"It is hard to describe loss to someone who has never experienced it, impossible to explain all the ways it changes you. But for those who have, not a single word is needed."
When I say that I began a
long-term relationship with
Marie Lu during the
pandemic, it is
#realtalk y'all.
Not in the romantic sense obvi, but in the
literary sense. It started with
Legend in
April 2020 and brings us to the present featuring
Warcross. You guys, this book is
so. good. It's
dystopian science fiction with
virtual reality and gaming all rolled into one; and it's done in such a
perfect fashion that the entire concept feels
100% feasible. Like I can legit see this happening in the future, and that is
equal parts exciting and terrifying.
Just saying.
Emika "Emi" Chen is many things: liar, orphan, bounty hunter, college dropout, prodigy, rainbow-haired hacker with daddy issues. Like I said...
a lot. The one thing she
isn't is a quitter. Take her current sitch, for example. On the verge of being
evicted from her home, Emika puts the
pedal to the metal to take down an
elusive criminal with a
major bounty that would save her -
at least for the month. And when it doesn't go her way? She decides to veg out on her couch and
hack into the annual Warcross Championship event.
A move seen around the world; and the very thing that pushes her into her current predicament.
For more than a decade
Warcross has been a mainstay in the lives of millions upon millions of users. Though debuted as a
virtual reality game, it has become more reality than reality itself, with users entering the world daily to
escape their actual lives or
turn a profit. For Emika,
it's a bit of both, so when she sees an
incredibly tempting power-up appear in the annual
Warcross Championship, she does what any
down-on-her-luck-eviction-facing hacker would do...she tries to
anonymously steal it. Emika's plan backfires almost immediately when, instead of stealing the power-up, she hacks her way into the game, thereby
exposing her identity to the world, putting herself on billionaire
Hideo Tanaka's radar, and transforming her into an
overnight celebrity. Random, right?
Though the
Warcross Championship is shutdown
immediately after Emika's stunt, she is 100% convinced that the next bounty will be
for her; so when, instead of being arrested, she's offered something irresistible by
Hideo, she is flabbergasted, to say the least. The creator of
Warcross, Hideo Tanaka is a
tech genius who is young, reserved, rich, and
brilliant. He is now also Emika's
boss {and
love interest}. You see, Emika's hacking move was
impressive, to say the least. So impressive, in fact, that Hideo hires her to go
undercover as a
Wild Card player in the Warcross Championship. Her reward? A possible
ten. million. dollars. Oh, and
new friendships, a little adventure, and
insta-celebrity. Not to mention
l-o-v-e. But when Emika's
investigation uncovers a plot
far more sinister than expected, with consequences that are
major to humanity, she needs to rethink where her loyalties lie, and what she needs to do to protect the people.
I went into this book with
zero expectations because:
1) the reviews were
all over the place {either strongly adored or hard pass}; and
2) I
legit loathed the last Lu book I read,
The Young Elites. That said, I am
so glad I read this one because,
le sigh, it was
amazing!
NGL, I knew the
true identity of
Zero immediately; but that did not detract my love of the characters and storyline. I will say that I am
thrilled that the romance between Hideo and Emika
took a backseat to everything else going on because,
maybe I'm in the minority here, but I didn't come for a romance.
#sorrynotsorry. I did, however, come for
incredible characters {Asher and Roshan were personal faves of mine},
bomb world-building, and a
virtual thrill ride...the very things I left with. Bravo Lu - bring on
Wildcard!
Star Rating: ****1/2
xx
