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.
So, fun fact: I never actually planned to read Warcross. Despite being absolutely inundated with positive reviews over the last year or so, it never really felt like something I had to read. But I was looking for an audiobook to listen to on the ten-hour ride to Tennessee and Warcross was available, so I listened to it. It was… fine. But it wasn’t as good as I’d expected.
To start off, after reading the synopsis, I was a little worried that it would just be Ready Player One with a female protagonist. It really isn’t similar to RPO at all, so that was a nice surprise. The beginning of the book felt kind of slow to me, but once I got into it, it was a pretty fun book.
This book is kind of hard for me to review, though, because the two biggest issues I had with it happen in the last 25% and I don’t want to spoil the book for the three people in the world who haven’t read it yet. So, here, in the vaguest of terms, are the positive and negative bullet points of this book:
- Positive: Teenage female hacker saving the world! (Or, at least, the game.)
- Positive: Diversity! Characters from all over the world and many different backgrounds!
- Negative: It took a while to grab my interest.
- Negative: Suuuper cliched plot twist at the end.
- Negative: Entirely unnecessary romantic subplot, and this is coming from someone who literally runs a romance book blog.
So, with two positives and three negatives, I think it’s fair to give this one two stars. I didn’t hate it, but I definitely didn’t love it and I don’t really feel like I need to read Wildcard.
Have you read Warcross? Is it on your TBR?
Let’s talk in the comments!
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I rather enjoyed Warcross, but the sequel doesn’t get much better.
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I wish I would have liked it more! I know that so many people have loved it!!
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I understand completely. You either love or hate this kind of book.
Not sure if the sequel wi be any better for you.
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I never felt that I would pick up this book and now you are making me more convinced with my choice
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If it doesn’t sound like something that would interest you, I would definitely say that you can skip it. I think that might be one of the reasons that I didn’t like this one as much as other people did.
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Great review. I must be one of the three people who’ve not read Marie Lu or Maggie Stiefvater or Sarah Maas. ::covers face in shame::
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Thanks! This was my first book by Marie Lu and I also read my first books by Maggie Stiefvater and Sarah J. Maas this year. I feel like I’m always trying to catch up with popular authors.
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I have to agree with the unnecessary romance sub plot. I have to say I have enjoyed it still. Sorry about this one.
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I’m glad you agree about the romance, but I’m also happy that you ended up liking the book overall! 🙂
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Fab review 🙂
I do have to say that I loved the romantic plot haha. Just goes to show how different people interpret different books.
Cora | http://teapartyprincess.co.uk/
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Thanks! I’m glad you liked this book. 🙂 We can definitely all interpret things differently, and it’s highly probable that I would have liked this book more if I’d read it at a different point in my life. 🙂
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Great review but the book doesn’t sound worth the read. 😯
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Thanks! A lot of people have really enjoyed it and I’ve definitely been overly picky lately, so if you think it sounds like something you’d enjoy, I hope you’ll give it a try. 🙂
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You’re most welcome! No it doesn’t sound like my kind of book anyway. 😉 Thanks though.
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Unfortunately, stories like this are too common that’s why I go off the grid and read strange stuff.
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I’ve definitely been picking up on overused tropes recently and I think it’s made me a little pickier than normal!
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Great review! This one’s on my TBR though 😅
https://jendbibliophile.wordpress.com
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I hope you like it more than I did! 🙂
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Despite my love for Lu’s Legend trillogy and the heaps of positive reviews I think I’ve heard a few too many negative reviews to pick this one up myself. Do you think you’ll bicker up the sequel or did the ending put you off it?
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I still need to read the Legend trilogy! I’m a little bit tempted to pick up Wildcard to see where she goes with the story, but I’m also not sure if I want to read something that I’m pretty sure I won’t love. Maybe I’ll listen to the audiobook if I do another long road trip. 🙂
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Oh man, sorry this one didn’t really work for you! I finally caved and got a copy last week from Bookoutlet and am rather nervous about it, but hopefully I’ll enjoy it.
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I hope that you end up liking it more than I did!
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