The Ultra Violets

The Ultra Violets #1

by Sophie Bell

Meet four best friends. They’re not super…yet.

IRIS: Visionary, artist, leader--the glitter-glue that holds the group together.

CHERI: A girly-girl on platform roller-skates who's never met a rescue puppy she didn’t immediately-and-madly love.

SCARLET: Short enough that you won’t see her sneaking up behind you. Freckled enough that you might mistake her for innocent. But look out! She can pants a bully faster than you can say O-M-Jeepers!

OPALINE: Loveable, huggable, supershy, sweet as pie…or is she?

And introducing CANDACE. Not just any babysitter—she's a Teen Genius, thankyouverymuch!

What happens when four best friends find themselves splattered with mysterious purple goo during a routine sleepover? Iris, Cheri, Scarlet and Opaline are about to become…

THE ULTRA-VIOLETS!

Genres: Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Humor, Friendship

336 pages, Hardcover

First published March 5, 2013

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's so...purple!

The best thing I can say about this is that the artwork is fun, but the story is ultimately dragged down by too much of an attempt to make sure all the boxes are checked in terms of archetypes instead of really pushing a good superhero story for girls. The book ends up being unfortunately forgettable in that case without adding anything new in a genre that could really stand to have a standout, superlative book in it.

Really unfortunate read, I recommend a pass.

[Ali]

One of my childhood favs I FINALLY remembered the name of! Must reread in the future :)

[Lydia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Ultra-Violets was a fun and cute read for younger girls. I thought the plot line was interesting but it was very very full of rainbows and sparkles (as in only girly girls would enjoy this book). I found the characters to be pretty flat, as in "this is the tomboy", "this is the girly girl", but likable. I thought that Opal was the most multi layered of the characters and I thought her development from passive to overly aggressive and evil was interesting. A couple things that I'm not sure how I feel about: the book has a lot of reference to pop culture things that I'm not sure younger kids would be able to identify. The references made sense to me and were funny because I knew what the author was talking about, but I'm not sure if my eleven year old self would have known. Also, the book talks about a lot of things that may be old news in a couple of years, but at the same time the book itself seems to take place in a futuristic world.... I would like to know more about when and where the story takes place, I think the city could have been developed a lot more. That said, I found it readable and cute. I thought that one of the best parts of the book was its narrative style and I also really liked how it didn't take itself very seriously. I can imagine my younger self enjoying reading it.

[Áine Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I thought I wasn't going to like this book, as the 'sassy' attitudes and sarcasm don't work on the 7-year-old girls we meet at the beginning.
However, after the intro, when we skip forward 4 years and they're 11/12, their personalities do work better, and the colloquial narrator won me over - think Powerpuff Girls narrator, but a woman.
Similar to TVs Totally Spies or PPG, with all-female cast of strong, clever women/girls, and themes of friendship & accepting differences, I think this series can do well, although I will just never warm to the Americanised sassy glam mini-women thing on young girls, it makes my skin crawl.

[Ashra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Respect for the prose. I really like how goofy and silly it is. It doesn't shy away from its zaniness. I thought that was fun. Some of the jokes were pretty dated though lol, I got them, having been a kid in the 2010s, but I'm afraid today's kids might not find them funny.
Also, I liked the art style, but sometimes the art directly conflicted with the prose??? I was like??

When it comes the story, I really liked Opal, and I felt for her. The other kids sure thought a lot about apologizing for the little things they do to get at her, but they sure didn't DO anything about it. Opal was probably what I liked most about this book. The rest of the characters are more flat and predictable. I also didn't think their powers were that cool lol, I'm sorry, maybe it's because I have a 9-5 job but I just wasn't enthused. I thought some of them took interesting turns, though?

I'm sort of intrigued about book 2, but I'm also like, if those girls don't apologize to Opal, I don't wanna see it!!! Kids are kids and they do stupid, selfish things but give that girl an APOLOGY!!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This very purple book is the origin story for a superhero team made of preteen girls who act like teenagers. The characters are Iris the artist who stays an artist, Cheri the beauty who becomes a brain, Scarlet the martial artist who becomes a dancer, and Opal, the nice girl who becomes evil. I like their sidekick Candace, the nerdy eighteen-year old who becomes their girl in the chair. I also like the villains, who are an evil beauty company that creates mutants.

I like this book almost against my will. It is incredibly cheesy and archetypical, but it’s just so enjoyable and funny. The superpowers are great and so is the art and plots. I should reject the narration at sight due to taking the Lemony Snicket omniscient narrator too far in its sassiness, but it fits perfectly with the tone of this story. This book isn’t as good as the other two in the Ultra Violets trilogy, but it is excellent nonetheless.

[Lilian · Rating 5 out of 5]

CRIMINALLY UNDERRATED. i think the author's main flaw was that she wrote this book specifically for children, yet the humour is too advanced for its target group to understand and the plot is too childish for teens to be attracted to. i really liked how the illustrations brought out the setting very nicely - the city is delightedly futuristic with the perfect layer of mystery shrouded beneath. the plot is a bit simple (this is a children's book after all) but the humour and the writing style are just elite!!!

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is not for this book but an unpublished book also about 300 pages long also by a Sophie Bell, just to show how f*King indie I am

Captain, Chief, and the Protector is an ultimate age-old saga tale of good vs evil tolw with a Disney style innocence, beauty, and naivete. Each chapter slowly etches out the juice, drop after drop, packet of starburst,
As this desert island epic comes to its almost chilling climax, the character of Arisa Raven becomes a legend

[Sharayah Preman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow to start, but my daughter and I really enjoyed the ending.

[Rowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

From what I remember reading this years ago, I loved this book and would definitely recommend to younger audiences.

[Kiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now this was interesting. Very girly yet also very sciencey. I think this would be a fun one for the middle school girls out there.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK book for girls. Very purple. 4 BFFs become friends with weird superpowers.

[Kaleena Melotti · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ultra Violets by Sophie Bell is a middle grade action-packed purple adventure! First off, let me say, I *loved* this book and I think my daughters will love this book too! The illustrations by Chris Battle were completely awesome. And, if you couldn't tell, everything was PURPLE (even in the Kindle ebook)! No, black and white boring print and drawings... all purple! (And, that's my favorite color!)

We meet the main characters, Iris, Cheri, Scarlet, and Opaline, as giddy little second-graders who get covered in a mysterious purple goo, but quickly fast-forward to more grown-up sixth-graders for the duration of the book. Due to their sticky purple shower, the girls develop some pretty awesome super powers! Each has their own personality and brings something to their foursome. Every time I think I've got a favorite character, one of the other girls does something and then they're my favorite.

The story progresses rather quickly and then slows down while they (and you) are learning their way around their super powers, and then picks up again when they start to learn that not everything is lollipops and gumdrops in Sync City, where they live. Even through the slower portions, I was still furiously flipping pages to find out what was going to happen next.

Also in this book are a TON of pop culture references that I'm not sure the targeted age range will pick up on. To double-check, I read some sections to my daughter (9) and she didn't get any of the references, except one. The animal shelter in Sync City is named Helter Shelter and my daughter, being a lover of The Beatles went, "Hey! Like Helter Skelter!" Whether Sophie Bell was aiming for that or not, that's where we both took it. There are many other references, and while I got them all, I'm not sure that young girls will get many of them. However, I don't think it detracted from the book in any way because the targeted age range will just take the references at face value (such as Helter Shelter is just the name of the shelter and nothing more).

This book was written in a very fun and funky style. You're not reading a classic novel here. You're reading new spellings, made-up words, and cute puns written in a style that young readers will enjoy! Even I enjoyed it! As with everything else, I thought it added to the fun of the book.

The one drawback is that the main action that all the super powers and strangeness in Sync City has been leading up to comes down to about two chapters at the end of the book before a closing from the author and a final scene located in the last chapter of the book. But, it leaves you hanging and anticipating The Ultra Violets #2: Power to the Purple! coming in August 2013!

For even more Ultra Violet fun, check out the website dedicated to the series for more purple fun! (http://theultra-violets.com/)

[Mara Severts · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ultra violets, by Sophie bell, is at best a three. I understand I have incredibly high expectations for about a third grade book, but hear me out. I read this in third grade. I bought this in third grade. I remember reading this in third grade. But I didn't remember anything about this book other that being relitivley satisfied at the end. However, when I picked the book back up, I was extremely confused. The premise of the book is that chemicals were dropped on these female "best friends" as kids, which gave them random, useless, sterotyped powers like balet and math and painting stuff in the air and then THE VILLAN is the only one that gets anything useful! She shoots lazers out of her eyes! Come on! Anyway, one girl kisses said lazer eye's crush, and she goes mental and evil. Like, she literaly kills people because of an accedental kiss. Oh, did I metion that said lazer-eye girl was one of the best friends? The book is about as clear as my explanation. yada yada yada, battle, yada yada yada, I have no idea how this book got a sequel. The book had a cool concept, but one that was overused. Parent figure was a scientist. With friends. Accidentally gets chemicals on them. Hence superpowers. Remind you of anything? *cough cough* Powerpuff girls *cough cough* Anyway, the book doesn't even make up for what it lacks in originality. The art and playful tone is a bit interesting, and I will give them the "interesting' ( and highly predictable) twist with the good-girl gone bad thing, but even with that, the structure and word choice is not interesting, or even at a third grade level. It's just plain old confusing. The book refers to charecters as "golden grilled" and used words like "digi-tagg" both of which I had to google ( and both came up with no results). The storyline moves in a way that leaves huge loopholes, like how the girls met, how they were seperated, what chemical caused everything to be purple, why violet it deemed the leader of the group, what time period this is set in, why the mother even lets them near these chemicals... I could gone on. Mind you, that was all in the first chapter. Also, NONE OF THOSE QUESTIONS GET ANSWERED IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM. Not in a mysterious way, just in a stupid way. Then, the plot brings up tiny details as large plot points later, things that are indestiguishable as important to the plot. The book also jumps from scene to scene without telling readers, leaving them dazed and confused when one minute Scarlett is learning balet and the next they're fighting crime in central park using said newfound balet. I'm not making this up, this actually happened in the book. The book slowly, actually, very quickly strays from the "girl-power" kind of message it seems to portray for a sappy, high school drama with flat dialouge and uninteresting jokes.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received The Ultra Violets out of the blue, so I really didn’t know what to expect. I don’t mind reading Middle Grade books as you could probably tell if you’ve seen some of my Middle Grade reviews. I just found The Ultra Violets to be a little too much for me. Don’t get me wrong though, it is a good book I just feel like it is strictly aimed towards young kids and there really isn’t much wiggle room there as far as the age of the reader goes.

If you’re a parent with young children, especially girls I would suggest this book for you to read to your daughter. I do feel like it could be a book young boys could enjoy too due to some of the more action driven elements of the book. It honestly reminded me of an animated show that was popular in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and even looking at the cover it jumps out at you that there are some similarities. I really didn’t find myself taking this book extremely seriously. It is light and fun, but I really didn’t find there to be much depth to it. Again this points to it being mainly aimed towards much younger readers.

I wish there would have been something that could have appealed to older readers, but there really wasn’t. Maybe some older readers might find something in that they really enjoy but I would really urge parents or teachers to look at this book for young children. There is a lot more appeal there, and it is something they would really enjoy.

It was a decent story, but like I said above it wasn’t something I could really take seriously as I was reading it. The characters are fun, but it really shows how young they are as you’re reading. I found it extremely difficult to connect with them as an older reader but younger readers should have no problem being able to connect with them.

Overall this is a decent book. But don’t expect some amazingly gripping story if you’re an older reader. It’s a really light and fun story that I honestly found to be a little overbearing at times. It was well written for the audience that Sophie wanted to gain the attention of, and the Illustrations are really great too and I think that will really help bring even more appeal to younger readers. So again, if you have young readers at home be it children, brothers, sisters whatever the case might be I would suggest that you show this book or even read to them. It seems like a great book to be able to read to a young kid.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Four young girls were best friends and their moms all worked as scientists. At a sleepover one night, their babysitter accidentally spilled a substance all over them. The friends had to move away and lost touch. Then one day Iris's hair turned purple, for no known reason. Then the girls end up moving back to attend the same school. After another sleepover, they realize that they are all a bit different. They can now do things that they couldn't before. They need to figure out how to use their powers for good and keep them a secret. Maybe they'll even find out why it happened.

This was a cute novel, but there were just too many things that I didn't like about it. There were way too many puns. There were some puns that were subtle and clever, but then there were some that were just obnoxious. Some of the puns seemed like they would go way over the head of middle school students. Kids just wouldn't get some of the references. For me there were just entirely too many puns and such. They even changed the name of Truth or Dare while referencing Truth or Dare.

The other thing I didn't like was how the mutants were treated in this novel. The girls called the ugly and disliked them and attacked them with little or no provocation from the mutants. I don't think that we should encourage tweens to be judgmental based on how someone looks. Granted these are very crazy mutations, animal/human mixes, but still. I just didn't think this sent the best message. I never really felt like their was a reason for them to be the bad guys, because they never really attacked.

I liked how each of the characters were different, but they were still all friends. They weren't all that nice to Opal though. I think each character gives girls a different person to relate to. It was a cute story, a bit like the Powerpuff Girls. A teeny-booper kind of read. I think middle grade kids will probably enjoy it more than grumpy old me.


First Line:
"It was a dark and stormy morning."

Favorite Line:
"...avoiding Candace's begoggled glare and scanning the digital matrix for sock distress signals instead."

Read more: http://www.areadingnook.com/#ixzz2Otl...

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

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!

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of my reviews can be found here at my blog: Take Me Away...

From the very beginning I fell in love with this book. I needed a pick me up after the heaviness of my last book, and this book did the job and more! I laughed so hard at this the entire time. Mostly because of my love for puns and this read was FULL of them and I loved it. My favorite was from Cheri, the one who loved animals, "Salami" the weiner dog. Cutest thing ever lol
The story line is nothing short of adorable. They start out as second grade girls attending a sleepover and then buy a strange turn of events some purple goop is spattered on them. Later on they go their seperate ways and then four years later they meet up again. They then realize something is going on with them and that together they make up "The Ultra Violets."
For this to be a middle grade, it was still filled with twists and turns! I found myself being surprised at the biggest twist towards the end. Even though all the things leading up to it were giving me huge hints. It wasn't what I was expecting at all and I can't wait to see what else Bell has in store for the Ultra-Violets.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

When teenius (teen-genius) Candace was babysitting 4 precocious seven-year-olds one night, her helio-mixture of scientific proportions went awry covering the little girls with purplely goo. Little did they know at the time that they would all acquire some super-powers (some good, some bad). Fast forward four years, and now these 11-year-olds are starting to come into their powers...super-fashionable Cheri is now a math-wizard and friend to forsaken animals everywhere, Scarlet uses her athletic ability to dance into the hearts of people everywhere, Iris has once-blond, now purple locks and a wicked gift of painting rainbows (and all other kinds of drawings) through her mind's eye, and Opal...well, what is up with her?

Opal has evilness spewing from every pore in her being. How will the other Ultra Violets get her back on their team? They must save Sync City from the rampant array of mutants that are being created and tested by evil Beau-Tek Labs and its equally-evil president, Develon Louder.

Filled with lots of humor, plays-on-words, and superpower catastrophes and triumphs, The Ultra-Violets will appeal to tween girls. It'll be interesting to see where The Ultra-Violets end up next in the second book in the series.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted here: http://nothingbetterthanabook.blogspo...

This book was a cute story for girls. It was definitely aimed for younger kids though. I probably would have enjoyed it when I was really young, but it is really long for the desired age range (I would say 7-11 years old). I really liked all of the pop Luther references. They were really funny and entertaining. However, for this book being written for such a you g age, I'm not sure the readers would understand or even notice those references.
The story line was really cute and enjoyable, but I didn't feel like it was very original. It felt like the stories I grew up hearing/watching/reading. Maybe that's a good sign that young girls will really like it though! I would have liked to know a little bit more about the setting. It obviously isn't realistic since the girls have super powers. So, what world is the author picturing the girls in?
Overall I thought it was a cute book. Bonus! The entire book is in purple!! :)

I received this book for free in return for an honest review.

[Mindsey Moonbow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, outstanding ,brilliant, one of a kind *chefs kiss 100000000 times*
I will have to admit it is weird reading this in 2020 when all the jokes and references date back around 7-8 years ago which I guess made sense if you read this when it was first released (2013). But the characters are all lovable and interesting in their own way. Cool graphics that would've been perfect for an animated series (a hee heem whimper 😢). Hope Sophie Bell manages to write the 4th book so we could see all the unanswered questions ☺. Yup 😃

[Esther Haddie's Haven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started to read this book to filter it for my younger sister. If you like The PowerPuff Girls it is possible you will like this book. Whereas, I, until recently, was never allowed to read such books/novels. (I know, strange, but good reasoning.)
I give it a 3/5 stars, because the writing is very basic, not all correct, which is not all bad. It is a tween novel after all.

[Farah · Rating 4 out of 5]

i got the book randomly at chapters. i really just thought it would be like any female super heroes, fun and dramatic. well u got the dramatic part right. i thought if anyone out there has ever watched the show teenage mutant ninja turtles, this is kind of the girl version.

[Zoie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had been looking T THIS BOOK FOR A WHILE WHEN MY FRIEND ORDERED IT. SHE WAS GOING ON VACATION SO SHE LET ME BORROW IT. I FINISHED IT WITHIN 2 DAYS AND LOVED IT. CANT WAIT TO READ THE SECOND AND THIRD.

[Avery Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great and funny read. The way it is written is funny and modern. The illustrations really top off this book. I love all the use of the color purple. I love the idea of girls with superpowers as it shows empowerment and strength in girls.

[Salsabrarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Girls will enjoy the spright, girly chatter of the narrative, and the BFF vibe, not to mention the purple-inked text. But the pacing is slow as the girls come to discover and explore their superpowers and I wished things would just start HAPPENING already!

[Jennifer Domkus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stayed up REALLY (!) late last night finishing this and I loved it! I just started the second one and I can't wait to read the third! I love the twist with Opal turning evil at the end. I hope they rescue her from the dark side!

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable! Clever, funny and great for fans of Powerpuff Girls!

[DMS]

http://dms.booklikes.com/post/1395076...

[alene_moo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a really cute book ! It kind of reminds me of the powerpuff girls