Ultraviolet

by R. J. Anderson

Grade: 3 stars
Story: Alison wakes up in a lunatic asylum, remembering nothing of the last few weeks. Everyone is treating her as if she'd done something horrible. What is going on??

Thoughts: The coolest part of this book was the synesthesia stuff. I've been fascinated by synesthesia ever since I first heard of it. It's just so cool. And Alison's synesthesia is ramped up to a fantasy level. Plus she's a tetrachromat--someone who can distinguish colours to an extreme degree (in this case, even to ultraviolet)--which is almost as cool.

In general, I quite liked the characters. The setting of the mental asylum was unique, and the people staying there were well handled--they seemed like actual people (albeit with some very strange issues), and not just weird mental creatures.

Stylistically, the book was very pretty, especially the chapter and section titles. Because of the prevalence of synesthesia, the colour descriptions were gorgeous.

But somehow, despite all these good points, I wish there was something more to it. The secondary characters were good, but still not explored enough. I never felt particularly connected to the romance (although I fully admit it's probably my fault in this case).The change to a much more SciFi feel in the last third felt a little abrupt, though it was interesting, and I did enjoy it. In other words, I just didn't really feel a connection to anyone or anything. The book was worth reading, but if there was a sequel, I don't think I'd bother reading it.

P.S. Anderson is both Canadian and Christian, two similarities to myself that I don't see half as often as I'd like. So, go Canada! And, yay God!