ShakespeareZombie

ShakespeareZombie

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson


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.


The last thing that Alison remembers is fighting with Tori Beauregard. Then Tori disintegrated. She isn't sure exactly how it happened, but Alison knows it's her fault, she killed Tori.

Now, Alison is being held in a psychiatric hospital. Her greatest wish is to be a able to return home. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, sometimes Alison becomes overwhelmed and can't control herself. Certain stimulations, whether sounds, colors, or people, make her react in violent ways. When Alison becomes upset, the text even repeats, jumps around, and stops midsentence and starts over again. Reading that way almost made me feel like I was going mental as well.

About halfway through the book, we are given a name for Alison's condition: synesthesia. It's a real thing, which is a bonus. Synesthesia is a condition where different senses are connected to each other. Alison can see letters and numbers as different colors and she tastes words. She always felt the need to hide her abilities, just as she now hides her feelings and always tries to appear sane.

There's not much more I can say without giving anything away. I preferred the first parts of the book when Alison was trapped in the hospital, not even sure herself whether she was sane or not. That seemed like a very possible and scary situation. The following parts...well, they're less believable. It took me out of the book a little. It's not bad, per se. The whole book isn't ruined. It wasn't even completely unexpected (There's foreshadowing). I just wish it would have stuck with the original story.

I got my ebook of Ultraviolet from NetGalley. It will be released September 1, 2011.

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