Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson (ARC)

Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson
Expected Publication September 1, 2011

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?

Every word you say, every number you see, and even the lies that come out of your mouth have a color, a taste and even its own personality - at least to Alison.

Alison has suffered all her life from a neurological condition known as synesthesia. Plagued by the horrible reactions her mother always had when Alison was a child, she tried to keep to herself and suffer in silence over the years. And she was successful - until the afternoon she got into a physical fight with her nemesis Tori. Her synesthesia went into hyperdrive and Tori disintegrated before her very eyes.

Deemed a danger to herself and possibly others, she was sent to a mental institute. With the help of Dr. Faraday, Alison learned to let go of her inhibitions and embraced her hyperactive senses. But with this release came knowledge of the true powers within her - and a reason for Tori's sudden disintegration.

I wasn't really sure what to expect once I read the synopsis for Ultraviolet. But I soon found myself both curious and intrigued by Alison's condition. Though the majority of this book takes place in a mental institution watching Alison fight an internal battle with herself, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself continually wanting to read 'just one more page'. But about three-fourths of the way through, the story suddenly shot straight out into left field. Though I was not initially fond of this deviation, R.J. Anderson managed to wrap her fingers around me once more before the end.

Pick this up. It's like nothing you've ever read and definitely worth the read.

ARC provided by Orchard via NetGalley.