2.5 stars

I don’t know why it is always me that ends up disliking the hyped books but 2017's hottest new release, Warcross, is my latest disappointment. From the very first page, I knew I was in trouble with the writing. I have no idea why so many people rave about Lu’s style! The amount of telling - rather than showing - did my head in. I found the way she tried to slip information into the narrative clunky and jarring. It was never natural or even remotely seamless. There were no explicit info-dumping sessions, which is always a relief, but I cannot say that I found the world-building anything but disengaging. Lu’s descriptions, in general, were quite bland. The visual imagery that everyone is raving about did nothing for me. Also, the fact that certain objects/characters had specific descriptive words used every single time they were mentioned got tiring fast. Ultimately, I felt like the writing did nothing to add the story., just worked as a vessel to state its story. Its blandness made me feel distanced from the characters and plot, especially for the first 100 pages or so.

Emika was a pleasant enough protagonist. Her narration was fine. She had some badass moments but she also had a lot of Special Snowflake qualities that did nothing for me. I didn’t dislike her, I just didn’t like her all that much either. The secondary cast was much more intriguing, especially Roshan and Tremaine. Hints about their relationship being explored in the sequel have me in high spirits. I did love the effortless diversity, particularly that was had some on-page and prominent disability rep. They all could have been a little more nuanced, though. Ren, in particular, seemed like a waste of potential to me… and Hideo. Oh, how I wish Hideo had been written better. He was the typical Broody Hot Guy with a Tragedy Backstory™. Nothing we have not read ten billion times before. He had so little spunk, so little personality, I don’t even have words.

The romance? Again, I do not see why everyone is raving about it. It was rushed and lacked chemistry. Emika and Hideo were pushed together. They barely had a foundational relationship before everyone was shipping them in their irl lives. We completely skimmed over the fact that Emika was a fan of Hideo’s for years before meeting him; that kind of throws the power dynamics of their relationship off a tad. It is a little scary that Emika went into their relationship knowing so much about Hideo and Hideo knowing so little about Emika. I wanted that to be explored or at least talked about. They just jump straight into a relationship and it felt so… fake, I guess? Unrealistic. Rushed. Unnecessary. I obviously didn’t ship (or at least, I could ship it yet). I needed more time, more development, more nuance.

On a plot and world-building level, I was pretty satisfied. There is an air of realism to Lu’s predictions about the future. I did have my questions. I was a little weirded out by how contradictory the technology felt but the Warcross game itself as a quasi-Olympics tournament was so much fun, I could mostly forgive it. The pacing was also a tad off. The beginning was not captivating and certain events could have been elaborated on. I especially wanted more gameplay and bonding sessions with Emika’s crew. The mystery element added another layer of intrigue, and I did find it engaging to let myself become invested in the conspiracy’s revelations. I just wish that the very obvious reveal had been, well, less obvious. The last fifty pages were definitely my favourite. I liked the direction the story took. It set up a very promising sequel.

Other thoughts:

• I thought that the incorporation of

telepathic communication devices, particularly the ‘shared emotions’

ruined how realistic the rest of the world felt. I actually scoffed out loud when I first read that section. It definitely spoiled the vibe of the world-building for me.
• Emika really was a Special Snowflake at times. I found it hard to believe she was as talented at being an Architect as we were told. Where did she find the time to develop her skills? I thought that was the whole reason she had a low level.
• I wanted to know more about Keira. How is she?

Overall? I did not love this one as much as I expected. Lu’s writing style is not for me. It bothered me a lot. The characters were okay but I did not find them particularly memorable or engaging. The romance was completely unnecessary and ugh.