Review Detail

I'm always looking for books that show characters who deal with sensory issues in a realistic way. Ultraviolet doesn't disappoint. Alison though deals with one sort of sensory issue called synesthesia. Sudden noises, bright lights, people touching her or even just talking, hurt. My own son deals with sensory issues and he's also very sensitive to certain things that don't bother others. There's one scene where a fire alarm goes off and Alison totally loses it. My own son had this happen when his babysitter cleaned their carpet. The overload of smells was just too much. They are hyper sensitive to things that don't bother others.

What I loved about Ultraviolet is the author shows us in beautiful and haunting detail what Alison is feeling. Some might say that these passages are over the top but from a person that deals with sensory issues, that's how the world looks, smells, and sounds to them. Anderson captures this perfectly.

Example: A name looks like cough medicine. Or someone lying gives off a bitter smell. Great examples and details throughout.

Alison doesn't know if she killed a classmate or not and ends up in a psych ward. It seems everyone thinks she's crazy, including her mother. Anderson multi-layers the characters throughout this story, showing us glimpses of other patients and how they react with Alison. Mysterious psych intern Faraday seems to be the only one that believes Alison while her own therapist Dr. Minta comes across as cold and indifferent.


There's also a twist later on in the story that to me felt possible. I mean, why not? It gave this story an intriguing and unique paranormal/Sci-Fi flavor. If anything it has the reader asking, what is exactly real?

I couldn't put this book down as I had to find out more about Alison and if she did in fact kill her classmate. The story at times has a I NEVER PROMISED YOU A ROSE GARDEN but here the emotions, senses are shown through the eyes of a girl who sees the world in a different way. She isn't necessarily crazy like some might believe but wired differently. That alone is enough to love this book which gives us a heroine who's struggles with her difference in the end brings her hope and acceptance.