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thebookhaze's review
4.0
I liked this book because it talked about synesthesia. I think it would be so cool to have an extra sense that most people didn't have.
This book does a great job of telling the story while informing the reader about this condition. I thought it was fascinating, and I enjoyed the story too. There are just enough elements of reality enmeshed with technology too advanced for us to understand right now, so we see it as other-worldly. The story makes perfect sense, and I can totally see how it could happen.
I like that synesthesia is a real condition, and that it could seem strange to people who didn't know about it or understand it. I feel like that's pretty much how everything is in life; people find it hard to accept the things that they don't understand.
The story itself was interesting mostly in dealing with the psyche. After all, most of it is set in a mental hospital. It's really interesting to see how the definition of "crazy" can be different to people though, and sometimes it's scary, because I believe that any one of us can be crazy, given the right circumstances, or rather, wrong circumstance.
Good book.
This book does a great job of telling the story while informing the reader about this condition. I thought it was fascinating, and I enjoyed the story too. There are just enough elements of reality enmeshed with technology too advanced for us to understand right now, so we see it as other-worldly. The story makes perfect sense, and I can totally see how it could happen.
I like that synesthesia is a real condition, and that it could seem strange to people who didn't know about it or understand it. I feel like that's pretty much how everything is in life; people find it hard to accept the things that they don't understand.
The story itself was interesting mostly in dealing with the psyche. After all, most of it is set in a mental hospital. It's really interesting to see how the definition of "crazy" can be different to people though, and sometimes it's scary, because I believe that any one of us can be crazy, given the right circumstances, or rather, wrong circumstance.
Good book.
michalice's review
4.0
Review from Much Loved Books Review-Ultraviolet
I have picked Ultraviolet up a few times in my local shops and read the back but didn't find it interesting enough to want to buy it.
I will raise my hand and say I was very mistaken.
After we get past the first few paragraphs I found myself really interested in Alison and how she sees/hears things in colours. It was fascinating to see how she describes numbers, letters, names, sounds although I probably wouldn't want it myself.
I really love how R.J.Anderson has based her book around a subject I have never heard of, and as soon as the medical name was given Synesthesia I googled it's meaning straight away.
I felt sorry for Allison, she never knew what was wrong with her for a long time and was told from a young age not to mention it to anybody or talk about it at all, and she has gone through her life hiding part of who she is.
R. J. Anderson has built a world around one medical word and it's easy to fall straight into it and feel the ups and downs of Alison's life. When she finally gets her diagnosis you are happy that Alison has the relief needed to know she isn't insane and that there really is something wrong with her.
Although Alison doesn't get her big Happy Ever After, I really liked how it ended.
[Book was sent to me from Belle Books for R.A..K]
I have picked Ultraviolet up a few times in my local shops and read the back but didn't find it interesting enough to want to buy it.
I will raise my hand and say I was very mistaken.
After we get past the first few paragraphs I found myself really interested in Alison and how she sees/hears things in colours. It was fascinating to see how she describes numbers, letters, names, sounds although I probably wouldn't want it myself.
I really love how R.J.Anderson has based her book around a subject I have never heard of, and as soon as the medical name was given Synesthesia I googled it's meaning straight away.
I felt sorry for Allison, she never knew what was wrong with her for a long time and was told from a young age not to mention it to anybody or talk about it at all, and she has gone through her life hiding part of who she is.
R. J. Anderson has built a world around one medical word and it's easy to fall straight into it and feel the ups and downs of Alison's life. When she finally gets her diagnosis you are happy that Alison has the relief needed to know she isn't insane and that there really is something wrong with her.
Although Alison doesn't get her big Happy Ever After, I really liked how it ended.
[Book was sent to me from Belle Books for R.A..K]
justlily's review against another edition
3.0
I find YA books where the female MC has a love interest in a man who is many years her senior to be creepy as all fuck. Regardless of if that man is an alien or not. It makes my skin absolutely crawl. If that hadn't been a part of this book, it would have gotten another star. As it was... I don't know if I'll read the sequel or not. But I'm leaning towards not.
audreychamaine's review against another edition
4.0
Alison has just woken up in a mental institution. Groggy at first, she gradually remembers that she flipped out after somehow killing the class sweetheart, Tori, with her mind. Nobody can find a body, and Alison questions her own sanity regarding what happened. That isn’t all, though. Alison learns that her lifelong strange perceptions are actually something called synesthesia, where her senses are crossed in strange ways. Letters have colors and personalities, and too much stimuli seems to set her off. Could this condition be related to Tori’s disappearance, or is something else at work?
I was sucked into Ultraviolet immediately. Seeing Alison navigate the world within the mental hospital was engaging, and reminded me of Girl, Interrupted. Alison certainly sounds like she’s sane enough, until she goes off the deep end again. We’re really led to believe her throughout the entire book, but then we’re given a reason to doubt, over and over again. This is the unreliable narrator done very well, and in the right context.
This book really can be considered science fiction. I won’t give anything away, but there are strong science fiction elements at work the further you get into the story. But you pretty much know there might be early on, from the way Tori dies.
The synesthesia was the coolest part of Alison’s story for me. I loved the language Anderson used to describe Alison’s perception of the world and everything in it, and how it is a really integral part of the story. Synesthesia alone is cool (for people like me who don’t have it), but Alison’s is off the chart. I would love to be able to experience music and the stars the way that she does.
I think that Ultraviolet goes above and beyond the standard YA fare, so I encourage people who love mental institution or science fiction books to give it a go! It made an R.J. Anderson fan out of me.
I was sucked into Ultraviolet immediately. Seeing Alison navigate the world within the mental hospital was engaging, and reminded me of Girl, Interrupted. Alison certainly sounds like she’s sane enough, until she goes off the deep end again. We’re really led to believe her throughout the entire book, but then we’re given a reason to doubt, over and over again. This is the unreliable narrator done very well, and in the right context.
This book really can be considered science fiction. I won’t give anything away, but there are strong science fiction elements at work the further you get into the story. But you pretty much know there might be early on, from the way Tori dies.
The synesthesia was the coolest part of Alison’s story for me. I loved the language Anderson used to describe Alison’s perception of the world and everything in it, and how it is a really integral part of the story. Synesthesia alone is cool (for people like me who don’t have it), but Alison’s is off the chart. I would love to be able to experience music and the stars the way that she does.
I think that Ultraviolet goes above and beyond the standard YA fare, so I encourage people who love mental institution or science fiction books to give it a go! It made an R.J. Anderson fan out of me.
katetj's review
5.0
More reviews can be found at my blog Nomalicious Reads
Ultraviolet took me on an emotional roller-coaster ride, It was thrilling, breathtaking and fast (I read it fast).
I was so caught up in the story that, when I finished I sat back in awe, then a few moments later after letting everything sink in, I look up at my clock and see that it was past midnight.
R.J Anderson is a genius, I can't think of any other way to describe the way she wrote Alison's world, always giving us food for thought, every step of the way.
I loved that we saw everything through Alison and therefore influenced by her emotions and how she thought/saw the people around her, and boy did I feel those emotions!
As Alison grows throughout her story, she realises that not everything may be as it seems, so she takes a fresh look at things and the people surrounding her, and we see the characters that we thought we knew in a different light (Although I think I will always dislike her mother, even though I understand now why she was the way that she was).
One of the message's I received throughout this book is that everyone is different, and that you shouldn't be afraid to be yourself.
I've read so many good reviews about Ultraviolet and saw that so many people where shocked and 'didn't see it coming' and maybe because I saw a lot of these beforehand I read it expecting something absolutely insane and crazy or very 'WTF' as some people had stated, but honestly I'm not sure which part they were talking about.
I thought RJ had a very good flow in the story, and the lead-up for the end was done very well! I wasn't shocked or taken aback, mostly I think, it's because I kept my eye out for any little hint that I could and my mind kept rapidly thinking about crazy scenarios that could happen as the story progressed.
I loved finding out about Synesthesia and everyone's quirks in the psychiatric hospital, you can see that RJ did a lot of research to put behind her work and I will be looking forward to reading more from her in the future!
Although I doubt there will be a sequel to Ultraviolet and even though I liked how it ended, there's a little torch in my heart that hopes that maybe one day, there will be.
Ultraviolet took me on an emotional roller-coaster ride, It was thrilling, breathtaking and fast (I read it fast).
I was so caught up in the story that, when I finished I sat back in awe, then a few moments later after letting everything sink in, I look up at my clock and see that it was past midnight.
R.J Anderson is a genius, I can't think of any other way to describe the way she wrote Alison's world, always giving us food for thought, every step of the way.
I loved that we saw everything through Alison and therefore influenced by her emotions and how she thought/saw the people around her, and boy did I feel those emotions!
As Alison grows throughout her story, she realises that not everything may be as it seems, so she takes a fresh look at things and the people surrounding her, and we see the characters that we thought we knew in a different light (Although I think I will always dislike her mother, even though I understand now why she was the way that she was).
One of the message's I received throughout this book is that everyone is different, and that you shouldn't be afraid to be yourself.
I've read so many good reviews about Ultraviolet and saw that so many people where shocked and 'didn't see it coming' and maybe because I saw a lot of these beforehand I read it expecting something absolutely insane and crazy or very 'WTF' as some people had stated, but honestly I'm not sure which part they were talking about.
I thought RJ had a very good flow in the story, and the lead-up for the end was done very well! I wasn't shocked or taken aback, mostly I think, it's because I kept my eye out for any little hint that I could and my mind kept rapidly thinking about crazy scenarios that could happen as the story progressed.
I loved finding out about Synesthesia and everyone's quirks in the psychiatric hospital, you can see that RJ did a lot of research to put behind her work and I will be looking forward to reading more from her in the future!
Although I doubt there will be a sequel to Ultraviolet and even though I liked how it ended, there's a little torch in my heart that hopes that maybe one day, there will be.
emmanovella's review
3.0
2.75. Not what I expected. I bought this thinking it was a standalone and although it's only a duology I'm probably not going to continue. It wrapped up well enough that I'm not too fussed to find out what else happens. If I see the second book around I'll grab it, or perhaps borrow from my library, but I'm not going out of my way for it
bmg20's review against another edition
4.0
A copy of Ultraviolet was provided to me by Orchard/Netgalley for review purposes.
'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. And as long as I had a part in the music of the spheres, even if it was only a single grace note, I was not worthless. Nor was I alone.'
Right off the bat this reminded me of ‘My Soul to Lose’ – girl wakes up in mental institution with no idea how she got there. Luckily that’s where the resemblance stopped. Ultraviolet is about 16 year old Alison Jeffries who is placed in Pine Hills, a psychiatric treatment center, with no idea at first of why she’s there. Slowly the memories start coming back to her of an altercation she had with popular girl Tori Beaugrand the same day the police are now claiming she disappeared and hasn’t been seen since.
Alison’s been placed in a mental institution because its believed that something is mentally wrong with her. When just the opposite is true. She has an extremely rare and special ability. Her ability reminded me of the girl off of the TV show Heroes who could see the colors that sounds created, Emma? Anyways, the story was good and and despite the fact that I'm not that big of a sci-fi fan this was hugely enjoyable.
The story builds off of Alison's gift and you slowly learn more and more about it. She has synesthesia and is such an interesting and eye-opening neurological condition, I highly recommend googling it and reading more about it. Yep, it's a real thing. By the time the end rolls around the story explodes and becomes something so much more than you could have even begun to anticipate. You finally realize what's been going on all this time and what actually happened to Tori. Huge shockers... it was fantastic and nothing like what I was expecting.
I ended up editing this review after finding out that this is in fact a part of a series and that more information/answers can be expected. The one thing that I discovered upon editing this review (over a year after reading) was that this was still extremely clear in my head. I read so many books that I find most of them just get lost in the 'shuffle' and similar story lines and they all just inevitably blend together. Ultraviolet is still completely clear in my hand and stands in a category on its own in my opinion. This was fantastic and I'm so glad that we have more story to look forward. Highly recommended.
'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. And as long as I had a part in the music of the spheres, even if it was only a single grace note, I was not worthless. Nor was I alone.'
Right off the bat this reminded me of ‘My Soul to Lose’ – girl wakes up in mental institution with no idea how she got there. Luckily that’s where the resemblance stopped. Ultraviolet is about 16 year old Alison Jeffries who is placed in Pine Hills, a psychiatric treatment center, with no idea at first of why she’s there. Slowly the memories start coming back to her of an altercation she had with popular girl Tori Beaugrand the same day the police are now claiming she disappeared and hasn’t been seen since.
Alison’s been placed in a mental institution because its believed that something is mentally wrong with her. When just the opposite is true. She has an extremely rare and special ability. Her ability reminded me of the girl off of the TV show Heroes who could see the colors that sounds created, Emma? Anyways, the story was good and and despite the fact that I'm not that big of a sci-fi fan this was hugely enjoyable.
The story builds off of Alison's gift and you slowly learn more and more about it. She has synesthesia and is such an interesting and eye-opening neurological condition, I highly recommend googling it and reading more about it. Yep, it's a real thing. By the time the end rolls around the story explodes and becomes something so much more than you could have even begun to anticipate. You finally realize what's been going on all this time and what actually happened to Tori. Huge shockers... it was fantastic and nothing like what I was expecting.
I ended up editing this review after finding out that this is in fact a part of a series and that more information/answers can be expected. The one thing that I discovered upon editing this review (over a year after reading) was that this was still extremely clear in my head. I read so many books that I find most of them just get lost in the 'shuffle' and similar story lines and they all just inevitably blend together. Ultraviolet is still completely clear in my hand and stands in a category on its own in my opinion. This was fantastic and I'm so glad that we have more story to look forward. Highly recommended.
brandypainter's review
4.0
Originally posted here.
Alison is in trouble. After years of trying to suppress and hide the strange way she perceives the world through colors and sound she finds herself in a psychiatric hospital suspected of killing one of her classmates. The problem is there is no body and little evidence. Alison was the last person to see Tory. They fought and then Alison came home upset, with blood on her hands, out of control, and claiming she saw Tory disintegrate. When Dr. Sebastian Faraday turns up at the hospital and not only discovers the reason for Alison's strange perceptions, but also completely believes her story about Tory she has new hope. And it doesn't hurt that Faraday is good looking with an entrancing accent either. Just when Alison thinks things might improve they go from strange to stranger and she discovers a whole new world of knowledge.
This story has a lot going for it: mystery, suspense, psychological oddities, a little romance, and then the other stuff that you have to read the book to discover. There are several elements of it that could have gone horribly wrong or been terribly awkward if Anderson were not so good at what she does. She took some real risks with this concept and they were definitely worth it.
Alison is the one telling us her story and it is told in first person. If you don't like unreliable narrators this book will drive you crazy. Alison, as a patient in a mental hospital on anti-psychotic drugs, is the very definition of unreliable. I like unreliable narrators and Alison is one whose voice will capture you even if you don't completely trust her. She is extremely sympathetic and you can't help but want her to be telling the truth.
The relationship between Alison and Faraday is quite possibly the best executed part of this story. It could have been super creepy (and not just because of the age difference and the whole doctor/patient thing), but Anderson managed to avoid the disturbing relationship issue while also turning out a stomach fluttering romance.
I was also impressed with the portrayal of Alison's hospital and experiences in it. The hospital workers and doctors are portrayed as real people, some of whom are dedicated to their jobs and some of whom are simply earning paychecks. None of them are evil or abusive. Some of them are kind of clueless but you find those people anywhere. Overall they are portrayed as helpful professionals. The other patients are portrayed sympathetically, even the ones that hurt Alison and make her miserable. The books referenes to psychiatry and psychiatric drugs are delivered in ways that allows readers to draw their own conclusions (and in my case do some internet research).
The only small complaint I had was that the last couple of pages were a little less subtle than I would have liked. According to R.J. Anderson's website there will be a sequel coming out in 2013, which seems an awful long time from now. Though in the meantime her fourth Faerie book Swift will be released in the UK so we have that to look forward to.
Alison is in trouble. After years of trying to suppress and hide the strange way she perceives the world through colors and sound she finds herself in a psychiatric hospital suspected of killing one of her classmates. The problem is there is no body and little evidence. Alison was the last person to see Tory. They fought and then Alison came home upset, with blood on her hands, out of control, and claiming she saw Tory disintegrate. When Dr. Sebastian Faraday turns up at the hospital and not only discovers the reason for Alison's strange perceptions, but also completely believes her story about Tory she has new hope. And it doesn't hurt that Faraday is good looking with an entrancing accent either. Just when Alison thinks things might improve they go from strange to stranger and she discovers a whole new world of knowledge.
This story has a lot going for it: mystery, suspense, psychological oddities, a little romance, and then the other stuff that you have to read the book to discover. There are several elements of it that could have gone horribly wrong or been terribly awkward if Anderson were not so good at what she does. She took some real risks with this concept and they were definitely worth it.
Alison is the one telling us her story and it is told in first person. If you don't like unreliable narrators this book will drive you crazy. Alison, as a patient in a mental hospital on anti-psychotic drugs, is the very definition of unreliable. I like unreliable narrators and Alison is one whose voice will capture you even if you don't completely trust her. She is extremely sympathetic and you can't help but want her to be telling the truth.
The relationship between Alison and Faraday is quite possibly the best executed part of this story. It could have been super creepy (and not just because of the age difference and the whole doctor/patient thing), but Anderson managed to avoid the disturbing relationship issue while also turning out a stomach fluttering romance.
I was also impressed with the portrayal of Alison's hospital and experiences in it. The hospital workers and doctors are portrayed as real people, some of whom are dedicated to their jobs and some of whom are simply earning paychecks. None of them are evil or abusive. Some of them are kind of clueless but you find those people anywhere. Overall they are portrayed as helpful professionals. The other patients are portrayed sympathetically, even the ones that hurt Alison and make her miserable. The books referenes to psychiatry and psychiatric drugs are delivered in ways that allows readers to draw their own conclusions (and in my case do some internet research).
The only small complaint I had was that the last couple of pages were a little less subtle than I would have liked. According to R.J. Anderson's website there will be a sequel coming out in 2013, which seems an awful long time from now. Though in the meantime her fourth Faerie book Swift will be released in the UK so we have that to look forward to.
reneesmith's review against another edition
4.0
Immersive & entertaining with some great twists. Enjoyable!