The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: Warcross

Series: Warcross #1

Author: Marie Lu

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

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 Warcross players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty-hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. 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. – summary from Goodreads

Warcross is a fun, twisty dystopian that surrounds gaming!

I read this book years ago and really enjoyed it, and I still do! This book was a lot of fun to read, and while I remembered a little bit of the big twist, it still kept me on my toes.

This book is perfect for gamers! The majority of this book takes place online and a lot of the big action pieces are when playing a game. I will say that I am not a gamer, but I really liked this story. I think if I was a gamer I probably would have liked it even more, but my not being one didn’t take away from the story.

Emika was such a good character! She was well written, with a deep backstory and a strong personality. I liked how determined she was to do a good job and to help people. I loved how her backstory- being an orphan, living in foster care, and being impoverished- are woven into the story. I felt closer to her and understood her character better. It deepened this world, so we got a better understanding of this world, especially for the lower class. She was also a bounty hunter which guided the story, and I enjoyed how this was changed to fit a futuristic world. As Emika moved up throughout the book, we got a look at how the upper class live and how their decisions affect others.

I love Hideo! I always love the serious, sad boys, and Hideo is no exception. He slowly revealed himself throughout the course of the book, and his backstory is devastating. A small spoiler: his brother, Sasuke, was kidnapped as a kid. This is a very big storyline, especially in the next book, and it’s very heavy.

I really loved Hideo and Emika’s relationship! It was definitely slow burn, but I loved how their relationship developed and how they slowly started to open up to each other. Their relationship was also complicated by their different roles. It added some nice depth to their relationship, which I enjoyed.

The world was really, really interesting! It was very futuristic, and as I mentioned above, was really ingrained in a game world. I thought the game world was unique and fun. I also really liked how it was shown how there was still poverty and the difference in social classes. The underworld settings were very intriguing! It was a lot of fun exploring this side of this world.

The other characters were a lot of fun. I loved Hammie, Asher, and Roshan! They were great and I loved their friendship and how they took Emika under their wing. I also liked Tremaine, but I want to get to know him better in the next book. Zero was an elusive character that was very intriguing. The twist pertaining to him at the end was genuinely a shocker! I wish we got to know Ren better. Emika narrowed in on him as an antagonist pretty early on, but I think it could have been done better and been furthered developed.

Warcross is a unique, twisty dystopian with a determined FMC, a MMC with a tragic backstory, and a strong gamer world!