This duology written by Marie Lu takes places in a dystopian future very similar to that seen in Ready Player One. Here as well we have the general populace hooked onto the use of technology that allows them to roam a virtual world. In this series this virtual space is mainly used for Warcross, a sporting activity, but for most its a way of life with some of the more popular players achieving celebrity status in the real world. With society so entrenched in virtual reality, of course hackers and the like abound. There are some interesting character developments that take place over the course of the books and while the the first book was entertaining enough, the second book took it up a notch in terms of plot intensity. I still enjoyed the first book more but that was probably because the first book mostly focused on the sport aspect of the future and I’m a sucker for such books.

The plot, though predictable for the most part, did catch me by surprise a few times which was nice to see and kept me engrossed. As with most young adult books there is romance thrown in which, honestly, I didn’t care for much, but thankfully it wasn’t enough to overshadow the rest of the events happening in the books.

All in all, I’d say this duology was a fun one-time read. I dont see myself picking these up again for a re-read unless of course they bring out a third book or something that heavily depends on the events of these two.

Rating: 3/5 for the series

Links:

1. goodreads: Warcross
2. goodreads: Wildcard
3. goodreads: Ready Player One