Joséphine
Written on Dec 11, 2020
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. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally.
When Emika hacks into the game illegally, she's convinced she'll be arrested, and 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.
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.
- ISBN10 0241321441
- ISBN13 9780241321447
- Publish Date 28 June 2018 (first published 12 September 2017)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 368
- Language English
Reviews
Chelsea
Written on Aug 26, 2019
Jordon
Written on Jul 19, 2019
I hate it when a plot is so bad that everything could have been solved with COMMUNICATION.
I feel like I need to rant about this book rather than review it, and I can’t do that without spoiling the plot twist. Which by the way, is the most obvious plot twist of all time. It’s like this book was written with a cookie cutter story arc. I saw everything happening before it happened and I never got it wrong.
Let's just get right into spoiling it. So SPOILER ALERT! Stop reading if you don't want to know.
The twist is that the good guy is the bad guy (with reasons), and the bad guy is actually trying to stop the good guy. Cliche right? A very done and tried plot twist. Which is fine. Had it been written & revealed well. It wasn't.
My issue with this is that if the 'bad guy' had simply TOLD the main character what was going on, then the whole first book wouldn't have been needed. There was no obstacle stopping the 'bad guy' from telling her why he was doing what he was doing. It confused me because the MC is a hacker, she goes into the Dark World (virtual black market) multiple times, and if the 'bad guy' knew who she was rather quickly, he simply could have told her everything then and there without consequence. Especially considering the MC had no idea who he was until the very end of the book.
The possible consequence of the MC not believing the 'bad guy' is a weak reason to not have tried convincing the MC. Especially considering he failed anyway.
Also, the other plot twist, which I will spoil for you now - The 'bad guy' was the missing brother of the 'good guy', and the whole reason the 'good guy' is doing all of these things is for his missing brother, to make sure it never happens to anyone else. Soooo ??
We don't know why the 'bad guy' had been taken/kidnapped/disappeared, and we don't know why he never revealed himself to his brother again. So nothing makes sense. The stakes weren't high enough, and there weren't enough convincing obstacles to keep any of the above happening.
On top of that, the characters were plain and boring. The romance was shallow and the build up was over too quickly. We barely get to see any of the actual WarCross game.
I really liked the idea of this story, I'm just really disappointed.
It's a shame because I really like other books by Marie Lu. Oh well, this one wasn't one for me. I'm sure I'll like something else she's written.
The positives of this book are that it was easy to read, I did enjoy reading it even though the ending made no sense to me, and the idea of a virtual game world is pretty cool.
nannah
Written on Jun 10, 2019
Book content warnings:
(it took a bit till I had time to write this review, so I might have forgotten some of the content warnings; I'm sorry!)
- manipulation (involved in the romance)
- unbalanced boss and employee relationship
The next Big Thing in technology (not JUST game technology) is WarCross -- and its creator, Hideo Tanaka. WarCross itself is a virtual reality game kind of like capture the flag, of course with a lot more rules. The WarCross glasses do a lot more outside of the actual game, though, until nearly everybody on Earth owns a pair. They virtually light up stores, spiff up homes, give people virtual pets, show people's WarCross levels publicly, etc. (reminds me a bit of that Black Mirror episode where people had social media points for doing just about anything, because in the book, too, people got WarCross points for walking their dog, doing other chores, buying things, leveling up, etc.). Kind of a nightmare when you think about it. A late-stage capitalism horror story ... but that's just me, I guess.
Anyway, that's all setup, because our protagonist, Emika Chen, is about to be evicted from her apartment, and her work as a bounty hunter tracking down people illegally betting on players in WarCross isn't quite enough. In a last attempt for rent money, Emika tries to steal on a national game ... and accidentally glitches herself inside the game itself. Oops. Instead of being arrested, Hideo Tanaka hires her to be a player for the games (as a cover). He actually hires her to be a bounty hunter to find someone who's been messing with his games' security. But when she digs further, and as she and Hideo grow closer, she discovers something that could tear everything apart.
Whew, the story is actually a bit more difficult to describe than I thought. But it isn't convoluted, really. The flow is fast-paced, and the book is incredibly readable. So much so I went way too far into the night reading it.
All characters were well-rounded, even the secondary characters on Emika's team (and even some on the other's team!). And I was so happy to see a disabled character I nearly started crying. I mean, it was the standard white guy in a wheelchair, but HE WAS THERE. I can't wait to see where they go from here - so yes, I'll be reading the rest in the trilogy.
The only way the book failed for me was that cringy romance between the main protagonists. Things like trying to make your SO jealous to see how they'd react, a boss + his employee unbalanced relationship, further unbalanced because she idol-worships him until the end, at least.
But that's the only real reason to mark this down to 4 stars. It really is a fun book with fantastic characters and teamwork. Plus a great atmosphere. And surprisingly, it has AMAZING character backstory and motivation. I actually ... understand why the villain's doing what they're doing and it ... makes sense? I love these villains, and to make them really REAL is tough to do. I don't want to spill anything, so sorry for this vagueness.
For sure, though, I'm reading on.
alindstadtcorbeax
Written on Dec 10, 2018
That ending... W. T. ACTUAL. F. ???
Seriously! Anyway... RTC
😫 Wild Card wont be here until Wednesday :-(
mrs_mander_reads
Written on Feb 20, 2018
Mary-Allyn
Written on Jan 19, 2018
Nessa Luna
Written on Jan 7, 2018
writehollydavis
Written on Jan 4, 2018
girlinthepages
Written on Dec 28, 2017
"Everything's science fiction until someone makes it science fact." -Kindle Edition, Location 1203
In some ways I don't even know how to begin reviewing Warcross, because there is SO MUCH going on in this book, and it was quite possibly the most hyped book of 2017. It was EVERYWHERE, at every bookish event, conference, or festival people were going crazy trying to get their hands on an ARC. I'll admit I was wary because I'm not the biggest gamer (I enjoy the Sims, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Nancy Drew, etc. but not really games in the vein of WOW, LOL, etc.) so I didn't know how much would go over my head. Luckily, Max is an avid gamer so I was able to go to him for questions when I finally received my library hold via Overdrive after a two month wait. While I devoured Warcross quickly and admired the creativity of the book, there were just too many moments that made me either confused or cringe to make it a favorite read of mine.
What I Liked:
+ The premise of the book is really creative, and a bit risky almost too, because so much has to be described in such detail to really develop the VR world...so first the "real" world of the novel has to be created, and then the VR world, so I applaud Marie Lu on her ability to do twice the work when it came to setting (although I almost feel like this story would work better as a movie rather than a book so all of the levels, dimensions, etc. can be visually appreciated.
+ There's a lot of great representation in this book without feeling forced. There's diversity in the ethnicity of the characters, in their sexual orientations, abled vs. disabled, etc. and it's all very natural- it doesn't ever feel like it's an anomaly to have a diverse cast, and while the diversity is mentioned the characters are always very fleshed out beyond the element that makes them diverse.
+ It's always fun reading about absurdly rich people so I enjoyed when Emika got to experience the billionaire life when she travels to and arrives in Tokyo and lives in the fancy Warcross team house (I loved that adorable little robot who would bring them meals and record their preferences! Sign me up for one of those in ten years, please).
+I found Hideo's backstory really interesting and liked that his motivations for creating Warcross were complex and not black and white Honestly at the end I was #teamHideo.
+I liked the underlying commentary in the story about what's going to happen when we're all addicted to VR and are more invested in it then the real world. Like Emika's roommate who can't seriously get her life straight because all she does is play Warcross instead of, you know, worrying about paying the rent. Or how entire homes are decorated with VR rather than actual photos, paint, etc.
What I Disliked:
+ Emika was a grade-A special snowflake. She's literally an orphan/genius hacker/rainbow haired/catches the attention of an unattainable guy upon first meeting protagonist. I personally just don't like reading about protagonists who are so extraordinary in so many different ways because it honestly just gets boring and predictable. Also, I feel like I was reminded every. other. page. that she had rainbow hair.
+ I found myself bored with a lot of the in-game scenes, because there was so much description going on and so much action/fighting. Honestly I was getting a really strong Hunger Games vibe from the tournament games (though I'm sure it's based on several real video games out there). I was also confused by all of the different elements of the game? Like how in the official tournament it was all about stealing the other team's artifact, but I wanted to know more about how other people play and make their avatars, build their virtual rooms, etc.
+ I got a major insta-love vibe. Right from the get go I was hoping that Emika and Hideo wouldn't be a thing because how predictable is that? But alas, they of course got together after a few meetings. Sigh. Honestly, I think this book would have been way stronger without a romance!
+ The "hacking" is just way too convenient, which is what I was worried about going into the book. I am really over the plot convenience of having a teenage "hacker" who can just work their way into super secure systems and readers are never given any information on how they hack. I'm not expecting a crash course in computer science, but SOME background would be nice rather than "I pulled up my virtual keyboard, typed for two second and voila, I'm in!"
Overall: I'm glad I read Warcross because it was a fun and creative story, and I know I'll end up reading the sequel because I'm intrigued to know how the future of the world pans out given the revelations at the end of the story, and the new characters introduced. However, I was overall left with a feeling of being underwhelmed given how hyped the book was.This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages