Review: Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson

Title: Ultraviolet

Series: Ultraviolet #1

Author: R.J. Anderson

Genre: YA, paranormal, sci-fi

Publication date: September 2011

Published by: Carolrhoda Books

Source: The publishers via Netgalley (Thanks!)

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Synopsis:

Once upon a time there was a girl who was special.

This is not her story.

Unless you count the part where I killed her.

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

My rating: ★★★★★
First off, I want to thank the publisher for sending me an ARC...thanks a ton :)

And now for the review. Well, what can I say? This book was just amazing! It was great! Man, I don't know what else to say besides that, lol

Perhaps I can tell you what its about, yes? haha okay
Alison has very unique abilities: she can see and taste sounds, she can hear colors and associate them with a certain color and personality and see colors beyond the normal visible spectrum, and she can also taste when someone lies and tells the truth...including her own lies.

She can do this because she has a condition called synesthesia. This basically means that, and I quote the book, "the senses are interconnected, or cross-wired, so that when one sense is stimulated one or more other senses respond at the same time." And for the being able to see beyond the visual spectrum thing, that is called tetrachromacy. "A tetrachromat is a person--excuse me, a woman, because human tetrachromats are inevitable female--with four color cones for vision instead of the usual three. That gives you a far greater ability than the average person to distinguish different hues, perhaps even see into the ultraviolet range." And because all this medical stuff is right up my ally (I plan on majoring in nursing and getting a minor in psychology) I did a little research of my own. That's right, I pulled out my medical dictionary! And they indeed are real conditions. Awesome!

Its pretty amazing what she can do, but it is also what got her stuck in a mental institution =/ You see, Alison believes that for some reason her abilities have gotten stronger. And when she got in a fight with Tori, according to Alison, her abilities got sooo out of control that she killed Tori by disintegrating her. It was all very odd: one second Tori is there, and the next she is gone. No trace of Tori was found.

Afterwards, her senses were still really screwed up and she got a little crazy so her mother put her in some psychiatric unit. There she meets Dr. Sebastian Faraday who helps her out with her problems, more so than her own psychiatrist. He listens to what she has to say, and he seems to care. He even helps her understand what is going with her. And Alison may or may not be falling for this scientist ;)

And then things kinda get twisty from there. Lies intertwined with the unexpected. And the mystery of Tori is solved *cue dramatic music* lol

I really enjoyed reading this book. The author has a great writing style. I really liked how it went from the present to the past, and how the flashbacks tied in with what was going on in the present. I liked all the visuals and descriptions. They were so great that I could see the images perfectly! And the twists and turns...OMG they are just great! And there was really nothing I didn't like about the book :)

A perfect combo of mystery, sci-fi, paranormal, and believe or not, romance ;) A great read!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a comment! :)