Emika Chen is barely hanging on--orphaned years before, expelled from school, and with a criminal record, she doesn't have a whole lot of options. She's become a bounty hunter, finding those who gamble on Warcross, the virtual reality game that has exploded across the world. About to be evicted from her apartment, Emika does something crazy--she hacks into the opening game of the Warcross Championships and inadvertently shows her identity to the whole world. Afraid she's going to be arrested, instead, the develop of Warcross--Emika's idol--Hideo Tanaka flies her to Tokyo and gives her the chance to actually compete in the Warcross championship while helping Hideo to find someone else who has hacked into the game. As Emika looks for the hacker, Zero, she also has to keep him from figuring out she's looking for him, which proves tougher than she thought.
Holy cow. This was...wow. I wasn't sure if this was going to hold my interest--I don't play video games at all, virtual reality just weird to me, and I'm not a big sci-fi fan--but I devoured it. I tend to care a lot more about the characters in a story than the setting (which might explain why I don't like sci-fi that much--there has to be a lot of world-building and those details aren't that interesting to me, typically), but Marie Lu's descriptions of the technology and the game kept my interest (really, that's a BIG deal). Even with all the details, the story moved forward really quickly. Emika is the sort of protagonist that you can't help but cheer for--the underprivileged underdog who is way smart and can totally hold her own. I also enjoyed seeing her developing romance. Although I did guess one of the twists in the plot, I totally didn't anticipate the other one--which, for me, was the perfect balance because I want some surprises but being right about others makes me feel connected to the story. This was a thrilling, exciting read and I can't wait for the sequel! 4.5 stars.
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