Ultraviolet is not your typical young adult novel. It oozes originality, guts, and something else that I cannot put my finger on.The last thing Allison remembers is fighting with Queen B, Tori. After that, all the the details get really fuzzy. And when Allison wakes up and realizes that she is in a mental institution she knows that something does not quite add up.Looking at the summary for Ultraviolet, it seems a pretty tame YA offering. Mystery, and teen angst seem a given. But beneath the surface there are many details that I was not expecting. So let's start with what I was expecting.I have already expressed the mystery idea. And yes, Ultraviolet has a nice mystery thread. Why is Allison really committed? What happened to Tori? But these questions and their respective answers are just the tip of the iceberg. Now, I do not want to spoil anything so I will try to be as vague as I can be. Technically speaking, the answer has a lot to do with Allison's gifts. And wow, these are some interesting gifts. So interesting that I would love to experience them for just a day.As to what I wasn't expecting. That is a totally different topic. And I will give Anderson credit for giving just the right amount of clues. But boy, I did not see the twist coming. I had an inkling, but never in a million years thought I would be right. Does the twist fit in with the novel? Eh, I am not too sure. But it certainly caught me off guard.Ultraviolet was so much better than I was hoping it would be. There are talks of a sequel, which leaves me pretty optimistic that the whole twist can be better fleshed out. And I would love to see how Anderson plans to make all plot threads come together.
