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. 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.
Warcross is a brilliant read. I would love to leave you as only that as a review, but that would be mean of me. Literally everything about this book was magnificent - the setting (I’ve never read a book set in Tokyo before!), the characters (more on them later), the gamer world (again, I don’t think I’ve read a book set in the gaming world before, even more so about a girl hacker #goals) and the writing was just brilliant. I’ve actually never read one of Marie Lu’s books, although I own them all (#storyofmylife), but I just couldn’t resist Warcross any longer! It’s also the most magnificent looking book I’ve ever seen - the white cover, with the multi-coloured Warcross in 3D and *then* if you unwrap the colour it’s multi-coloured underneath and it’s just amazing. I love it. I love when publishers go out of their way to make a book stand out and, boy, does Warcross stand out.
The whole concept of this book is brilliant - every year there’s a Warcross tournament, which is a virtual reality game where two teams battle to steal the other’s artifact. Simple enough, right? Until hacker Emiko accidentally enters the opening game of the Championships and all hell breaks loose - she didn’t mean for everyone to see her in the game, but after that happened, she got a phone call from none other than Hideo Tanaka, inviting her to Tokyo to help him track down what he thinks is someone going rogue during the Championships. Emika has nothing else going on in her life - she’s a bounty hunter usually, trying to scrape enough cash to pay off debts, so this is the chance of a lifetime for her and she accepts, but nothing is as it seems in the Warcross world…
I just freaking loved the concept of this book. I loved Emika so hard. She rules. I loved seeing her doing her stuff for Hideo fricking Taneka, y’all. Helping HIM when all this time he’s been a hero of hers. It was complete #goals. I loved the whole concept of the Warcross game (even if I don’t really understand virtual reality), I loved seeing the teams battle and Emika prove herself to the Phoenix Riders, once she’s drafted in to join their team in the Championships and it was just an all-around brilliant novel for girl power and girl gamers.
I am so excited for the next novel in this series (or duology? IDK) because the ending left me with more questions than answers. One of those answers I expected, I guessed it right when it was first mentioned but it was the other half of it that baffled me. So I’m stoked to see it resolved, or where it goes next. I also hope the rest of the Phoenix Riders return, as I liked their addition to the novel, how they helped Emika and they seemed to add a bit of a calming influence to the book, but mostly I was want Emika to kick more ass like she did here in Warcross. I absolutely devoured Warcross, Marie Lu has written such an absorbing read and she’s given us someone to really root for in Emika.
