A review by nhi_nguyen
Wildcard by Marie Lu

4.0

Rereading Thoughts
*4.25

SO

Let's just start off with how scary it is that I've forgotten basically everything when I last read the duology. Some things brought back some memories but other than that, it was like I never read the duology. That being said, I think I was really blinded the first time I read this. I jumped into Wildcard remembering bare anything from Warcross (I think we can safely say I need to have my brain check). But rereading this duology gave me a chance to fully follow the storyline from both books and knew more of what was happening.

Now, though, I'm a little disappointed in Wilcard. Warcross packed so much punch and this was just really...bland. The mystery that I loved so much from the first book wasn't really here. The entirety of Wilcard was explaining and more explaining.

I loved Emika. From her wild rainbow hair to her bad*** ways. But in this book...I felt like she didn't do much. Emika was there and she figured things out. But at the same times, I felt like she was a pawn caught between the Blackhands and Hideo. The romance was on point in the first book, and we got some glimpses of it in Wildcard...just not as much as I would like though. The actual game of Warcross itself wasn't very prominent and the friendship between Emika and the Phoenix Riders were often pushed aside.

I'm done complaining, don't worry. There were many things I loved about Wildcard, though, and the world building was one of them. The Warcross games and the Neurolinks were so...fascinating. And it really feels like something that could happen in the future. I mean, virtual reality? We already have some of that! Hideo and Zero were the main focus of this book. I got to figure out what happened to Zero—Sasuke—along with Emika. The book could've been better...but I wouldn't change the ending for the world. I love Marie Lu's mind and just seeing what world she can conjure up with her imagination. Warcross was probably one of the most creative one I've ever read. Even though Wildcard did let me down a bit, I love the overall duology so much!

P.S. Don't listen to this idiot down here. The duology ended perfectly!

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Original Thoughts - 9/26/2018-7/27/2018

OMG! This book was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! Definitely a great sequel to Warcross. I'm not sure if this is the last book to the series but I hope there's another one. I'm definitely checking out Mari Lu's other books.