Book Review: Warcross

Actually 3.5 Stars Don’t ask why I feel a little underwhelmed by this book. It wasn’t a horrible read, in fact, I zoomed through it in a day. Seriously.The WRITING was great (if you’ve seen the movies Ghost in the Shell and Valerian that’s what some of the VR descriptions brought to mind). I think descriptions were actually my favorite part of the book. The augmented/virtual realities have always fascinated me and Marie Lu did a superb job of showing how they would integrate into the real world, especially the shopping aspect of it. I virtually applauded her every time I read a particularly fascinating description of Tokyo. The customizable walls, artificially intelligent cars, the virtual mannequins in front of stores and buy buttons above the items, the dark underworld. It all just made sense (although I did question the way VR actually worked… if it felt as real as a dream would, wouldn’t the brain have to temporarily paralyze the body? That’s what it does when you sleep *shrugs* Just sayin’ but I’m by no means an expert.) Then there were the CHARACTERS. They were good (not super realistic but that’s fine). Emika was good. Hideo was interesting (though I’ve seen his kind in Japanese dramas and animes before). Asher, Roshan and Hammie (I use the same nickname for my cat btw, whose real name is Ame: “rain” in Japanese) were pretty cool. The rest of the peeps were decent too. But I didn’t fall in love with any of them. Not a single one, except maybe the little robot who served drinks. Wikki! The PLOT was interesting (I loved, loved the beginning but as the story went on, some moments felt rushed. And I could guess the plot twist). Since this book was heavily driven by plot, the fact that I knew where it was going made it less wowing. Sorry!! But still it should have been at least a 4 star read by all accounts (I even gave it 4 stars  on Goodreads because I felt bad giving it 3). A book with this cool of a concept shouldn’t make it so difficult to give it 4 stars *sighs discontentedly*. I have no idea why I didn’t love the book as much as I thought I would. Again don’t ask because the answer still evades me. However, I suggest you read it for yourself and see whether this is your cup of matcha tea. It can be pretty badass. When it wants to be. And it would probably make for a cool movie, to be honest. Mix Spy Kids 3, Ghost in the Shell and maybe Love O2O and there you’ll have it.