It isn’t often that you can say that a book was the best book you read that year. In fact, you can only say that about one book a year. Warcross, by Marie Lu was the best book that I read in 2017.
The whole premise of Warcross, for me, was exciting. A book about gaming and hacking and tracking down criminals? Yes, please! I already knew that Marie Lu could write in more than one genre and make them good: j’adore the dystopian world of 100 years from now in Legend (words in English can’t even express how much I love it, so I have to switch to French 😉 ), and the medieval fantasy world of The Young Elites was amazing too. A book about a hacking bounty hunter should be great as well, right?
I was not disappointed. Warcross kept me enthralled from the first chapter until the end. Then I wanted more.
The main character, Emika Chen, is an amazingly complex character, like so many of the other characters that Lu has created. Emika is brilliant, but she can’t use her genius to create a comfortable life for herself because she has a criminal record. Before you go on judging her for that, you have to read the book, because there’s a really good reason for it. Her past has been difficult, really for no fault of her own, and you just want to root for her and wish for her best.
In this world, everybody likes to play a game called Warcross. It’s not only a virtual world where you can hang out and chill, it’s also a world where you can join a team and battle against other teams. Like the real-world game of Overwatch (which my daughter likes to play) there are professional teams that people will root for; only in this book, Warcross is way more popular than Overwatch. Everybody is involved. Warcross is so integrated in society that your level in Warcross can determine whether you can get into fancy restaurants (much like the real-life social scoring program, Zhima Credit, can get you perks in China).
In this world, Emika is on the verge of homelessness. In a moment of desperation, she initiates a hack that will change her life forever.
As she tries to hack into the International Warcross Championships, she accidentally is seen by nearly everybody in the world. Whoops.
She thinks she’s in trouble. The creator of Warcross, Hideo Tanaka (whom Emika has been fangirling after for years), gives her a call. He wants her to come to Tokyo. This creates one of the best lines in the book:
“I’d love to, but my roommate and I are actually about to get evicted from our apartment tomorrow, so…”
A billionaire that you’ve been fangirling over for years wants to meet you in Tokyo and that’s your reaction? It seems like something I would say. In fact, once when I was in Jack in the Box, my boyfriend said to me “let’s go get married” and my response was “I thought we were going to go buy a computer today.” We ended up getting married, and never did go buy that computer, LOL.
Instead of getting in trouble, Emika gets a job. She goes on adventures. Finds danger. Maybe finds love. You’ll just have to read it to find out.
This book almost feels like it could happen in the next five or ten years. Even today, there is a Dark Web. There is an assassination market. Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are already here, and they are getting better every day. The world of Warcross is one that has all of these elements, which are already here, and are only getting more prevalent in our lives every day.
In addition to being a great book, Warcross asks ethical questions, although not overtly. Is giving up freedom for security worth it? Who determines right from wrong? Should we let the powers that be keep us from doing what “they” think is wrong? It’s not just a fun book, it’s a fun book that makes you think.
I don’t think I can say enough good things about this book. If you haven’t read Warcross, get it now; and while you’re at it, pre-order Wildcard, which comes out September 18th. While I can’t say that Wildcard will be the best book I read in 2018 (I haven’t read it yet, and there’s still 6 months left in the year), I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a great book as well.
This does sound really good. I’ve seen so many great reviews for it, so I’m not surprised that you loved it:-)
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She’s an outstanding writer overall. 🙂
Wow this sounds like an incredible book; I have seen the cover a few places but haven’t actually read a review before yours, and this is definitely up my alley so it is being thrust onto my TBR. Great review!
Hope you like it! Although if your TBR is like a lot of people’s, it might take a while to get to it.
I still haven’t read any of her books yet. Lame, I know. I’ve wanted to since Legend released but just never got to it. This sounds so good, especially since it’s your favorite so far this year.
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Legend is really good too. I would say it might be easier to get at the library than Warcross, but I checked my library and all the copies are still checked out, so maybe not. I’ll be reviewing the trilogy (as a whole, not individual books) on the blog next Thursday.
I’m not sure which one is better (they’re both really good) but with Legend you can read the entire series all at once. If you get the time, read them both. All of her books are good :-)… although I never read her Batman book (not a big fan of superheroes).
I’m so glad you loved Warcross! For me, Wildcard is x1000 better and soooo exciting–one of my favorite reads of the year 🙂 Awesome review, thanks for sharing!
Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles
I’m looking forward to reading it!
I have this book on my shelf, and WHY haven’t I read it yet? So much amazingness here.
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I’m sure that we all have those books on our shelves that we want to read but haven’t gotten around to yet. The second part of the duology comes out September 18th, so you still have a little time!
I felt the same way, that in a lot of ways this feels like it could happen very soon in real life. Or something similar anyway. This was one of my favorite reads of the year too, and I can’t WAIt for Wildcard!
Less than 3 months now!
I bought this book several months ago but haven’t had the chance to read it yet. I am trying to get caught up with all of my review books so I can start tackling my pile of purchased books 🙂 I am so happy to see your enthusiasm for this one. It make me even more eager to get started on it!
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Hope you’re able to get around to it soon!
I’m glad you found such an amazing book! The way their scores in the game can affect real life things like that sounds like an interesting premise. I’m still laughing at your story about the marriage thing, by the way, hahaha. It really adds a whole ‘nother layer to books when it’s the kind of thing you can see happening one day, and thought-provoking books are great!
Here’s an article about your score affecting your life today (well, in China at least): https://www.wired.com/story/age-of-social-credit/
In Champion (the third book of Marie Lu’s Legend trilogy) one of the characters go to Antarctica (which, 100 years from now, is technologically advanced in this book) and they have a similar scoring system; although there it’s not based on a game, as it is in this book.
I loved this book so much!! I am so glad that you enjoyed it as well. I cannot wait to get my hands on Wildcard and the sooner the better. 🙂
This is one of the books I’m counting down the days to. Well, right now it’s months, but as it gets closer, I’ll start thinking “30 days!” “29 days!” etc.
The premise for Warcross does nothing for me. But the fact that you, and so many other bloggers I trust love it, makes me want to just ignore my first impression and give it a go.
You can always get it from the library if you’re not sure of it, then you don’t have to spend money.
I struggled with this book and wasn’t able to finish it. I recommended this to one of my besties and she loves it so much – she has a degree in IT and loves hacking and stuff so I knew she would love it!
I may revisit this again!
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My degree was in Computer science as well. Some friends and I used to do baby hacking things as far back as the fifth grade, LOL. But I love all of Marie Lu’s books (although I haven’t gotten around to reading her Batman book yet, I’m not really into superheroes), so it’s not just the whole computer angle that makes me love this book.