Ultraviolet

By R. J. Anderson

“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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Aug 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781467731867

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.

Book preview

PART ONE:

SCENT OF YESTERDAY

ZERO (IS TRANSLUCENT)

Once upon a time there was a girl who was special. Her hair flowed like honey and her eyes were blue as music. She grew up bright and beautiful, with deft fingers, a quick mind, and a charm that impressed everyone she met. Her parents adored her, her teachers praised her, and her schoolmates admired her many talents. Even the oddly shaped birthmark on her upper arm seemed like a sign of some great destiny.

This is not her story.

Unless you count the part where I killed her.

ONE (IS GRAY)

The darkness behind my eyelids was thick and stank of chemicals, as though someone had poured black oil inside my head. My tongue lay like a dead slug in my mouth, and my limbs felt too heavy to lift.

Had I been sick? Was I injured? Or . . .

My stomach sloshed, rebelling against the thought. I couldn’t be dying. I was only sixteen years old. Yet my skin itched with the coarseness of unfamiliar sheets, and the mattress beneath me felt rubbery. The air was stale and lukewarm. Where else could I be but in a hospital?

As the oily slick across my senses thinned, colors and shapes crept into my awareness. Faint blue splashes of footsteps on tile, the dry buzz of air-conditioning, a silken ribbon of murmurs outside my door. Muffled thumps from the end of the corridor felt like cotton puffs dropping onto my forehead, until they ended in a sandpaper rasp of Nurse!

I winced, and opened my eyes.

I was lying alone in a room so stark that its blankness hit me like an assault. There were no IV stands or heart monitors, no bedside table covered in flowers and get-well cards. No windows, no cabinets, no shelves, not even a clipboard hanging on the wall. Nothing but the bed, and me in it.

My arms lay limp by my sides, skinny and white as ever. They looked whole enough, but the forearms were a mess of half-healed scratches and bite marks, as though I’d tried to shake hands with a wolverine. My wrists were chafed red, my fingernails were ragged stubs, and my grandmother’s ring, a square-cut topaz I’d worn every day for the past five years, was missing.

I was staring at my empty ring finger when the door opened, and a woman in petal-pink scrubs came in. Good morning, Alison, she said brightly. How are you feeling? Ready for some fresh air and a change of scenery?

She talked like someone used to not getting an answer, the way people talk to babies or coma patients. Clipped to her pocket was a laminated tag that said Rachael—a shimmery purple-violet name with flecks of silver, one I’d always liked. But I couldn’t recall ever seeing her before.

What happened to my ring? I tried to ask, but my whisper was so faint even I could barely taste it.

Nurse! Help me, nurse! screeched the voice in the distance, punctuated by more thumping. But the aide didn’t seem to hear it any more than she’d heard me.

We’re just bringing a wheelchair around for you, she said. Can I help you sit up, Alison?

Where am I? I asked, forcing out the words. Where are you taking me?

The aide looked surprised, but it took her only an instant to recover. You’re at St. Luke’s Hospital, she said. But not for much longer. Your mom put in a transfer request for you, so we’re going to take you to a place where you’ll be with other patients your age, and where you can get the treatment you need.

What kind of treatment? I didn’t mean to sound hostile, but I was starting to get scared. What kind of place?

A good place, she said soothingly. It’s called Pine Hills. You’ll like it there.

I’d heard that name before, but right now I couldn’t place it. My memories were all in a tangle. How long have I been here?

Rachael’s eyes flicked away from mine. Only a little while, she said, but the words rang so sour in my ears, so unexpectedly foul, that bile rose in my throat. You were agitated, so we brought you here to calm down—

Not the room, I gasped. The hospital. How long?

You were admitted on June seventh, she said. It’s the twenty-second now.

I sank back against the pillow, stunned. I’d been here for more than two weeks. Why couldn’t I remember any of it?

Let me help you get dressed, Rachael coaxed. Then we’ll talk.

I struggled upright, a yellow-gray stink of sweat wafting around me. The clothes she held were my own, so clean and fragrant that I felt ashamed putting my filthy body into them. I wanted to ask for a shower, but Rachael had already tugged up my jeans and pulled the T-shirt over my head. Another aide appeared in the doorway with a wheelchair; she helped me over to it.

It’s been a hard couple of weeks for you, Rachael said as she wheeled me down the corridor to a locked door, buzzed it open, and steered me through. So things will probably seem a little hazy for a while. But now your medication’s really starting to work, you’ll be feeling a lot better soon. . . .

She chattered on, but I wasn’t listening anymore. I was staring at the sign above the nurses’ station. It said, in my hometown’s two official languages:

PSYCHIATRIC UNIT / UNITÉ DE PSYCHIATRIE

My worst nightmare had become reality. I’d gone crazy, and my mother had locked me away.

. . .

I was six years old, watching my pregnant mother wash the dishes. Cutlery clinked, filling the air with sparkling bursts of color.

Do it again! I begged her, bouncing in my seat.

My mother glanced back at me. Do what?

Make the stars.

Stars?

It never occurred to me that she couldn’t see what I was seeing. The gold ones, I said.

I don’t know what you’re talking about, she replied, and with a child’s impatience, I hopped down from my stool to show her.

Like this, I said, taking two spoons and clanging them together. Each clink produced another starburst, expanding luminous through the air between us.

You mean, said my mother slowly, the sound makes you think of stars?

No, it makes the stars. Why aren’t you looking? You have to look, I told her, and clashed the spoons again. See?

My mother stood rigid, the bewilderment in her face shading slowly into horror. Then she snatched the spoons from my hands and flung them into the sink. There. Are. No. Stars, she hissed, her voice full of icy peaks and seething valleys. Do you hear me?

Yes, there are, they’re right—

My mother slapped me across the face. Don’t argue with me!

She’d smacked me once or twice in the past, but never like this. Tears sprang to my eyes. But . . .

No buts! She backed away, one arm wrapped protectively around her belly. Just stop it. Stop pretending, or—whatever you’re doing.

So you don’t . . . see the stars? I could hardly get the words out.

No! she shouted at me, her face a blotchy mask. Normal people do not see things like that!

I felt like my insides were climbing up my throat. I wanted to burst into tears. But I could also see how scared my mother was—and worse, I knew she was scared of me.

So I swallowed. I forced my misery back, pushed it deep down inside myself, and I said in a small voice, I’m sorry.

Go to your room, Alison, said my mother, breathing hard. Go and think about what I’ve told you. And I never, ever want to hear you talk about seeing stars or—or anything else like that—again.

I slunk out of the kitchen and was halfway up the stairs when a wavering moan floated up behind me, followed by another sound I had never before heard my mother make. It was a deep gray bubble, and it followed me all the way to my bedroom, where I flung myself down on the bed and sobbed until the air was full of them.

That day I’d learned that my mind didn’t work the same as other people’s—that perceptions I took for granted could seem incredible or even frightening to them. So I couldn’t talk about the color of three, or whether triangles tasted better than circles, or how playing Bach on my keyboard made fireworks go off in my head, because people would think I was crazy. And then they’d be scared of me, and wouldn’t want to be around me anymore.

So I hid those alien sensations inside myself, a secret I swore I’d never betray again. I made a few mistakes at first, because it wasn’t always easy to know what was normal and what wasn’t, but by the time I was nine years old my transformation was complete. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, there was nothing extraordinary about me, nothing unpredictable, and certainly nothing anyone needed to be afraid of.

Until now.

. . .

Alison, can I get you something to eat? Are you hungry?

I shook my head distractedly, too shell-shocked to speak. Rachael had parked my wheelchair in a little glass-walled office opposite the nurses’ station, then excused herself to help another patient. The woman stooping over me was thickset and graying, a grandmotherly stranger.

How are you feeling? asked the older nurse as she pulled up a chair and sat down, pen and clipboard in hand. Any dizziness? Nausea? Headache?

Ever since I saw that sign reading PSYCHIATRIC UNIT, I’d had all three. But I was afraid to admit it, because it would give these people another reason to believe that I was sick. I needed to convince them that I was better now, that I didn’t need any more treatment, before they could find out about my colors and try to take them away.

No, I lied, and the gorge surged into my mouth so fast I nearly choked. I had to swallow three times to get it down again, and then fake a coughing fit before I could gasp, Could I—have some—water?

The nurse filled a paper cup from the water cooler and handed it to me. How would you describe your mood right now?

I suspected that terrified wouldn’t be the best answer. I’m okay, I said, and took another hasty sip as my stomach convulsed again.

The interview went on, the nurse asking questions and ticking off boxes on her clipboard while I gulped water and answered as briefly as I could. All the while my nausea came and went—I felt fine when I told the nurse that I couldn’t hear any voices talking to me except for hers, but when she asked if I sometimes saw things that were invisible to other people and I said no, it came back again.

I had an uncomfortable sense that I wasn’t fooling her, either. Her expression stayed bland, but her eyes seemed to pierce right into my head. Still, I must have done something right, because in the end the nurse thanked me, called Rachael back into the room, and went on her way.

Your ride will be here in about twenty minutes, said Rachael as she wheeled me out of the office. Would you like to call your mom and let her know you’re going over to Pine Hills, so she can meet you there?

Her words were peach with sincerity, and I could tell she really believed it was a good idea. Which showed how little she knew. I still couldn’t remember much, but I was sure of one thing at least: my mother was the one who had sent me here. I’d worked so hard to convince her I wasn’t dangerous . . . but in the end, it had meant nothing.

No, I said. I’ll be fine.

. . .

The sky above St. Luke’s was a rhapsody in blue, the northern Ontario sunlight so crystal-sharp that I could feel it even through the tinted glass of the lobby windows. And when Rachael wheeled me outside, the fresh air tasted so sweet it brought tears to my eyes.

You’re doing really well, said Rachael, patting my shoulder. How are you feeling? Things getting any clearer?

She didn’t seem to think it unusual that I’d lost some of my memory. Maybe it would be safe to ask her a few questions. My arms, I said. They’re all messed up, and my ring’s missing. But I don’t remember how it happened.

I never saw you wearing a ring, said Rachael. Maybe your mom has it. But your arms . . . well, Alison, you were in a very bad way. Sometimes, when people are in a lot of mental pain, they turn to physical pain as a distraction.

My stomach turned to cold jelly. So all those bites and scratches . . . I’d done that to myself?

You screamed and cried a lot, when you first came in, said Rachael. You kept clawing at your arms and face, and banging your head against the wall. We did everything we could to calm you down, but it took a while to find a medication that would help you.

Was that why my mother had applied to have me transferred? Because the nurses at St. Luke’s hadn’t been doing a good enough job of keeping me under control? This place, I said, struggling to push the words past the tightness in my throat. Pine Hills. What kind of—

Then the police van pulled up in front of the curb, and the words died on my tongue.

Rachael had told me in the elevator that a police officer would be escorting me to my destination. She’d assured me that this was routine, nothing to worry about. But as the officer stepped out to meet me, my pulse started to beat in 6/8 time.

His voice was gritty and rumbling, like boulders rolling down a slope. He was talking to my mother, asking her questions, but all I heard was a garbled roar. . . .

I’m Constable Deckard, said the officer in a soft tenor, and the memory vanished as quickly as it had come. In his dark blue uniform and red-banded cap he looked serious but not hostile, and I tried to tell myself there was no reason to fear. To Serve and Protect—wasn’t that the motto? Even if a policeman had come to my house two weeks ago, he was probably just helping my mother get me to the hospital.

Alison, the officer needs to put some handcuffs on you, said Rachael. Would you hold your hands out for him, please?

Instinctively I pulled my hands to my chest. But I . . . I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not—

I didn’t know how to finish the sentence. Not dangerous? Not a criminal? Could I be sure of either of those things anymore?

It’s for your safety and protection, said Constable Deckard. Standard procedure. He jingled the cuffs at me. Hands, please.

What would happen if I resisted? Would he grab me and force the cuffs on me anyway? I was afraid to find out. Especially since we were right by the front doors of the hospital, in full view of the lobby windows, and I could already feel people staring. I held out my hands to the policeman, and he locked the cuffs around them.

Rachael helped me up the step into the van. Good luck, Alison, she said, and shut the door. Head down, eyes on my fettered wrists, I sat rigid while the van made its way out of the hospital grounds and onto the main road. Then I slumped against the window, gazing out listlessly as we passed the space-station architecture of Science North and the cerulean blue waters of Ramsey Lake. Rocky hillsides crowned with birch and poplar rose around us as we headed toward New Sudbury. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought I was going home.

But we kept driving, past the city’s outskirts to the highway beyond. As my apprehension grew, I tried to distract myself by counting inukshuks—human-shaped piles of stones set high on the rocks by passing travelers. But a few kilometers later we turned off onto a side road, and the sunlight dimmed as the trees closed in around us. Something pale flashed in the near distance, and I struggled upright for a better look.

It turned out to be a sign, with embossed letters that shifted into rainbow hues as I squinted at them: PINE HILLS PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT CENTRE. A line of complacently looped script beneath read Bringing Hope to Youth in Crisis.

A good place, Rachael had said. You’ll like it there.

Beyond the sign, a cluster of institutional buildings sidled into view. At first they looked separate, a peak-roofed longhouse surrounded by cabins; but as we drove closer I saw that they were all connected, like a hydra in the process of budding. In front of the hospital the trees surrendered to grass and asphalt; behind it, the forest shrank away from a courtyard enclosed in chain-link fence. As we drove by I glimpsed a girl pacing around the yard, all bony limbs and hair like a splatter of ink, talking and gesturing wildly with her cigarette.

There was no one with her.

A shudder rippled through me. I slid away from the window, flinching as my handcuffs clinked and gold starbursts filled my vision. This was all wrong. I didn’t belong here. Even after what Rachael had told me—that the scratches and bites on my arms had been self-inflicted, and that I’d been brought to St. Luke’s screaming and struggling all the way— part of me still refused to believe that I could be anything like that girl.

With an effort I unclenched my fists and willed myself to breathe. Calm, Alison. Whatever happens, you have to stay calm.

The van slowed to a stop, and the door rumbled open. Humid, pine-flavored air washed over me, to the tune of droning cicadas and the staccato call of a chickadee. I stepped out into the grip of my police escort, who marched me across the asphalt to a door at the side of the main building. It growled open at our approach and closed behind us with a steely click.

As Constable Deckard took out his key and fumbled with my handcuffs I stood meekly, shivering in the air-conditioned chill. At first glance the room looked like a dentist’s office, with plaque-colored walls and wintergreen furniture. But the sofa bled stuffing from a gash in its side, while the chairs and table looked like they’d been flung across the room at least once before anyone thought to bolt them to the floor. The wall beside the nurses’ station had a hole in it the shape of a size-twelve running shoe. I hoped I wasn’t about to meet that shoe’s owner.

My handcuffs snapped open. The officer hooked them back onto his belt, then led me over to the admissions desk and introduced me to the two nurses on duty. They sized me up as though I were a time bomb, held a murmured conference, and finally told the two of us to sit down.

It’s going to be a while, said my police escort. So make yourself comfortable.

How I was supposed to do that with him sitting next to me, I couldn’t imagine. According to Rachael, police helped transfer psych patients between hospitals all the time; it was a community service, she said, to make sure the ambulances stayed available for people who really needed them. But something in Deckard’s manner, the watchful glances he kept giving me out of the corner of his eye, made me feel nervous and even a little guilty. As though I really had done something wrong, and he knew it.

But how could that be? I might have had a mental breakdown two weeks ago, but that wasn’t a crime. And even if I had broken the law in some way . . . it couldn’t be too serious, could it? I struggled to piece together the scraps of my memories, but they kept fluttering away from me.

Want me to turn on the TV? asked the officer, gesturing at the set bolted high in the corner.

I didn’t watch much television; I found its fake, flat colors too irritating. But it would give the constable something to watch besides me, so I nodded. He flicked it on, and I listened halfheartedly to some American talk show until the clock’s hands inched to noon and it was time for the local news.

I wasn’t paying much attention by then. In fact, I was almost asleep. But a few minutes into the broadcast, I woke abruptly at the taste of a familiar name.

. . . Tori Beaugrand, who disappeared on the afternoon of June seventh . . .

My blood ran hot, then icy, and my stomach clenched like a fist. Somewhere in the back of my mind a trapped memory fluttered, trying to get out.

. . . Ron and Gisele Beaugrand, parents of the missing teen, are offering a reward to anyone who comes forward with information leading to Tori’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, police continue their investigation into the sixteen-year-old’s disappearance, but so far no trace of her has been found . . .

Alison.

I blinked. Constable Deckard tapped my left arm, and slowly I turned it over to find four fresh, weeping scratches on the underside.

Why’d you do that? he asked.

I—I don’t know. The scrapes were throbbing now, painting orange stripes across my inner vision. I closed my right hand around them, trying to press away the pain.

Did you know that girl? Tori Beaugrand?

Again that rustle of memory, like a pile of dead leaves shifting in the breeze. But whatever was underneath stayed buried. I went to school with her, I said. I didn’t know she was missing.

His brows went up. You don’t remember hearing about her disappearance before?

I shook my head.

When was the last time you saw her?

His voice had sharpened, taken on a new urgency. Like he thought I might actually know how, or why, she’d disappeared. But why would I? Tori and I didn’t hang around together. We barely even talked. I’m . . . not really sure, I said. In the cafeteria, I think? At school?

When?

At the end of lunch period, I said. On Monday.

Monday, June seventh. The day she’d disappeared. The same day I’d gone into hospital. But that was just coincidence . . . wasn’t it?

And what was she doing, when you saw her? Was she talking to anyone? Did she look frightened? Angry?

I closed my eyes, straining at the memory. She’d stepped in front of me as I was heading out the cafeteria door, demanding to know. . . something. But after that it was all a blank.

I’m sorry, I said. My memory’s not very good right now.

Deckard gave me a hard, searching look. But something in my face must have convinced him, because all he said was, All right. But there’s something I want you to do. The minute you remember anything that might help us find Ms. Beaugrand— any detail, no matter how small—you tell your psychiatrist, and have him call me. We’ll all sit down in a nice comfortable place, and talk about it. All right?

Okay, I said.

I can’t emphasize strongly enough how important this is, Alison. Because if Tori’s been abducted, if she’s been hurt, and it turns out that you knew something that could have helped us find her but didn’t say anything about it . . . that would be a very serious thing.

My stomach twisted. Abducted? Hurt? I’d never been close to Tori, but I’d never wanted anything like that to happen to her, either.

Do you understand me? pressed Constable Deckard.

A thunderstorm was building between my temples, zigzags blurring the edges of my vision. In an hour or two, I was going to have a killer migraine.

All right, I said faintly.

. . .

Alison Jeffries?

By the time the nurse called me, the scintillating patterns behind my eyes had brightened from mango to tangerine, and my head felt as though it had been clamped in a vise. Gingerly I got up and walked over to the admissions desk.

Okay, Alison, I’ve got some questions to ask you. . . .

Over the next few minutes, they took my name, my history, and everything I owned—except, unfortunately, my headache. I was strip-searched with clinical thoroughness, and my clothing and shoes were locked away. Then they made me shower and change

Reviews for Ultraviolet

[spiritedstardust · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book but the romantic in me wishes she'd have been able to keep him

[ftbooklover · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Alison has experienced hypersensitivity since she was little, but she has always managed to hide it from everyone, especially her mother, who seems to see it as some kind of defect. When one day she is suddenly overwhelmed by extreme sensitivity, Alison believes that the disintegration of her classmate, Tori, was somehow her fault. She wakes up in the psychiatric wing of the local hospital and is being moved to a facility for long-term psychiatric care. For weeks, Alison tries to come to terms with her placement and her need to be drugged, but then Dr. Faraday comes to do research for a project. He tells Alison that she may not be as crazy as everyone seems to think.

Ultraviolet has a wonderful premise, weaving in mental illness from the point of view of the patient. Even the idea of extraordinary abilities that could look like mental illness is an interesting idea to explore, but the explanations of what Alison experiences outside the care facility and the ending of the story is a cheat and detracts from what could have been a real winner of a book. Overall, a good premise wasted.

[larissabookgirl_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When she woke it was to a bare room, alone with no memory of how she came to be there. Soon however she realised she was in a hospital. However her stay was a short one, or so it seamed, for upon waking she was soon escorted by police to a new destination. A place where she is told she will be with patients her own age, a place where she will be able to get the treatment she needs. And the handcuffs, she is told, is just a formality.Being abandoned by her mother to a place like Pine Hills should not have come as such a shock to her. Her mother had always been a little wary of her, a little to quick too judge her insane. Now however she had to try to prove to others that not only was she not insane, even though she could taste words and see sounds, but that she was innocent, even though she had no other explanation for a girls disappearance other then the fact that she disintegrated.Ultraviolet is more then just a story of a girl coming to accept herself for who she is, forgiving her family for what they have done and gaining new understanding of others. It is a story of a girl falling in love, a girl discovering she is stronger then she thought she was, a girl who although different is no longer alone. A compelling and engaging contemporary read with a delightful sci-fi twist.

[thebacklistbook · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[bucketofrhymes · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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).

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[leia9ann-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[devafagan-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I adore the beautiful language used to convey Alison's synesthesia.

A wonderful, gorgeous, genre-blending story!

[cynical_ames · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I started Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson believing I was going to read a YA book set in a psychiatric treatment center and dealing with teen mental illness. I was rather surprised at the twist this story took as before too long I was getting hints about visitors from other planets, wormholes and spaceships. The cryptic opening immediately captures the reader interest as Alison describes another girl, popular Tori, who is good looking and accomplished at least up to the point that Alison killed her. Alison has extreme synaesthesia, she sees numbers and words in colors, she tastes words and sees sounds. She keeps these sensations to herself as she has been taught they are signs of not being normal. When she wakes in a psychiatric hospital after having a break-down from sensory overload she learns that she declared that she killed Tori, who is indeed missing.I was quite caught up in this story and enjoyed the first half before things were suddenly twisted. I enjoyed the colourful writing as the author seemed to be letting her readers experience how synaesthesia works with phrases such as: “Dark chocolate, poured over with velvet: that was how his voice tasted. I wanted him to follow me around and narrate the rest of my life.” I was quite absorbed in this part of the story told from the perspective of a sixteen year old girl sectioned in a mental institution for teens. Although hints had been dropped along the way, when the story took on another perspective I found myself doing some eye-rolling and head-scratching. I found this part of the book quite unbelievable.So although Ultraviolet has a unique plot line and is quite well written, I personally was much happier with the first half of the story. Still, I am definitely not part of the target audience for this book and I do think Ultraviolet would appeal to a younger, sci-fi minded audience.

[ahappybooker · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[jwarren42 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

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.

[katebond-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[ceilidhann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am a sucker for the dark side of literature. Growing up, I went through a massive phase of reading books about crime, serial killers and down-trodden detectives looking to solve the case, so seeing the synopsis of this book on NetGalley made it an instant must read for me. The book was surprising on many levels and it’s a real genre bender, not quite the straight forward dark thriller I thought it was going to be, but did it work?

Some of it worked rather well. It becomes evident very early on that Alison has the condition synaesthesia, where one’s senses cross over and interact in interesting ways. For Ali, this involves different numbers and letters having distinctive tastes and colours as well as some surprising experiences that occur throughout the book. I really enjoyed the way this was incorporated into the story and it provided a fascinating view of the world from a truly unique perspective.

Anderson’s prose is particularly strong during these points and also rather beautiful. The more lyrical moments of prose don’t always work within the context of the story though; sometimes it felt a little jarring. It was always enjoyable to read but I questioned whether it was the right stylistic choice at these moments in time. While Ali’s narration is fascinating, it also means we sometimes don’t get a fully realised view of the world she lives in. This isn’t a problem to begin with – Anderson effectively creates a sense of foreboding and intrigue as Ali discovers what has happened – but then it goes a little off the rails, mainly because of Ali.

I didn’t mind Ali as a character. I understood her fear and sympathised with it for most of the book, plus her narration, as I said, was very lyrical and interesting at times. However, her decision making process left me feeling a little frustrated. I’m not a fan of characters avoiding the obvious for the sake of plot development. Sometimes it felt like Ali wasn’t allowed to progress because the author had decided it wasn’t time for that yet. While I understood Ali’s difficulties and worries over making certain choices, it still didn’t feel natural. I also felt like we didn’t get a lot of characterisation for the supporting players, especially Ali’s fellow patients and the mysterious Dr Faraday.

There are two small, very specific things in the book that I really want to touch upon, and to do this there may be slight spoilers.
Unfortunately, the book casually drops in one of my biggest irritants in YA fiction – the casual gay joke. One of Ali’s fellow patients, who is bipolar, makes several references to Dr Faraday being gay (he isn’t gay but the boy, whose name I have unfortunately forgotten, keeps saying he is out of jealousy, I think) and no-one chastises him for it. Ali silently expresses disapproval but nobody points out how stupid and insulting it is to casually use homosexuality as a negative marker of someone. The boy was frequently punished for saying stupid thing so why not this? It’s a small thing, I know, but I’ve seen it used so frequently in fiction without any character, or even the omniscient narration, taking the time to say it’s wrong, and it bugs me because we’ve still got this society that uses ‘That’s gay’ as some ultimate insult. Homosexuality is still somehow the acceptable insult these days.

The other problematic element I had also involves this young man forcing himself on Ali. She pushes him back, screams and makes it pretty clear that she doesn’t want this and when the boy has the audacity to be insulted by this, she say sorry. Even though she mentions in her narration that she really isn’t sorry, she still says it. She didn’t have to say it! She wasn’t the one at fault here; mental illness or not, the woman, or man, shouldn’t apologise for having someone force his or herself upon her/him! Later on, the issue is dealt with and the boy is punished but this little scene still nagged at me so I had to address it.

Overall, I like a lot of thing about “Ultraviolet.” The incorporation of synaesthesia was fascinating and well handled, providing an often beautiful and unique narration, and the set-up is intriguing for the most part. I admire Anderson for taking the book out of the comfort zone and not sticking to the well worn and seductively easy routes YA has so often been taking lately. It doesn’t always work but I was never bored by what I read, even if some of it was a little sketchily developed. The strong elements that kept me reading were let down by some weaker moments of plotting and characterisation. I’m really not sure how to rate this book. It’s either a 2.5 or a 3 out of 5. There’s definitely a lot to enjoy in the book and it’s refreshing to see something unique in the genre right now, but for all its strengths it could have definitely been stronger.

2.5 or 3/5 (apologies for my indecisiveness, I genuinely spent ages trying to pick one and couldn’t!)

[khal_khaleesi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

(This review can be found on my blog (The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl).


Wow, wow, wow! This is one of the best books that I've read this year! I absolutely loved this book!

Alison is in a mental institution after she went crazy the night she claimed to have killed Tori Beaugrand, the most popular girl in school, by making her disintegrate. However, Tori's body hasn't been found. Alison also has the weird ability to see numbers as colors and to taste words amongst other things. Ali just wants to know what's wrong with her and why people won't help her find out what happened to Tori.

To be honest, I didn't really know what to think when I saw the title. It doesn't really capture my attention. While the title does have something to do with the book, I think there could've been better titles. But please, don't let the title fool you. Ultraviolet is amazing!

I felt the same with the cover as I did with the title. I feel like the cover is a bit bland which is a shame because there is an excellent story underneath. I just feel like the cover could've been a bit more interesting so that people would actually pick up the book.

I loved the fact that this book was mainly set in a mental asylum. Anything to do with those kind of institutions makes me want to read a book instantly! The world building is definitely believable. I felt as if I was right beside Ali in everything she did. I loved getting a glimpse at the inside of this institution. Even when the plot takes a twist, I still found everything to be quite believable.

The pacing was fantastic! I was always reading a few words ahead just because I wanted to see what was coming next. Ultraviolet is a real page turner, and I couldn't read this book fast enough. Most of the time, I felt like shutting myself in a room where no one could disturb me. I am even saddened that it ended because I was enjoying it so much.

The plot was fantastic! While the whole girl locked up in mental institution even though she thinks she's fine thing has been done before, Anderson puts her own spin on it to make it her own. I even enjoyed the plot twist even though it was kind of predictable. I also enjoyed the fact that there was minimal romance in this book. I'm not big on romances, so this was perfect for me.

The characters were fantastic! I loved Alison! I felt that she was such a strong character especially with what she had to endure. I sympathized with her a lot of the time, and I even felt what she was feeling most of the time. I just wish she would've chose to tell her therapist about her condition rather then hiding it although I can totally understand why she was scared to tell him. I found Kirk to be annoying, but I think that's how the author wanted us to feel about it. Faraday was an interesting character. I loved how he was willing to listen, and I mean really listen, to what Ali had to say. I loved his helpful nature as well. Tori was super interesting as well, but I'll just leave it at that because of spoilers.

The dialogue was fantastic! I enjoyed reading about what Alison was going through and what she was thinking. It was super interesting. It did annoy me that we were told over and over what a certain noise looked like or what color a number was, etc. I really wish there was just a bit less then that. Overall though, I found the dialogue to flow quite well and feel natural. There was also no swearing in this book.

While this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone. The second book in the series is about another character that was mentioned in the book and is more of a companion novel.

Overall, Ultraviolet was a fantastic book that has an incredible plot as well as interesting characters. This book taught me a bit more about Synthesia which I was thrilled about learning. This is one of those books that I know I'll be thinking about for a long time.

I'd recommend this book to everyone aged 13 because it is just that amazing!

[a_reader_of_fictions · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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

[elysianfield_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

DNF page 80

just couldn't get into it.

[nicola26 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well! I hardly know what to say. This book was so WEIRD but wonderful. There's such a difference between the first half the book and the second half that it was a bit of a shock but not in a bad way of course. I just flew through it and hated when I had to put it down. LOVED the characters, the storyline, the settings and of course the fascinating topic of Synesthesia!

I'd like book two now please. Ktnx.

Favourite quotes:
“I realized then that even though I was a tiny speck in an infinite cosmos, a blip on the timeline of eternity, I was not without purpose.”

“Everybody has a story, Alison," he said. "Everybody has things they need to hide--sometimes even from themselves.”

“Every time you show your feelings, you apologize. Have you ever had an emotion in your life that you weren't ashamed of?”

[aaishah_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[jrlibrary · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[cuna_7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[callmecayce · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[bookaddictdiary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[mitsumarshmallow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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!

[ekanderson_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I simply cannot tell you how much I loved ULTRAVIOLET by R.J. Anderson. No, really. This book is so full of twists and turns that I’m afraid of giving some seriously good stuff away. Suffice to say, it was one of the best books I read this summer (lucky me, I got an early copy) and it will be one of the best books you read this fall.Here are some things I can tell you:1. ULTRAVIOLET is about a girl who is in a psychiactric facility.2. ULTRAVIOLET is about a girl who has something that you and I might have heard called synesthesia, but which her religious mother has told her is a curse. In fact, Alison can’t talk about it and has decided that when she sees colors and tastes sounds, she keeps it to herself, because she doesn’t want to be crazy.3. ULTRAVIOLET is about a girl who is suspected of murdering a classmate. And, in fact, she isn’t even sure herself that she didn’t do it. That doesn’t mean she’s about to confess though. Not to her mom or her shrink. Not to the police. Not to the cute pyromaniac (or any of the other nutjobs at the hospital. And not even to the mysterious new psychologist who has chosen her for a study. Who really, truly, seems to be on Allison’s side.4. If you read ULTRAVIOLET you will be absolutely blown away by R.J. Anderson‘s elegant prose, her brilliant story, and the intimacy you feel with every single character.Watch out for this one during ALA’s award season this year, y’all. ULTRAVIOLET is a literary force to be reckoned with.

[graceschumann · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ultraviolet was unlike any other young adult book I have ever read. I am completely and utterly in love with it. I want to thank Net Galley so much for providing me with an advanced copy of it. When I first began Ultraviolet, I was a bit hesitant. I had heard about R.J. Anderson’s other works but hadn’t read any for myself yet so I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of her writing style. I shouldn’t have hesitated at all! Anderson really knows what she’s doing and her talent for writing is completely obvious in this story."'Everybody has a story, Alison,' he said. 'Everybody has things they need to hide--sometimes even from themselves.'"Ultraviolet is about a girl named Alison who suffers from a rare syndrome called Synesthesia. She is able to see numbers and sounds in colors and taste different emotions. She basically is hyper-sensitive to anything she is able to see, touch, hear, smell, or taste around her. Not only that, but she is able to see things nobody else can, almost like a premonition about something or a type of x-ray vision in time, as well as sense different events that occur. When she gets in a fight with the most popular girl at school, Alison is sure she saw her disintegrate but that’s crazy right? With the girl now missing and Alison being the last to be seen with her, she’s suspected of having something to do with the girl’s disappearance and placed into a psychiatric hospital to further monitor her after she claims to have killed the girl by making her explode into a million pieces. Nobody believes her and claims her different sensations are a symptom of schizophrenia. When the violet-eyed neuropsychologist, Faraday shows up, claiming to be working for a university in South Africa and wants to run a study on Alison, she starts to open up to him about secrets she’s kept long hidden from her family and society. Her secrets about how she perceives things in sounds and colors. He insists she’s not crazy but as the two get closer and closer, what will they uncover about the strange happenings Alison witnessed?I think Anderson really has a flair for writing and she took a completely different route with this book than most other young adult authors which really paid off. I was very pleased with the character development. There was enough back-story into each character but not too much to overwhelm the reader and they were established very well within the story. I loved Alison’s character and how she stayed true to her convictions and what she believed. She was not swayed easily by other characters in the story to believe different things and we witnessed her character growing into maturity as the story progressed. I really enjoyed getting to know Faraday as well and loved the interaction Alison and he had throughout the story.The only thing I wish Anderson had done in this story was to perhaps go into the background of where Faraday is originally from (I don’t want to say for fear of giving a spoiler) a little more and describe more about the experiment his “co-worker” and him were working on. Other than that it was very well put together. I was hoping the ending would be a little different but I am extremely satisfied to have found out from the author herself that there is going to be a companion novel to Ultraviolet. Suffice to say, I can’t wait!

[theepicrat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have not read R.J. Anderson’s Faery series yet, but if it is anything like Ultraviolet, I may finally get around to it sooner than later because Ultraviolet really blew my mind away and I desperately need more!The start of Ultraviolet reminds me of The Summoning with a set-up where the main character ends up psych institute that may not have her best interests in mind. However, there are no ghosts or werewolves or witchery – only real people with real mental conditions with a dash of the extraordinary. Right from the start, readers get immersed in Alison’s story and follow her as she tries to piece together what happened and understand why no one can see and taste colors like she can.I love how the chapters got labeled like in a special spectrum that pertained to Alison’s progress – and it heightened my anticipation for what happened next.Everyone in Ultraviolet had a secret or two, and just when you thought you had people figured out and characters you just can’t live without, R.J. Anderson pulls the rug from under you and throws you in a few loops! She does it in such an way that, even though certain characters may have fallen out of favor, these same characters still have redeeming qualities. Alison may not trust them any longer, but she knows that they mean well – just stay far away from her!By the time I reached the ultimate truth about Tori’s disappearance, R.J. Anderson had me so invested in the story that I was able to suspend reality and believe anything she dished out – no matter how far-fetched! This may sound rather vague, but trust me – Ultraviolet may seem nothing out of the ordinary at first, but it will sneak its way into your brain and throw all your beliefs to the stars!Amazing. Flavorful. Colorful. Like a bag of Skittles, Ultraviolet will taste like a rainbow.

[krista23 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[stephxsu · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Alison Jeffries is a synesthete—a person whose senses are “crossed” so that she experiences multiple sensory experiences whereas most people just experience one—but she doesn’t know this. All she knows is that she’s been this way her whole life, and has to hide her ability, and that this condition may or may not have killed her classmate, Tori Beaugrand. Locked in a mental institute, Alison struggles to understand who she is and what she’s done, but it’s not until the arrival of a sympathetic researcher that she finally begins to understand…and, in doing so, has her world turned upside-down.R.J. Anderson steps away from faeries and tackles an entirely new genre and writing style in her latest novel, ULTRAVIOLET. ULTRAVIOLET is weird and crazy, but surprisingly, this genre-defying novel is an enjoyable success.The less you know about ULTRAVIOLET before you read it, the better your reading experience will most likely be. ULTRAVIOLET’s plot doesn’t quite twist and turn, per se, but reader engagement is primarily predicated on unexpected revelations. This means that the characters feel somewhat lacking. Alison doesn’t stand out as a protagonist, though she is, fortunately, not a damsel-in-distress. Supporting characters take on rather one-dimensional roles: you’ve got yourself a plethora of fairly stereotypical mental patients, and the lifelong tension between Alison and her mother feels undeveloped.Fortunately, the odd appeal of the story makes up for lackluster characters. While the writing is elementary, the story inexplicably sucks you in: you’re right there alongside Alison, having your mind blown and trying desperately to figure out where in this new version of the world you fit. Just when you thought the story couldn’t get any stranger, R.J. Anderson throws you another curveball. It’s pretty incredible, actually, how far she manages to stretch the story while still making everything fit together logically!Overall, ULTRAVIOLET is not a masterpiece, but it was an entertainingly crazy read. Definitely recommended to readers who look more for originality in their reads.