Well this was just fantastic!
I finished this book and immediately thought to myself, "Why have I not read more of Marie Lu's books? And what are we going to do now?!"
The entire time I'm finishing this up and thinking of the song "Bad Blood" - because T Swift was right, now we've got problems and I don't know how we're going to solve them.
This is everything I could want in a book. Literally everything.
Marie Lu creates a vibrant, action packed world in which virtual reality reigns supreme and everyone's a player. With a dynamic cast of characters that represent a diverse group of people from many walks of life set in a futuristic Tokyo, this book is a perfectly paced and plotted trip into a neon world brimming with possibilities. Marie Lu's vivid imagery brings the world of Warcross to life in a way that is just mind bending. I loved every second.
Here's what it's about:
Emika Chen (18, rainbow hair, all around badass) is an orphan, bounty hunter and a hacker who's about to be evicted from her apartment. Finding work is almost impossible for her due to her criminal record, so she tracks down the wanted criminals in New York and turns them into the police. Most are wanted for illegally gambling on Warcross, a virtual reality game in which players complete against each other to capture the other team's artifact on varying virtual playing fields. It's played by most and watched by all - Warcross is a global phenomenon with millions of people worldwide tuning in to watch the annual championship games.
Basically it's like quidditch but on like a Tron level.
And I really want to play.
So our girl Em's down on her luck. She's just lost out on a payday and she's about to lose everything else including her apartment. Eating a pot of instant noodles, she settles in with her roommate to watch the opening ceremonies for the Warcross world championship - because what do you do when you're about to lose everything?! You escape reality with virtual reality, duh. She's desperate and when an opportunity presents itself to do something crazy, what does she do? She takes it and glitches herself into the game. What she didn't count on was everyone watching being able to see her do it. Her hack captures the attention of Warcross creator, Hideo Tanaka (21, super good looking, billionaire, genius, I'm not swooning, you're swooning).
So with a startling twist of fate, Emika finds herself whisked off to Tokyo on Mr. Tanaka's private jet and added to the Henka Games payroll. Tanaka has a security problem; someone's been messing with the code in the game and it could have substantial consequences for everyone. He hires her as a bounty hunter and sets her with the task of tracking down the illusive hacker. But one more thing! He thinks it's an inside job, so she'll have to be in the Warcross Championships to find them.
Emika is added to the Wardraft (basically like the NFL draft - only way cooler) and becomes a member of the Phoenix Riders' team. Suddenly she's a player with celebrity status (remember, everyone saw her glitch into the opening ceremony game) and has to work twice as hard as her team members to learn the ins and outs of the game. Em's also a little distracted by her search for the illusive hacker they call Zero and another person who's name rhymes with Smideo. Because the game is so popular everyone's a suspect and as Emika begins to delve deeper into the game she begins to realize that the threat to Hideo and Warcross may be more than she bargained for.
Oh my gosh, it's so good.
And that's all you get. Because you need to read the book!
It's just so good.
Let me reiterate:
It's so good.
And now I really wish I had awesome computer hacking skills.
If you read one book this year, read this one. I promise you'll be blown away by the incredible story and characters - and then also so you can wallow with me as we wait for the next one.
'Cause like I said earlier - now we've got bad blood.
Buy It
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