Warcross (Warcross, #1)

by Marie Lu

[nannah]

I went into this with a bunch of skepticism ... I used to be a huge gamer (until my brother moved out - and took all his consoles with him, rip), but I didn't know if I'd enjoy a book laden with current gamer lingo, attitudes, etc. I should've known better, since this is written by Marie Lu! It's packed with diversity and free of heavy gamer misogyny and any nazism/racism.

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.