Book Recap: Nerve by Jeanne Ryan (ARC)

Cover Inspection:
I kind of like the cover.
It fits.

SUMMARY (book description based on GoodReads):

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?

Debut author Jeanne Ryan delivers an un-putdownable suspense thriller.

BOOK REPORT CARD:

Cover	3.0
Plot	3.0
Writing	3.0
Characters	2.5
Ending	2.5
Overall Rating	2.5 Good! (85% to 88%) * highest rating possible is 4.0

LOCATION/SETTING:

The story is set in modern day Seattle.

MAIN CHARACTERS:

The main character is Vee. And there is only one word to describe her - boring. She is shy and is always playing it safe. She lets other people step on her. She's all those things BEFORE she joined Nerve.

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:

Basically, Vee joined Nerve, an online dare game, which tests the player's limits as to how far will he or she is willing to go in exchange for the things they want the most.

LOVE:

I must say that the plot is pretty original - an online dare game testing one's limits. I've never read something like this before. The dares started out as tame, and towards the end of the book, the dares turned dangerous. And I loved it when Vee was doing the dares. It's completely out of character for her being the shy girl and all, but along the way, she sort of got addicted to it. The pacing of the story is quite good too! Being a story about testing limits, Nerve was far from being boring. Another thing I liked about the story is the Ian's mystery. Ian is the guy who was assigned to be Vee's partner. As the story progressed, Vee starts to have feelings for him, but her instincts tells her not true trust Ian. The thing about him is that he is so secretive. Vee (and the reader) don't know anything about him. You don't know if he's a good boy or a bad boy. (But from the beginning until the end, I liked his character.) It was fun unearthing his secrets as the story progessed.

NO LOVE:

I have to admit that the story was a bit repetitive. The players do the dares for a prize. Rinse and repeat. Nevertheless, some of the dares were entertaining in a very disturbing, very sick kind of way.

FAVORITE CHARACTER:

I love mysterious guys. So naturally, Ian fits the bill! He's Mr. Mysterious.

FAVORITE LINE:

Honestly, no line struck me.

MUSINGS:

One may get the idea that this is one of those books that are similar to The Hunger Games. Besides the fact that the players do whatever the game makers want them to do for a prize, the similarity ends there. Firstly because Nerve isn't really dystopian. There is no authoritarianism here. It's just live online game. It's closer to being a high school psychological thriller. Second, the dares are relatively tame compared to murdering your opponents. Last, while the book is exciting, it lacks that oomph that makes hunger games (and yes, even divergent) unputdownable. While I really didnt like the main character at the beginning as she was some sort of a doormat, she actually grew on me as the story progressed. With the dares, she grew a back bone. I'm proud of her. All in all, I enjoyed reading Nerve. it's exciting to read about just how far Vee can go.

DOODLES:

No trailer yet.

AUTHOR'S WEBSITE:

Jeanne Ryan 

SIMILAR READS:

I actually can't think of similar books. It's original, at least for me.

CONTENT REVIEW:

profanity: moderate
violence: moderate
sexual content: mild
mature themes: mild
age recommendation: 13+