We are beyond excited to be a part of the blog tour for WARCROSSÂ by Marie Lu! Before we dive into our review, I want to tell you what this story is about!
Warcross by Marie Lu (Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Also by this author: The Rose Society
Published by Penguin on September 12th 2017
Genres: Action & Adventure, Computers & Digital Media, General, Romance, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 368
Format: ARC
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu—when a game called Warcross takes the world by storm, one girl hacks her way into its dangerous depths.
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.
In this sci-fi thriller, #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu conjures an immersive, exhilarating world where choosing who to trust may be the biggest gamble of all.
Jaime’s Thoughts
This was such a fun and amazing read from Marie Lu!
Warcross is set in an incredibly built futuristic, sci-fi world – Lu left no question in my mind that this was a passion project – where Warcross is a game… no it’s more than a game. It’s a way of life, and millions of people use it daily across the globe. Many use it to escape from their lives, but others use it for more nefarious purposes and to make money. The virtual reality world itself was so amazingly detailed and I loved how Lu uses this to pull you into the story.
Emika Chen is one of the people who use the game to make money… she uses her skills as a bounty hunter, tracking the players who illegally bet on the game and turning them in for the reward. Needing some quick money she decides to hack into opening game of the Warcross Championships and accidentally glitches herself into the game. She’s sure that it’s only a matter of time before she’s arrested but that’s not quite what happens! Within twenty-four hours Emika finds herself across the world on her way to a meeting with Warcross creator Hideo Tanaka… a person she’s admired for most of her life. He invites her for a reason though, and when Emika finds out what’s really going on, it could change Warcross forever.
The characters in this story are just so well-crafted. Let’s start with Emika, I loved her so much. She grew up in the foster system, she’s badass and has some kickass rainbow hair. She’s tough and has crazy hacking skills and she’s a bounty hunter, which as a reader, you get to experience right away! I really enjoyed her arc in this installment of this story and I understood why she did some of the things she did and the choices she makes about things, even though at times I was telling her not to do things that I knew she was going to do in my head. And Hideo… I don’t even know where to start with him. I was warned that I was going to have feelings about him, and I certainly did. I thought that Lu did a great job in creating a romance that didn’t overwhelm what this story was really about.
So Emika’s task as assigned by Hideo is to be a part of one of the Championship teams and spy on everyone to figure out who and what is causing the security issues within the game. Suddenly she’s a part of a world she could never have dreamed of, but what she uncovers is something she never would have guessed… and it changes everything.
There are a couple of twists to this first book, and while I correctly predicted one, I had no idea about another and while I was loving the story during my read, that twist at the end, I was not prepared, and it has guaranteed that I will be searching high and low for book 2 as soon as it’s available!
If you’re looking for an action-packed, fast-paced story… something that once you start, you won’t be able to put down until you get to the last page, Warcross is the book you want to pick up! Lu has solidified her place on my all-time favorites author list with this release and I’m so excited to see what she does in book 2!
Thank you to the publisher for an early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
About Marie Lu
I write young adult novels, and have a special love for dystopian books. Ironically, I was born in 1984. Before becoming a full-time writer, I was an Art Director at a video game company. Now I shuffle around at home and talk to myself a lot. 🙂
I graduated from the University of Southern California in '06 and currently live in LA, where I spend my time stuck on the freeways.
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