The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - UPDATED REVIEW

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde  Genre : Classics Blurb (on back of book) : Oscar Wilde’s only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind. UPDATED REVIEW MY OPINION : ****** I would like to start out this review by stating that this is undoubtedly m...
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Nerve - Jeanne Ryan

Nerve by Jeanne Ryan
Genre: YA Thriller/Fiction

Image result for nerve by jeanne ryan
Blurb (on back of book): THE HIGH-STAKES, PAGE-TURNING THRILLER, NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!
Vee is use to being behind the scenes, working as a stagehand for her school's theater program. But after years of walking in her best friend Sydney's shadow—she decides it's high time to break out of her shell and do something radical. That's when Vee makes up her mind to attempt a harmless dare for the popular online game show of dares, NERVE. But one challenge only leads to another, and the prizes are simply too enticing to resist. So after she's partnered with gorgeous Ian, who's not afraid to go for the grand prize, Vee is determined to stay in the game. When the competition suddenly turns deadly, will she risk their lives for the chance of a lifetime, or will she lose NERVE?

 MY OPINION: ****

I would rate this a 4.5 stars if I could, but I don't really know if I can make a half-of-an-asterisk on a computer keyboard...so just know that I mean 4.5 stars.

Let me be honest with you: I watched the movie before I read the book. This is not my usual pattern when I read: I always read the book first (I've been brought up that way). But when I saw the disc, I remembered seeing the trailer at a movie theatre, so I just thought: Why not? I had absolutely no intention of reading the book at the time.

But after I watched the movie, I thought that the plot was ingenious and I was instantly in love. I had already known that there was a book, but I had never thought of reading it until then.

I rented it at the local library, and opened the book, but only after reading reviews on Goodreads, which I will not share.

The book was great! I liked the style of writing, and it keeps it readers reading until the very end. But it had absolutely nothing to do with the movie or vice versa. There were different characters, a completely different ending, way different dares (personally, I liked the movie dares better, but...), and it had a really different feel. So that is my basic opinion of why I didn't give this book 5 stars.

If I had read the book before watching the movie, I would probably have liked the book better, but we must let bygones be bygones.

Now, on to the review!

The dares in this book were a lot different from the movie. I think that they were a lot weirder and harder. I would have rather done the movie dares instead, except for the last one :)

I liked Vee. She had a very complex character, but at points, I felt as if she was not the person that readers imagine her to be. She is a very different person at the end than who she was at the beginning, and I guess that is what she was aiming for. She is a lot crazier, braver, and has a boyfriend. She is not hard to understand, but her actions can confuse people at times.

SPOILER ALERT

Tommy was definitely my favorite male character in the book. Until the end. How can he be the "bad" guy? In the movie, he was the guy who shut the whole thing down! He was the great guy, but in the book, nuh uh uh...He betrayed Vee. I think he really liked Vee, but he ended up unleashing his pain when she ended up with Ian instead on the game. Did that sentence make sense? IDK. I think that Tommy could have been a bigger character like he was in the movie, but...

 Sydney was a completely different character. I feel like all I am doing in this review is comparing the book to the movie, and I am sorry. I can't help it. Sydney was the popular one: the one everyone liked and looked up to. People didn't even notice Vee when Sydney was there. Sydney was one of my favorite characters. She always looked out for Vee, despite being angry or mad...she was an amazing friend!

The ending of this book was so different from the movie! I personally liked the movie ending better. I think that the author could have made it a bit more exciting at points, but what's done is done. I think that the author gave this book a good sense of conclusion and did a good job of wrapping the story up.

Who else hated Micky? I felt like she was so annoying and always got in the way. I feel like all she cared about was getting her prize and not caring about her LIFE.

I can't rant anymore about this book. I really liked it, but it could have been better. The good thing about it is that I read it all in two days, which means that it kept me going, and it wasn't boring enough to abandon.

I would recommend this book to really mature teens and YA readers. Mild profanity and whatnot. I would also recommend this to people who like the sense of action and thriller while reading.

Main Character: Vee
Sidekick(s): Ian, Sydney, Tommy, etc
Villain(s): NERVE, etc
Thriller Elements: A lot of suspense and action that sent chills down your spine :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

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