Review: NERVE

Title: NERVE
Author: Jeanne Ryan
Rating: 5/10
Date of Release: September 13th, 2012
Summary: 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 all playing all or nothing  with their lives on the line. Just how far will Vee go before she loses NERVE? 

So. NERVE. Looked promising for a debut author, but the library took for-evah to let me have it. I got it, with the sizzling cover, and read it in two days. And? Meh.

The main character, Vee, is a high-school student who wants to get out of the shadows. We got the cliche blonde chick as her friend, who is in all the plays and always gets the guy. They've been best friends for a long time, and Vee wants her chance to, for once, be in a spotlight herself. So she signs up for NERVE. First of all, kind of stupid reason. I know it's hard to be off to the side while others get the glory, but it's been that way for many years, and one stupid thing with an idiot guy sets her off to risk her life? O...kay?

The dares themselves were very fun, and the premise had a ton of potential. It's like Truth or Dare, except on a big scale. The pacing throughout was very fast and kept the action moving, which I really appreciated. Anyone realized Forsaken has been in the 'to review' for a while? 'Cause it's slow as heck. Plotwise, this book is great, except for one part. The ending was a little confusing and unsatisfying to me. All of a sudden, Vee gets the nerve to do something crazy, while all along she's been whimpering and being dragged along by her hot boyfriend.

Oh yes. Forgot about the frikken boyfriend. If there is one thing I hate, hate, hate, hate in YA books, it's the hot, perfect love interest. Ian is freaking annoying. He's hot, chiseled, dark, brooding, has a nice car (of course). I may have mentioned here, here, and here that I hate the perfect boyfriend cliche. Some cliches are good, nerd, chosen one, etc, but this one is all bad, and so prevalent I want to throw up. Did it start with Twilight's popularity that everyone decided to make their love interests hot and perfect so girls would read? Great. Another thing Twilight has screwed up for the rest of us.

*cough* Um, back to the book. The other characters didn't wow me. They were...okay? Not great. Doable for the story line. It worked, it wasn't horrible, but I didn't like it. Plus, I know the author must have been setting up for another book, because of the ending *SPOILERS* were Vee gets a creepy note from the NERVE guy *END SPOILERS*. But there were still plot holes. For instance, what's Ian's story? He mentions his father a few times, and his rewards are always escape oriented. So why? Why does he want out? Where's his mom? Where does his nice car come from? We know nothing about him except that he's freaking hot and wants to leave his home. And that he has a perfect jawline and listens to Rolling Stones.

And Vee's story? Yes, we got some of it, but you get the feeling that it's supposed to be this 'big reveal' about halfway through the book, and it really wasn't. So, she had an accident and that's why her family's so protective of her? Alrighty then, on with the story. In other words:

Final Score: 5

Waiting on Wednesday: Fragments

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine. That is good, otherwise I would need spell check to know how to spell Wednesday :P I hate that word.

What book am I waiting on this week?

Fragments, by Dan Wells

As I mentioned before, when I reviewed Partials, this book wasn't AMAZING, but I really enjoyed it none the less, so I can't wait for the sequel to come out. February 26, 2013. Oh, why?

One gripe: they can't use a different image for the girl then they did for Partials? For real? That seems a bit lazy to me. Click here to see the other cover...with the same girl, down to the blowing hair.

But, Partials, Fragments. I see what you did there (wink)

Quick Review: Divergent

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Rating: 9.5/10
Date of Release: May 3rd, 2011
Summary: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. As she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves...or it might destroy her.

The reason this is a short review is because nearly anyone at least partially well-versed in YA books knows this title. And nearly everyone likes it. I mean, it was on the bestseller list for twelve weeks. But I just wanted to drop my two cents down the reader's well and say how much I liked this book.

Tris was an awesome character. Four is awesome. The characters I loved, although I would have wanted to get a little more knowledgeable about the other characters. Their backstories, motives, etc., but I get that in a 300+ page book anything ambiguous has to be cut. I just hope I get to know more about Christiana, Caleb, and the others in the next two installments.

The plot was really interesting. If I had anything negative to say, it would be that Tris got hurt a LOT. And then was fine. And then got hurt again. After a while it got a little unrealistic, but that was okay because Tris was doing other awesome stuff. The simulations were my favorite part, even though 'dream sequences' (which the simulations are very similar to) are usually lifeless and dead to me, these were unique and interesting.

All in all, this is getting a place on my 'favorites' library! I've been hooked on this story, even if tiny little things bugged me.

Final Score: 9.5

In one gif:

Review: The Hunt

Title: The Hunt
Author: Andrew Fukuda
Rating: 6.5
Date of Release: 5/8/2012
Summary: Don't sweat. Don't laugh. Don't call attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, don't fall in love with one of them.

Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can't run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn't hurt him and he doesn't have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It's the only way to stay alive in a world of night--a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him.  He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

Again, another review. I promise I won't do only reviews, but this book was another one I whipped off real quick. I was trying to read 'The Keeper's Tattoo', but it was so unutterably dull I took a break for something more exciting.

For any of its faults, you cannot say The Hunt isn't exciting. The action sequences were the best part of this book, and what gave it a higher rating then I would have otherwise from me. Also, something I was glad to see, The Hunt isn't full of the weak, palsy, sparkly variety of 'vampire'. I use the word 'vampire', even though they aren't expressly called 'vampires' in the novel, that is basically what they are: beasts who hunt 'hepers' (humans) for their blood and who cannot be in contact with sunlight. These are the true vampires, the ones that suck blood and go into rages. That being said, there were holes. How did the 'vampires' take over this futuristic world? Did they evolve? Did they come through magic? We never learn exactly how. All we know is that the humans, called 'hepers' by the 'vampires', have almost gone extinct, and Gene is one of the few left.

Gene wasn't my favorite character. He didn't seem to have much personality, or character to him. Many times throughout the novel he remembers the phrase his father told him 'never forget who you really are' while he tries to blend in as one of the 'vampires'. But I didn't know who he was. I didn't see much in him but love for a girl and a primal urge to survive. Also, one of the "big plot reveals" could have been seen a mile away. I can't say if I want to keep this spoiler-free, but to anyone who knows how a writer might think, it was painfully obvious that would happen from the beginning.

The other characters were forgettable. The main female character, Ashley June, is smart and drags Gene's sorry behind through the survival process, but again, a weak character I didn't really care for.

The thing that saved this from a very low score was the interesting plot. A dystopian with vampires isn't the classic formula, and the idea of the Heper Hunt was intriguing. But, again, [minor spoilers], there was no heper hunt! Most of it was full of Gene waking up, shaving, eating, dancing, thinking about Ashley June and the other hepers, and then sleeping. When there is some real action within the last pages, all one can think is 'Finally!'.

This book was not my favorite, but not bad either. I would give it a 'meh' score. That being said, I might look out for the sequel only to get another action fix.

Final score: 6.5