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A review by shansandler
Wildcard by Marie Lu
4.0
"It's always easier to destroy than to create"...
This sequel definitely felt a lot darker than its predecessor. The dynamics between Hideo and Zero and Dana Taylor made it hard to tell who was right and wrong and where to side and where the story was going to go. At the end of WarCross, part of me wondered, "Well if Zero was trying to stop Hideo for the sake of preserving humanity from the control of the NeuroLink, why didn't he just explain Hideo's intentions to Emika?" Part of me still wonders that but excuses it along with the justification that Zero's evil plans were correctly calculated all along. I was shocked to realize Suske was truly dead and just digitalized as Zero rather than still being alive. And Jax came to surprise me as an interesting character.
The sequel seemed to focus on different entities and characters than in the first book, but ultimately I think that was to its benefit considering everything ended in a full-circle way, with the Phoenix Riders reuniting and Emika recruiting Hideo to work with her. I liked the NeuroLink truly came to an end, only for Emika to be a part of rebuilding its system considering it meant so much to her growing up. I really enjoy her character and would love to see her portrayed onscreen.
The ethical question of the first book was very A Clockwork Orange and I appreciated that! It felt meaningful while integrating a fantastical tech-driven world. Those ethical questions were integrated here but focused on Taylor and Zero. The ethical dilemma of Hideo was never fully addressed. He is ultimately put on house arrest but the suicide rate and the way he manipulated Emika -were- never addressed, I realize upon digesting other commentary. And that is disappointing because I feel as though the story isn't fully fleshed out. I'm surprised there isn't another book to address it further. Everything happened so fast in this book there wasn't time to explore the ethicalities further.
Also this WHOLE time I listened to the audiobooks and was convinced her name was Amyga Chen and looking at the summary for this book and realizing it was Emika had me shook. Granted the nickname Emmy makes more sense than Amy pronounced as "Eh-me", but I accepted it because -ficition-! Oh well. In fact everyone's names in reading them rather than hearing them look completely wrong and upset me. But other than that I enjoyed the audiobook immensely.
This sequel definitely felt a lot darker than its predecessor. The dynamics between Hideo and Zero and Dana Taylor made it hard to tell who was right and wrong and where to side and where the story was going to go. At the end of WarCross, part of me wondered, "Well if Zero was trying to stop Hideo for the sake of preserving humanity from the control of the NeuroLink, why didn't he just explain Hideo's intentions to Emika?" Part of me still wonders that but excuses it along with the justification that Zero's evil plans were correctly calculated all along. I was shocked to realize Suske was truly dead and just digitalized as Zero rather than still being alive. And Jax came to surprise me as an interesting character.
The sequel seemed to focus on different entities and characters than in the first book, but ultimately I think that was to its benefit considering everything ended in a full-circle way, with the Phoenix Riders reuniting and Emika recruiting Hideo to work with her. I liked the NeuroLink truly came to an end, only for Emika to be a part of rebuilding its system considering it meant so much to her growing up. I really enjoy her character and would love to see her portrayed onscreen.
The ethical question of the first book was very A Clockwork Orange and I appreciated that! It felt meaningful while integrating a fantastical tech-driven world. Those ethical questions were integrated here but focused on Taylor and Zero. The ethical dilemma of Hideo was never fully addressed. He is ultimately put on house arrest but the suicide rate and the way he manipulated Emika -were- never addressed, I realize upon digesting other commentary. And that is disappointing because I feel as though the story isn't fully fleshed out. I'm surprised there isn't another book to address it further. Everything happened so fast in this book there wasn't time to explore the ethicalities further.
Also this WHOLE time I listened to the audiobooks and was convinced her name was Amyga Chen and looking at the summary for this book and realizing it was Emika had me shook. Granted the nickname Emmy makes more sense than Amy pronounced as "Eh-me", but I accepted it because -ficition-! Oh well. In fact everyone's names in reading them rather than hearing them look completely wrong and upset me. But other than that I enjoyed the audiobook immensely.