Warcross

Wow. How can I even begin to describe this book? This book absolutely blew me away with how much I loved it. Warcross is nothing like Marie Lu's previous books, and brings us into a world where the people around the world are all hooked into one game that has become a way of life - both providing a virtual reality and an escape for those looking for one. Emika Chen has few dollars left in her name, her rent is late, and she's having no luck lately as a bounty hunter. The eviction notice outside her apartment is a constant reminder that she'll be kicked out by the end of the week if she doesn't come up with some money. And fast. It's the night of the Warcross opening ceremonies and in the opening game, Emika takes a risk to hack into the game to make some quick cash, but winds up glitching into the game. The creator of Warcross, and the glasses that allows its users to hook into the system, is nothing short of a genius. He's in his early twenties and created everything they know today when he was only in his teens. Hideo Tanaka is a mysterious guy who's in the tabloids often, but does anyone really know the suit-wearing, rarely smiling guy behind the devices that have changed the world? Emika is hired by Hideo to catch whoever might be exposing Warcross' security vulnerabilities and hacking into their network. The hacker is smart and only Emika might have a chance of catching him during the Warcross games. This is where Emika is entered into the competition as a wild card player, untried and untested in the international levels of gaming, and finds herself swept into a game that far exceeds the Warcross competition. I initially wasn't all that sold on the book? I'm just not into gaming at all, so I was worried about whether or not I would be able to "get" this book, but I absolutely fell in love with the story and the concept behind everything. The world-building is informative in a way that's immersive and never bogs you down with too much information. The gaming aspect is very fast-paced and it should come with a warning: IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND A STOPPING POINT. Once the Warcross games start, it's pretty much full speed until the end from there. I loved that we have a book that has a Chinese-American character who specializes in hacking. Emika is a bit star-struck when she meets her idol, Hideo, and even I'm swooning over Hideo. She's fast on her feet after all those years living on the streets, and smart enough to give the enemy hacker a run for their money. We have a very diverse cast of characters in this book, and I loved how we get to meet each character how the teams are set up for the competition. It's definitely shown as a mix of cultures and language is no barrier with their VR glasses. Also, a random Easter egg? But there's a character, the team captain Asher, is the younger brother to an actor and stuntsman named DANIEL BATU WING. It appears that this series is set 80 years before the Legend series (from Marie's tour), so is he/how is he related to Daniel Altan Wing of the Legend trilogy? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? I NEED ANSWERS. And a subtle thing I noticed in this book is that the female is the default. For example, we're so used to default unknowns to "he" pronouns, that it was a nice change to see a book default to using "she" pronouns. The book is hilarious at points with the flirting, and the ending took me by surprise. This book is full of feels that will make your heart ache one minute, and leave you giggling the next. Some parts I guessed, but it's still a shocker enough that I need the next book now. *sobs* This is undoubtably my favorite Marie Lu book and I cannot wait to read book two! ***Thanks to Penguin Random House for providing an ARC of this book***

Rating: 4.5/5 Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Dystopian Recommended Age: 13+ (slightly mature scenes, trigger warnings for one bombing scene that might be upsetting to someone) 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 Warcross players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty-hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. 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.- Amazon.com Do you play Warcross? It’s all the new rage! You plug yourself into the NueroLink and you’re then totally immersed into a virtual world. Play the game enough times and you can become good enough to compete in the international championships! Or just glitch into the game like Emika does. Our rainbow haired hero had my attention and love from page 1. Determined, brave, and courageous, while those aren’t different from any other characteristics from any other YA novel Emika is just wrote differently and can definitely stand on her own in the YA field. Beyond my gushing over Emika, I thought the rest of the characters were not only so well developed, but also diverse and complex. Even the secondary characters were amazingly described. Every character was so vivid I could easily picture them in my mind. The plot was also extremely well done. I didn’t expect the twists I saw coming and now I’m left with more questions than answers! I also thought the pacing was very well done and the writing was as well. For this being my first Marie Lu book I didn’t realize what an amazing author she was until this novel. Now I totally see why people pine over her books! Her writing was so well done! I could gush about it for days! However much I loved this book, I had a few issues with this book. While I loved how Marie Lu included a very diverse cast of characters, I had some questions with one of the characters. One of the characters is wheelchair-bound and I never really got answers as to how this effects his avatar in the game. Does his avatar walk around or is the wheelchair still apart of the avatar? I also felt that the background could have been described better. I feel bad that I was comparing this book until it was nearly complete to Ready Player One. They’re on two different levels. However, since I did compare the two quite frequently, I felt that Ready Player One excelled in scene setting while Warcross didn’t. The setting was still good in my opinion, but I feel like there could have been more. I did like that Marie Lu did incorporate real world internet “sites” (if you know what I mean) and I loved the description of that world. I just wish I could have seen that throughout the novel. Verdict: Overall, an amazingly well done book that’s for gamers and n00bs alike! I felt inspired by Emika and I’m completely upset that I have to wait for the next installment of this book to come out. I feel that the technology incorporated wasn’t completely beyond realistic means of what could be one day and I loved all the internet and gaming references that Marie Lu hid throughout the book. I felt like a child collecting Easter eggs on Easter Sunday! Seriously an amazing read that any lover of games or YA sci-fi would absolutely fall in love with.

Türkçesini okuduğum bir seriydi ve seriyi özleyince İngilizce basımını almak istedim. Hızlı ve sorunsuz ulaştı.

Perfect blend of science and action, The main female character is "chef's kiss". Amazing sci fi book for young adults.

Intressant bok. Man faller djupare och vill bara fortsätta.

Gripping and entertaining YA science fiction set in the video game world. Characters you can care about and real-world dilemmas are explored in an online world where anything can happen. Can't wait to read the sequel!

Cover: Ich bin absolut begeistert von dem Cover. Die Farben gefallen mir sehr und es spiegelt den Charakter des Online-Games “ Warcross“ super wieder. Meine Meinung: Ich bin zwar selbst kein Fan von Online-Games und spiele auch selbst keins, aber irgendwie hat mich diese Geschichte seht gereizt. Die Idee eine Geschichte über ein Online-Game in Kombination mit einer Kopfgeldjägerin ist einfach unschlagbar gut. Die junge Emika rutscht mehr oder weniger durch einen Zufall in die Meisterschaften des bekannten Online-Games Warcross. Sie soll durch ihre speziellen Fähigkeiten als Hackerin herausfinden, wer das Spiel versucht zu manipulieren.warcross (1) Was sie noch nicht ahnt, ist das weitaus mehr hinter alldem steckt, als es auf den ersten Blick ersichtlich ist. Emi findet sich in der Welt von Medienrummel und bekannter Warcross-Spieler mehr und mehr ein, verliert aber trotz des Glamours ihren Auftrag nicht aus den Augen. Sie ist eine starke Protagonistin, die sich nicht leicht unterkriegen und wenn sie eine Fährte hat nicht locker lässt. Man kann sie als sehr hartnäckig und zielstrebig bezeichnen. Ihre Art Dinge zu kombinieren und Zusammenhänge herzustellen ist unglaublich. Aber auch ihr Humor darf nicht unerwähnt bleiben, denn er ist genial, einfach genial. Ich fand sie von Beginn an arg sympathisch und charmant auf ihre eigene Art. Emi gehört nicht zu den Menschen, die sich leicht beeindrucken oder kaufen lassen. Ein weiterer Charakterzug der ihr in der Welt von Warcross zugute kommt. Ihre Beziehung zu dem Erfinder von Warcross Hideo Tanaka, ändert sich im Verlauf der Geschichte in eine Richtung die mir wirklich gut gefallen hat. Die beiden lernen sich auf der Geschäftsebene kennen, merken aber beide das da noch mehr ist. Ich habe mit den beiden mitgefiebert und innerlich laut gejubelt, als die Beziehung begann sich zu ändern. Hideo Tanaka ist zu Beginn recht kühl und verschlossen, ganz der Geschäftsmann. Als ich dann aber im Verlauf der Geschichte immer öfter hinter seine Fassade blicken warcross (2)konnte, hat so einiges von seinem Verhalten mehr Sinn ergeben. Denn auch bei ihm schlummert so manches aus der Vergangenheit. Der Schreibstil von Marie Lu ist atemberaubend. Die Intensität der Geschichte konnte mich absolut packen. Auch wenn ich mich in der Welt der Gamer so gut wie nicht auskenne, habe ich mich in der Geschichte gut zurechtfinden können. Sie beschreibt das Online- Game Warcross bildhaft so fantastisch, dass ich das Gefühl hatte Live dabei zu sein. Die Spannung hätte ebenfalls nicht besser sein können. Marie Lu baut immer wieder diese unterschwellige Spannung auf, und wirft dem Leser immer mehr Bröckchen vor die Füße, sodass ich selbst begonnen habe Vermutungen bezüglich “ Zero“ anzustellen. Ich bin einfach begeistert von der Story. Als die letzte Seite gelesen war, war ich auch wirklich traurig…….denn da war mir noch nicht klar, das “ Warcross“ ein Zweiteiler ist. Da das Ende ein absoluter Cliffhanger ist, fiebere ich schon jetzt der Fortsetzung entgegen. Fazit: “ Warcross“ hat mich wirklich überrascht. Ich bin absolut fasziniert von der Geschichte. Ich könnte das Buch glatt direkt nochmal lesen. Die Gamer- Thematik hat mich absolut begeistert. Ich glaube ich habe einen neuen Genre-Zweig für mich entdeckt. Natürlich hoffe ich nun auf eine baldige Fortsetzung von “ Warcross“. Zitat aus dem Buch: “ Interesting doensn't even begin to cover it.“ I glance around the office. “ I hope you're ready to settle in. I've got a bunch of information for you.“