WARCROSS by Marie Lu: A NO SPOILER Review and Choosing a #PlayWARCROSS Team

Hey everyone! So excited to have a post on this amazing book. Really, everyone should pre-order it stat!  I have loved Marie Lu ever since her Legend trilogy, which was cemented with her Young Elites trilogy. WARCROSS is my favorite. And I get to build a fictional team to play WARCROSS!

Goodreads Book Description: 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.

My rating: 5 out of 5 couches (can I give it 6??)

My review: Holy cow. This book had a lot of hype and I was super excited for it, so it had to fail, right? My expectations rarely live up to reality when they are that high.

Well, Marie Lu proved me wrong. This book is fantastic and deserves all the hype. Warcross stars Emi, who is a starving, impoverished Bounty Hunter, just trying to make ends meet in a world where a virtual reality game has taken over. The game is sort of a mashup of Quidditch meets Mario Go Kart and everyone is plugged in to see the championship game... and then Emi does something crazy that gets her unwanted attention across the globe.

If you were like me and didn't really read the synopsis because I just wanted the entire ride, hopefully this keeps things vague enough-- you get more spoiled in the synopsis. Emi is a great character, and I was rooting for her the whole way. She has some flaws, which come into play later in the book, where she makes some questionable decisions, but this just makes her more human. Hideo, the creator of WARCROSS, is sexy, mysterious, and compelling. The rest of the cast is wonderful as well but I won't talk too much about them as I want the reader to figure it out for themselves.

The game itself is amazing and the world they are in-- the virtual reality-- is just detailed so beautifully by Lu. I found myself slowing down although it was the most fast paced read I've had in a while, just so I could see the scenery, and that NEVER happens (I'm a dialogue/character reader not a description reader).

Lu has several aces up her sleeve. There was one I guessed pretty early on, but there was another I never guessed at all. And even when I guessed the answer, I still don't know exactly what is going on and I'm dying to find out. You won't find out all the secrets in this book, so we will all have to wait for the next installment.

Overall, my favorite read of the year thus far, and definitely on my list of top books ever. I think I love this book more than her other two series and that's saying a lot because I really really really loved those as well. Lu is a standout, and she'll continue to dominate the NYT bestseller list for years to come!

OK now for my team that I would like to #PlayWARCROSS   

Team Captain - Kestrel from the Winner's Curse trilogy. YA Wednesdays had her as the Architect, which I think she would be amazing at, but I would even have her as the Team Captain because she can see the big picture and make key strategic decisions.

Architect - Hermione from Harry Potter, who else? Hermione is a puzzle solver. She proved that over and over again, and given a task, she figures out how to solve it. She would be perfect in this role.

Thief - Gen from The Thief. What better thief than a master thief? Gen would be ideal.

Shield - Peeta from Hunger Games. I select him because he looks out for everyone else other than himself and sacrifices for the greater good.

Fighter - Wonder Woman from the movie (And probably Warbringer but I haven't read it yet). Um, did you see the scene where she went across the battlefield with just her shield?? I would want her fighting on my side for sure!

What's your #PlayWARCROSS team?