The Ultra Violets by Sophie Bell
Illustrated by Chris Battle
3.5/5 stars
Razorbill, 2013
290 pages
Middle-Grade Contemporary Fantasy
Source: Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book unsolicited from the publisher and thought it looked adorable. It kind of reminded me of the Powerpuff Girls and I love stories focusing on female friendship especially during the years of middle-school, which are tough. As shown on the cover, this book is about four young girls and incorporates the color purple. In fact, the font is purple throughout (but still perfectly readable if that's a concern) and there are illustrations included, which is something I adore.
The plot is that four girls were playing in their mom's lab under the less than careful eye of their baby-sitter. One knocks over some mysterious goo and drenches them all. Years later, the girls were separated and then reunited, discovering that they have powers and deciding that they will need to harness their new abilities to fight the shady corporate powers in their town.
As represented on the covers, the girls look very different with their own unique interests and skills. Some are more outgoing while others are more shy so everyone will probably be able to click with at least one of them. While they have the unlikely situation of suddenly possessing superpowers, they also have the relatable problems of friendship, boys, and school, helping to keep this story grounded.
I feel like my biggest problem with this book is just that I'm not the target audience. I think I would have enjoyed it when I was ten or eleven but being more than double that age, it was just not my thing. I would love to see the opinion of someone in the target audience who ate it up!
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Female friendship as a main story line is a love of mine as well
ReplyDeleteRight? I'm always pleased to see it featured.
DeleteThis one randomly showed up on my doorstep, too--it looks cute, but as you say, probably too young for me as well. I'm curious to see if little girls like it!
ReplyDeleteWendy @ The Midnight Garden
I feel like this could be a big hit with its target audience but I'm not sure about it crossing over. Interested to see if you end up reviewing it!
DeleteAwe, this sounds super cute. My daughter I think would love this. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Great review. I'm off to see if I can get it.
ReplyDeleteJenea @ Books Live Forever
Hope your daughter loves this!
DeleteWhen I saw this cover I thought of Powerpuff Girls *nostalgic sigh*
ReplyDeleteI agree that some MG books have crossover appeal and others just don't.
It just screams Powerpuff Girls to me, which wasn't a series I ever followed (just never got into it). I wonder if nostalgia over them might have helped me be more interested?
DeleteI'm reading this one right now with my daughter. I think I can agree that I'm just not the target audience and at 9 or so I would have loved it. It's one that's not really a crossover appeal sort of book. I do love the package it comes in though! I like that the ARC is hardcover and the print is purple. I don't think all the drawings are done, but what is there is pretty cute. This is a pretty great review considering it's kind of outside your normal kind of read.
ReplyDeleteI wish there had been more drawings as it kind of peters out in this ARC but I bet the finished product is just amazing!
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