Nerve by Jeanne RyanPublished: 13th September 2012
By: DIAL
Source: Penguin for Atomr blog tours
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a review of an arc copy.
Vee works as part of the behind the scenes cast of the play her best friend Sydney is starring in. She feels like she's always living in Sydney's shadow so when Sydney kisses the guy Vee's been crushing on, Vee decides to do something completely out of character, and auditions for the gameshow Nerve. After getting through the dares, she finally reaches the final with her partner Ian and 5 other players. But things don't seem right to Vee, and she begins to feel her life may actually be at risk.
Nerve started off okay, but I soon found myself getting bored with the dares. This only really picked up for me again when they reached the final dare, and in all honesty, not that much. There are seven people together in a room in a club, all relying on each other to complete their dares in order for them to win their prizes. Prizes which are very important to them, a final trip away with a dying father, for instance. So, not unexpectedly, things get heated between the group.
While Vee wasn't necessarily an unlikeable character, she was fairly bland and uninteresting. Maybe needing some more definition. Ian too, we learned very little about. Though we are told he is good looking, and he seems like a pretty decent guy, I still didn't find anything to write home about.
Out of nowhere, a romance springs up between them, after a matter of hours spent together. I felt it was a bit ridiculous and more annoying than anything else after such a short time. Ian keeps putting himself out there for her, even though he hardly knows her.
While I was interested in the way the game would play out, the whole thing was fairly dull. The main concentration is on the game, giving very little definition to any of the characters. Consequently, I found myself disinterested in the characters and uncaring as to their outcome. And open endings really aren't my kind of thing.
Despite my negativity, I do feel that this book will appeal to a lot of readers out there. It just wasn't for me. I think I was expecting a bit more depth.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
