Recap: Tahereh Mafi, Ransom Riggs and Veronica Rossi Book Signing in Manila. #VTRinPH

Yes, there's really a hashtag for the event. How awesome is that?

I didn't sleep much the previous night, because this was easily one of the most anticipated events in my YA book blogging/ book lover life. THREE New York Times bestselling authors in one event? National Bookstore just keeps on arranging these awesome events and now they've brought the big guns out with this! I've met Tahereh and Ransom the previous year, but what upped the excitement for me was the fact that I'd also get to meet THE Veronica Rossi herself. Filipinos have always been enthusiastic about events like this, and if you don't believe me, let me show you this:

At 10 am, the mall was open for about 10 minutes and I see this. PEOPLE! TONS OF PEOPLE!

I arrived at the venue with Leslie @ The Bibliophile Kid before Powerbooks even opened! I always look forward to meeting these wonderful authors up close and interacting with them and despite the lack of sleep, that got be going throughout the day. And I am always thankful for the chance given to me to be able to at least ask them questions about their works and the way they write. Couple that with the fact that I get to see my blogger friends again and I knew it was bound to be an amazing event!

And then they arrive, and I start shaking because that anticipation to see them seriously gets to you and when you see them up close, larger than life, you think "Oh my God, I love this author's book and now he/she's in front of me."

A quick rundown of things that happened:

- Before the Q&A started, Ransereh opted to share a mic. MY HEART! A few things had to be rushed so we started asking questions almost immediately. Ransom and Tahereh's flight arrived here in Manila at 4 am and they were clearly jetlagged, but we still had fun!
- We prepared shirts filled with quotes from the authors books and as Ransom said, it was clearly okay to check our bodies out.
- I had a chance to ask V. Rossi a VERY LONG question, and it was this: "Perry's from Outside and Aria's from Reverie and they were initially at odds with each other, with their own prejudices for each other to deal with, but then they realize that they aren't really different. When you were writing the novel, did you intend for your story to explore this particular kind of "social/cultural differences"?" And V. Rossi said yes, it was her intention from the start, and she wanted her characters to eventually deal with their differences themselves.
- V. Rossi has a new adult book coming out under the pen name Noelle August, and for her it started with a Skype conversation with a friend and they decided to write it. For her, it was a fun book to write and when asked if she had difficulties in transitioning from writing YA dystopian to NA, she said it wasn't, because the UtNS series has more of herself in it than her NA book.
- For those who are wondering if Tahereh knows who Juliette was going to end up with while she was writing the novel, she said she did. Hah!
- When asked which characters Tahereh would like to be friends with in their books, she said Kenji in her series, who is like a combination of her brothers, Roar from V. Rossi's series and Emma from Ransom's Miss Peregrine series.
- Ransom had a hard time answering this question: If his books were made into a picture, what picture would it be? He said it'll be a real heart, beating and with blood. (Creepy!)
- Ransom said he didn't really write controversial books, so when people disagree with what he's written, he still reads those messages!
- When asked what message V. Rossi wants her readers to get out of her UtNS series it was that she wanted her readers to take away the one they wanted to hear the most, but in the end there are two ideas: treat others well, love and kindness and that one can be happy and find happiness. Home, and the idea of it. Is it a place? The people in your life? Home means you.
- Also, people tend to say how Juliette is weak and whiny in the books, but Tahereh intentionally wrote her that way because she wanted people to see how she grows. Tahereh likes this idea of women who are physically weak but strong mentally, and that's what Juliette was.

(Thanks to Louisse of The Soul Sisters & Kate from The Bookaholic blurbs for some of the points from the rundown)

We also had the chance to have our books signed and we also got to take our pictures with these amazing authors. V. Rossi is really nice, and I like how both Ransom and Tahereh were still chatting with us despite being jetlagged!

More deets while they were signing:

- There were literally piles of books on V. Rossi's feet because she had a lot to sign! And I like how she puts messages in every single one of them, including a temp tattoo and a bookmark!
- When Ransom ran out of books to sign, he was waving around his silver sharpie and he said he wanted to sign more. We offered our shirts.
- Ransom calls it "defacing humans". Tahereh defaces books, he defaces humans!
- I wanted to make small talk with Tahereh, but when I was in front of her, I forgot what I was about to say. So glad she recognized me and remembered seeing me last year as well. And she's got awesome shoes and I love her Kate Spade bag that looks like a typewriter! (Check out Louisse's recap so you can see Tahereh's shoes!)

Also! I was wearing a shirt with a Tahereh quote and she signed it! And I ran over to V. Rossi and she signed my shirt too! Behold the awesomeness:

I wanted to go to the public signing with my fellow book blogger friends but in between the crowd and waking up real early just so I can be there in time to give out the shirts and register for the forum, I was too tired to try and squeeze myself in and battle with the sea of people. But you gotta see it! What a sight. There was more than 2000 people waiting in line just to have their books signed. Amazing!

Photo from Kate of The Bookaholic Blurbs

Overall it was a day well spent with friends, book lovers and fellow bookworms. Laughing with these people and discussing our mutual passion for the books that we read is what I'm really looking forward to doing whenever we have a signing to attend. The perks is just the icing to the cake, and we're lucky to be able to get this chance to meet and talk to our favorite authors! I cannot thank you enough, National Bookstore, for organizing this!

Check out other signing recaps here:

Louisse of The Soul Sisters
Kate of The Bookaholic Blurbs
Chyna of Lite-Rate-Ture
Jesselle of The Lifelong Bookworm
Hazel of Stay Bookish
Lyra of Defiantly Deviant
Kazhy of My Library in the Making

As an extra, if you don't mind dizzying videos and hearing me say "awww" and basically swoon at the three of them, check this video with a lovely message from the three of them:

Review: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Ethereal. Utterly beautiful. Deadly. Ever so shifting. Highly unstable. Fascinating. This is how I will describe the Never Sky. This also proves true for the book with the same title.

This book was an unexpected, delightful surprise.

Title: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Pages: 376
Release Date: November 2011
Published by: Pier 9 Books
Source: Publisher (thanks, Ashlea!)
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Summary:

Exiled from her safe home in the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria finds herself in the outer wastelands known as the Death Shop. If the cannibals don’t get her, the violent energy storms will. There she meets a savage, an Outsider named Perry – wild, dangerous – who is her only chance of survival.

But Perry needs Aria, too, and they are forced into an unlikely alliance that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

So you want to be a part of a bit adventure. How about in the near future? And you want to be with two drastically different people trying to survive in the harsh world with a Sky that mostly kills than saves. You don't need to look far, because Under the Never Sky is the book you need.

It might just be me, but I took great delight in seeing Aria forge a strong character when she was out in the wastelands. She's a girl who, all her life, has lived in her own bubble inside Reverie where she can control everything, never knowing the outside world, and Aria learned just how it was like to truly live when she was thrown to the Death Shop for death to cover up a sinister deed. With an outsider. With Perry. There was a particular scene in the book, when Perry had to tell Aria that she had her 'first blood', that made me realize how constricted Aria's life really was. Even with all the technology, the freedom she enjoys in the Reverie, there were things she didn't even know. But the harshness of the terrain, every blister, every twinge of hunger, every single time she braved a storm when the Never Sky goes haywire, all of it contributed in creating a new Aria. A better Aria, one who knew the secrets behind her birth and what really happens inside Reverie.

Ah, Perry. How do I begin to describe this wonderful character? I was greatly fascinated with him. Perry's story is much more complicated than Aria's and I like a great mystery, something I want to figure out. He was raised in a world completely different from Aria's, but filled with the same familiar complexities. He has to kill his brother to become the Blood Lord, the leader of his tribe, but he couldn't do it because of his beloved nephew, Talon, who is dying. He's strong, a bit headstrong for his own good. He has plans vastly different from his brother, most of the time clashing opinions with him. Perry is Marked, a Scire. Rare, with two gifts instead of just one. He can smell emotions and see better than anyone else in the dark. It must be hard to possess both a gift and a curse. Perry will worm his way through the reader's hearts with his unusual charisma. Rough, hardened by life but smart and strong. Someone who's capable of loving so much and be harsh if needed. Experienced. Vulnerable. Wouldn't you like a person like that as well?

Veronica Rossi took the time to develop Aria and Perry's relationship. I am not a fan of insta-love myself so I am deeply impressed with the way Veronica made the shift of emotions between Perry and Aria from hate and disdain coupled with curiosity, to trust and ultimately, love. It takes time to build all of that, and surely enough the trials Perry and Aria went through were enough to show them the good side of each other. They grew on me. I was swept away by the story and I didn't even realize it until I was holding my breath during scenes where they faced great dangers and had to fight for their lives countless of times. The wastelands were an unforgiving place, either you fight to live or you die, it's as simple as that.

I think what made me fascinated with this book, aside from the great romance and dynamic characters, were how the settings were written. Veronica's world building is just amazing. Scary, but amazing. You can see the glaring difference between the Reverie and what was beyond the Wastelands. One was progressive, the other one simple, maybe even considered primitive. I don't think you can even call it a wasteland because people exist in those places. Granted it was with a life much more crude and harder than in Reverie but when you look closely, they also have startling similarities no matter how advanced or how 'outdated' both places are. After all, people live in there, they're ruled by basic instincts, with desires and wants, though it might not be exactly the same. The Reverie needs to find a way to correct the mistakes they made in their ruthless pursuits of technology to live better, and The Blood Lords will do anything to make their tribe survive.

What's more amazing is that there's an abundance of supporting characters that readers will also love. Roar is one particular interesting fellow. I knew from the moment I've read of him that I will like him. Roar has superior hearing, his gift. I'd like to read more of his story with Liv, Perry's sister. He's a great friend to Perry and to Aria. And probably the first person who will get your attention aside from the three is Cinder. A great mystery surrounds this boy who harnesses a deadly power, one which can potentially change the whole story.

There's a lot to look forward to in the sequel, which I am excited to have, but for now I will say this: Under the Never Sky is a phenomenal debut for Veronica Rossi. Like the Ether filled sky, this book will entrance you from start to finish. To simply say I love this book is an understatement. I devoured it, I absorbed every single word, page by page. Brilliant and simply wonderful!

My rating:

Content (plot, story flow, character):

Highly impressive debut!

Stunning: Worthy of a Goddess' Praise!

Book Cover:

The Never Sky, gorgeous and dangerous.

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.