Warcross by Marie Lu – Book Review

“What’s the point of freedom if you’re just living in a miserable reality?”― Marie Lu, Warcross

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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.

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Review

I’m not sure if you guys remember (because I talked about it nonstop), but I had an actual countdown going on this book about two years before it was published.

I was a massive fan of Marie Lu’s Legend series and really enjoyed The Young Elites, so when it was announced that Warcross was coming out I became very excited to receive more from her. Even more, it was like Ready Player One but with way more diversity and based around a bounty hunter.

Let’s start with my only gripe with this book, and that was that I would have liked more game sequences. However, I understand Lu’s reasoning for focusing more on the relationships of the characters rather than giving us a 500 page book with a combination of the world and the characters.

It just would have overwhelmed us and much of the feelings the story creates would have been overshadowed.

With that said, I fell in love within the first couple of pages. Lu brings you in with a fast-paced and frustrating opening to the book and gets the overall plot moving quickly. To add, she does a phenomenal job helping the reader connect quickly with Emika.

As far as the characters go, Lu does what she always does and creates a cast that you can’t help but love. Each of the players that Emika comes in contact with are so fresh and intriguing that you can only hope that they’ll play an even larger role with the next book in the series.

I’m excited to see the next book in this series as, wow, it left off on a hell of a cliff hanger. Yet again, Lu stuns me. I rated Warcross five stars.

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Have you read Warcross? What did you think?