Wildcard by Marie Lu

Summary from Goodreads:

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?

Review:

I did not like this one as much as book 1. I’m still glad I went to get a copy of the book super quickly, so I could get some answers. I just didn’t find myself as hooked. I read half of it in Paris, and instead of reading the rest on my plane ride home, I watched movies…I finished it once I was back home though.

The world was just as cool. And I still loved Emika. There were just a few things that did not add up for me. For starters, Emika’s team loved her so much, even though she did not do much for them. They risked so much in this book, and I never fully understood their motivations. Some of them, maybe. But all of them? A lot of their involvement felt forced and not right.

I also feel like Lu wrote herself into a corner with some things/people. The identity of Zero was a cool plot twist, but…the explanation felt forced. Like the whole kidnapping/experiment thing has been done before (ie: Maximum Ride, Dark Angel, X-Men, Darkest Minds, etc.), and I wanted more. I wanted a different story.

BIG SPOILER SENTENCE COMING/ STOP READING THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS FOR BOOK 2. The whole computer/AI consciousness thing seemed like a major cop out. Like if you’re going to bring this character into the mix, involve him; don’t just introduce him to take him out again. It’s like how else could the author explain his being there?

And then there’s Hideo. I still loved him despite his crazy scheme. And so does Emika. On the other hand, he was willing to let people kill themselves so he could find his brother…He was weirdly willing to let a lot of people die, for his plan to work. Is that just forgiven? I’m not sure he had enough consequences for his actions or that he deserved the ending he got.

I still loved the suspense. I loved the game. I loved the world. I loved how plausible the world was. I even think the part about brining it back seemed believable. I guess it was really just the explanations for characters and their behaviors that bothered me. They weren’t thought out as much as the whole world was or the suspense was. The character development was lacking, but everything else still excelled. I give it a 7/10.