Review | Wildcard by Marie Lu

Thank you Raf @ theroyalpolarbookreads for hosting this rad blog tour and PRH Int (and NetGalley) for providing a review copy. All thoughts are my own.

This book is one of my most anticipated reads this year (like everybody else, I guess?) because I really liked Warcross and Marie Lu. I am definitely lucky enough to have read this in advance. With that out of the way, let's get into my thoughts on this book.

Emika Chen has always been one of my favorite thing that happened in this book. She's a smart, strong-willed, young woman, who knows how to code — I wish this has been elaborated further though. In this book, I discovered some flaws about her — I feel like she's kind of indecisive, gullible and cautious (with reason) this time around — but that doesn't make her less of a character; it just added more depth to her.
Last time, I've said that Hideo Tanaka is so shady and mysterious af that it made me wonder if he's a protagonist or antogonist. This time, if I can categorize him, he'll be chaotic good. If you've read Warcross, you'd definitely know how he makes his own way, but he's kind and benevolent. He is decisive and I admire that about him.
Emika and Hideo together (yes, there are definitely some scenes with them together //this was hinted/teased by Marie Lu herself) definitely made me want to read more. And I just love the supporting characters (i.e. the Phoenix Riders); they were such a fun and diverse (and I mean diverse) addition to this book. They added more depth to the characters as well as the story.
Also, last time, I said I'd love to read more of Kenn Edon; because from a glimpse in Warcross, he really reminded me so much of Kenji (a.k.a. my fave book character ever). He surely had some exposure this time around [lol] so be sure to keep an eye out on him.

Overall, this was such a great ending to this duology. I love how the story doesn't really revolve just around the main characters (i.e. Emika, Hideo, Zero) but revolves around the world that Marie Lu has intricately woven. I absolutely love the plot twists upon plot twists, it made me really want to read what happened next. From start to finish, this book will have you at the edge of your seat and will surely held you captive until the last page.
And just like what I said last time, [word for word from my last review] I highly, highly, recommend this one to everyone. You like sci-fi? Read this. You don't like sci-fi? No worries, you would after reading this one.

ps: I have a bit of a problem with the ending, though, because I feel like there's a loophole (or I'm just not understanding the time line)