31 March 2016

Review #384: Nerve by Jeanne Ryan



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“Make your ego porous. Will is of little importance, complaining is nothing, fame is nothing. Openness, patience, receptivity, solitude is everything.”

----Rainer Maria Rilke



Jeanne Ryan, an American author, has penned a thrilling debut YA book, Nerve which spins the story of a young teenage girl who is selected to play a set of dares, that will be broadcasted live online in front of the whole nation, along with a hot guy, but soon the game makers throw more daring and life-threatening challenges in front of the players. This is that girl's story of how without losing her Nerve she fights against the odds.





Synopsis:

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?



Nerve is a set of daring games or rather say challenges which are broadcasted live online and the viewers called "Watchers" pay huge bucks to watch them or record them. Vee, a not so popular teenager, takes up a chance to perform a daring audition for the games and surprisngly her daring video lands her straight to the finale, alongside her partner, Ian, a hot and sexy guy. Vee's ThisIsMe profile page is filled with her favorite stuffs that she want to possess in her life, mostly material things. And the game makers lure her with an equivalent prize that is inspired from her profile of ThisIsMe. Things get bloody and deadly when she and Ian has to face the five other players in a secret daring set of games to win the grandest prize of their life.

Well well well, if it was not for The Hunger Games kind of set up or theme, then I would not have read this book. And the similarity between the two books is spot on. The author's writing style is strong and good. The story building is no t that convincing as the story lacks from depth. In the beginning, the narrative is not that engaging enough to keep the readers glued, but near the end, the story takes a different turn and makes it one hell of an exciting ride. The pacing is medium as Vee's journey moves forwards with not much twists or turns.

The characters are well-developed. The main character, Vee, is strong, brave, sharp and very contemplative, also her self-centered demeanor did put me off for a while, as her character evolves pretty nicely. The character of Ian could have been much better as I felt him very unpleasant. The romance part also did not feel much real or passionate enough to make the readers heart feel for them. The supporting cast is also well-crafted.

The actions shift from being adrenaline rushing to bloody near the end, and it definitely kept me on my edges. Those scenes are written eloquently and strikingly and I could easily picture myself in the shoes of Vee. Overall, this is an engrossing read yet it could have been much better. If you love mind-wrecking challenges or rather say The Hunger Games, then you should read this book for sure

Verdict: Another intriguing as well as promising YA dystopia.

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Jeanne Ryan's publicist for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
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Author Info:
I’ve lived all over the world, raised in a family with eleven brothers and sisters. I spent my early childhood in Hawaii and the rest of my growing-up years trying to figure out a way to get back there, with stops in South Korea, Michigan and Germany along the way. Before writing fiction, I tried my hand at many things, including war game simulation and youth development research. But I decided it was much more fun to work on stories than statistics.
These days, I still love Hawaii, but have found my home under the moody skies of the Pacific Northwest.
Visit her here


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