Nerve by Jeanne Ryan

Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)

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 by Jeanne Ryan
Published July 28th 2016 by Simon&Schuster
Paperback 294 Pages

I am a huge fan of books turned into movies. I often think book trailers should be more like film trailers (books are a visual medium after all) because the film trailer can always entice me into reading it. I read nerve before seeing the movie and the book only heightened my excitement for what seemed like a blockbuster.

Nerve follows Vee (as in Venus) who is quiet, smart and downtrodden. After a brutal betrayal by a friend and a few insults dressed as compliments, Vee finds herself a part of this colossal reality television game show. She meets a smoking hot guy and wins a ton of cool prizes, but that's not why Jeanne Ryan wrote this book. The plot takes a keen twist into a beautiful and resounding statement about reality tv. As someone who has been on reality television, I can relate and press the idea that there is nothing real about reality television - something myself, and Vee, learned the hard way.

Poor Vee is in over her head and yet summons this astonishing strength to hold her own against so many aggressive competitors and tasks. Struggling with a hidden past, the game becomes all too real and she becomes the kick ass heroine we all knew was in her from the start. It is a fantastic tale about inner strength, a corrupt world and the danger of trusting the media too much. I highly recommend.

 Now, onto the specifics.

I hate that they changed the end in the movie. I found that so disappointing as this ending was tense. When all the local competitors are in that room and the tasks escalate and escalate. Damn I wish there was a sequel - it was left open for one but no news yet.

Vee is literally a superhero, she was doing these things and I got that feeling I got when I read divergent. That moment when Tris is about to jump off the building, not knowing if there is a net there. I felt real panic and real fear - just as I did with this book. I was there. I was with her. And I was pooping my pants. Ian is a dreamboat and I loved the fact that afterwards she was only allowed out to run and he came and met her. That was just a really cute image. (For some reason I began with the ending - good job self!)

In the movie I did miss the backstory of Vee. On film she has a protective mother because her brother died and a few really terrible friends. I hate friendzoned characters - I hate the term in general, but the movie really amped up Tommy's character and turned him into this gross stereotype. I felt that way about her best friend too (I can't for the life of me recall her name). She felt 2D in the movie, I knew her motivation and it was just to be a bitch. Then there was all that crap with the hackers - I'm not even going into that!

In the book, Vee tried to commit suicide - but was caught by her parents. Since she had been gaining there trust back and on the night she was finally allowed a longer curfew, she gets caught up in Nerve. In the novel she pretends to be a weird prostitute and all sorts which is so fun to read. Her friends though the tension between them is there with unspoken crushes and resentments, there is something distinctly lovable about them. They are real and good. They are just messed up kids in the book and so their behaviour is a little more excusable. When they come to Vee's rescue at the end, I believe it. I didn't believe it in the film.

It was just a really engaging, easy read. 4 Stars!

If you enjoyed the movie - that is just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much beneath the surface and so many cracking scenes awaiting you in the book. Get it now, read it and come back! I must know you're favourite scene! Mine was definitely the celibacy group in the bowling alley! (CLASSIC!)

Happy Reading!