TITLE: Nerve
AUTHOR: Jeanne Ryan
Publisher: Dial Books
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RATING:
A high-stakes online game of dares turns deadly.
When Vee is picked to be a player in NERVE, an anonymous game of dares broadcast live online, she discovers that the game knows her. They tempt her with prizes taken from her ThisIsMe page and team her up with the perfect boy, sizzling-hot Ian. At first it's exhilarating--Vee and Ian's fans cheer them on to riskier dares with higher stakes. But the game takes a twisted turn when they're directed to a secret location with five other players for the Grand Prize round. Suddenly they're playing all or nothing, with their lives on the line. Just how far will Vee go before she loses NERVE?
Review:
The Short Story
If Facebook, truth or dare, and The Hunger Games had a baby, Nerve would be it.
The Long(er) Story
I liked Nerve! It was pretty entertaining to read. For the most part. It starts off a bit slow for me – it took a while for me to be actually pulled into the story. But after a few chapters, I could not get through it fast enough. The story was that exciting!
I also have mixed feelings about some of the characters, especially Vee. She had good intentions but was the cause of way too many head bangs for me to really like her. But in a way, those facepalm worthy moments, are what made her relatable and realistic. Ian was a surprisingly complex character and not just the typical pretty-boy-sidekick-love-interest character, which I really liked.
Nerve carries a lot of important messages I think everyone, especially teenagers, should be aware of. It touches upon the dangers of social media, picking the wrong friends, being motivated by feelings and the consequences of not thinking things through, and what I think is most important, the effect of peer pressure.
And while the concept behind the book is a little overused, I did not see the ending coming. At all. That being said, I was a little disappointed about how it left off. The last bit felt rushed and didn’t tie off enough loose ends to satisfy me.
In Conclusion…
Nerve was a really fun read. Fun, but not really mindblowing. It was quick, engaging, and amusing, but at the same time full of face palms, confusion, and groans of “whhyyyy?”.
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| Overall: | 3.8 |
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