nothing, but the memories soon come flooding back.

      This premise is utterly compelling. Mental institutions and insanity are just such wonderful subjects for fiction because the reader never knows precisely where they stand. A first person narration in such a case is never entirely reliable, because, not matter how the MC thinks they are, they might not be. For all I know, Alison actually spends the entire course of the novel whacked out on some powerful anti-psychotics and projects her guilt or delusions onto someone else or her dream self. I find this sort of mindfuck endlessly fascinating.

      Pretending Alison is on the level and reliable, the story is an engaging one, filled with creepy subject matter and a matching eerie tone. Anderson sets tone in a way that reminds me a bit of Brenna Yovanoff, though their books are quite different. The murder mystery and the curiosities of the various characters kept me rapt throughout the novel.

      However, I do have some concerns with regards to where the plot goes. I'll speak about them very generally to avoid spoilers. Basically, the plot takes a turn at one point, and I really wish the book had continued along in the vein where it began. Anderson might convince me that it was necessary in a later book, but I'm not there with this one.

      Perhaps more frustrating is that I feel like too many things come too easily, too simply, and too unevenly. Alison's synesthesia seems to come and go; there will be a paragraph laden with synesthetic description, followed by bunches with none, which seems a bit weird, since she would always feel the world that way. On top of that, her synesthesia helps her with a lot of things that I don't think it would aid and she learns how to do these things with little more difficulty than snapping one's fingers. The romance, too, comes together so simply, without any thought on the part of the heroine, and just generally upsets me all around.

      Now, I may not have loved this book as others did, but I definitely enjoyed it and appreciate its uniqueness. Also, though I may not be sure about the direction the book takes, in this sort of series, anything, and I do mean anything could happen, so there's no way that I could stop reading this series until I get to the end, whether it ultimately satisfies or not, though I hope it will. Those looking for mindbending reads will not want to miss Ultraviolet.

      3.5 stars
    • 5/5
      This book took me by surprise, especially towards the end. Very unexpected, and very gratifying. This isn't your typical YA book, of which I was relieved of sappy romances and irresponsible adolescents. The first few chapters sealed me right away and I fell into the book's unique and wondrous expressions, imagery and descriptiveness.

      "Once upon a time there was a girl who was extraordinary. She could hear colors, and see sounds, and taste the difference between truth and lies. But hardly anybody knew that, and she preferred to keep it that way." (302)

      I was so caught up in the descriptive phrases and seeing how Alison metamorphosed, that the sudden plot twist really caught me off guard. With this change, I started thinking maybe it was getting a bit silly (I've never been a big Sci-Fi buff) but I kept reading and it all mashed up really well. It would do really well as a stand-alone book, but I'm excited that it is a series and I really look forward to Quicksilver.

      First Line: "Once upon a time there was a girl who was special." (2)

      Last Line: "This is my story." (303)
      ----------------------
      Quotes

      "Dark chocolate, poured over velvet: that was how his voice tasted. I wanted him to follow me around and narrate the rest of my life." (101)

      "I'd felt pain before, but nothing like this. It felt like I was being eaten alive by horseflies and regurgitated one chunk at a time through a glass tube the diameter of a baby's hair--only the tube seemed to go on forever and the horseflies never stopped biting." (242)

      "'Every time you show your feelings, you apologize. Have you ever had an emotion in your life that you weren't ashamed of?'" (286)
    • 1/5
      DNF page 80

      just couldn't get into it.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this story right up until the point where we found out where Mr. Faraday comes from, and after that, the book was just ruined for me. I don't know what I expected the solution to Alison's synethesia and other problems was going to be, but what was presented in the book was NOT it, and just didn't work for me. I'll be interested in seeing what the students think of it.
    • 4/5
      Ultraviolet is a brilliant book (well about 3 quarters of it) about a girl in a psychiatric facility. I thought the book was an amazing insight into the life of someone living with synesthesia; which you will learn more of later in the book. The book was believable and realistic, I wanted to know more about this special ability (or perhaps illness) she had, and how she had gotten in that facility, what happened to this girl who disappeared. My curiosity got the better of me and later in the book I became extremely disappointed by what the murder mystery turned out to be... time travel?! Are you kidding me...Anyway, this book has a romantic, disturbing sort of twist when Alison falls in love with an alleged university researcher, who turns out to NOT be a university researcher etc. blah, blah, blah,Turns out these people are from the future or something, the ending I thought was entirely silly and I would not recommend this to people who want a hard-hitting read. For me it was childish, an ending that made me hit my forehead with the palm of my hand. 3 and a half stars for the 3 quarters of the book I enjoyed! Initially a good read and I would recommend the book if the ending was re-written!
    • 3/5
      I was initially very attracted by the summary on the back of the book: "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."It seemed different, and the first 120 pages or so were pretty good, when Alison first starts settling into the mental asylum. You're wondering what exactly is strong with her, although the inside jacket provides the definition for synesthesia, so if you read that you pretty much already know. However, the actual description of the experience of synesthesia is interesting to read. It starts going downhill once Alison meets Faraday and starts to fall in love with him. Her description of his dark-chocolate-over-velvet voice didn't really appeal to me, really, because paired with his violet eyes it made him immensely suspicious. And later, when it's revealed that he's basically and alien from another planet trying to find his way home, everything takes a downward spiral. Not to mention, Tori's, the girl whom Alison thought she killed, is one too, an experiment dropped off on Earth. And turns out she's not dead, just transported back to her planet (in which Tori doesn't want to stay).Really, the main..."action" of the book takes place in the last 50 or so pages. And it was badly done. Everything sort of mashed together and was, in my opinion, ridiculous. The beginning seemed to have plenty of potential--potential that was taken and executed extremely poorly. It went from interesting an haunting to cheesy and typical teenage romance. There are a whole onslaught of characters that weren't very well fleshed out. Her entire family, Dr. Minta, Cherie, Micheline, Sanajay, Kirk...all of these characters were simply just there. I liked Kirk a lot...until for some reason he suddenly turned out to be a huge jerk. Also, a lot of the other patients' pasts were simply thrown into the novel, because Faraday just mentions them offhandedly when he tells Alison that everyone has a story. Basically, started out great, then took a huge nosedive. Overall, poorly executed.
    • 4/5
      I picked this book up because it's on the Andre Norton award shortlist and it was one of the few books I hadn't read. I don't know what I was expecting, because I'm not fond of mental institution novels (they all tend to bleed into each other), but Ultraviolet is more than just a book set in a asylum. There's a bunch of fantasy/science fiction elements that kick in about halfway through the book and then take off toward the end that makes this book pretty enjoyable. I can definitely see why it was shortlisted. Not the best of SF/F books I've read, but pretty good.
    • 4/5
      Ultraviolet was one of those books that snuck upon on me. I had never heard of it before coming across it on Amazon one day purely by chance, and the engaging cover just drew me in. And though the author was also unknown to me, the blurb sounded absolutely fascinating and the reviews were positive, so I thought I'd give Ultraviolet a chance.Ultraviolet tells the story of young Alison, a somewhat disturbed young woman who thinks that she killed one of the most popular -and perfect -girls at school. After being dumped into a mental institution, Alison finds that she can't keep her paranormal ability a secret forever. There she meets a mysterious scientist who takes a special interest in Alison -and seems to know all the answers.Ultraviolet is a beautifully written and frightening novel that explores the unexpected physiological side of a young woman with a secret. Alison's voice is clear, unexpected, dramatic and hauntingly beautiful. It completely draws readers in the first word to the very end, and plot will keep you flipping pages. From off-beat romances to strange scientists, to paranormal occurrences, Ultraviolet goes beyond the realm of convention and into the unexpected.Beautiful, haunting and engaging, Ultraviolet delivers a wonderful tale that readers are sure to devour.
    • 5/5
      You know how one of the best things about The Simpsons is how every episode starts out about one thing, and then suddenly the plot does a 180 and becomes about something else all-together?

      Yes. That.

      I don't want to say anything else because I would hate to spoil the story for anyone, but this thing takes a hard right turn into proper sci-fi territory almost out of nowhere (I saw it coming and HOPED I'd be right about what was to come, but I didn't think the author would actually do it), and it's exciting and fun. I cannot wait for the sequel.
    • 4/5
      The story opens with a confession that the narrator killed someone, they watched them disintegrate. Then the Narrator, Alison, describes waking up in a bleak hospital room and discovering that she was in an institution and had to deal with what was going on. Try to work out what had happened and come to terms with the fact that maybe, just maybe she wasn't crazy, but there was something different about how she thought.And then things twisted.Now I did guess some of the twisting but it still was interesting and kept me reading and while I see where the end came from I'm not sure it shouldn't have been a bit different.The descriptions of synthesia were deeply interesting and lyrical.
    • 5/5
      Speechless. I'm utterly, utterly speechless.

      Words, words, where are the words? How can I describe this?

      Amazing. Awe-inspiring. Heart-achingly beautiful.

      The writing, the language, the emotions and imagination -this is a work of pure genius.

      I can't tell you how long I've waited to read something so completely original and inspiring.

      And it's a self-contained novel. No unanswered questions that won't be satisfied in a sequel due out in a year. Oh, the glee.

      It's not possible for me to go in to detail because I would give away too much. You really need to go in blind and discover that R. J. Anderson deserves an award, many awards. And of course, the tools to write yet another piece of art I can admire, clutch tightly in my hands and call it my precious.

      Go read this. Beg, borrow or steal it if you have to, it's worth the jail time, I promise. Go now. I'll see you on the other side.
    • 5/5
      I adore the beautiful language used to convey Alison's synesthesia.

      A wonderful, gorgeous, genre-blending story!
    • 5/5
      Alison can taste words, she can see feelings and depending on the color of the alphabet she can feel calm or upset. You may think that just sounds completely weird and I have typed the wrong words into that sentence..how can you taste words? But that is the best thing about this story. You do begin to imagine what it would be like to be able to taste a person's name.I was completely blown away with the story. I really did enjoy the first half of the book more than the second, because of the descriptions. While Alison is living in the institute she has several meetings in which she explains these things. She meets several people whom test her and you can see how she views other people, why some she'll stay a mile away from and why she tends to make friends with others. And it is not the way all of us do it either.I also enjoyed the dialogue in the book, but that is again founded with the fantastic way in which Alison has to verbally describe to the doctor on what she is seeing, tasting and feeling. How she associates with others in the institute.The story starts out with her waking up at the hospital. She is being transferred to the mental institute and she is very confused because of her coma-like state she's been in for 2 weeks. She very slowly comes to realize she is there because she was the last person to see Tori alive and maybe responsible for her murder/disappearance. Through the first half of the book she is going to group meetings, private doctor meetings and of course getting to know the other patients. In the second half of the book, it takes a very twist that I did NOT see coming, totally out of left field and she delves more into really finding out what happened to Tori because her body was never found.I completely recommend this book, especially for those interested in unusual and uncommon mental issues. I have never even heard of it and was very intrigued after reading this to Google it myself and read more about it and found that it has several different levels/forms and more common than I ever knew.Even though I may never see the alphabet in colors or taste a persons name or feelings. I sure can now imagine what it might be like, even at the most basic level. What fascinated me about this story was the detail and description of Alison's psychosis. I was also fascinated to find out it was a true psychological thing.Synesthesia. Although I have put a link here I highly suggest you do not read up on it until after you read this story. And believe me this story will get you interested in reading more about it. You can also take tests online to see if you may have signs of it as well.This book was like a Gem in a rock field. I absolutely recommend it.
    • 5/5
      Wow! This story didn't go where I thought it was going to go. But R. J. Anderson took me on a fantastic journey. We begin with Alison in a mental hospital after suffering a breakdown. She believes that she killed a schoolmate by causing her to disintegrate. We see Alison learning to deal with the other patients and with her psychiatrist. We also learn about her life before the hospital. She has a poor relationship with her mother; loves her father but feels that he is ineffectual. We learn about her relationship with her rival Tori (the girl she thinks she killed).But mostly we learn how Alison sees the world. Letters and numbers have colors, and sounds, tastes and smells. Her senses seem cross-wired and very strong. Her psychiatrist keeps thinking that Alison has a mental illness. It is not until Sebastian Faraday comes to the hospital and begins working with Alison that she learns more about the way her senses work and realizes herself that she is not mentally ill.Faraday is the key to the left turn that the story takes from a standard teenage problem novel to science fiction. I enjoyed the whole journey. I think that readers who enjoyed Across the Universe by Beth Revis would also find this one interesting. Alison is a fascinating character that you just have to root for.
    • 4/5
      When your senses get crosswired in your brain, you can go through some pretty weird-sounding stuff. You may taste sounds. Words may have colour. You might feel the texture of a smell. The answers to math equations may well have personalities. It's called synesthesia, it's a lot more common than you may think, and it's what afflicts the main character of Ultraviolet.Alison wakes up one day to find herself institutionalized after having a psychotic break. Her memory is fragmented, but little by little she pieces things together: shortly before said psychotic break, she got in a fight with a girl at school, who is now missing, and the last thing Alison remembers is seeing that girl disintegrate before her eyes. With the help of Sebastian, a researcher visiting her in the institution, she slowly comes to understand that things are far more complicated than they seem. And considering the circumstances, that says a lot!One of the subject tags attached to this book is "aliens", and so I spent more than half of the book thinking that Alison's synesthesia was a sign of alien heritage and that her doctors knew it and were trying to keep her there to experiment on her, or at least observe her. Imagine my surprise, then, to find that Alison is as human as the rest of us, and that the extraterrestrial aspects of the book were not what I expected. I liked that twist. Sometimes going into a book with certain preconceptions turns out to be a good thing, because when what could be a trite and fairly unoriginal plot turns out to be something else, you appreciate the differences all the more.Another pleasant twist was the way that personal misconceptions are presented. Alison saw Tori as the typical rich bitch characters who bears a grudge for no real reason. Rather than have this be the case and have the two come to a reconciliation later anyway, Anderson twists things around so that 90% of what Alison saw of Tori's behaviour was made negative due to her own skewed and stressed interpretations, and Tori was never actually as bad as Alison thought she was. There was layers present in these characters that I have not found to be typical for teen novels of this type, and it was good to have something of a change of pace.Also worth mentioning is that this appears (at least thus far) to be a one-shot novel. When so many books coming out are pieces of trilogies or even longer series, it's actually quite nice to be able to pick up a book, read it, and know you've got a self-contained story that won't leave you with a cliffhanger or that won't involve the investment of even more time or money to find out more details later. There's something to be said for standalones.While this wasn't a perfect novel, it did bring a sense of freshness to a saturated genre, providing good scientific explanations for what could be dismissed as the supernatural, turning a few tried-and-true concepts on their heads, making the setting of the novel something fairly controversial without having the whole thing be steeped in controversy. A good YA novel that's worth reading. Doubly so if you, like me, are someone who experiences synesthesia and you want to see a character you can relate to in that way!
    • 3/5
      This suspenseful young adult novel had a stellar beginning, a good mysterious premise, and wonderfully descriptive writing, but it suffered from a little too much clouded genre bending that overwhelmed the plot a bit. Teenager Alison wakes up in the psychiatric unit of a hospital, not sure why she's there but knowing it's not good. She believes she has killed someone, a beautiful and popular teen named Tori at her school whom she never liked. The first person narrative, her fear and dread, and her synesthetic perceptions of her world (such as hearing "faint blue splashes of footsteps on tile") drew me right in. Turns out the police and psychiatrists also think she may have had something nefarious to do with Tori's disappearance, but noone's quite sure what happened - not even Alison. It had something to do with the wrongness she always felt about Tori, the strange birthmark only she could see on the other teen, the horrible high pitched sound she heard just before whatever happened. But, Alison's daily life is filled with unusual perceptions that she learned to keep strictly to herself, since her synesthesia is undiagnosed, and her feelings about Tori were just another secret. Alison is involuntarily committed and transferred to a psychiatric institution for troubled teens, and she is determined to get herself discharged. The suspense ratchets up from there, as she gets to know the other inmate teens, has an adversarial relationship with the admitting doc, and tries to keep herself and the increasingly disturbing synesthetic sensations under control, and to find out what happened that day with Tori. It's an enjoyable fast read and I think teens will enjoy it, but I do wish the author had stuck with the good mystery and science fiction plot elements, rather than also taking the story arc into the over-the-top unexplainable fantasy realm with Alison's abilities. An author's note explains more about synesthesia. I read an e-galley of the book courtesy of Netgalley.
    • 4/5
      Ultraviolet was one of those books that I wasn't sure if I would like, but I ended up really liking it. As I was reading, I wanted to learn more about Alison and her synesthesia (which I didn't even know existed in real life). I truly wanted to know what happened to Tori. I will admit, though, that there were some slow parts that I had to force myself to get through. And, I didn't excpect the book to take such a science-fiction turn at the end. But, overall, it was a good book and I will be recommending it to some of my teen readers who have an interest in science fiction and paranormal stories.
    • 4/5
      This was really an unexpected read to say the least. I felt like the description didn't give me very much to go on but left me intrigued enough to request it from NetGalley. I'm really glad that I did! I found Ultraviolet to be an intriguing novel that pulled me in and kept me guessing. When Alison wakes up in a mental institution covered in (apparently self-inflicted) cuts and no recollection of how she got them, I found myself instantly drawn to this character and her mystery. I immediately wanted to know more about why she was in the mental ward and what she had done to warrant her moving her to Pine Hills. As someone (basically) accused of murder and assumed to have a severe mental illness, I was struck by Alison's will and determination throughout. As she deals with her sensory abilities and learns to open up a little, I felt like I was able to connect with this character, even though we share little to nothing in common. She made me want to be her friend (despite the fact that she pushes all of her would-be friends away). I also thought that Anderson did a fabulous job of giving you just enough information about Alison and her condition that you question her sanity (and humanity) throughout the whole story.As the story moves along, parts one and two were cohesive and captivating, but I found myself a bit thrown-off by part three. I almost knew it was coming but there was just something about it that made it disconnect a bit from parts one and two. In the end, I thought all three parts rolled together for a good story, but it was honestly the first two parts that made me fall in love with the story and the characters. And...that's about all I want to say in case you decide to read it! This is definitely a novel I think you want to go in to without too much information so you can discover everything along the way!This is a fabulous read for fans of YA science fiction, especially perhaps Madeleine L'Engle.
    • 3/5
      It's difficult to fully review this book without giving anything away, but I'll try. Ultraviolet was one crazy ride. (pun intended) Alison is in a mental institution, she thinks she's killed someone, but doesn't quite know how. She sees strange colors, tastes sounds, hears lies. Too much stimuli sends her running for solitude. The first part of the book where Alison is in the institution is interesting. Alison tries to hide her "peculiarities" as she learns to interact with the patients and medical staff. She starts out hiding within herself, but begins to relate better as she meets a medical student who diagnoses her problems. The story seems to be moving right along throughout, when suddenly it takes a huge curve. I can't say what it is for fear of ruining the ending, but I will tell you that I just didn't care for it. There were no hints, subtle clues, nothing that would pave the way toward this revelation that comes. It was just too out of the blue for me, with an abrupt ending that left me feeling unsatisfied. Still, I think the first part in the institution is probably good enough to give this a read. Also, I see other reviews, where people loved the whole book, so this decision will have to be up to you. *Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher through NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review.
    • 4/5
      Great book but the romantic in me wishes she'd have been able to keep him
    • 4/5
      The Little BookwormAlison wakes up in a mental institution with no memory of how she got there. As she begins to remember what happened, she also remembers confessing to killing a classmate. But how she remembers that event doesn't make any sense because people just don't disintegrate. Do they? As Alison struggles to make sense of that event, she always begins unraveling the mysteries of her own mind and her special abilities.So this was different. It starts Girl, Interrupted and then sharply detours into science fiction. Alison wakes up in the psych ward of a hospital covered in scratches and bruises with no memory of what happened. She is then moved to a mental health institution for young adults to recover and maybe tell what happened to her classmate, Tori, who disappeared the same day that Alison went crazy. The description of Pine Hills, the place that Alison goes, is really well written and very realistic. I could picture the place in my mind perfectly and it had a nice mix of patients that really illustrated the story the author was trying to tell. Another aspect of Alison's story is her synesthesia. I've read a few books about this condition before and was interested to see it employed in this book. I liked how it was made integral part of the story but was not the point of the story. Alison didn't even realize that her extrasensory abilities had a name until part way through the story. It gave the story some interesting depth and played nicely into the climax of the story.
    • 5/5
      This book was very refreshing. I haven't read much in the way of fiction dealing with mental health issues; those I have read are not very consistent and quite often are written with harsh stereotypes in mind.
      This is not one of those. It was perfectly on point in the relevant information about the diseases and phenomena relayed. The descriptions of Ali's synesthesia was quite interesting; it is easy to understand why she would think that she was nuts at first.
      The way that she could see rotten fruit was particularly intriguing, I personally can smell when something is off much sooner than others, so I don't find this to be a big stretch at all. I am absolutely looking forward to following up with the rest of this series. Definitely recommend.
    • 4/5
      To say I was completely astonished by the turn this book took is an understatement. Whatever I was expecting at the start, it wasn’t that.Alison Jeffries is admitted to Pine Hills as a mental health patient, having claimed that she murdered Tori Beaugrand, the most popular girl in school. Since she was six years old, Alison was regarded crazy by her mother, with her with her ability to see sounds and taste words and names, and associate colours, flavours and even personalities with letters. Alison’s insistence that Tori disintegrated was the final straw. People don’t just disintegrate. And her panicked, apparently crazed behaviour didn’t help either. Sometime after her admittance, Sebastian Faraday arrives. It is he who tells her that she is not insane. Rather, she has a neurological condition called synesthesia. Neither does he believe that she killed Tori. And so it goes from there.Alison’s synesthesia intrigued me, to say the least. Couple this with her tetrachromacy – being able to see a far wider hue of colours than the average person – and you have a truly unique character. Anderson was able to convey Alison’s perceptions effectively, giving the reader a much more 3-dimensional view of the world. And every so often, there would be this beautifully crafted sentence or paragraph which left me stunned. Normally it may have seemed a little too flowery, but it worked because of Alison’s synesthesia, instead leaving me wanting to see the world as she did for myself.Up until the huge twist, it was very realistic. It was very easy to feel for Alison; her experiences as a mental health patient and even as a daughter due to misunderstanding of her condition provoked quite a few emotions. Overall, her sense of losing herself and doubting her own sanity really came through.And as for Sebastian Faraday. I don’t know what to say. Ordinarily I wouldn’t approve of the significant age gap, and I’m not entirely sure I agree with it here. Oddly enough, however, it hasn’t completely put me off. There was something about their relationship that just...worked. Maybe it was the fact that he actually listened to her. That he started out with one set of intentions, and then realised that actually, those no longer applied. I don’t know. But there is also a secret side to Faraday. One that I’m not going to go into, because otherwise the whole point of this book is lost. But what I will say is that is a BIG. SHOCK.The reason I’ve only given this four stars instead of five is the ending. It didn’t work out quite the way I would have wanted, but then again there is a second one. Even so, I don’t think a sequel would even have been needed if just a little more was added. Still. Overall, it was really well-written book that I would definitely recommend, though I warn you: there is a HUGE twist. Huge.
    • 4/5
      Alison has synesthesia, which her mother has taught her to hide and fear. But one day, in the middle of a fight with a school rival, her senses go haywire—and she causes the other girl to disintegrate. Locked in a psych ward while the police try to figure out what happened, Alison struggles to figure out what’s real and what’s her own fantasy. The story moved at a good pace and neatly contrasted the themes of trust in one’s own unreliable perceptions versus trust in one’s unreliable friends. I didn’t think the “… or was it?” hint in the ending was as successful, but emotionally Alison’s experience of being trapped in an institution that was sort of indifferent to her and sort of wanted to help her worked well.