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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
At first, I absolutely LOVED this book. I liked how the author described how Ali could see shapes and colors and taste peoples words and other sounds. I found myself on the edge of my seat a number of times because I was dying to know what happened to Tori. (Some girl Ali supposedly disintegrated). However, the story took a turn when this fake neurophysiologist/fake university student/janitor/alien guy tells Ali he needs her help to get to his home planet??
So she helps him, and they obviously fall in love, and then Ali has to go home and never see this Faraday guy again??
I especially hated the part when Ali is about to return how and she says "I love you" and he says "I don't love you" even though Ali can "taste" that he's lying. Why couldn't he just say I love you too? Regardless she knows what he is feeling, because it's not like she can go back, and she's never going to see him again anyways.
Ultimately, the beginning of the book was great until the last 40-50 pages or so. Then, I was just disappointed.
So she helps him, and they obviously fall in love, and then Ali has to go home and never see this Faraday guy again??
I especially hated the part when Ali is about to return how and she says "I love you" and he says "I don't love you" even though Ali can "taste" that he's lying. Why couldn't he just say I love you too? Regardless she knows what he is feeling, because it's not like she can go back, and she's never going to see him again anyways.
Ultimately, the beginning of the book was great until the last 40-50 pages or so. Then, I was just disappointed.
No words... It was mind-blowingly utterly amazing. There are no words to describe the amazingness I accidentally witnessed. I didn't know how much this book would consume me until it happened. There is no going back after this book, it will change your perception.... of basically life. Read it
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.
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.
The synesthesia thing was an interesting idea and the prose, while a little excessive at times, fit with Alison's cross-wired perception of the world. But I found the book slow and monotonous, I had a lot of trouble getting into it but I kept reading because I wanted to know what the mystery was. Well, the explanation turned out to be a huge and ridiculous plot twist that I just did not find convincing at all. Also, I hated who Alison's romantic interest was, so when the plot twist came, that pretty much ruined the book for me.
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.
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]
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.
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.
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.