Review: Warcross

Warcross
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn't just a game - it's a way of life. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. 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 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. 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 is my first time reading a Marie Lu book, I'm not going to lie. What drew me in? The gaming. I'm a bit of a gamer myself to an extent, and I was curious to see what the book was like. Because you know...as soon as I started to read my brain immediately jumped to Sword Art Online. With all the technology regarding the game...it was really SAO-y, without the whole "you die in the game you die in real lief" thing. So unlike SAO I actually really want this tech like...hell yes to being able to translate anyone, anywhere! The more I read the book, the more I drew similarities to SAO. The tech, the virtual reality, it's actually really similar to the SAO Ordinal Scale movie to an extent with everyone getting the tech and using it wherever and various other things. 

I loved Emika, she was so relatable and so genuine. She was strong, intelligent and a hacking badass. She was basically super awesome, and I loved reading through her eyes. She was so determined and she'd been through such a lot and I really admired her. Especially at the end of the book when she stuck to her guns. She was a character you could empathise with and root for one hundred percent. 

Hideo....I shipped him with Emika so bad! And as a fellow sufferer of resting bitch face....I feel you dude. I was loving him so much, I was loving the romance...and then Hideo did the thing and I was just like damn it Hideo. Why did you have to go and do that. I kind of get where he's coming from and his motivations given what's happened to him in the past, but it's still not okay. It's certainly going to be interesting because it's not a black and white situation...you can relate to Hideo and empathise with him. 

I loved all of the other characters, Hammie, Roshan, Asher...they where all so brilliant to read about. They where plenty memorable too and they make quite the team with Emika! I loved how they just accepted her in to their group, and how well they all got on together. I can't wait to see more of them, and I'm so ready for the next book to get to know them all better and to see more of their interactions. 

My one gripe is that with the secondary characters...we didn't get to know them very well. We saw glimpses of them, but we didn't get to know them as well as I would have liked. There where a few other bits and pieces that I felt could have been fleshed out a bit more and a bit more detailed. 

The settings where vivid, and easy to fall in to. If you've ever played a game of any sort, some of the worlds feel a bit nostalgic! Or at least they did for me! The Mario Kart bits where reminiscent of the times I spent playing it with my cousin and other family members too! I loved the gaming aspects basically! They're hardly ever included in books, and not as brilliantly done as in this one! I'm really going to enjoy the coming books if they keep this up! I loved the way she created Warcross and the rules for it, and how it worked. The dark web is a real place you can walk around in too which was a fun way to portray a really shady place! 

The tech descriptions allow you to understand how it all works, without boring you with overly long explanations. Yes, it's all very Sword Art Online buuuutt it's also scarily believable. You can so easily picture technology advancing to this level, and all of the potential horrors that could come with it. SAO freaks me out sometimes for the same reasons! 

Warcross has a great pace, it keeps the book moving forward and keeps you reading. Although sometimes it does feel like things are a bit too fast and time could have been spent fleshing out bits and pieces and getting to know characters properly. The suspense builds up throughout the book, and there are some plot twists thrown in that have you gasping and freaking out. Although I did guess one as soon as the memory scene happened, so I kinda knew who the 'bad guy' was for the entire last part of the book which was a bit disappointing, and I worked out a second bigger one too. 

It's definitely going to be interesting to see what happens and how it's all resolved! I'm eager to get back to the characters and see more of them and this interesting world that's been created. I'm intrigued to see how much of a presence the gaming will have in the next books, given what happens in this one. I feel like this book was a prologue sort of, the warm up for the main event!