Warcross (Warcross, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Sep 20, 2018 Tien rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, own, science-fiction, favorites

I’m in love!! I love this world so much! It’s glittery colourful shiny façade which hid, of course, a darker than dark underworld which they call, ‘Down Under’ lol

Emika Chen has had to learn to fend for herself. Her father died a few years ago and left her a massive debt to pay off. She’s 18 and doing the best she can to stay afloat but she is about to drown. A daring her-last-chance-at-survival glitched and suddenly she found herself transported from her seedy New York shared apartment to bigge ...more

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May 04, 2019 Sassafrass rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, already-own, dystopia, fantasy, mystery, young-adult, science-fiction, a-audible-owned, z-2019, z-2019-audio

This was really interesting. I liked the characters and the world of Warcross but I hate that there was a lot left unsolved. I'm glad book two is already available but I think I'll hold off on reading it because I'm skeptical that it will be as good as this first book.

I liked the diversity of the characters, it's not something that you see a lot of in Sci-Fi/Fantasy. I also enjoyed the narrator for this one. I thought she did a great job with such a wide array of characters. ...more

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Jan 30, 2018 Lanica rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, young-adult, read-in-2018, recommend-for-middle-school-boys, recommend-for-middle-school-book-cl, science-fiction, series-continuing

I received an ARC of this book and just finished it. I was unaware it was a series, so I was not prepared for the ending to be as unfulfilling as it was. There were a lot of loose ends, and I am a bit disappointed in it. I think others will enjoy it more than I did if they know it will be unfinished.

The story was engrossing, and I loved the main character. She was flawed but had a good heart. I loved that she was a 'normal kid' until something happened to her, which cannot be changed. There is n I received an ARC of this book and just finished it. I was unaware it was a series, so I was not prepared for the ending to be as unfulfilling as it was. There were a lot of loose ends, and I am a bit disappointed in it. I think others will enjoy it more than I did if they know it will be unfinished.

The story was engrossing, and I loved the main character. She was flawed but had a good heart. I loved that she was a 'normal kid' until something happened to her, which cannot be changed. There is no hope that the problems in her past will every be magically 'fixed' or that there was some mistake. It happened, she knows it, she is learning to move forward. She is her own person.

I like the ideas behind the setting. There are plausible advances in technology. The games and teams are similar to what we are familiar with today, and yet it seems 'other' enough to catch our attention. The game is simple but addicting, just like many of the games we see today.

The 'mystery' plot is intriguing. I had no idea who the bad guy is...and I like that feeling. The chase is fun to watch, and the twists are clever. (More on that later...)

If I have a problem with this book it is the character of Hideo. He is too static, cardboard, simple, cliche...whatever you want to call it. Every step of the way I can see what he is going to do or say. He is not threatening when he is supposed to be, nor attractive when he should be. Every time he entered the scene, I felt that it was breaking the novel. I think it may be that Marie Lu wrote all the other characters as Teen Lit and this one was straight out of a Bodice Ripper. He could have been in any of the Harlequin Romances and been written the same way. I strongly disliked him, from beginning to end.

And the character of Zero was exactly who I thought he would be once that piece of the puzzle was hinted at earlier in the book. I enjoyed the mystery until the last reveal because I truly believed the author wouldn't be so obvious as to write the plot in such a cliched direction. I had hoped that the ideas would be a red herring...but no. It was an obvious ending for a book that was very well written up to that point.

Love the main character and her team - hated the main love interest and his part in any scene. Neutral rating for the book as a whole.

SCHOOL LIBRARIAN REVIEW:
Kids will love this book. It's about video games, virtual reality, hunts, tricks, assassination attempts and just a bit of romance. There is a dream where the main character wakes up in bed with a man, but it is not 'sexy'. There is also a hint that two males were in a relationship, but nothing obviously sexual is involved there, either. Drugs, pornography, and other similar subjects are discussed in relation to the 'dark web', but nothing more than the idea that bad people can get anything they want if they are willing to enter these dangerous places.

I would put this in middle or high schools. Seeing as its a series, I expect the relationships to get more physical in future books, so I am not willing to put it in my K-5 collection. ...more

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Jan 26, 2019 Cora rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, science-fiction, young-adult, asia, japan, new-york-city, 1st-in-series, new-york-state, technology, futuristic

This was a really fun read. There was a little romance, but not too much. The characters were diverse (but it never felt forced) and interesting. I like that the author keeps the reader guessing about what is really going on in the virtual world. There was a lot of action and high tech hacking. There were times that I would have liked a deeper look at some of the Warcross game stuff, but to do so would have been at the expense of keeping the story moving. The story went in a slightly different d ...more

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