Why Warcross Is The Best SFF I have Read All Year
Hey friends! Today I’m going to be sharing with you my
review for Warcross by Marie Lu!
A bit of background firstly. Marie Lu is one of my favourite
authors EVER! I loved her Legend trilogy and I adore her Young Elites trilogy (read more: The Young Elites no
spoiler book review) so I was so so SO flipping
excited when I heard about Warcross.
A few people have asked me: do I need to be a gamer or into
gaming to truly enjoy Warcross? My answer: NOPE! I am the least gaming of gamers you could meet (for real, the only game I
ever play is Candy Crush or 1010! on my phone so trust me, you’re good!) and I
really enjoyed it.
About the book.
Book: Warcross
Author: Marie Lu
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Penguin Australia
Pages: 368
Publication date: September 2017
Pages: 368
Publication date: September 2017
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. (source)
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. (source)
Genre: Fantasy
Recommended for: Anyone 14+
Thank you to Penguin Teen Australia for sending me a review copy, however all thoughts and opinions are my own and this is an honest review.
My thoughts.
{ writing }
Marie Lu has SUCH incredible writing and sadly, that didn’t
come through in this book. HOWEVER, in saying that, I think the writing style
she used for this work worked very well with this book. She kept the writing
simple and not too fancy to allow the focus to be driven towards the plot and
characters in the book and it worked!
Through her writing, and the way she intermittently fed the
readers information about the world, worked very well, instead of info-dumping
it all at the beginning, as many authors tend to do. She was able to build this
new world up very well and the readers were able to explore and learn more
about the characters.
A criticism I do have for Lu and her writing, however, is
that she needed to explain the action sequences MUCH better and had to make it
EXPLICITY clear to the readers when the characters were in the virtual reality world
and when they were in the real world. The lack of clear distinction between the
two were hard to grasp and some of the nuances of the world were not as well
explained as they could have been.
{ idea }
Warcross is SUCH a cool idea. It’s very thematic with what
is happening currently in the world with the development of new technology,
especially in regards to virtual reality and the idea seemed very well
researched in terms of the gaming and hacking aspects of the book.
I liked how Warcross, as a book and a game, represented and
symbolised more than, as the book described, ‘a way of life’. The game tested
not only the limits of humanity, but what the meaning of humanity was in a
changing era of people vs technology. Through Emika, the main character, Lu
explores how in the world of technology, everyone, everywhere is connected,
often giving one person a LOT of power, and what all of this could mean for the
future.
Also, let it be known that there is a corgi in this book and
I think I re-read that particular paragraph at least 10 times BECAUSE C O R G I
!!!!
{ plot }
The plot is thrilling and unexpected. There isn’t a dull
moment in Warcross, from page one, we are swept up into this dystopian-esque
intricate world and placed in the front row seat. Lu is able to balance the
book with a combination of plot and character development to add interest and
intrigue to the book and keep readers hooked. The moment I hit half way, I
binged the entire rest of the book because of how HARD it was to put down.
While the falling action got a little messy for me, the
numerous climaxes sprinkled throughout the book made up for that and without
giving too much away, let me just say, expect the unexpected.
{ characters }
I absolutely loved Emika! She was so badass and brave and
smart, but at the same time, she cared for others and was humble and had been
through hard times with her head held high. She was such an awesome main
character, and one that I loved!
Hideo is such a perfect book boyfriend and totally
swoon-worthy. For anyone that may have read Flame
In The Mist by Renee Ahdieh or Shatter
Me by Tahreah Mafi, Hideo is very similar to Okami and Warner! I loved how
passionate and humble and kind and adorable he was and just !!!!!
I have to say though, the other characters were not very
well developed and that was surprising, because in the Young Elites, Marie Lu
developed her side characters SO well, so I had expected the same out of this.
But I do understand she may have had her reasons, if she’d wanted to focus on
Emika and Hideo the most.
{ finally… }
Warcross is fast-paced and addictive, with the thrilling
appeal of witty characters and a delicious romance. Lovers of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One and Corey Doctorow’s Little Brother, this is one of the
coolest SFF reads of this year and one that has a lot of potential. In case you couldn't tell, I loved this book I can’t
wait for the sequel.
OVERALL RATING:
★★★★½
Have you read Warcross? Do you like gaming in books?
17 happy thoughts
I skimmed through this review because I'm listening to it as an audiobook right now and I'm really enjoying it. So glad you loved it, I adore Marie Lu! She's one of my auto-buy authors.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing,
~Brittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles
YES ME TOO! <3
DeleteI haven't read Warcross and Young Elites, but I LOVE Legend! It's definitely my favorite dystopian book! Can't wait to read this one.
ReplyDeleteTasya // The Literary Huntress
YES LEGEND IS THE BEST! Hope you enjoy this!
DeleteThis is one of my most anticipated books, so I am so glad to hear you enjoyed it so much. It sounds absolutely fantastic! Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! <3
ReplyDelete~ Zoe @ Stories on Stage
Glad you enjoyed Zoe xx
DeleteTotally looking forward to this one!
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy it!
DeleteThis one is next in my TBR! It seems like EVERYONE is loving it I hope I don't get confused...
ReplyDeleteIt's not too bad when you get into it some more!
DeleteI haven't read any of Marie Lu's books (I KNOW, what am I even doing with my life?!?) but, I have seen such great reviews for this one everywhere!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll pick it up soon! Beautiful post, Anisha! :)
Thank you so much! And yes I hope that you do!
DeleteI've got a copy of this in my TBR pile and am so excited to read it. It's good to know you don't have to be a gamer to enjoy this because I'm not into gaming at all either.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy it whenever you get around to reading it!
DeleteMarie Lu has been a hit and miss with me so I'm a little hesitant to pick this one up, especially since I've never read anything based around a gaming world. However, the hype for it is so high (though it does make me nervous) and the cover is GORGEOUS! So maybe I'll pick it up if my library brings it in.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, Anisha!!
I HOPE YOU READ IT BECAUSE IT IS SO SO SO GOOD! Thanks for reading!
DeleteThanks for sharing this wonderful information. View this also - Dystopian Book reviews
ReplyDeleteLeave me a comment below! And feel free to leave your website URL so I can come visit!