Book Review: Warcross by Marie Lu– Colorful Adventure Set in Japan’s
Gaming World
(This post does contain affiliate links; if you buy anything through
these links, I'll receive a small percentage of the sale. Read the disclosure page for details.)
ABOUT the BOOK
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2017
Series: Warcross, book one
Genre: Fiction; Sci-Fi, YA Fiction
Source: Purchase
FIND the BOOK ELSEWHERE:
FIND the REVIEW ELSEWHERE:
Blogger | Goodreads | Wordpress
Rating: ★★★★★

Life on
the streets is where Emika Chen is most comfortable. She’s a master hacker who
uses her skills to work in the shadows as a bounty hunter. In the world of online gaming, tracking down illegal gamblers is what keeps clothes
on Emika’s back. In her world, the headlines are currently following the
international Warcross games, a championship virtual series of games that only
the most elite play. When, Emika decides to play and hacks into the game,
overnight, her anonymity vanishes.
Fearing retribution, Emika prepares to disappear only
to receive a job offer from the creator of Warcross. Hideo Tanaka is looking
for someone with Emika’s particular set of skills. He believes someone else is breaching
the game's security protocols, and it’s up to Emika to discover who… before
something goes horribly wrong.
Oh my goodness!
This book. What to say, and where to start? These are the important questions
as I sit here and ponder answers. Books that use the world of gaming aren’t my
cup of tea. I’ve never been a gamer nor do I foresee this changing. As 2017
wound to its close, I wanted to complete reading one or two other novels, and
one of those was
Warcross. A novel I found immensely entertaining. As I raced
through the adventure that is
Warcross’
world, I realized once I’d stepped inside its pages this was the kind of
colorful world this work of fiction thrived in.
“...beauty can make people forgive a thousand cruelties.” ― Marie Lu, Warcross
The adventure of the story is one thing, but perhaps as I’ve
thought about the book for these past months, it's the
characters who've been most present. They’re all, appropriately, shadowed in mysteries because we’re not
meant to instantly trust anyone. Lu does a masterful job in her delivery of
this emotion. We vacillate between trusting some of the characters, to
wondering if that trust is misplaced or if we should trust those we never question. This is particularly true of
one specific character, who I suspect we’ll learn more of in book two – whether
good or bad.
Speaking of that sequel, can we talk about the fact that I
didn’t realize this was part of a duo!! Like there I was, racing towards the
end of the novel, believing everything was about to wrap up happily for this
type of story. Then, bam! Nothing
is resolved, and instead the reader is hit by a cliffhanger and the “big”
secretive reveal. Needless to say, I was not happy. Especially since at the
time I finished reading, there was no news about the upcoming sequel.
Emika, as a leading character, is fascinating. In fact, though it's her we best get to know, I do wish we'd gotten to know her a bit better. The plot jumps right into the main story cue, which is the Warcross games, and as a result, we don't see Emika in her natural environment as a bounty hunter. It's an idea I felt could have been played with more with the potential to add more to the fabric of the story. Nonetheless, as the first novel by Marie Lu I've ever read, I couldn't have asked for a better expereince.
Colorful word-building sets up what is, an exciting and
dangerous world inside Warcross. Enter
if you dare.
Synopsis: For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a
game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base
now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to
make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as
a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the
bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy.
Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening
game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch
herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.
Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when
instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire
Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this
year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants
Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and
thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon
her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the
entire Warcross empire. - Goodreads
Coming Next from Marie Lu, WILDCARD: Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross
Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo's new NeuroLink
algorithm, she can no longer trust the one person she's always looked up to,
who she once thought was on her side.
Determined to put a stop to Hideo's grim plans, Emika and the
Phoenix Riders band together, only to find a new threat lurking on the neon-lit
streets of Tokyo. Someone's put a bounty on Emika's head, and her sole chance
for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. But Emika
soon learns that Zero isn't all that he seems--and his protection comes at a
price.
Caught in a web of betrayal, with the future of free will at
risk, just how far will Emika go to take down the man she loves? –
Goodreads, September 2018
Amazon |
Goodreads
This sounds so good! I've heard some things about Warcross but never actually looked into the synopsis or anything like that, but now I'm going to go check it out!
ReplyDeleteYAY! Hope you discover a good story if you do decide to look into this one, Hanne; it really took me by surprise, which in this case, I loved. :)
Delete