Warcross (ARC Review)

Warcross by Marie Lu
Series: Warcross #1
Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction
Format: ARC (won at BookCon)
Page Length: 416 pages
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 12, 2017

About Warcross (via Goodreads):

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 players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing 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 was an action-packed and exhilarating start for a new series from Marie Lu. As one of my favorite authors, I had high expectations for Marie's writing and this book, and overall, it did not disappoint. While it took a chapter or two for me to get into the story, Marie Lu quickly had me hooked from there on out, and I devoured it in a single afternoon/evening.

Marie Lu is a master character craftswoman. Her characters, per usual, were superb. They were all extremely fleshed out and real, with deep (and often traumatic) backstories that really helped me understand the characters' personalities, actions, and thoughts. Lu definitely knows how to make a reader sympathize with her characters, especially the morally gray ones. (She is THE BEST at writing morally gray characters, I swear.) Marie Lu's astounding ability with her characters is definitely my favorite of her skills, across all her books. It all seems so effortless.

While the story did have its unique elements and as a whole was fresh, exciting, and addicting, it also had it's trope-y moments. Which is fine. It worked. But Warcross definitely felt a bit like a weird mesh of Super Smash Brothers, Big Hero 6, and Wreck-It Ralph, with a touch of Sword Art Online thrown in. As I said before, Marie Lu still made the story work though, and it was super fun to read. I know it sounds weird. How can it be trope-y while also being unique? I DON'T KNOW, OKAY? IT JUST WORKS.

To be fair, I didn't really compare Warcross to those movies, anime, and game the whole time, except for when I was trying to visualize the world of Warcross. Oh and except for the minor similarities that helped me to figure out what I think were supposed to be twists and major reveals before they were revealed. Either that, or the twists just weren't as polished as I had hoped. I think it may be a combination of both, because there were definitely bits of foreshadowing that were just a bit too obvious for me *shrugs* I still greatly enjoyed the novel, but it was definitely on the predictable side. So the somewhat thriller-like components DID NOT work for me.

The story was definitely fast-paced and had the perfect balance between world-building, action, romance, character development, and all the elements crucial to a good book. Although there was that flaw for me, I definitely enjoyed reading it overall, and highly recommend it for all fans of Marie Lu.

My rating: 3.8 stars