Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

“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.

Review:

When I first heard about Ultraviolet I was instantly intrigued. The premise sounded fresh and exciting, and I had read a book by R.J. Anderson before and really enjoyed it. Therefore, when the chance came up to review Ultraviolet I jumped at the chance. Luckily, while Ultraviolet did take a little while to warm up, it ended up being quite the book to say the least.

First, Allison was incredibly interesting character. From the start, I never really knew what to think of her. Was she crazy? On the other hand, was she wrongly blamed? There were many possibilities, and based on the slow yet fun way R.J. Anderson brought her story to light, nearly every theory of mine had different details to support it and to rebut it. However, what I liked most about Allison was seeing how she evolved over the course of the book from someone who didn't really voice her opinion to a girl who wasn't afraid to ask for what she wanted. Another character that I also enjoyed reading about was Sebastian Faraday. He had nearly as many secrets buzzing around him as Alison did- maybe even more at times- which always made me curious to find out more about him.

As mentioned before the premise of Ultraviolet was one of the originally things that got me interested in this book, and as it turns out, the execution of the said idea was even better. In some ways, this book was like nothing I've read before. It constantly flipped flopped genres but in a fantastic kind of way. In addition, Ultraviolet also possessed the ability to constantly surprise me. I never knew exactly where I everything was going to go next, and when something was reveled, it continually lead to another fun development. Lastly, I enjoyed seeing how R.J. used the Allison's friendships and relationships with others to further plot development as well as well as character development. From Allison's friendship with Faraday to the one she had with her best friend to her relationship with Tori, the girl she supposedly killed, to even how she interaction with the people at the mental institution, they mostly all ended up providing a two-for-one deal: they furthered the plot in fun and new ways and also introduced another intriguing character.

Last but not least, R.J.'s writing was decent in this as well. I truly feel she captured Allison's voice perfectly, because of the way she delicately described Allison's condition and allowed Allison and her world to jump of the page from page one. However, I have to say, I liked the ending the most. It contained the perfect little zing to make you wonder: "Was this real or just part of Allison's imagination?"

Combining multiple genres, a new type of paranormal ability, and a unique voice, Ultraviolet is book I highly suggest you pick up this fall!

Grade: A+

Ultraviolet is now out!

Source: Publisher via Netgalley