When life hands
you lemons, you make lemonade, but what do you do if life hasn’t bothered to
hand you the lemons? Tattooed teenage hacker Emika Chen (she’s 18) is a
bright-haired bounty hunter who’s gone to the physical trouble of taking
someone down for the NYPD, only to have the bounty claimed by another. She’s
three months behind on rent and is about to be evicted, has a low-paying job
and can barely afford mac ‘n cheese when she hacks into Warcross. That game is
a global phenomenon, and it was started 10 years ago by Hideo Tanaka. He’s now
a billionaire and is all of 21 years old. Emika hacks into the game thinking to
make some quick cash, but she doesn’t expect her hack to cause the world to see
her when she glitches in. Instead of someone slapping cuffs on her and sending
her to jail (again), she finds herself in Tokyo with a business proposition. Only
one other person has been able to hack one’s way into Warcross, and they refer
to that player as Zero. Emika is one of the players, now professionally playing
Warcross, in an effort to find out who Zero is and take her/him down. She’ll
come in as a Wardraft Wild Card. She’s gone from impoverished girl with a
juvenile record to overnight sensation surrounded by fame, fortune and the best
technology available. Also, let’s not forget Hideo Tanaka of Henka Games. He’s
a young, attractive, wealthy, elegant genius. By accident, Emika has gotten
herself on Hideo’s radar. Good luck turning back now.
I’ve been a reading fan of Lu’s
through her Legend and The Young Elites trilogies. But when it
came to this duology, I was uncertain, even though she’s an author whose books
I’ve already consistently enjoyed. I still pre-ordered the book, but I know
nothing of the gaming world and hacking and all of those tech-genius terms and
therefore wondered if I’d find a reading rapport with this book. I put this
book off for a long while and now cannot believe I ever doubted it, because I
LOVED the book. As soon as I began reading it, I was addicted to the high
octane plot, the inventive virtual reality (VR) world and the fascinating
characters. Lu plaits everything together like a seamless code. Romance brews
in this clever, all-consuming tale. If all VR, science fiction worlds are as
kinetic and energetic as this one, then I want a shelf full of these types of
YA novels!
Welcome to Warcross! The Warcross Championships are
fast-approaching, but so much has happened, and more is to come. Firstly, with
the presence of illegal power-ups in gameplay, a rematch between the Phoenix
Riders and Andromeda has been scheduled, making it the first rematch in
Warcross history. Secondly, Emika Chen has been replaced as a member of the
Phoenix Riders. Thirdly, Zero has been identified, and the Blackcoats
resistance he's a part of looks to have morally gray areas, rather like Hideo
Tanaka’s plan, though it’s easy to be convinced of the rightness of what the
resistance is fighting for. And what the resistance is supposedly fighting to
stop is set to launch in mere days when the Warcross Championships are about to
commence. A majority of it has already launched, but the beta lenses weren’t in
that massive batch. Which means their actions are still their own … for now.
Emika finds
herself at odds with Hideo around the same time she’s avoided being
assassinated (life is a little complicated right now). She’s gone to the other
side, essentially, by teaming up with Zero, Dr. Dana Taylor, Jax and others
associated with the resistance. But Zero wants her to find her way back into
Hideo’s good graces so she can gain access to something only he has the key
for. And then she needs to corrupt it. But when someone she knows is seriously
hurt, what does that say about the resistance? What’s really going on and who’s
behind it?
What a
fantastic duology! If Marie Lu were to create a spinoff of this duology or keep
up with the current main characters in a new, twisty, exhilarating,
gamer-centric plotline, I’d be click-happy in pre-ordering it. I never expected
to enjoy stories set in an ultra tech-smart world, and I’ve not only enjoyed
it, but loved it. It’s been brilliantly fast-paced, as luminous as the
Lamborghinis, Bugattis, Porsches and Luminatii Xs (“the fastest electric car
currently on the market”) transformed into the impossible using the NeuroLink. The
technology is amazingly immersive, and emotions hold power. What we do out of
love can be morally questionable. The stakes are high, and Emika will do what
she must.
