Quicksilver is described by author R. J. Anderson as a companion novel to her 2011 novel Ultraviolet.  Having not read Ultraviolet, the test of this companion label would be if one could enjoy this new addition without the confusion of not already knowing characters personalities and back stories.  This is the story of Tori Beauregard and her quest to be free — free from a relay that is imbedded in her arm and could send her to a different world at any time, free from a guilt that is haunting her for what happened to a friend named Alison in the previous book, and free from a genetics company that is tracking her every move.  Tori has a special DNA that makes her more than unique.  As readers go through these months in her life, Anderson’s creativity in developing Tori for the audience is a wonderful amusement ride.  There’s action, re-action, drama, sensitive topics, surprise skills, and tension throughout.  Tori takes on a false identity and is constantly having to cover her tracks to keep her secrets.  Mischievous characters emerge that Tori has to work with but can not completely trust.  And of course there’s a love interest, but even this is extremely complicated.  Tori is unlike any other heroine I’ve read before.  She’s got a girl power and go-get-’em attitude coupled with computer/engineering skills that should make anyone stand in awe.  And all she wants to to have nothing of it.  To live a quiet life as a normal teenager.  There in lies the rub.

So can it be read as a stand alone?  There might be slight confusion in the references to her friend Alison who begins the novel in a psych ward and then again toward the end when Alison and Farraday reunite in a scene that has a lost sense of passion because of the missing backstory.  This sense of lost passion might also be due to the fact that by this point in the story a reader knows Tori feels no passion because she’s asexual.  Wow is right.

Quicksilver is recommended for those teenage girls who can handle stories with an edge, who want some twists and turns along the way.  It will be a great addition for those libraries who already have Ultraviolet and a possibility for those that don’t.