High Expectations for Warcross II

I'm pretty late to the party in terms of reading Warcross, but I'm so glad I finally got to it because the hype is well deserved. The diverse cast and setting and the originality of the plot have got me head over heels for this book, and although there were a few things here and there that could have been been done differently, this was such a success of a novel. I had a great time reading it.

One of those things that could have been done a smidge differently is the romance between two of the main characters, Emika and Hideo. I feel that their romance didn't have much depth to it, and that the feelings between the two were there only because they're expected to be there by readers of the YA genre. I myself expected and looked forward to the romance - I squealed about it in the beginning, but as I continued reading, I stopped swooning since their love story felt so "by the book".

The world-building and the characters were a blast to read through, and I saw one part of the plot twist coming, but by no means thought that it would happen the way it did. I loved the twist so much that I was tempted to unconditionally love this book, but compromised with myself and figured that I could do that with book two if it lived up to its promise. The funny part is that by the end of this book, my heart began to stray, and I only expect that it's going to get worse once I finally get the second installment in my hands. I can't wait.