Warcross

Wow. How can I even begin to describe this book? This book absolutely blew me away with how much I loved it. Warcross is nothing like Marie Lu's previous books, and brings us into a world where the people around the world are all hooked into one game that has become a way of life - both providing a virtual reality and an escape for those looking for one. Emika Chen has few dollars left in her name, her rent is late, and she's having no luck lately as a bounty hunter. The eviction notice outside her apartment is a constant reminder that she'll be kicked out by the end of the week if she doesn't come up with some money. And fast. It's the night of the Warcross opening ceremonies and in the opening game, Emika takes a risk to hack into the game to make some quick cash, but winds up glitching into the game. The creator of Warcross, and the glasses that allows its users to hook into the system, is nothing short of a genius. He's in his early twenties and created everything they know today when he was only in his teens. Hideo Tanaka is a mysterious guy who's in the tabloids often, but does anyone really know the suit-wearing, rarely smiling guy behind the devices that have changed the world? Emika is hired by Hideo to catch whoever might be exposing Warcross' security vulnerabilities and hacking into their network. The hacker is smart and only Emika might have a chance of catching him during the Warcross games. This is where Emika is entered into the competition as a wild card player, untried and untested in the international levels of gaming, and finds herself swept into a game that far exceeds the Warcross competition. I initially wasn't all that sold on the book? I'm just not into gaming at all, so I was worried about whether or not I would be able to "get" this book, but I absolutely fell in love with the story and the concept behind everything. The world-building is informative in a way that's immersive and never bogs you down with too much information. The gaming aspect is very fast-paced and it should come with a warning: IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND A STOPPING POINT. Once the Warcross games start, it's pretty much full speed until the end from there. I loved that we have a book that has a Chinese-American character who specializes in hacking. Emika is a bit star-struck when she meets her idol, Hideo, and even I'm swooning over Hideo. She's fast on her feet after all those years living on the streets, and smart enough to give the enemy hacker a run for their money. We have a very diverse cast of characters in this book, and I loved how we get to meet each character how the teams are set up for the competition. It's definitely shown as a mix of cultures and language is no barrier with their VR glasses. Also, a random Easter egg? But there's a character, the team captain Asher, is the younger brother to an actor and stuntsman named DANIEL BATU WING. It appears that this series is set 80 years before the Legend series (from Marie's tour), so is he/how is he related to Daniel Altan Wing of the Legend trilogy? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? I NEED ANSWERS. And a subtle thing I noticed in this book is that the female is the default. For example, we're so used to default unknowns to "he" pronouns, that it was a nice change to see a book default to using "she" pronouns. The book is hilarious at points with the flirting, and the ending took me by surprise. This book is full of feels that will make your heart ache one minute, and leave you giggling the next. Some parts I guessed, but it's still a shocker enough that I need the next book now. *sobs* This is undoubtably my favorite Marie Lu book and I cannot wait to read book two! ***Thanks to Penguin Random House for providing an ARC of this book***

Rating: 4.5/5 Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Dystopian Recommended Age: 13+ (slightly mature scenes, trigger warnings for one bombing scene that might be upsetting to someone) 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.- Amazon.com Do you play Warcross? It’s all the new rage! You plug yourself into the NueroLink and you’re then totally immersed into a virtual world. Play the game enough times and you can become good enough to compete in the international championships! Or just glitch into the game like Emika does. Our rainbow haired hero had my attention and love from page 1. Determined, brave, and courageous, while those aren’t different from any other characteristics from any other YA novel Emika is just wrote differently and can definitely stand on her own in the YA field. Beyond my gushing over Emika, I thought the rest of the characters were not only so well developed, but also diverse and complex. Even the secondary characters were amazingly described. Every character was so vivid I could easily picture them in my mind. The plot was also extremely well done. I didn’t expect the twists I saw coming and now I’m left with more questions than answers! I also thought the pacing was very well done and the writing was as well. For this being my first Marie Lu book I didn’t realize what an amazing author she was until this novel. Now I totally see why people pine over her books! Her writing was so well done! I could gush about it for days! However much I loved this book, I had a few issues with this book. While I loved how Marie Lu included a very diverse cast of characters, I had some questions with one of the characters. One of the characters is wheelchair-bound and I never really got answers as to how this effects his avatar in the game. Does his avatar walk around or is the wheelchair still apart of the avatar? I also felt that the background could have been described better. I feel bad that I was comparing this book until it was nearly complete to Ready Player One. They’re on two different levels. However, since I did compare the two quite frequently, I felt that Ready Player One excelled in scene setting while Warcross didn’t. The setting was still good in my opinion, but I feel like there could have been more. I did like that Marie Lu did incorporate real world internet “sites” (if you know what I mean) and I loved the description of that world. I just wish I could have seen that throughout the novel. Verdict: Overall, an amazingly well done book that’s for gamers and n00bs alike! I felt inspired by Emika and I’m completely upset that I have to wait for the next installment of this book to come out. I feel that the technology incorporated wasn’t completely beyond realistic means of what could be one day and I loved all the internet and gaming references that Marie Lu hid throughout the book. I felt like a child collecting Easter eggs on Easter Sunday! Seriously an amazing read that any lover of games or YA sci-fi would absolutely fall in love with.

Marie Lu is an extremely accomplished author who has delved into multiple genres within her body of work. She's written a dystopia, dark fantasy, and now within science fiction. There's pretty much nothing Marie Lu can't pen with ease and a beautiful finesse. Warcross is a futuristic sci-fi thriller that debuts Emika Chen, a poverty-stricken bounty hunter and hacker who is just trying to survive and pay off her debt. It's not until she accidentally glitches into the popular virtual game Warcross during it's opening game., before she reaches her first major big break. She finds herself hired by the infamous brilliant creator of the game, Hideo Tanaka, who wants her to uncover a serious security breach within his game. Emika uncovers a dangerous plot that's being orchestrated by a mysterious man named Zero, who plans to make his final move at the Championship game. Over the course of her spying, Emika learns that one of her team mates on the Phoenix Riders is in league with Zero. As she begins to get closer to uncovering Zero's dangerous plot, things begin to heat up. Warcross is a virtual game that allows for players to escape reality and creates a virtual world that feels real to them. However, escapism isn't it's only use as Emika Chen knows well. The game has generated a criminal monopoly of sorts, causing illegal betting and an assassination hit list in a dark shady underworld beneath the original Warcross game. Emika is a lone-wolf kind of gal, but we see her grow into the relationships she makes as she makes friends with her teammates, even finding an intense romance with infamous billionaire creator, Hideo. The world itself is visually pleasing as it's filled with beautiful descriptions of the arenas each match takes place in. Lu is a master at knowing her audience and infuses her beautiful descriptions with a fast-paced plot that is always evolving. It's full of blood thirsty action, and adrenaline pumping competition. Many believe Warcross to be a cross between Hunger Games and the likes of Quidditch and Minecraft. A game like Warcross which encompasses the entire world is bound to lead Emika Chen at the mercy of the dark underbelly of the hacker world. Dark truths are reveal about the world of Warcross and those closes to her. One particular plot twist involving a character was so heart-wrenching, I'm still not quite over it. It will be interesting to see what Marie Lu plans to do with this series going forward, as the ending has left you knowing nothing will be the same ever again. Marie Lu is one of many recent authors who have strived to write compellingly diverse stories. Emika Chen is Chinese-American, her love interest Hideo is Japanese, the Captain of her Warcross team is wheel-chair bound, and characters Roshan and Tremaine are gay. Lu's creation of Warcross and it's world-wide appeal within the story has allowed for her to include people of all nationalities and races. I found that intersectionality is a major element within Lu's story and it was very refreshing to read. It was very much representative of what today's world looks like and that's important for our youth. Marie Lu has created a richly imagined virtual world that you won't ever want to leave. It's filled with passion and compassion, provides glimpses into what unresolved grief for a dead loved one can do to one's mind, and she infuses this story with enough complexity that makes it a must for all to read. Emika is an underdog that is resourceful and cunning, and her flaws just make her even more endearing. Warcross as a game is the perfect allegory for the emotional pull every gamer experiences when they are committed to the life of gaming. When a game is transplanted and takes over reality, you come to find that real life issues don't disappear, no matter how hard you try to escape. And with the grand-scale Warcross' platform has evolved into, you begin to see issues of hacking, murder, violence, gambling, and corruption become magnified 100 times over. Marie Lu has admitted Warcross is a love-letter paying homage to all of her favorite things. This book is a beautiful, richly colored, intense experience that I recommend all readers to embark on. Be sure to pick up Warcross as soon as you can, you won't regret it.

No spoilers in this rapid review of Warcross. I give it 4.75 stars. I LOVED it! It’s an immediate addition to my favorites list! Marie Lu’s Goodreads profile says she was an art director at a video game company before she began writing, and this helps explain the genius behind her creation. She has experience in this area, and she capitalized on it in a BIG way! In her straightforward yet engaging prose, Lu built a world and characters I won’t soon forget. The story is about Emika Chen, a young woman who has suffered several traumatic events in her life. These lead her down an unexpected path: She uses her hacking skills to earn a living as a virtual bounty hunter. But she’s in a rut and needing some quick cash. Emika decides to capitalize on a glitch she’s noticed in Warcross, a virtual reality video game that has taken the world by storm. She hacks her way into a global Warcross event in hopes of quietly stealing enough to pay her rent and accidentally ends up in the main game sequence. Suddenly she’s recognized around the globe. Hideo Tanaka, the creator of Warcross, soon contacts her. He wants to make use of her hacking skills, and his offer is hard to refuse. Why do I love this book so much? Let me count the ways: (1) Nothing pulls me along faster than a set of circumstances I can’t decipher, and Lu hinted at many mysteries I was dying to figure out. All my theories ended up being wrong, by the way. (2) I had some fangirl moments about several things Emika experiences as she’s pulled from her ordinary life into an exciting one most people can only dream of. (3) I got major Hunger Games vibes in a few scenes. It was fun to have flashbacks to my joy when I initially read one of my favorite series! (4) I was immersed in a high-tech world with many cool features. All of them would’ve sounded like science fiction a few years ago, but several could easily make an appearance in the real world someday soon. Basically, Marie Lu appealed to many things I adore as a reader. She also tackled a few tough issues. Lu touched on how people react to tragic circumstances in their life and how it shapes who they are. She alluded to social commentary on our current reliance on technology and our absorption in unreality. This definitely gave me pause. And finally, she presented a very interesting moral dilemma. Lu seamlessly mingled these heavier topics with the fun and mysterious elements of the story. And then that ending…Talk about inner conflict! I cannot stop thinking about this book. I’ve already re-read parts of it twice: the final few chapters as well as a few other key scenes a bit earlier on. I caught more the second and third times around. And I could easily pick this book back up for a full re-read immediately. It’s just that good. What else can I say? Believe the hype! Warcross is an excellent book for many reasons, and I definitely recommend it! I cannot wait to read the next installment. With the brilliant way Lu crafted this book, I shouldn’t be worried about book 2. But I just can’t imagine how everything’s going to be resolved. How can this come together in a logical manner? Do the questions posed in the final chapter contain clues about things I’m dying to know? How can the situation ever really be okay? While I have no idea how she’s going to do it, I have faith Marie Lu can and will conclude this series with a book just as amazing as Warcross. Search for 'Book Series Recaps' to read all our reviews as well as our full book recaps!

Warcross takes place in the slight future where a virtual reality game called Warcross is played by millions all over the world. For Emika, it's a way to make a living. Emika is a hacker and a bounty hunter, paid to track down those who bet on the game illegally. The score isn't always so good though so when the chance for Emika to make some fast cash happens, she takes it. Unfortunately it was hacking into the international Warcross Championships, where she glitches it thus exposing her identity. After her hack, Emika draws the attention of young billionaire Hideo Tanaka. He needs a spy in the upcoming tournament to find a security flaw and find the one trying to disrupt the games. But what Emika uncovers is far more than she thought, with lives and Warcross at stake. This book was great! For the most part. Emika is a great main character. She's tough, has rainbow hair, is a great hacker and player, and stands up for herself. She's been through some hard times and just wants to finish the job she was hired for but she isn't going to back down. She does end up getting a bit closer to her boss than she'd intended. Hideo is mysterious and has a lot of walls and emotional baggage and I was here for that romantic subplot. When they were sharing their emotions while making out- yes please. The Warcross games were so fun! I kind of got a Hunger Games vibe, but a lot less murdery. They were imaginative and exciting. I want to play! Another thing I really liked was the dark underbelly of Warcross, the Dark World. It was creepy, and it was so well done. But that's kind of where one of the issues I had with this book begin though: the VR itself. While I get it's the future, it's not that far into the future (or at least I would think, besides the NeuroLink, everything else is the same and there is no mention of a year). This tech made no sense at times and I would have accepted it being magic versus any sort of computer science. The worst part is that it didn't even TRY to explain it. Then there was times where I wasn't really sure how they were moving. At first they were sitting down while moving virtually by twitching their feet to move or something. Other times they moved their hands while VRing.... do they move to play the game or not? How real does it feel when you aren't walking around yourself? How does the guy in the wheelchair move around in the game? I know it's nitpicking but it just bothered me. Onto more positives though- the casual diversity! Warcross is a worldwide game and hell yeah if it's going to feel that way with people being different nationalities and throwing those different languages around. Tokyo being the setting was also really fun but I wished they were outside more. I also wished that Emika had bonded with her fellow teammates more but hoping in the sequel! This book really opens up for the sequel, while also tying up some loose ends, like the identity of Zero. The writing was just so good, and the characters were so well made. The descriptions of the games were really awesome. Despite my issues with this book, I did still really enjoy it and I need the sequel right now and not next year.

This is going to be a review of gushing, hyperbole, and adjectives. As someone who loves video games, diverse stories, and sci-fi (but who is always desperately in search of more sci-fi books), I knew Warcross was going to be a winner. I wasn't disappointed. Like the author, inside a shiny superfun rainbow package is a deviously clever core. With a vibrant main character (not least because of her hair), a dazzling neon cyber-world with a sinister underbelly, a steamy romance, and a breakneck plot, Warcross rockets you through breathtaking rollercoaster loops and smacks you with an ending shock that leaves you clawing for more. Lu has a rare command of both characters and world, with some exceptions. Our MC, Emika, is a snarky Chinese computer whiz whose personality leaps off the page as vividly as her rainbow-colored hair. She's as fierce as Katniss, with a similar edge. Hideo is a Japanese genius playboy worthy of Bruce Wayne's mantle. They spark against each other like flint, their relationship intense and complicated. Unfortunately, the secondary characters don't burn as brightly. I loved Tremaine, the snarky bad-boy hacker and Emika's rival, but Emika's teammates were a little too subdued for people who played such important roles. Even if the main characters had been cardboard, the world was enough to draw me in. Lu crafts an atmosphere with the punch and lightning of old school Nintendo on acid. With precise, evocative descriptions, she renders a futuristic cyber technicolor Wonderland that I'd die to play in. It's a world where virtual reality is layered over physical reality, where you get points for going to the grocery store, where you can slip into fantasy playgrounds with the touch of a button. She gives enough detail about the platform, Neurolink, to seem scientifically plausible, without going into so much detail that the science begins to break down. On this stage, Lu takes the intersection between life and video games to its logical conclusion. The battle game Warcross is something that I could easily see being a real game; Lu's game designer roots are obvious in its intricacy. I was just as enthralled by the descriptions of Warcross battles in the grand tournament as I was with the underlying mystery: who's the hacker Zero and why does he want to take down Warcross? Lu also plays around with the dark side of technology, including an extra-sinister Dark Web that's actually a 3D black market. And the final twist...it's too much of a spoiler to say, but it elevates Warcross from fun cyber adventure to dark cyberpunk thriller with one punch. I won't say Warcross is a perfect book. The side characters get kind of shafted, and the central romance moves a little fast. However, the main characters and the world itself are so intensely vivid that you almost have to squint from the strobelight. I rode Warcross's wave on a rave-like high and crossed the final page with vicious book hangover. It left me with so many questions and theories, so much anticipation. I can't wait to jump back into Lu's technicolor Tokyo and follow Emika as she contends with the dark side of virtual reality. in a sentence Warcross is a vibrant science-fiction thriller that riffs on video game technology to spin a cyberpunk mystery adventure that will leave you reeling.

I liked the first 3/4 of this book. It flowed, it had interest and some good (and bad) descriptions. I just feel like the game aspect was super glossed over, with no.depth (Add a chapter of Emi playing a non-tournament game or two? Describe that there are 5 positions during the first game we interact with, not a training round halfway through? Possibly also describe those 5 positions and what the heck they mean/do? Why was Asher playing with a full team in the beginning and then needed 2 new players a week later?) The cliches were a bit too thirsty. And the plot twist/hook in the last 1/4 was just downright sad/desperate/annoying/dumb/predictable. The kind of predictable where you go "and for the authors next trick, the romantic interest will instead..." Honestly i fell asleep last night from boredom and could barely bring myself to pick it back up today cause I knew what was going to happen and I knew I was going to be disappointed I wasted my time. All in all, I was okay with it, I just wanted some more depth to the beginning. But I lost interest during the confusion of the last game, and was just kinda disgusted with everything after that.

This book was a terrific sci-fi adventure with compelling, flawed characters and heart-stopping twists and turns. Even someone like me, who’s not an avid gamer, could appreciate the incredible detail that went into creating the game at the heart of the book and describing its rules and complexities. And WOW THAT ENDING. (But don’t worry. This is a spoiler-free review!) I think what really hooked me when I read about this book was that Emika was described as a teenage hacker who also worked as a bounty hunter. I mean, you had me at hacker, but a bounty hunter, too?! So cool. Not to mention her rainbow-dyed hair. I found her to be a relatable character with a great deal of emotional depth. She’s brilliant at what she does, but I did like that by the end of the book, she found herself stuck in a hard place. Don’t get me wrong. I love seeing protagonists succeed and find happiness. But I also love the realism of seeing them struggle and grow through tough situations. I really liked Emika’s teammates and how her relationship with them changed as the story progressed. I’m hoping to see more of Asher — and learn more about him — in the next book. It was great to see disability representation in this book, and that’s something I would be happy to see more often. And finally, the game of Warcross itself was described in a way that didn’t leave me feeling confused or unsure of how and why things were happening. I feel like I was given just enough information — not too little and not too much. I had already read some reviews critiquing the predictability of the plot, and yes, there were definitely moments when my suspicions turned out to be true. But I will say, I think the twists in this book — even if you already know they’re coming — are well-crafted. I didn’t like Hideo much, from the beginning all the way to the end. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I disliked him, but I felt sort of “meh” about him. I found his backstory to be interesting, but I never felt as emotionally attached to or invested in him as I did with Emika. And this is a really small thing, but I wanted to see more of the Dark World. I’m hoping we get to explore more of it in the next book, because I’m fascinated by what we’ve seen so far. The Pirate’s Den, the Emerald Emporium, the circus imagery and secret codes and passageways… Honestly, I could read an entire book about it. Overall, this was a fun read that I couldn’t put down! (Seriously, I chose to keep reading even while my husband watched Pacific Rim, and that movie is the BEST.) I would definitely recommend this book to gamers and non-gamers alike.

Türkçesini okuduğum bir seriydi ve seriyi özleyince İngilizce basımını almak istedim. Hızlı ve sorunsuz ulaştı.

Perfect blend of science and action, The main female character is "chef's kiss". Amazing sci fi book for young adults.

Intressant bok. Man faller djupare och vill bara fortsätta.

Gripping and entertaining YA science fiction set in the video game world. Characters you can care about and real-world dilemmas are explored in an online world where anything can happen. Can't wait to read the sequel!

Cover: Ich bin absolut begeistert von dem Cover. Die Farben gefallen mir sehr und es spiegelt den Charakter des Online-Games “ Warcross“ super wieder. Meine Meinung: Ich bin zwar selbst kein Fan von Online-Games und spiele auch selbst keins, aber irgendwie hat mich diese Geschichte seht gereizt. Die Idee eine Geschichte über ein Online-Game in Kombination mit einer Kopfgeldjägerin ist einfach unschlagbar gut. Die junge Emika rutscht mehr oder weniger durch einen Zufall in die Meisterschaften des bekannten Online-Games Warcross. Sie soll durch ihre speziellen Fähigkeiten als Hackerin herausfinden, wer das Spiel versucht zu manipulieren.warcross (1) Was sie noch nicht ahnt, ist das weitaus mehr hinter alldem steckt, als es auf den ersten Blick ersichtlich ist. Emi findet sich in der Welt von Medienrummel und bekannter Warcross-Spieler mehr und mehr ein, verliert aber trotz des Glamours ihren Auftrag nicht aus den Augen. Sie ist eine starke Protagonistin, die sich nicht leicht unterkriegen und wenn sie eine Fährte hat nicht locker lässt. Man kann sie als sehr hartnäckig und zielstrebig bezeichnen. Ihre Art Dinge zu kombinieren und Zusammenhänge herzustellen ist unglaublich. Aber auch ihr Humor darf nicht unerwähnt bleiben, denn er ist genial, einfach genial. Ich fand sie von Beginn an arg sympathisch und charmant auf ihre eigene Art. Emi gehört nicht zu den Menschen, die sich leicht beeindrucken oder kaufen lassen. Ein weiterer Charakterzug der ihr in der Welt von Warcross zugute kommt. Ihre Beziehung zu dem Erfinder von Warcross Hideo Tanaka, ändert sich im Verlauf der Geschichte in eine Richtung die mir wirklich gut gefallen hat. Die beiden lernen sich auf der Geschäftsebene kennen, merken aber beide das da noch mehr ist. Ich habe mit den beiden mitgefiebert und innerlich laut gejubelt, als die Beziehung begann sich zu ändern. Hideo Tanaka ist zu Beginn recht kühl und verschlossen, ganz der Geschäftsmann. Als ich dann aber im Verlauf der Geschichte immer öfter hinter seine Fassade blicken warcross (2)konnte, hat so einiges von seinem Verhalten mehr Sinn ergeben. Denn auch bei ihm schlummert so manches aus der Vergangenheit. Der Schreibstil von Marie Lu ist atemberaubend. Die Intensität der Geschichte konnte mich absolut packen. Auch wenn ich mich in der Welt der Gamer so gut wie nicht auskenne, habe ich mich in der Geschichte gut zurechtfinden können. Sie beschreibt das Online- Game Warcross bildhaft so fantastisch, dass ich das Gefühl hatte Live dabei zu sein. Die Spannung hätte ebenfalls nicht besser sein können. Marie Lu baut immer wieder diese unterschwellige Spannung auf, und wirft dem Leser immer mehr Bröckchen vor die Füße, sodass ich selbst begonnen habe Vermutungen bezüglich “ Zero“ anzustellen. Ich bin einfach begeistert von der Story. Als die letzte Seite gelesen war, war ich auch wirklich traurig…….denn da war mir noch nicht klar, das “ Warcross“ ein Zweiteiler ist. Da das Ende ein absoluter Cliffhanger ist, fiebere ich schon jetzt der Fortsetzung entgegen. Fazit: “ Warcross“ hat mich wirklich überrascht. Ich bin absolut fasziniert von der Geschichte. Ich könnte das Buch glatt direkt nochmal lesen. Die Gamer- Thematik hat mich absolut begeistert. Ich glaube ich habe einen neuen Genre-Zweig für mich entdeckt. Natürlich hoffe ich nun auf eine baldige Fortsetzung von “ Warcross“. Zitat aus dem Buch: “ Interesting doensn't even begin to cover it.“ I glance around the office. “ I hope you're ready to settle in. I've got a bunch of information for you.“