Vee [ Edited ]

[dhaupt]

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7thgradeteacher wrote:

I really didn't like Vee much of the time.  She seemed self-centered.  I mean, she wouldn't drive Nora home because it scared her.  What kind of friend is that?  I think they are friends because they balance each other some.  I also think Vee is in the book to act as a foil to Nora's character.  Nora doesn't seem as selfish or mean when she's compared to Vee.  She also seems less impulsive and more mature, because when compared to Vee she is. 

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I agree with you

[Marshlove]

Describe what Vee is like.

 Vee seems to come off as a bit ditzy and boy crazy - and always looking for trouble. She's very outgoing and wants to have a good time before anyone else - she seems to make a lot of choices based on her emotions and impulses instead of logic.

What kind of friend is she? What makes Nora and Vee's friendship work out so well?

 I think vee really wants to be a good friend, but because she's a bit self-centered in a way, she doesn't always make the best choices when it comes to her friendship with Nora. However, I think their friendship works out because they are almost polar opposites. They really balance each other out and are there to stop the other when things look like they are getting out of hand.

How would you describe the similarities (if any) and differences that Vee and Nora have?

 They both have a bit of an attraction to danger and will go out of their way to help each other out - whether they were the ones that helped cause the danger or not.

What are Vee's feelings about Patch?

While Vee doesn't really state too many feelings about Patch, she has shown that she doesn't trust him too much, although she doesn't really stop Nora from seeing him, or vice versa. She has also had a physical attraction to him from the beginning.

[GreenFairyLV]

I don't know if any of you have seen the movie "Fear", but to me Vee reminds me of Alyssa Milano's character Margo in that movie.  I remember when I was in high school I had a best friend who also reminds me of Vee.  Now I am wondering do we all see ourselves of more of a Nora who had a best friend like Vee, and I wonder if my old best friend if she read this book would say, "Vee reminds me of this best friend I had in high school."

Wow I don't know if I'm getting across what I'm trying too.  I wish we could make a little video, maybe I'd make more sense.

[snfliehman]

Well to be honest, I don't see what Nora sees in Vee. She is really kind of slutty and very self absorbed. I never really bought their friendship. She is the one part of the book that I walked away after reading and said "What was the point in her even being there?" Nora definitely needed to have a friend, but Vee isn't even a person she could confide in. With Nora being such a serious introspective character I agree that she needed a lively friend to loosen her up, but I had a hard time believing that a person like Nora would get so close to a girl she could never talk about anything real with. Overall Vee made me want to roll my eyes and just get through the parts she was in and back to the good stuff. 

[NatB]

I felt that Vee was a true character.  She had a lot of quirks that made her unique--like her colored foods diet and her obsessive boy craziness.  She seemed like someone I might actually know.  It made sense that a person like Nora could use a friend like Vee, because Vee made Nora get out and do things.  That said I didn't really like her.  She got on my nerves and every time Nora was with her I couldn't wait until she left.

[GreenFairyLV]

I am really shocked people are not liking Vee.  I see myself of way more of a Nora when I was that age, but I love Vee in this book.  She has some great lines.  "I'm thinking of writing mine on the injustice of seating charts.  I got paired with a girl who said she just finished lice treatment this morning." page 16 I laughed out loud when I read that.  She's not just funny, she's also kind.  She lends Nora her car and when Nora calls to say she wrecked it Vee jokes about the conidition of the car but she is really only concerned Nora is ok.

[Lady_Lunatic]

Describe what Vee is like.

To me Vee is a foil to Nora. Vee comes off as a boy crazy, opinionated, and looking for trouble, very different from Nora.

What kind of friend is she? What makes Nora and Vee's friendship work out so well?

I think Vee wants to be a good friend to Nora, and she is in her own way. She might come across as self-centered at time but I think she really does care for Nora and wants her to be all right. The only way I see their friendship working is because they are such different characters. If there was a second Vee in the story I, don't think it would work out so well.

How would you describe the similarities (if any) and differences that Vee and Nora have?

They both are drawn to trouble, whether they make it themselves or they just happen to run into it.

What are Vee's feelings about Patch?

She has a physical attraction to him from the beginning and thinks he is slightly dangerous and warns Nora against him but then in the same breath doesn't really push about it.

[dhaupt]

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GreenFairyLV wrote:

I am really shocked people are not liking Vee.  I see myself of way more of a Nora when I was that age, but I love Vee in this book.  She has some great lines.  "I'm thinking of writing mine on the injustice of seating charts.  I got paired with a girl who said she just finished lice treatment this morning." page 16 I laughed out loud when I read that.  She's not just funny, she's also kind.  She lends Nora her car and when Nora calls to say she wrecked it Vee jokes about the conidition of the car but she is really only concerned Nora is ok.

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I wonder if it's at all an age factor, I'm 55 and I am one of those who don't like her. I know she's a true friend to Nora and I'm hoping to like her better in the future but I don't like her unlawfulness and I don't like the fact that she takes incredible chances. And it's not the defensive behavior that I don't like, because that I understand having also been a somewhat ugly duckling in high school I also understand her tendency to stretch the truth when involving boys because I think that comes from wanting to be accepted also but what I don't like about her lying is that she does it at the expense of Nora.

[GreenFairyLV]

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dhaupt wrote:

I wonder if it's at all an age factor, I'm 55 and I am one of those who don't like her. I know she's a true friend to Nora and I'm hoping to like her better in the future but I don't like her unlawfulness and I don't like the fact that she takes incredible chances. And it's not the defensive behavior that I don't like, because that I understand having also been a somewhat ugly duckling in high school I also understand her tendency to stretch the truth when involving boys because I think that comes from wanting to be accepted also but what I don't like about her lying is that she does it at the expense of Nora.

[mattzay]

I think that Rosei is right whern she talks about how Vee is more outgoing and Nora is more shy. Vee is the ying to Nora's yang. They have a balance that makes their friendship work. Vee brings stability to Nora's world by being one thing that Nora can depend on. She encourages Nora to take chances and risks. Nora helps Vee focus and stay grounded. They each have something to bring to the friendship.

[sifu-hotman]

Boy, how much i wanted to strangle Vee. I don't even know where to start in listing all that is wrong with her. So I'm just going to leave it at that. 

And just wanted to add that i'm 21, and don't think it's an age thing.

[dangermouse]

I like Vee.  She is a great character.   Becca describes her as sexy, sassy and curvy.   When was the last time we had a media character that was zaftig?  Vee likes her food(especially donuts) and is confident and outspoken.  She is more like the teen girls that I know than the lovestruck, anorexic,  damsels-in-distress we see in most books.

[sararhiannonm]

Most of the book led up to the final action in the last hundred pages or less... but I didn't mind it. I enjoyed spending time with the characters. Vee was funny -- sometimes obnoxious and a terrible friend, but she redeemed herself in the end. It really bothered me how Vee treated Nora -- ditching her for guys and only believing what she wanted to believe, but those detrimental aspects of her character made her very believable and realistic. The facts is, as close as you may be with someone, you're always going to do things to hurt each other and you just have to be able to move on past those things. If you internalize them, your friendship won't last. I did feel that Nora was pretty spineless sometimes but that's how the dynamic of her and Vee's friendship works. They are foils of eachother, in a way. Polar opposites. Nora really toughened up in the end of the book though. I was proud of her for being a fighter and a survivor.

[Zeal]

Vee pushes Nora to her limits, but she supports her to the limit!  Vee and Nora would do anything for each other.

I love Vee's character, and I wish that I had had a friend like Vee in high school.  I was very reserved, kind of like Nora, but had no one to push me out of my comfort zone.  I hit college and had all that freedom...wham!  I didn't know what to do first, and I was so naive and trusting.  A friend such as Vee would have surely opened my eyes a little before I obtained all of that freedom and didn't know how to handle it. 

[nicole21WA]

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GreenFairyLV wrote:

I don't know if any of you have seen the movie "Fear", but to me Vee reminds me of Alyssa Milano's character Margo in that movie.  I remember when I was in high school I had a best friend who also reminds me of Vee.  Now I am wondering do we all see ourselves of more of a Nora who had a best friend like Vee, and I wonder if my old best friend if she read this book would say, "Vee reminds me of this best friend I had in high school."

Wow I don't know if I'm getting across what I'm trying too.  I wish we could make a little video, maybe I'd make more sense.

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Ohhhhh!!!  That's exactly who Vee is.  Good call.  I will be interested to see if Vee gets more backstory in the sequel.

[fuzzygemini]

Throughout the beginning of the story I found Vee to be a spunky and fun friend for Nora, kind of a Yin to Nora's Yang.  Where Nora was somewhat reserved, Vee was all out there and encouraging Nora to be so also where she otherwise would not have been.  As the story progressed however, I found Vee's lack of support for Nora troubling.  Maybe it says something about my own views on friendship, but I was ready for Nora to leave Vee in the dust because she did not seem like a very supportive friend.  Everything Nora said to Vee, Vee just discounted and excused away.  That said, however, I found that there is a very strong possibility that Vee was being influenced by Jules and was perhaps not in her right mind.  And I think Nora knew better what a friend Vee really was than I (the reader) did.

As far as Vee's feelings for Patch, he was the quintessential "bad boy," and I didn't blame Vee for having reservations about him as the story progressed.  Even Nora herself doubted him on many occassions, and with good reason it turns out as well.

[ponkle]

Vee is a good friend to Nora but sometimes she eggs Nora on to do thngs she doens't want to do.  I would find Vee very annoying, she is always trying to do things they probably shouldn't.

[Ayrina]

Vee annoyed me just a bit -- she was a bit too shallow, a bit too easily influenced, a bit too... weak, I suppose, is the best way of putting it. There's also the fact that I don't think you ever got a sense of change in her character -- she stayed pretty much the same way she was for the entire novel. And, yes, she admitted she'd been wrong, and yes, she did have to deal with some degree of physical injury/possibly mental scarring? But I didn't really see how any of what happened had an effect on her character. There's nothing wrong with her, I just didn't like her too much. 

[lhays]

Describe what Vee is like   Vee is a girl that brings attention to herself because she wants to be popular but doesn't quite fit into that clique.

What kind of friend is she? What makes Nora and Vee's friendship work out so well? She is an excellent friend. She is always there to hang out with and that is something that Nora needs since her dad died and her mom has to work so hard so that they can keep the place where her father's memories are. I think that their friendship works so well because they compliment each other with their personalities.

How would you describe the similarities (if any) and differences that Vee and Nora have?  Vee is outgoing and very outspoken. Nora would keep to herself most of the time if it weren't for Vee. Both of them think the other is the pretty one and the one that the boys would like.

What are Vee's feelings about Patch?  I don't think that Vee likes Patch. Patch doesn't meet her criteria for a boyfriend. "Gorgeous, wealthy, indulgent, fiercely protective, and just a little bit dangerous." She thinks that he is cute and dangerous but that's about it. Good thing Jules came along

[dk_phoenix]

Vee is like that annoying friend that drives you nuts, but you keep her around because she's fiercely loyal and -- when it all really comes down to it -- the kind of friend that'll stick with you through thick & thin, and isn't afraid to tell it like it is. She's not exactly the kind of friend you want around when you need tact, but sometimes blunt is good.