Warcross (Warcross, #1) by Marie Lu | Book Review

Title: Warcross
Series: Warcross, #1
Author: Marie Lu
Published: 09/12/17
Genre: YA, sci-fi
Pages: 368
My Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads page

There are no spoilers in this review.

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.

(This synopsis is from Goodreads.)

Thoughts

First of all, let me just say that I loved this book. I was a bit skeptical after reading The Young Elites (which I didn’t enjoy that much), but Warcross blew me out of the water.

The story starts out in Manhattan and then moves to Tokyo. The whole story is written in the first person point of view in the perspective of the main protagonist, Emika Chen. What makes me very happy about this story is that some of the characters, like Hideo Tanaka, are of Asian descent.

Something I find common among Marie Lu’s books are young prodigies/geniuses. In this case, the young geniuses would be Emika and Hideo. Emika is insanely good at hacking and coding and Hideo was the mastermind behind the game Warcross, which is now a part of almost everyone’s lives and the main focus of the story.

There are a couple plot twists in the story. I’d like to think there are two main ones. One of them I predicted while the other one I did not see coming. I wouldn’t say both plot twists are too predictable, but I also wouldn’t say they’re completely shocking either. Except maybe the second one. Maybe it’s because I didn’t see it coming that it shocked me a lot, but I didn’t not expect a certain specific plan to come from a certain character.

^^ my face the whole entire time I was reading

The whole hiring hackers to help locate someone who’s been messing with the Warcross platform kind of reminds me of fighting like with like. Fighting hacking with hacking. Like, Hideo could try and get rid of the hackers, but instead embraces them and uses them to fix a problem that has been occurring.

I like how the main character, Emika, had this coarseness in her than came from the hardships she had to face during her childhood but also a sort of innocence and naivety. It reminded me that she was human. Something I find in a lot of young adult fantasy and sci-fi novels are that the main character is so badass that nothing fazes them and I can’t relate to him or her. With Emika, while she might be badass in her own way, she is also vulnerable in ways that all humans are, and it makes me appreciate her as a character a lot more.

Overall, really enjoyed the story. It was super face-paced and there wasn’t a single chapter that I felt was boring or filler. I loved this book and I can’t wait to see what happens in the rest of the series!

Characters

Emika Chen

Badass bounty hunter and hacker alert! Beep beep~!

Hideo Tanaka

Hot elusive millionaire (or is it billionaire)? Sign me up for this emotional rollarcoaster!

Kenn Edon

He sort of reminds me of Coran from Voltron (the newest one). Not in the looks department but definitely in the personality department.

Asher Wing

He is the type of leader you’d want in a team sport. Hard yet encouraging, stern yet kind and understanding.

Roshan Ahmadi

I haven’t formed much of an opinion about Roshan other than he seems like a nice guy.

Hamilton “Hammie” Jimenez

She is not someone I’d like to go up against.

Renoir “DJ Ren” Thomas

He’s a tough cookie to crack.

Tremaine Blackbourne

Hmm… no comment.

Conclusion

I give this book 5 / 5 BBC Sherlock heads. I now understand the hype behind this book and would encourage anyone who loves Marie Lu or future technological books to give this a go.

Until next time….