Starflight (Review)

Starflight by Melissa Landers
Series: Starflight #1
Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction
Page Length: 369 pages
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

About Starflight (via Goodreads):

Life in the outer realm is a lawless, dirty, hard existence, and Solara Brooks is hungry for it. Just out of the orphanage, she needs a fresh start in a place where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. She's so desperate to reach the realm that she's willing to indenture herself to Doran Spaulding, the rich and popular quarterback who made her life miserable all through high school, in exchange for passage aboard the spaceliner Zenith. When a twist of fate lands them instead on the Banshee, a vessel of dubious repute, Doran learns he's been framed on Earth for conspiracy. As he pursues a set of mysterious coordinates rumored to hold the key to clearing his name, he and Solara must get past their enmity to work together and evade those out for their arrest. Life on the Banshee may be tumultuous, but as Solara and Doran are forced to question everything they once believed about their world—and each other—the ship becomes home, and the eccentric crew family. But what Solara and Doran discover on the mysterious Planet X has the power to not only alter their lives, but the existence of everyone in the universe...

I think the best way to describe my thoughts about this book are "GUYS, THERE ARE SPACE PIRATES IN THIS NOVEL."

But on a serious note, I am not really sure what I expected out of this novel.  Everything surprised me, in a good way!  The galaxies and just the overall world that Landers had constructed in Starflight are of the highest standard; it was expansive, imaginative, colorful, and an overall joy to read about.  It was the perfect backdrop to this surprisingly layered and complex story about a ragtag group of misfits finding a family with each other.

I love YA books that try to incorporate other sub-genres into their novel, and Starflight is a great example of how it incorporated space opera along with their heavy sci-fi in this novel.  The book had this epic, grandiose feel to it, and you could feel the weight of time passing with each segment of the novel.  I've already gushed about the world of Starflight, its visuals, its creativity, and its coolness (again, SPACE PIRATES.  WHAT).  The characters of Starflight felt like they were pulled out of a short yet stellar sci-fi TV show, and all stood out on their own while simultaneously working well together.  You could start to see the bond of the crew form within each moment of time you see them on the Banshee.  And at the same time, Starflight felt really accessible and enjoyable with Landers' writing and her characters guiding me on the right path through the vast unknown of space.
Landers’ 3rd person writing had this awe-like wonder for the world around it, and Landers’ love for it only spread out even further to the audience.  Every new planet they travelled by or landed on felt important and special, and Landers did a great job of fleshing everything out to truly build the galaxy around her.  When I was reading Starflight, I felt like a kid in her universe, looking up at the huge world around me that Landers has written about, building up my dreams to one day take a spaceship and sail to every nook and cranny of the universe that Landers had written about.

Additionally, she also did a great job utilizing the 3rd person writing to convey the wider atmosphere of Solara and Doran’s thoughts.  When she first switched perspectives, I was a little confused and taken out for a bit, but intrigued.  Now I think that the whole story would have been much poorer if she stuck with a double first person narrative.  The greatest thing about this technique was that she could show all of Solara and Doran’s flaws.  One of the best things about the two protagonists was that they were simply not perfect.  They started off - and had to resort to being - pretty bad people.  But they grow throughout the novel in a very organic way filled with dry humor and wit that charms the readers.  While their relationship did end in a cliche way, Landers eased this in with a sense of anticipation built up from the readers to deliver an emotional but tried-and-true payoff.

My other complaints with the novel were more nitpicky; otherwise, reading this novel was an absolute adventure from start to finish.  It was tragic and uplifting at once, hyper-funny and super serious, and a great roller coaster read if you're really looking for something fun.

MY RATING: 3.5 STARS

Words in Deep Blue (Review)

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary
Format: ARC (received from Penguin/First in Line)
Page Length: 273 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: June 6, 2017

About Words in Deep Blue (via Goodreads):

Love lives between the lines.

Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. The day before she moved away, she tucked a love letter into his favorite book in his family’s bookshop. She waited. But Henry never came.

Now Rachel has returned to the city—and to the bookshop—to work alongside the boy she’d rather not see, if at all possible, for the rest of her life. But Rachel needs the distraction, and the escape. Her brother drowned months ago, and she can’t feel anything anymore. She can’t see her future.

Henry’s future isn’t looking too promising, either. His girlfriend dumped him. The bookstore is slipping away. And his family is breaking apart.

As Henry and Rachel work side by side—surrounded by books, watching love stories unfold, exchanging letters between the pages—they find hope in each other. Because life may be uncontrollable, even unbearable sometimes. But it’s possible that words, and love, and second chances are enough.

Words cannot describe my love for Words in Deep Blue. While the synopsis did express that there was tragedy in Rachel's life, I had not anticipated how much this book would DESTROY me. There was definitely an adorable romance in there that I loved, but I was also a sobbing mess for most of the book as well.

The way the story blended those two aspects was unlike anything I've read before. Typically in books, I've seen a sort of savior narrative where the love interest comes in and rescues the other from all the problems or thinks they could have been the one to save them, but this story wasn't like that all. In fact, I got to see that there were moments of vulnerability in all the characters (not just Rachel and Henry), and while they each supported each other, they weren't simply able to wash all the pain and hardships away.

While I've probably said this a million times before in the past, I love character-driven stories. This was one of them, and the author went above and beyond my expectations. Crowley put so much detail into building each and every character, major and minor, weaving their narratives together and creating believable and lovable people who each had their own developments and problems to overcome.

I don't want to go too much into the plot or romance for fear of spoiling (and if I'm being honest, I'm also writing this review several weeks after finishing so some of the details are a bit blurry), but I absolutely loved all aspects of this book. It's way too hard for me to articulate how wonderful this book was, and this review definitely does not give it justice, but please give it a try because it definitely surprised me in the best of ways and it's a new favorite of mine.

My rating: 4.5 stars

Bonfire (ARC Review)

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

Genre: Thriller/Mystery

Page Length: 276 pages

Format: ARC (received at BookCon)

Publisher: Crown Archetype

Publication Date: November 7, 2017

About Bonfire (via Goodreads):

Should you ever go back?

It has been ten years since Abby Williams left home and scrubbed away all visible evidence of her small town roots. Now working as an environmental lawyer in Chicago, she has a thriving career, a modern apartment, and her pick of meaningless one-night stands.

But when a new case takes her back home to Barrens, Indiana, the life Abby painstakingly created begins to crack. Tasked with investigating Optimal Plastics, the town's most high-profile company and economic heart, Abby begins to find strange connections to Barrens’ biggest scandal from more than a decade ago involving the popular Kaycee Mitchell and her closest friends—just before Kaycee disappeared for good.

Abby knows the key to solving any case lies in the weak spots, the unanswered questions. But as Abby tries to find out what really happened to Kaycee, she unearths an even more disturbing secret—a ritual called “The Game,” which will threaten the reputations, and lives, of the community and risk exposing a darkness that may consume her.

With tantalizing twists, slow-burning suspense, and a remote, rural town of just five claustrophobic miles, Bonfire is a dark exploration of the question: can you ever outrun your past?

My only feelings going into this book were EXCITEMENT.  I absolutely adore Krysten Ritter, and judging by my wardrobe and varying options of Jessica Jones cosplay outfits I was slowly becoming more like the Defender she plays on Netflix every day.  While most celebrity books can be a hit or miss, I also knew that this pure, precious cinnamon roll was also incredibly talented.  Her Bookcon panel gave a lot of interesting insight into her career and writing process (She sought out help from Lauren Oliver to get into the publishing business, she wanted to originally write a YA novel, TV is a very slow business), shutting out any worry and pessimism I possibly had going into the novel.

Bonfire is not only a great novel, but a true showing of Krysten Ritter’s talents.  Her novel is atmospheric, fast-paced, and takes no time at all to start planting seeds and clues of a mystery that yearns to be solved.  Every detail of the novel lingered in my mind long after I put the book down, and I couldn’t wait to pick it back up again and step into a dark and exciting world, mystery, and mind of a heroine that I had grown to love.

I was really surprised by how much Bonfire hit some of my personal nerves.  While Bonfire mostly raises questions about environmental care, its tagline - and much of Abby’s personal journey dares to question, “Can you ever outrun your past?”  While I got along with people in my hometown and had many close friends, I didn’t fit in and I was longing for a fresh start.  The person I became in college is a lot different from the person I was in high school, and I had wanted nothing more than to put my past behind me.  Abby’s exploration of her old ties within Barrens, Indiana not only helps to answer that question but also seeks to promote a kind of acceptance through its dark narrative that I had finally realized with open arms.  Abby’s emotional arc felt incredibly raw and realistic, complete with a legal drama as the perfect haunting backdrop to her emotional journey.

Abby felt all too familiar while establishing herself as a new heroine at the same time.  Her personality had a lot of interesting layers of emotion and intense hesitation towards her old hometown, nearly verging on paranoia.  Her thoughts felt unfiltered and organic and her interactions with her small amount of friends felt honest and meaningful because of her personality.  The other characters of Barrens, Indiana were equally well-constructed, from her ghost of a father, who nearly stole every scene he had with her because of his wacky, deteriorating personality to her former bully Misha Dale, who gives us our first look of Barrens and acts as a little bit of a foil to Abby’s character.

Also I had a really hard time not imagining Abby as similar to Krysten Ritter in my mind when I was reading this novel.

Ritter weaves in elements of mystery and suspense that are reminiscent of a classic detective story through constructing the nearly deserted town of Barrens, Indiana and its cast of characters.  In addition, I couldn’t help but see some noir vibes similar to those in Jessica Jones, through its guarded yet empathetic narrator to its layers and layers of thrills and intrigue, making it especially perfect for Krysten Ritter fans.  Her writing style is graceful and beautiful, and at times it felt like she was narrating a voiceover while I read the novel and setting up a perfect Jessica-like environment.

My biggest complaint revolves around the legal and government jargon that sometimes is dropped in the book without further elaboration, such as the handful of department abbreviations that drop around while Abby works with her law team.  I wasn’t sure if I had missed something from before or if I had just completely forgotten about it.  Additionally, while some of the chapters seem oddly placed, their appearance in the story helps to create the disruptive environment that Abby has dragged herself back into, adding to the thrill and stakes of the conflict.

I’m thrilled to say that Bonfire completely exceeded my expectations, and Krysten Ritter has created a classic, thrilling mystery with a surprisingly hefty emotional punch that further showcases her wide arrange of talents.

MY RATING: 4.5 STARS

Genuine Fraud (Mini ARC Review)

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart
Genre: Young Adult/Suspense
Page Length: 272 pages
Format: ARC (received from Penguin/First In Line, from my B-Fest trivia win last summer)
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: September 5, 2017

About Genuine Fraud (via Goodreads):

The story of a young woman whose diabolical smarts are her ticket into a charmed life. But how many times can someone reinvent themselves? You be the judge.

Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.

Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete.

An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two.

A bad romance, or maybe three.

Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains.

A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.

A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.

To get straight to the point, I was not a big fan of this book. The overall concept of the novel was definitely intriguing and entertaining (and had great potential), but it fell short for me. While the reverse chronological storytelling was an interesting addition to the novel, the plot and characters did not meet my expectations.

The plot was very character-driven, yet I could not connect to any of the characters at all. While I understand the need for mystery regarding the characters, the lack of details made them seem flat instead of appearing intriguing or mysterious.

While it was fascinating to see how the hero origin story concept was incorporated and completely twisted by the main character, it wasn't enough. It was merely scattered throughout the novel and never fully acknowledged or fleshed out. The characters lacked personality, and the main character's motivation was never clear. Good heroes and antiheroes need strong origin stories, yet this one lacked substance and a solid foundation.

I don't want to go into the details of the plot (although I thought the synopsis made the chain of events a bit too obvious), but it was definitely an interesting story. I will say that it felt like it would have worked better for the screen than a novel though. I wouldn't discourage people from reading it since it was still a decent read, but it didn't completely work for me.

My rating: 2.5 stars

Hunting Prince Dracula Blog Tour (Review + Giveaway!)

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco
Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper #2
Genre: Young Adult/Historical Fiction/Mystery
Page Length: 448 pages
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson Books (Little, Brown & Company)
Publication Date: September 19, 2017

About Hunting Prince Dracula:

In this hotly anticipated sequel to the haunting #1 bestseller Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer…or has the depraved prince been brought back to life? 

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper’s true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe’s best schools of forensic medicine…and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life’s dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school’s forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

About the Author

Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC where her fascination with gothic settings began. In her spare time she reads everything she can get her hands on, cooks all kinds of food with her family and friends, and drinks entirely too much tea while discussing life’s finer points with her cats.

Her first novel in this series, Stalking Jack the Ripper, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It incorporates her love of forensic science and unsolved history.

Follow Kerri on Social media links:

Twitter   |  Facebook   |   Instagram   |   Website   |   Tumblr   |   Pinterest

The Review

Hunting Prince Dracula is a deliciously dark read. The sequel to one of my favorite books, it had a lot to live up to, but it did not fall short of my expectations.

The return of my favorite crime-solving, forensic duo was a bit bittersweet due to the traumatic events of the first book, but their character arcs throughout the book were fascinating, and I loved watching them grow. I found myself once again cheering them on when they made progress with leads and freaking out with them when they ran into trouble (some of the terrifying beastly kind).

Unlike in Stalking Jack the Ripper, however, I didn't have any gut feelings or crazy guesses about the culprit of all the strange occurrences and deaths, which made me eagerly anticipate the reveal even more. This case was way more complicated and somewhat convoluted, so watching Audrey Rose and Thomas unravel it was a proud and exciting experience for me. I don't want to go into any further detail because I don't want to spoil, but the mystery in this one will not disappoint.

Although I found the pacing of Hunting Prince Dracula to be a bit slower than its predecessor, I immensely enjoyed the Romanian setting and learning about the folklore, history, and Dracula's bloodline. I found myself shivering on quite a few occasions from the descriptive language Maniscalco uses throughout the novel to capture the brooding atmosphere of the book. Other than Wadsworth and Cresswell (and Maniscalco's amazing character creation and development in general), her writing style is one of my favorite aspects of her books because she truly and consistently transports readers into the world of late 19th-century Europe, whether it's London in Stalking Jack the Ripper or Romania in Hunting Prince Dracula.

All in all, Hunting Prince Dracula was a fabulous sequel to Stalking Jack the Ripper, bringing back beloved characters and showcasing Maniscalco's brilliant way with words.

My rating: 4 stars

The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the rest of the tour!

Week One

August 21st ~ Paper Cuts: Hunting Prince Dracula Playlist

August 22nd ~ Literary Legionnaire: Review of Hunting Prince Dracula

August 24th ~ Arctic Books: Hunting Prince Dracula Playlist

August 25th ~ 21st Century Once Upon A Times: A “Drink Your way through SJTR: Tea Edition”

Week Two

August 28th ~ Hiver Et Café: History of Prince Dracula

August 29th ~ Justice Reads: Review of Hunting Prince Dracula

August 30th ~ Nicole’s Novel Reads: Travelling Etiquette and tips for Victorian Women

August 31st ~ Sophie Reads YA: Favourite Stalking Jack the Ripper Fanart

September 1st ~ LILbooKlovers: Top Ten Quotes from Stalking Jack the Ripper

Week Three

September 4th ~ One Way or An Author: Hunting Prince Dracula Phone Backgrounds

September 5th ~ A Blinding Book: Hunting Prince Dracula Aesthetic

September 6th ~ Rants & Raves: Review & Snacks

September 7th ~ Rattle the Stars: Hunting Prince Dracula Playlist

September 8th ~ A Gingerly Reviews: Review of Hunting Prince Dracula

Week Four

September 11th ~ The Plot Bunny: Hunting Prince Dracula Trick or Treat Customer Ideas

September 12th ~ Blame it on The Books: Hunting Prince Dracula Review

September 13th ~ The Reader & the Chef: Hunting Prince Dracula’s Menu

September 14th ~ Books, Tv, and More…Oh MY!!: Top Ten Favourite Traits of Audrey & Thomas

September 15th ~ Unquenchable Reads: GIF, GIFS, and more GIFS

Week Five

September 18th ~ Rattle the Pages: A Glimpse Back in Time: Vlad The Impaler edition

September 19th ~ Beyond the Book Reviews: Character Wears of the 21st Century

September 20th ~ The Heart of a Book Blogger: Hunting Prince Dracula Mood Board

The Love Interest (Review)

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary/LGBTQIA+
Format: Hardcover
Page Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: July 25, 2017

About The Love Interest (via Goodreads):

There is a secret organization that cultivates teenage spies. The agents are called Love Interests because getting close to people destined for great power means getting valuable secrets.

Caden is a Nice: the boy next door, sculpted to physical perfection. Dylan is a Bad: the brooding, dark-souled guy who is dangerously handsome. The girl they are competing for is important to the organization, and each boy will pursue her. Will she choose the Nice or the Bad?

Both Caden and Dylan are living in the outside world for the first time. They are well-trained and at the top of their games. They have to be—whoever the girl doesn’t choose will die.

What the boys don’t expect are feelings that are outside of their training. Feelings that could kill them both.

One of the things that I look for in a great book is an overall message and meaning behind the narrative.  While I love books that I can consume for fun wholeheartedly, I love books that give commentary on issues and strive to convey something to the greater world.  It’s why one of my favorite genres is satire, and why I will defend Kill The Boy Band to the grave.  So when I heard about Cale Dietrich’s The Love Interest, I was so excited to hear his take on tired YA tropes and novel cliches.

Most of his plays strike at the paranormal novels from around 2012, like Fallen and Hush, Hush (*shivers in disgust*) or really any YA novel published after Twilight and before, let’s say, 2015, with a heterosexual romance.  And in the first few chapters, Dietrich does this very well - like, at the level of a 4 star book.  He’s a master at worldbuilding, and he establishes clear views of the world inside and outside the LIC.  He tackles topics such as male self-consciousness and comments on the love interest’s true role in a story, showing how unrealistic and paper-thin they need to be constructed to serve their greater narrative.

But as soon as Caden meets Juliet, everything falls apart - his plans, himself, and this darn book.  Dietrich seems to juggle way too much throughout the entire story between Caden’s inner thoughts and the storylines of literally everyone else involved.  It suffered a massive case of identity crisis, and couldn’t recover itself to match the quality from the first few chapters.

First of all, Caden is an annoying little turd.  I couldn’t sympathize with his struggles but I still felt for him as a person.  Additionally, in the grand scope of things he does some pretty stupid stuff.  The book’s biggest problem is that Dietrich writes the story from Caden’s point of view the entire time, and his thoughts and prose at times seemed to be overwhelming, heavy, and too dramatic.  I personally think it would have been better to have an alternating perspective from both Caden and Dylan to capitalize on the great world-building skills Dietrich had shown in the LIC.

To add on that point, all the characters were passable at most.  Dylan and Juliet were both interesting characters that I would have preferred to hear from a bit more.  Trevor and Natalie were the most useless characters in this entire novel.  Note: I had to look through reviews on Goodreads to find their names, if that says anything.  They were poorly written and unnecessary, and ultimately serve the story more than themselves.  Frankly, Trevor and Natalie were utilized in very cliche ways (I won’t say further for spoiler reasons), which is sad because this is exactly what the author is trying to avoid doing.  Also, Caden’s coach (I think her name is Kaycee, but when I tried to look through review’s again I couldn’t find anything, which should also say lots of things) was honestly really annoying.  And for that matter their whole communication process was just so plain unrealistic that it was jarring.

The third act is just such a colossal mess I kinda felt secondhand embarrassment.  It felt like a completely different novel.  The best that I can compare how I felt is when I watched Kingsman: The Secret Service after their church scene; I was ON BOARD but my parents felt like the movie took a complete 180 degree turn.  But in this case, I was my parents.  

By far the biggest problem with this book is that it really didn’t know what it wanted to be.  It was very well-written but just all over the place.  It tried to be 10% of a satire, which it tossed out the window fairly quickly; a sexy thriller, which wasn’t often steamy but those moments were SO CHARGED that it seemed like there was TOO MUCH of it; and, most importantly, just a really good, unique, original LGBT love story, where it ended up being a cliche tale falling into the same traps it was originally criticizing.

I’d like to think that The Love Interest tried really hard not to be cliche, but that’s where it fails the most.  It had an interesting concept but sadly couldn’t really deliver, falling back into the old habits of YA novels of past.

My Rating: 2.5 stars

When Dimple Met Rishi (Review)

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary/Romance
Page Length: 380 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse

About When Dimple Met Rishi (via Goodreads):

Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

When Dimple Met Rishi was an absolute delight. With a heart-melting romance and incredible characters, When Dimple Met Rishi was an extremely relatable and fun read.

It took me about three chapters to get into the story, but once I hit chapter 4, I WAS HOOKED. I completely devoured the rest of the novel in a day. It was that good. Also, I am a huge fan of character-driven novels, and this one DID NOT DISAPPOINT. Sandhya Menon delivered an amazing story that not only focused on romance, but also on pursuing one's individual passions and taking risks to achieve your dreams.

Both Dimple and Rishi were fantastic main characters. They were flawed, lovable, and (most importantly) realistic. They were relatable characters who had authentic teen experiences and identity struggles that any teen could relate to.  I loved watching their individual growth, as well as also seeing their relationship progress and flourish. I honestly don't know how to convey how much I loved them. Not only are they my newest and truest OTP, but both of them are individually two of my favorite characters ever. I couldn't help but want to root for each of them through each and every high point and low point in their story.

The main issue for me was that the plot seemed to fade a bit in the middle. While their relationship continued to progress, some of the storyline grew less prominent and fell to the wayside. It was still entertaining and I loved seeing their amazing relationship grow stronger, but I would have liked to see a bit more of the summer program work and interactions, especially since it was such a big deal to Dimple. While it did work overall and tied in nicely in the end, a better blending of romance and plot would have made the book even better than it already was.

Filled with the perfect blend of humor, romance, and a dash of heartbreak, When Dimple Met Rishi was a rejuvenating read. When Dimple Met Rishi is the only book to ever have made me feel so unbelievably happy and renewed. It was so refreshing and fun.

My rating: 4 stars

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