A letter to Veronica Rossi

*Write a letter to the author about your thoughts/opinions on the book*

Dear Veronica Rossi,
     I'm a huge fan of your Under the Never Sky trilogy. I feel like you took the idea of the newly-made-"classic" "teen-dystopia-romance" novel and truly made it your own. I have read the first two books already; I tore through them so fast and then I was depressed because I had to wait for Into the Still Blue to come out.

     As far as the first book goes, I love the way you introduced your trilogy's protagonists, Aria and Perry. I love how in the beginning of their stories you showcased how they were  polar opposites and how each of them felt that way about the other. Progressively throughout the book they began to see what the other possessed (dictionary definition of "opposites-attract", am I right?) that could help them with the task at hand.

     Leading into the second book, there was a lot of time for character development, as for the majority of the time Aria and Perry spent time apart. I have to say that I realize the overall reasoning behind this, however I along with probably the rest of your readers had a period where I was slightly annoyed that they were still apart, and in reading what they were thinking about how both of them missed the other, you wanted to scream and say "Why can't one of you just go after the other already!?"... I'm sorry, I'm rambling.

     I have yet to finish Into the Still Blue, however I am at a very critical turning point for Perry and Aria regarding their passage into the Still Blue, and the possible ramifications of their means of getting through the Aether wall (you're the author, so for the benefit of readers I won't include any more possible spoilers;) ).\

     I'll need to finish the book soon and see how it ends! (no, like I REALLY need to finish this book because I think the library probably already hates me because it's a 14 day borrow and I may be just a smidge over... oops...)

Into the Still Blue: (What does the work tell us about how people behave?)

(Ok, this is the third book in a trilogy, so I am warning you now that I will not be typing *SPOILER ALERT* before every sentence. With that, enjoy and please post comments:)!)

What does the work tell us about how people behave?

     Veronica Rossi creates a special emphasis on "behavior" within her books. In particular, she discusses a fictitious mental disorder that some of her characters develop known as DLS (Degenerative Limbic Syndrome). This syndrome causes those who live in the guarded civilizations of the Pods (Pod: think literally a giant bubble separating the citizens from the outside world) to lose control of themselves and enter a state of madness in which they can't be reasoned with.

     One of the characters, Soren, was someone who suffered from DLS when he was exposed to the Outside for the first time. He still shows signs of mental-instability now that he is being forced to live on the Outside after the fall of Reverie.

     "'You heard her!' Soren screamed at the top of his lungs. 'She said put your weapons down!'
...They drew together, back to back, their guns raised...'I told you, weapons down!'
A single pop broke into the air... Soren had fired" (Rossi 98-99)

     In this situation Soren and the others are being confronted by Guardians with weapons and he is going into a state of DLS panic. He fired upon them because they did not respond quickly enough.

     I think that this speaks to how humans in general have very impatient and also impulsive behavioral traits as a whole. When Soren was "backed-into-a-corner" he reacted on a whim and was so terrified that he completely disregarded other human life and placed himself above them. This showcases an unfortunately realistic representation of the less-desirable side of our human nature. Our instincts of self preservation, while rational to ourselves in a life-or-death situation, are a pathetic example of our blatant disregard for others when we fear the safety of our own skin.

     I hope that Soren can eventually overcome his DLS and really become a part of the team. Unfortunately, I have to say that he is not looking too good at the moment.

Veronica Rossi

     While I will continue to read The Great Gatsby, I'm taking a small break so that I can finish Veronica Rossi's third book in her Under the Never Sky Trilogy, Into the Still Blue.

 

Veronica Rossi

Veronica Rossi completed undergraduate studies at UCLA and then went on to study fine art at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Veronica along with her husband and two sons live in Northern California. The Under the Never Sky Trilogy is her first debut set of work.

Check out this video of Veronica Rossi discussing when she was writing Under the Never Sky...


                     

"...that slender riotous island..."

     F. Scott Fitzgerald does a tremendous job of capturing and describing the setting of The Great Gatsby. The book takes place in 1920s Long Island, New York. More specifically the main setting is  in the fictitious areas so dubbed "West Egg" and "East Egg". As a side note, I like how Fitzgerald uses a real-fake place for his book's setting. Everyone knows New York City, but by manifesting East Egg and West Egg it gave him a little more room for creativity.

     "...on that slender riotous island which extends itself due east of New York-- and where there are, among other natural curiosities, two unusual formations of land. Twenty miles from the city a pair of enormous eggs, identical in contour and separated only by a courtesy bay..."(Fitzgerald 4-5)

     In particular, Fitzgerald's character Nick Carraway "fills in" the reader by describing not only the time and place of the book, but also elaborates on just how extravagant some of the houses located there are. He discusses Gatsby's Mansion., he discusses The Buchanans' and he discusses his own home.

Gatsby's Mansion:
     "...a colossal affair by any standard-- it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin bead of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden," (Fitzgerald 5)

 

(This.looks.like. a. resort... I can't believe this is someone's actual house (mansion, castle, whatever)!)

The Buchanan's:
     "a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walls and burning gardens-- finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows..." (Fitzgerald 6)

(To me, this looks like someone copied the White House, slapped on some red bricks, maybe did some more extravagent landscaping...)

    
     In contrast he describes his own more "humble" abode by simply saying

     "My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked," (Fitzgerald 5)

(Well, I think poor Nick could cut his place some slack; it isn't the house's fault it's next to the Hôtel de Ville and the wannabe Red-Brick White House!)

 

     I find the descriptions that Nick gives of these houses really give the reader a great idea of how these people must have lived, seeing as their houses were that crazy extravagant (I mean seriously, these people had to have had more house than they knew what to do with!!). I think they add interest and value to not only the understanding of the story, but also your own personal enjoyment. I also think it's really cool that the story itself is being told by Nick, where it is like someone on the "outside-looking-in", but he is still a part of the story himself.

 

Here is the trailer for the most recent Great Gatsby movie. (I still need to see this...)

 

 

Well, I Decided...

     For my next book that I plan to read, I have decided to try out The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I know, I know, you're probably thinking :"WHY? Why read it now, when you'll have to read it again later on in school?" and in all honesty, the answer is very simple. I tend to not like books when they are read as a class and dissected to the point where it feels like the author themselves probably didn't even realize all the little things we as students have to pick out of the writing. Besides, I never ended up seeing the movie because I wanted to read the book first: now I'm just finlly getting around to actually reading it...

     Also, I have to admit I do have a bit of an ulterior motive for wanting to read Gatsby. At the end of my Best Sellers class 2nd Trimester, we all had to chose a book that we wanted to read "next" (as you well know, this isn't exactly "next" but hey at least I'm still going to read it!) and that after we finished reading it, we were supposed to go back to our teacher (I had Mr. Coates) and tell how we felt about the book.

     *AS A SIDE NOTE*
     Even if you don't read my previous post all the way through, please give me a book recommendation under that post (entitled Your Thoughts??) just a quick, "hey, read this because...yadayadayada" Let me know what you like, that maybe I will too:)

Your Thoughts??

     Now that I have finished reading the latest book out of  three series different series (Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments, Veronica Rossi's Under the Never Sky series, Kiera Cass' Selection series) I'm aggravated that EVERY one of these author's new books aren't going to be available until about May. I also just finished Lois Lowry's series that stemmed from The Giver, with the book Son. So, there's another dead end...

     I have a few ideas for what to read next, but I'm stuck! I guess I could tell you, but I don't think so.

                                               No, I don't think I will.

     Instead, how about anyone who reads this post, give me at least one book recommendation that you think I should read. Give me a title, author and let me know what you thought of the book. I don't need a perfect, five sentence+ paragraph summarization. Just a quick insight that goes beyond just "omigosh, was the BEST" or "it was good".

     Let me know what you think I should test out. I just want to know your thoughts; I'm open to all options and ideas:)

Update... A little behind...

     Ok, I realize that I am going to sound like the BIGGEST nerd ever because on top of my Fahrenheit 451 reading that I had to do over break, I finished not one, not two not THREE, but FOUR books with the fourth being Under the Never Sky. and I started that book's sequel (that I just recently finished... last night), entitled Through the Ever Night (ok, now you're all caught up;) ).

                                                                                                                        

 

     I started reading this book series because it was recommended to me by a friend on Goodreads. From just the summary on Goodreads I could tell that this was going to be another dystopian novel.

"...unforgettable dystopian masterpiece..." (Examiner.com).\

 

I rest my case.

 

     And I realize that everyone is reading dystopia stories and it's definitely a trend right now, but I'm here to say that I was ahead of the bandwagon because I was into dystopia way before it was mainstream. I read books like The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger.

.....OH! I almost forgot to say that now I'm reading the fourth and final installment of The Giver: Son (ok, so I lied; NOW you're all caught up!)......

   

     I haven't gotten very far into it yet, but I'm going to admit RIGHT now, and put it out there that this book is probably a little easy, and below my reading level (seeing as I read The Giver and Gathering Blue in 5th grade, and Messenger in 6th), but I just recently found out about this book even being out there, so now I really want to read it and finish the collection. Hey, we've all done it... at least I'm not just copping out for an easy read.

    I know that there are some people who have had to read The Giver as a class assigned book, and some who have read it for pleasure ("oh my gosh, like, it's possible!?). ;)  I'd love to know what you thought about it. Did you like Lowry's writing style? Were there parts where you were like, "WHOAH, what just happened?...." and then re-read a line(paragraph, page...) or two over again? I know I did, so don't feel embarrassed:) Or maybe you have never read the book and plan on just waiting for the movie to come out instead. No judgment on my part.

.....Well, a little, but only because I love the book!:) Let me know what your personal thoughts are.