Nerve

This is one of those book that s hard to give stars.Vee is a junior outshone by her best friend, and after seeing her best friend Syd mack on her new crush she is more than a little mad and wanting to prove herself. She does a dare for a game online called Nerve that offers prizes after each. It's a fast paced book that takes you through Vee's dares and what all that entails. However, the book focused mainly on the plot of Nerve rather than the characters which led to me seeing stereotypes and wishing for more depth. There is plenty of potential for romance between Vee and her partner, Ian, which definitely one of the main selling points of this book. The question hanging over the reader's head of whether or not Ian is who he says he is, and whether or not he'll end up betraying her in the end. In the book it felt a little forced and I was still left wanting more.The dares felt watered down after watching the movie, and the prizes didn't feel good enough for what Vee and the other players had to do. Yet the premise! This is something that could be a reality in a few years time. The internet is taking over, we already have gamer shows much like this and to combine the two into an online game as easy as truth or dare without the dare is brilliant. Jeanne Ryan, the author, used peer pressure as well as electronic information, which at times was hacked private information, to determine what would be a valuable prize to the contestants but to get into their heads.As for the ending...There was a huge climax, but the last portion of the book ended quite anticlimactically. It wasn't left up enough to the hype I was feeling throughout the last chapters of the book.The movie review- I watched the movie first and I ended up comparing a lot of things because of it. The dares has more thrill in the movie, the romance between Ian and Vee was super steamy, the twist at the end (albeit the book also has a slight twist) was more dramatic and I found myself at the edge of my seat. The movie keeps the fast pace and the main characters but it felt it related to the internet and actions that a senior in high school would take. Mind, the book was published in 2012 and that may have something to do with the impact it had on me as a reader.I loved the production's use of media showing the viewers a 360 view of the game as well as Vee's perspective. Dave Franco and Emma Roberts did an amazing job at bringing chemistry to their characters and making the love story believable. The movie was even faster paced than the book with dares that made you cringe and backstory for Vee that made more sense to me. The prize was money but it had more of a sense of realness to me to be money- a lot of money- then hand picking prizing like the author did.Jeanne Ryan constructed an interesting concept and was fairly well-written, especially for a debut novel. The book was well-written and easy to follow but I was left wanting more. Dares that were a bit underwhelming, and the lack of character development brought the story down for me but when the book ending took the story into the realm of ridiculous at the end with the weird room I knew the movie version was better.I recommend the movie for entertainment and some should searching if you're an avid internet user, and the book if you're like me and just have to read the book version too.

Few things to consider before you buy this book:1. This is definitely not for teenagers, it's way too intense and has lots of violence and cussing in it. Some people in it are hardly can be called people. They are pervs and sadistic psychos.2. I watched the trailer of the movie and it's not exactly the same as the book.3. The ending is just as surprising as Lost's. I was like "wait... wtf?"4. If you think this will be a new Hunger Games story, you are wrong. Even if it were, it wouldn't be a new HG story, but a new Battle Royale story. Sorry to inform the HG fans, but that book is a knock off too. So if you must compare this book to something, compare it to Battle Royale.The book even has an Orwell feeling, since they are always watched by the Watchers and the makers of the show.Ok, so the story is a little messy. It starts with someone hiding for a week and then she is found and.... I don't know what happens to her, this was left open. And then our protagonist's story starts.She is the backstage girl, seems like not only in the school play, but in her real life too. Her best friend shines bright like a diamond, and she is always behind a curtain. When she is picked for this fun game called NERVE, which is basically a truth or dare reality show, she cannot resist the chance to become the sun for just a little while.The game starts as innocent as a day old puppy, and she believes it will be fun. Well, not really. It doesn't start innocent. She is just stupid as aforementioned puppy. Even if I didn't know about the story, I wouldn't get myself into something like this. The previous seasons were cruel enough, and she just thought it was an act.And the dares become harder and more cruel, and she doesn't learn.But at least at the and she makes up for her stupidity with some nice planning and and escape plan.This was a great book, it was well written, and it's easy to read. I gave four stars because there were some missed goals in the story I would have shot if this was my book. It felt unfinished somehow, not one thing became clear about the makers of the show or the other players in the end.Unanswered questions, unfinished storyline or not, the plot makes a whole with that last fckn word, and it's good enough for me to think about it for hours after I finished it, and go and watch the movie next week. I suspect I will be thinking about this for a lot more. Nice one!

Sick of being invisible, on a whim Vee performs a simple livestreamed dare, entering to become a Player on the on-line game show Nerve. Enticed by the promise of shoes she liked a few months before, she completes another dare. Offered prizes become more and more desirable as her dares become more and more complicated, embarrassing, and dangerous as the Watchers, those who pay to watch the Players play, demand it. When she is selected to compete in the grand prize competition, everything becomes scary fast and Vee must figure out who she can and cannot trust to get out alive.Nerve is Hunger Games meets Lord of the Flies. The disturbing part is the producers of the game use information posted on-line or gleaned from friends (willing to talk for a price) against the players, reminding us that privacy is just an illusion. The book is really well written and just when things seem to be wrapped up nicely, the ending is ridiculously creepy. I highly recommend reading this book. It really makes you think.

After seeing the movie it left me wanting more, and was so psyched to find out it was a book first. I read the sample and bought it soon after. I have read it in only a couple days. Once it got it's hooks in me I had to finish it. It made it hard to want to do other things besides read it. Refreshing to read such compelling fiction. I do hope to see more from this author.Completely different from the movie too. Glad it wasn't too similar.Very compelling with the dares and story. There weren't really good places to put the book down which made me want to keep reading.

I had very mixed feelings about this book, mostly because I just found it very juvenile. Yes, I know it's a YA book, but still...I can understand why the dares were all very childish to begin with, because then it could escalate, however, I just didn't enjoy it. I found myself rolling my eyes a lot and muttering to myself. I think most of that comes from the fact that I couldn't identify with the main character either; Vee just wasn't the type of girl I can sympathise with. I understood Ian's reason for joining NERVE, however, Vee was just so shallow. Again, I suppose this was done so that her character could develop and yes, by the end she was a half-way decent character, but the fact that I couldn't mesh with her from the beginning put me off.Despite that though, the last half of this book was very good. All the while they were in that room I was hooked - I literally couldn't put the book down as I waited to see what would happen next. I loved the psychological side of this book and the mind games. It's also interesting - and scary - when you think how fast things can get out of control. Like Vee says at one point, it starts with baby steps.So, like I said, mixed feelings. I basically picked this book up because I loved the cover and I got the film for my birthday, but wanted to read the book first. Now I can watch the film and see how it compares.

A great concept but a very underwhelming story. I must confess I chose to read this because the trailer for the film looked cool, and normally the book is better. To be honest though, while I don't really read YA so can't comment on if other books for teens are similar, the characters were grating and the main girl's motivations were a little weak.I did enjoy the first half, despite the characters, but certainly once it gets to the last section, where they basically stay in one place, it's honestly just a bit dull. I was expecting things to truly escalate and they didn't. I think maybe if it were written for adults, with more of a horror angle, the concept would really shine, but as is, it's a bit weak. Passable and easy to read but that's it.

I was recommended this book and film. I watched the film first (something I try not to do if i know there's a book), and really enjoyed it. It's an interesting concept so I also purchased the book.I'm so glad the book and film aren't completely the same. While they have the same story with the same characters, the tasks which are completed are completely different. Well worth a read.

Definitely a gripping young adult book in the genre of The Hunger Games and Divergent. However I found it quite uncomfortable to read and once or twice was going to leave it but somehow I did need to see what happened next. Maybe I'm just the wrong target audience. The ending left space for the next episode and was therefore disappointing. Also, we didn't return to the situation Vee found herself in in the prologue - frustrating.

I picked up a copy of this book when I saw the movie trailer going around and knew that I wanted to read it, before I went to see the movie.While I didn't completely hate Nerve, I also didn't love it to pieces. The plot was very fast-paced and it kept you wanting to know just how it was all going to end, but, I found Vee to be incredibly annoying. I didn't expect the ending, but I still found it very disappointing.I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I feel like it just wasn't the right pick for me.