I’ve read all three of these books a while ago and didn’t want to write individual full reviews so mini reviews it is! All of these had been on my TBR list for a while and fortunately I loved all three of them!

“Warcross” by Marie Lu

“Every locked door has a key. Every problem has a solution.”

Oh wow, this was a good book. Marie Lu never disappoints! Warcross is the first virtual reality book I’ve read and I have to say, I am a fan. It doesn’t hurt that the protagonist Emika is a hacker and as someone who’s studying computer science, hacking has always been something I’m interested in.

If you’ve read Marie Lu’s Legends trilogy and remember Alaska in Champion, Warcross is an even grander version of that. I wanted her to do a spin-off of that book series just to get to know the Alaskan society more and Marie Lu has answered my calls.

Emika, after a little hack gone wrong, finds herself as a wildcard in this year’s Warcross games. The technology in this book is so well weaved into the story, I was impressed (and also very concerned about where our world is headed).

• Emika and Hideo were the cutest together
• There were two huge plot twists, I saw one coming but the second surprised me
• Seriously, the technology, SO GOOD
• Emika has rainbow colored hair and it’s mentioned one too many times

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

“The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue” by Mackenzi Lee

“God bless the book people for their boundless knowledge absorbed from having words instead of friends.”

I loved this book but I was very conflicted while I was rating it. After I finished The Gentleman’s Guide, I just sat there and thought, what the heck did I just read? I went into the book expecting a historical contemporary and it was that but there were elements of other genres thrown in that I wasn’t expecting (like fantasy).

Monty was a complicated character, at times I loved him and at times I wanted to punch his guts. He is bisexual in a society where not being straight was absolutely unacceptable. He is in love with his best friend. He’s also irresponsible, takes his inheritance for granted and gets drunk for a living. He takes his white male privilege for granted, and at time his comments made me want to slap him. But Monty goes through a lot of character development in the book and he learns to get better at listening. He changes for the better and we get to see these changes unfold.

• Felicity (Monty’s little sister) was my favorite! I loved that girl so much!
• Percy was also great and I loved him too
• Monty and Percy ARE SO ADORABLE TOGETHER IT HURTS
• Felt like there was too much happening sometimes

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Nobles

“Wonder Woman Warbringer” by Leigh Bardugo

“You can’t live in fear. You make things happen or they happen to you.”

I had high expectations going into this book after absolutely loving Wonder Woman’s movie and my expectations were met and then some. This was SO GOOD. Yes it has some clichés but it’s a superhero story retelling so it’s bound to have them. That’s not to say Bardugo didn’t put her own little twists and turns into the coming of age story of the infamous Diana Prince.

I’ve said this before but only Leigh Bardugo can introduce five new characters in a book and make me care about every one of them. Even though the book is about Diana growing into her Amazonian self, it’s also about friendship and dedication and doing what’s right. Also I LOVED the diverse casting, that’s not something I see often in superhero retellings (every main character but Diana was a POC).

The story picks up once Diana gets to New York with Alya. Diana starts to question a lot of the racism and prejudice that happens in society. I also love her cluelessness when it comes to technology and confusion to slang and modern film references.

Female superheroes are just empowering. In this book specifically, Diana is Wonder Woman but you have two other strong female characters. Alya is intelligent and brave and fierce. Her best friend Nim is hilarious and loyal and as fierce as Alya.

• Also, FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS! GIMME MORE! Alya and Nim’s relationship is the sweetest!
• Nim is a fat bisexual South-Asian character and I absolutely loved her!
• Tyler is also a sweetheart
• So usually I see plot twists coming but I did not see this one coming

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Nobles

Have you read any of the books mentioned? Are you planning to?