REVIEW: "Ultraviolet", by RJ Anderson.

Title: Ultraviolet

Author: RJ Anderson

Format: Paperback

Pages: 410

Publisher: Orchard

Release Date: June 2nd 2011

Synopsis

Taken 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?

Review

As regular followers of the blog will know, I've been doing my bestest to tackle my TBR pile over the last few weeks. This is largely due to the fact that I've recently quit my job as an English Teacher and accepted a job as a librarian, so I can't afford to indulge my ridiculous book-buying habit any more! It's also because I signed up to the 2012 TBR Challenge and I need to whittle down the enormous list!

Ultraviolet has been on the To-Be-Read list for nearly a year now. I picked it up as the blurb was intriguing, the title was strong and I'd read a few good reviews.

While I wasn't exactly disappointed by this book, It didn't really blow my socks off and it's not a read which will stick with me for long. It's been a week since I finished it and already elements of the story have escaped me. I'm actually struggling for anything much to write about...

Let's see. Alison's condition is interesting. She has synaesthesia and so is sensitive to things which the rest of us tend to overlook. I felt intrigue was well established in the beginning of the book. I liked the way the doctors she saw in the institute took all of her efforts to be "normal" as evidence of insanity. This was frustrating but engaging for the reader. However, I felt that the description of life in the institute lacked colour and realism. In fact, a lot of the book lacked realism. I'm a big believer in the rule that science fiction should be realistic. 

That's not to say that I didn't like it, I did! But it was just “okay”. I felt that the first few chapters had a lot of promise. Unfortunately, the rest of the book got weaker and weaker with each chapter and the conclusion was “meh” to say the least. 

When I started out this review, I thought I'd be giving Ultraviolet three stars. As I write, I can't help but feel that maybe I should aim lower... but I'm going to stick with three stars because it really was decent, just not great. I'm actually a fan of the science fiction genre, and like that this book might bring sci fi to a new younger female audience. So three stars it is!