Warcross by Marie Lu

Warcross (Warcross, #1)

by Marie Lu

“A vibrant, action-packed shot of adrenaline.”—Leigh Bardugo, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“The Hunger Games meets Minecraft.”—Seventeen

From #1 New York Times bestselling author—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 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.

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.

Reviewed by Jordon on

2 of 5 stars

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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.

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  • Started reading
  • 19 July, 2019: Finished reading
  • 19 July, 2019: Reviewed