A Review for Ultraviolet by R.J Anderson

Posted by Guest Reviewer Melanie 
Published Date: June 3rd, 2011
Finished Date: October 1st, 2011
Publishers: Orchard
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback
Pages: 410
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The Blurb from 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?

The Review: 

The blurb above is the only thing i had read about this book so i expected a bit of 'girl interrupted' with a paranormal twist and for three thirds of the book that’s what I got. But then for the last quarter of the book it became something else and was actually very surprising.

I really enjoyed the main character Alison.  She tried to work through her issues, believing that she had to hide her secret from everyone including those closest to her, while feeling guilt for a crime she may have committed but is unable to recall enough to be sure. How she thought the only way to prove she was sane, was to fight them and go against advice, hindering her progress. Her problem was quite unique and one I can say I have never read or even heard of before. I found myself trying to visualise what she was seeing too.

I really didn’t like her Mother; she was cold hearted and made matters worse and even when her reasons are revealed I still thought she didn’t have to be that way. 

The side characters in the institute with her were all amusing in there own way and i really like Kirk to a certain point, i would have liked to have known a bit more about them but realise it wasn’t important to the plot. 

When Sebastian turned up it was nice that she had someone who believed her and believed in her and who had some answers for her, little did she know how he was going to impact her life and what a game changer that  was going to be. The game changer was a welcome lift to the book and made it as unique as her skill.

I don’t know whether there will be a sequel but it would be nice after the ending of this book to meet them again now the truth is out there. I will be looking into other books from this author.

Thank you to Orchard for allowing me the opportunity to review this book.