Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Penguin’s Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA dystopian
Pages: 341
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Synopsis:
“Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo’s new NeuroLink algorithm, she can no longer trust the one person she’s always looked up to, who she once thought was on her side.
Determined to put a stop to Hideo’s grim plans, Emika and the Phoenix Riders band together, only to find a new threat lurking on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. Someone’s put a bounty on Emika’s head, and her sole chance for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. But Emika soon learns that Zero isn’t all that he seems—and his protection comes at a price.
Caught in a web of betrayal, with the future of free will at risk, just how far will Emika go to take down the man she loves?”
I have loved everything that Marie Lu has put her hands on, but Wildcard was a game changer. (Did you get the joke??). I loved getting back into this world, it has been of my favorites since I read Warcross last year. But nothing could have prepared me for how much this book messed with my head. It was plot twist. After plot twist. After PLOT TWIST.
I put off reading Wildcard for some time because I was honestly afraid of it. I wasn’t just scared of a story I loved wrapping up… no. I was actually quite afraid of the book. Mind control and virtual reality are terrifying. Yet, unfortunately, I wasn’t that scared for the characters in the story. There was danger and I was slightly concerned at some points but I just didn’t get the rush of adrenaline I normally do. In fact, during the big dramatic climax scene I was skimming the pages more than reading them. The intense moments where I should have been filled with dread fell a little flat. I just didn’t reconnect with the characters as much as I thought I would which was really disappointing because I loved everyone in Warcross so much!
Speaking of characters let’s talk Emika and Hideo. I freaking LOVE these two together. They have such a cute relationship and I was excited to see how things worked out for them in book two. But the relationships development felt a bit rushed in this one. The pacing was off and I had been hoping for a more Enemies to lovers esc relationship after all that happened at the end of Warcross. But I was pretty disappointed here; my stomach didn’t even do that fun flippy thing that normally happens when these two are together.
I didn’t feel like any of the characters had developed significantly in the first book, but reflecting on that now… they’re different people. Emika is still such a crazy strong rainbow haired goddess but she felt more human by the end of Wildcard than I had ever seen her. To some degree it felt like I could finally connect with her character. The same goes for Hideo. He became more broken during this story until he felt more like a person than the celebrity he was written to be. I enjoyed watching these characters change, they both hold a special place in my heart.
Marie Lu did not disappoint in how she laid the plot for this story. She artfully led twists and events into the perfect heart wrenching story. I felt like my mouth was hanging wide open during the entire story. Her writing was beautiful and she blows my mind with how creative she is. This conclusion is wonderful and left me happily content with the story. But I would love (hint hint, nudge nudge) if she did some “Like after Warcross” esc things like she did for her Legend trilogy. I want to see where these characters go; there’s so much story left that I want to uncover and there’s a lot more of this world I would love to see in the future.
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