Book Review :: Ultraviolet, by R.J Anderson

Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson
Series: Ultraviolet #1
Published by Orchard
on June 2nd 2011
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Supernatural, Young Adult
Pages: 410
Goodreads

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

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

Last updated on 19 January 2022

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My thoughts on Ultraviolet by R.J Anderson

In Ultraviolet by R.J Anderson, Alison Jefferies has been involuntarily thrown into a mental institution after an extreme psychotic outbreak and screams of ‘I killed her’. But when we meet Alison, she doesn’t really know why she is there, or where ‘there’ is.

Eventually, she realises what’s going on. Ever since she was very small, Alison has always been different. She would talk about the colours she saw and the sounds she tasted (you read correctly), and her mother would tell her to stop being silly. As she grew, Alison learnt to keep her experiences to herself. Only when she is in the hospital does she learn that what she has – what she’s always had – is Synaesthesia. She hears color, tastes words, sees numbers as colours, hears the stars as a song, and she can also see the colours on the ultraviolet spectrum.

She has been put into the mental institution because, as I mentioned, she claimed to have seen Tori Beaugrand disintegrate right in front her, and because she can’t remember what happened, she assumes that she killed her. But as the story goes on, and Alison learns more about herself and her synaesthesia, she realises that she can’t have killed Tori. Doctor Sebastian Faraday teaches her about her condition and life begins to make sense. But, like all good stories, things start to unravel when Alison discovers that Doctor Faraday isn’t all that he seems. Amazing twist/genre change – and now it’s suddenly about aliens. I mean, what? What is going on!? You’ll have to read it.

Ultraviolet is written in first person and R.J. Anderson has done a great job at writing Alison and the way she experiences everything around her. It’s quite incredible to read. It was nice to read a book that was labelled ‘teen’, but without the silly love triangles and teenage drama.

With crazy people (literally) in the institution ward with her, a mother who doesn’t understand her, a best friend her doesn’t visit her, a Doctor who doesn’t believe her and a horrific weight upon her shoulders, it doesn’t really sound like a calming, relaxing, happy-clappy book. And it’s not. But it’s full of wonderful characters, and amazing sensory descriptions, singing stars, a loving father, a worried friend, and answers to a lot of questions…and my goodness, you won’t be able to get it out of your head for at least 2 days after you’ve finished reading it. I’ve started my next book and I’m still thinking about this one.