Warcross
Marie Lu
Sci-fi
Warcross #1
Summary
Emika Chen has led a cursed life. Her mother left her, her father died from cancer and with a huge gambling debt to the mob. Emika was arrested for hacking and could not graduate from high school. Now she lives in a crappy studio apartment with her unemployed friend, eviction notice on the door and 13$ in her account.
The only good thing in her life is Warcross. Warcross is a full dive video game in which two teams try to steal each other’s team stone. At the opening game of the world championship Emika tried hacking one more time and ended up glitching in to the game.
Instead of going to jail or being sued by the Warcross creator Hideo Tanaka, she is offered a job. Someone is hacking the game and Hideo wants her find him them before the hacker does something truly bad. To do that Emika will be offered a once in a life time opportunity, a spot in the world championship.
Review
This book is a great read. I have tried reading books by Marie Lu before and I did not care for them but I could not put this one down. She has created a future that I think we can all see coming and a main character that we all have been at one time or another. This story feels real but with enough action and mystery to keep the reader on their toes.
The future that Marie Lu brings to light is a natural step from the world we are in now. It feels both sci-fi and real at the same time. The tech is interesting without bogging the story down in a lot of technical mumbo jumbo that the reader does not need.
The main character Emika is interesting and strong. She is smart, funny and feminine. She feels like a friend I've known before but at the same time she is unique and interesting. The other character both allies and enemies all feel well thought out and three dimensional.
The story is fun, interesting and easy to follow but with enough action and surprises to keep the reader coming back for more.
I give this book an 8.5/10.
