Ultraviolet by R. J. Anderson

A first-person psychological thriller inside one young woman’s remarkable consciousness.

Ultraviolet, by R. J. Anderson. Carolrhoda Lab, 2011, 303 pages. 

Reading Level:  Young Adults, Ages 14-up
Recommended For: Ages 14-up

When Alison Jeffries wakes up in an unfamiliar place with a head full of screaming memories and arms scarred with angry welts, it takes a while to sort things out.  She’s in a psych hospital, and the police want to talk to her as a “Person of Interest” in a murder case.  Or rather, a missing person case: Victoria Beaugrand, the school’s ‘it’ girl, has not been seen or heard of since the two girls had a well-observed screaming fight in the parking lot.  Everybody wants to know what Alison knows.  What Alison knows, or at least suspects, is that she killed Tori.  But she doesn’t know how, or why.  How could she cause a flesh-and-blood human being to simply disintegrate?

Within the first few pages of this first-person psychological thriller, we know we are inside a remarkable consciousness. “As the oily slick across my senses thinned, color and shapes crept into my awareness.  Faint blue splashes of footsteps on tile, the dry hiss of air-conditioning, a silken ribbon of murmurs outside my door . . . a sandpaper rasp of ‘Nurse!’” 

This kind of cross-sensory writing can be a case of author overreach, but justified here, because Alison has synesthesia.  Not even she knows what that is, until it’s explained to her: “All it means is that your senses are interconnected, or cross-wired, so that when one sense is stimulated one or more other senses respond at the same time.”  That’s why she can ascribe color to a number, why she tastes shapes and feels music.  It’s a neurological phenomenon, not a mental illness.  The person who explains this to her is a young researcher named Sebastian Faraday—or is he?  Almost as soon as she meets him, and (inevitably) starts falling for him, Alison has reason to suspect he’s not what he claims to be. 

In fact, over the course of her stay in Pine Hills, she will be forced to reevaluate all her perceptions—not the sensory ones, but attitudes about her fellow inmates, nurses, orderlies, primary physician, and Tori Beaugrand.  “Everything you believe is wrong”: enemies may be friends, friends aren’t always friendly, and guys who act like jerks may deserve some sympathy.  And even girls with extraordinary perception can be mistaken: “I had been arrogant, and stupid as well.”

All this is somewhat familiar YA territory, but Anderson makes a bold move two-thirds of the way through, launching from psychological murder mystery to science fiction.  I can’t explain how without giving too much away, but at first it seemed like an end run to sensationalism.  The last third could probably have been set up a little better to avoid the jolt of shifting genres, and it seemed to lack full development.  But it’s worth sticking to the end, which will stretch not only Alison’s perceptions, but ours as well.  Then it will be fun to talk about the God factor.

Though Anderson deals with some gritty subject matter she gets the grittiness across with no bad language or graphic scenes.  For all Alison’s special gifts, she’s a typical teen with fragile self-image, mom problems, and romantic yearnings.  She invests far too much in a single young man but that’s something most young women have to learn through experience.  And he is rather outstanding . . . .

Considerations: 

• Sexuality (Growing chemistry and a passionate kiss, also one unwelcome/forced kiss from a fellow patient)
• Self-Harm (referenced and linked to Alison’s fragile mental state)

Overall Value: 4.5 (out of 5)

• Moral/worldview value: 4
• Artistic value: 4.5

*This review was originally published in 2011 and has been updated.

Related Reading From Redeemed Reader

• A Review: Quicksilver by R. J. Anderson (Hayley reviews the sequel to Ultraviolet: careful since this review contains Ultraviolet spoilers!)
• A Review: *Swift by R. J. Anderson (A starred review for another series starter by R. J. Anderson)
• A Resource: Romantic Reads for Teens: A Book List for Girls and Guys (For readers who enjoyed the romance in Ultraviolet, here’s a great list.)