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LIFEL1K3 #3
TRUEL1F3
Eve e Lemon hanno scoperto la verità su se stesse e l'una sull'altra. Sono cresciute legate da una solida amicizia, ma le recenti rivelazioni hanno messo in crisi il loro rapporto e le hanno allontanate (forse) per sempre. Ora però non c'è tempo per i rimpianti: l'intero Yousay è sull'orlo di una nuova guerra nucleare tra lo sciame della BioMaas Incorporated e l'esercito della Daedalus Technologies. Una situazione in cui nuove e vecchie lealtà saranno messe a dura prova, si formeranno improbabili alleanze e prenderanno corpo inaspettati tradimenti. E non è tutto, perché i sembianti sono determinati a impossessarsi di Libertas, il virus capace di liberare gli androidi dall'obbedienza alle Tre Leggi della robotica. E per farlo c'è bisogno sia di Ana Monrova, la ragazza rapita e conservata in animazione sospesa, sia della sua sembiante, Eve. Solo alla fine si scoprirà chi sono i veri eroi… e potrebbe essere davvero una sorpresa.
480 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 2020
119 people are currently reading
5155 people want to read
About the author
Jay Kristoff
56 books30.3k followersJay Kristoff is a #1 international, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fantasy and science fiction. He is the winner of eight Aurealis Awards, an ABIA, has over two million books in print and is published in over thirty five countries, most of which he has never visited. He is as surprised about all of this as you are. He is 6’7 and has approximately 12,000 days to live.
He does not believe in happy endings.
He does not believe in happy endings.
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July 30, 2020
3.25 stars. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Jay Kristoff’s latest novel TRUEL1F3 wraps up his YA dystopian LIFELIKE trilogy with a long buildup to an epic battle, set in a nuclear-blasted future version of the “Yousay.” Some humans have (presumably due to radiation-induced mutations) developed superpowers and are often treated as deviants by normal humans; most of our main characters, like Lemon Fresh (named after the detergent box she was found abandoned in as a baby) are in this group. Intelligent robots are everywhere and are bound by Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics … other than a rebel group of advanced “Lifelike” robots, who were treated years ago with a Libertas virus that reprograms them without the Three Laws.
Several of the Lifelikes have been destroyed over the course of the series, but the remaining ones, led by the mentally unstable Gabriel, are determined to set all robots free and, by the way, use that new freedom to annihilate humanity. One of the Lifelikes, Ezekiel, is determined to thwart their plan to wipe out humans, and is doing his best to convince some of the other Lifelikes, particularly his one-time love interest Eve, to switch sides. Meanwhile two mega-corporations — Daedelus, based on cybernetics and high technology, and BioMaas, based on biotech, genetic modification and cloning, but both equally oppressive — are gearing up for a battle to overthrow the other and take control over the entire country.
TRUEL1F3 begins immediately after the end of the second book, DEV1AT3. Lemon Fresh has been taken captive by BioMaas, which wants to use her superpower to destroy the technology of Daedelus. For its part, Daedelus has taken Eve and Gabriel prisoner, and is experimenting with Eve in an effort to unlock the multi-layered security vault that hides the Veritas virus and other trade secret technology. After narrowly averting a nuclear missile attack, the remaining main characters — Ezekiel, the loyal robot Cricket, the Lifelike robot Faith who’s nursing an unrequited love for Gabriel, and several “deviates” that Lemon had befriended — regroup at their not-so-hidden hiding place, a former missile silo, and determine to rescue their friends from Daedalus and BioMaas.
The LIFELIKE trilogy is an action-packed, hard-hitting SF series aimed at older teens and young adults. There are some painful deaths and a good deal of blood and gore along the way, but in standard YA novel style, hope and love prevail in the end. Lemon Fresh has grown from Eve’s sidekick to a strong character in her own right, a damsel who’s determined to rescue herself and burn down the tower, rather than wait for the handsome prince to liberate her. Eve, on the other hand, remains to all appearances firmly on the side of Gabriel and the robots, committed to wiping out all of humanity, and she has the body-count to back it up. It’s difficult to sympathize with her at this point.
The endless made-up slang and jargon can get tiresome, and I think the whole series dragged on for a little too long. Though I was engaged with the characters for most of the series and determined to see how it would all wind up, by the time of the great climactic battle at the end of TRUEL1F3 I was starting to skim.
Overall, though, Kristoff has created a pleasingly complex dystopian world with engaging characters and some intriguing philosophical questions about the nature of humanity and the importance of choices. TRUEL1F3 is a fitting end to the series. I’d recommend it to younger (but not too young, or squeamish) readers who enjoy post-apocalyptic science fiction.
I received a free review copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Thanks!
Jay Kristoff’s latest novel TRUEL1F3 wraps up his YA dystopian LIFELIKE trilogy with a long buildup to an epic battle, set in a nuclear-blasted future version of the “Yousay.” Some humans have (presumably due to radiation-induced mutations) developed superpowers and are often treated as deviants by normal humans; most of our main characters, like Lemon Fresh (named after the detergent box she was found abandoned in as a baby) are in this group. Intelligent robots are everywhere and are bound by Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics … other than a rebel group of advanced “Lifelike” robots, who were treated years ago with a Libertas virus that reprograms them without the Three Laws.
Several of the Lifelikes have been destroyed over the course of the series, but the remaining ones, led by the mentally unstable Gabriel, are determined to set all robots free and, by the way, use that new freedom to annihilate humanity. One of the Lifelikes, Ezekiel, is determined to thwart their plan to wipe out humans, and is doing his best to convince some of the other Lifelikes, particularly his one-time love interest Eve, to switch sides. Meanwhile two mega-corporations — Daedelus, based on cybernetics and high technology, and BioMaas, based on biotech, genetic modification and cloning, but both equally oppressive — are gearing up for a battle to overthrow the other and take control over the entire country.
TRUEL1F3 begins immediately after the end of the second book, DEV1AT3. Lemon Fresh has been taken captive by BioMaas, which wants to use her superpower to destroy the technology of Daedelus. For its part, Daedelus has taken Eve and Gabriel prisoner, and is experimenting with Eve in an effort to unlock the multi-layered security vault that hides the Veritas virus and other trade secret technology. After narrowly averting a nuclear missile attack, the remaining main characters — Ezekiel, the loyal robot Cricket, the Lifelike robot Faith who’s nursing an unrequited love for Gabriel, and several “deviates” that Lemon had befriended — regroup at their not-so-hidden hiding place, a former missile silo, and determine to rescue their friends from Daedalus and BioMaas.
The LIFELIKE trilogy is an action-packed, hard-hitting SF series aimed at older teens and young adults. There are some painful deaths and a good deal of blood and gore along the way, but in standard YA novel style, hope and love prevail in the end. Lemon Fresh has grown from Eve’s sidekick to a strong character in her own right, a damsel who’s determined to rescue herself and burn down the tower, rather than wait for the handsome prince to liberate her. Eve, on the other hand, remains to all appearances firmly on the side of Gabriel and the robots, committed to wiping out all of humanity, and she has the body-count to back it up. It’s difficult to sympathize with her at this point.
The endless made-up slang and jargon can get tiresome, and I think the whole series dragged on for a little too long. Though I was engaged with the characters for most of the series and determined to see how it would all wind up, by the time of the great climactic battle at the end of TRUEL1F3 I was starting to skim.
Overall, though, Kristoff has created a pleasingly complex dystopian world with engaging characters and some intriguing philosophical questions about the nature of humanity and the importance of choices. TRUEL1F3 is a fitting end to the series. I’d recommend it to younger (but not too young, or squeamish) readers who enjoy post-apocalyptic science fiction.
I received a free review copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Thanks!
April 10, 2022
First rule of the Scrap
Stronger together.
Together forever.
Well, that was a rollercoaster ride of emotions. It’s been a while since I’ve finished a book in a matter of hours but I simply had to know how this story ended.
Fast-paced, action-packed. Filled with tests of loyalty, friendship, and love. You're constantly wondering what this world will throw at you next.
The Cast
Eve: the anti-heroine
Looking back on my review for the first book, I mentioned I was ready to watch Eve's descent into darkness. I was not. I was not prepared. It also did not help that the journey was strange and disjointed. Simply put, it did not make sense to me much in Deviate, because while yes she had certainly been betrayed by some it made no sense to me why she would throw away her entire past. She might not have lived Ana's life, but she had lived as Evie. Those memories were hers. That life was hers, however, flawed and riddled with secrets it was. Anyways, it helped in this installment that we actually got to see her struggle with who she was, the decisions and mistakes she's made. Witnessed her try to figure out who she was outside of the shadow of the girl she was made to be.
Zeke: the lost hero
Once again, his life is a mess. He continues to be torn apart by his feelings because although he understands Ana is dead, he cannot seem to let her go. And again we get drilled over the head with the fact that she was his first blah blah. Okay, moving on. Zeke was sometimes just too kind, too trusting. He truly believes most of the people in his life are not beyond redemption. No matter who many times he gets disappointed or betrayed he keeps on fighting, poor guy never caught a break.
Lemon: the sidekick/turned heroine
Because a girl who'd grown up rough and filthy as Lemon Fresh wasn't the kind of damsel to sit up in a tower waiting for some handsome prince to rescue her.
Grimm: the boy who stopped a nuke
Heroic at heart, Grimm fights for what he believes is right. He fights for humanity. Even going as far as to risk his life to save the very same people who tried to crucify him for being different.
Diesel: the queen of portals
She is a sassy bitch, with a smart mouth. But all in all, she is loyal, level-headed and smart.
Cricket: the once little robot now with a body as big as his opinions
"Love is caring about someone else more than you care about yourself," Cricket said. "It's feeling better when they're around, and worse when they're away. It's wanting the best for them, no matter what."
The Relationships
Eve & Zeke
"What you were made to be doesn't matter. The things you do become the person you are."
He shrugged, as if asking the most obvious question in the world.
"So who do you want to be?"
---
That this boy hadn't trusted her, hadn't believed in her, hadn't loved her for who she'd been, but who she was.
And who was she? In the end?
She was a girl who loved him back.
Eve slipped her arms around Zeke's waist. This boy who'd always felt so real in her arms. And she kissed him, kissed him for all he'd done, and all he was, and all she'd known he'd be. Kissed him like she were a queen, and he her king, there in that empire of scrap, rusting under a cigarette sky.
These two were a roller-coaster of emotion and confusion. It wasn’t just that I wasn’t sure how they felt about each other, a lot times it felt like they weren’t sure either. So much back and forth. Don’t get me wrong I was rooting for them from the start. But with a giant elephant in the room, being Ana and the endless betrayal, I did not think it was going to happen. So color me surprised in the end.
Lemon & Grimm
Grimm had kissed her like she's never been kissed before. He'd kissed her like he really, truly meant it.
---
He looked at her sidelong.
"You got this, love," he said. "And you got me. To the end."
She smiled at him. Squeezed his hand.
"Not the end," she said. "Not today."
These two gave me serious first love vibes because they're just so pure and sweet. They definitely reached ride or die levels very fast.
Eve & Lemon
It was believable and solid that the end of this, it was these two who stood together against everything. It made sense they would stand by each other in the end. Because they've been by each other side for so long. They're best friends. They are family, until the bitter end.
Cricket & Lemon
Our little robot loved and fought for Lemon with all he had, and you can argue he never had a heart. But I would argue right back that his love and loyalty could never have been programed.
This was a book that made me consider a lot of things. What it means to be human. How hard it is to fight for a better future for everyone when it would far easier to just accept things as they are, to only look out for yourself.
The world was not wholly fixed, everything was not all roses and happy endings. But it was hopeful. As if, no matter how far we fall it is never too late to get back up and try again.
I received a free ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Knopf Books for Young Readers and Public Random House approving my request.
Stronger together.
Together forever.
Well, that was a rollercoaster ride of emotions. It’s been a while since I’ve finished a book in a matter of hours but I simply had to know how this story ended.
Fast-paced, action-packed. Filled with tests of loyalty, friendship, and love. You're constantly wondering what this world will throw at you next.
The Cast
Eve: the anti-heroine
Looking back on my review for the first book, I mentioned I was ready to watch Eve's descent into darkness. I was not. I was not prepared. It also did not help that the journey was strange and disjointed. Simply put, it did not make sense to me much in Deviate, because while yes she had certainly been betrayed by some it made no sense to me why she would throw away her entire past. She might not have lived Ana's life, but she had lived as Evie. Those memories were hers. That life was hers, however, flawed and riddled with secrets it was. Anyways, it helped in this installment that we actually got to see her struggle with who she was, the decisions and mistakes she's made. Witnessed her try to figure out who she was outside of the shadow of the girl she was made to be.
Zeke: the lost hero
Once again, his life is a mess. He continues to be torn apart by his feelings because although he understands Ana is dead, he cannot seem to let her go. And again we get drilled over the head with the fact that she was his first blah blah. Okay, moving on. Zeke was sometimes just too kind, too trusting. He truly believes most of the people in his life are not beyond redemption. No matter who many times he gets disappointed or betrayed he keeps on fighting, poor guy never caught a break.
Lemon: the sidekick/turned heroine
Because a girl who'd grown up rough and filthy as Lemon Fresh wasn't the kind of damsel to sit up in a tower waiting for some handsome prince to rescue her.
Grimm: the boy who stopped a nuke
Heroic at heart, Grimm fights for what he believes is right. He fights for humanity. Even going as far as to risk his life to save the very same people who tried to crucify him for being different.
Diesel: the queen of portals
She is a sassy bitch, with a smart mouth. But all in all, she is loyal, level-headed and smart.
Cricket: the once little robot now with a body as big as his opinions
"Love is caring about someone else more than you care about yourself," Cricket said. "It's feeling better when they're around, and worse when they're away. It's wanting the best for them, no matter what."
The Relationships
Eve & Zeke
"What you were made to be doesn't matter. The things you do become the person you are."
He shrugged, as if asking the most obvious question in the world.
"So who do you want to be?"
---
That this boy hadn't trusted her, hadn't believed in her, hadn't loved her for who she'd been, but who she was.
And who was she? In the end?
She was a girl who loved him back.
Eve slipped her arms around Zeke's waist. This boy who'd always felt so real in her arms. And she kissed him, kissed him for all he'd done, and all he was, and all she'd known he'd be. Kissed him like she were a queen, and he her king, there in that empire of scrap, rusting under a cigarette sky.
These two were a roller-coaster of emotion and confusion. It wasn’t just that I wasn’t sure how they felt about each other, a lot times it felt like they weren’t sure either. So much back and forth. Don’t get me wrong I was rooting for them from the start. But with a giant elephant in the room, being Ana and the endless betrayal, I did not think it was going to happen. So color me surprised in the end.
Lemon & Grimm
Grimm had kissed her like she's never been kissed before. He'd kissed her like he really, truly meant it.
---
He looked at her sidelong.
"You got this, love," he said. "And you got me. To the end."
She smiled at him. Squeezed his hand.
"Not the end," she said. "Not today."
These two gave me serious first love vibes because they're just so pure and sweet. They definitely reached ride or die levels very fast.
Eve & Lemon
It was believable and solid that the end of this, it was these two who stood together against everything. It made sense they would stand by each other in the end. Because they've been by each other side for so long. They're best friends. They are family, until the bitter end.
Cricket & Lemon
Our little robot loved and fought for Lemon with all he had, and you can argue he never had a heart. But I would argue right back that his love and loyalty could never have been programed.
This was a book that made me consider a lot of things. What it means to be human. How hard it is to fight for a better future for everyone when it would far easier to just accept things as they are, to only look out for yourself.
The world was not wholly fixed, everything was not all roses and happy endings. But it was hopeful. As if, no matter how far we fall it is never too late to get back up and try again.
I received a free ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Knopf Books for Young Readers and Public Random House approving my request.
September 25, 2024
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Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Books for Young Readers for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are mine.
"You built a world on metal backs," she said.
"Held together by metal hands.
And one day soon, those hands will close.
And they'll become fists."
TRUEL1F3 takes the reader on a roller coaster and brings the Lifelike trilogy to a bittersweet ending.
The dread that I feel at the end of a series is too real. I dread that a favorite character is going to die, I dread that the bad guy is going to win (although, my love of complex stories also believes this to be a great twist), I dread that a million and one things are going to go wrong. But, I push through it, read faster than I ever have towards the end of the novel so that I can just rip the band aid off, and come out at the end usually feeling a little worse for wear, but mostly intact.
Save for my emotions. My emotions always take a hit or two if I'm this invested.
All and any reservations that I felt about Eve's dark twist into hatred and vengeance in DEV1AT3 and the end of LIFEL1K3 were erased in TRUEL1F3. Thank you, Mister Kristoff, from the bottom of my bruised heart for giving Eve such a big part in this installment. I'm not going to say that I forgive her for everything she's done, or that I “like” her. I was rather fond of Eve when all of this started, but along the way she lost her charm and I still can't quite forgive or trust her. But given what she is put through, given how torturous she's treated and how justified her negative belief in humans has turned, and given the fact that you can see that she wants to change-- Yeah, I give her a break. She did good here, she has a chance, and the pull that I'd hoped Lemon would have on her came to pass. That bestest that let her down in LIFEL1K3 brought her back to herself, and it was a lovely moment to see.
I always like to touch on my favorite characters, those that stand out the most, because they make the story for me. Lemon Fresh, from the start, has been a star. This young girl shone in this third book, and she brought me most of the feels that I had along the way. I lost count of the times that she was struck down, either literally or metaphorically, but she got back up every single time. She kept fighting for what she believed in, for her friends, she never gave up. Lemon is the little spark of hope that can barely be seen waiting at the end, and she dragged herself to it by tooth and nail. Her spark, alongside Cricket's amazing little logika affection (I know, I know, “Don't call me little”) made me sit on the edge of my seat and hold on for dear life every time that they dove into danger.
And the danger strikes at these characters from all angles. It's something that one would think might make a novel drive forward at the speed of light from start to finish. But I found myself feeling the same thing that I felt in LIFEL1K3, where the beginning of the novel lacked something for me. There's a certain special touch of snowflake (you get that reference if you've read these books) that's missing almost until half of the book, and then it picks up fast and doesn't let you go 'til its fin. Just like in book one, this doesn't take much from the story's enjoyment, but it's enough to be noticeable. It's still merely a small point in the overall good of the plot, however.
There's plenty to make TRUEL1F3 worth the read, especially if you've already enjoyed the first two books: great friendships, beautiful romances, badass fights, more than a few good punchlines. And at the center of it all is a hell of a showdown during the last few chapters between humanity and those not quite. A battle that brings enemies close, fighting against a common foe—it's a rush to see that moment pull up in the pages.
The antagonists Gabriel and Faith... Eve joined their ranks, but these two have been the constants since the opening chapters, and the wrath that has driven them has been almost frightening. It's so easy to dislike them, but there's something about these lifelikes, just like there is with Ezekiel, that made me feel sorry for them. All they wanted was to be their own person, something that we all want. Something that we all get to have, elementally, as human beings. Their wants, and what drives them, never wavered until the very end at Faith's hand. They are horrible, they're wonderfully created in their perfect hostility, and I enjoyed them as much as I do every well-crafted adversary in a fictional tale.
There are times when you really do almost hope that the bad ones win something out of it.
And if you wonder “Did the good guys win? Did a favorite character die after all?” Well, let's just say that good and bad things happened, and this reader is still recovering from some of those moments.
This was a great ride.
Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Books for Young Readers for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are mine.
"You built a world on metal backs," she said.
"Held together by metal hands.
And one day soon, those hands will close.
And they'll become fists."
TRUEL1F3 takes the reader on a roller coaster and brings the Lifelike trilogy to a bittersweet ending.
The dread that I feel at the end of a series is too real. I dread that a favorite character is going to die, I dread that the bad guy is going to win (although, my love of complex stories also believes this to be a great twist), I dread that a million and one things are going to go wrong. But, I push through it, read faster than I ever have towards the end of the novel so that I can just rip the band aid off, and come out at the end usually feeling a little worse for wear, but mostly intact.
Save for my emotions. My emotions always take a hit or two if I'm this invested.
All and any reservations that I felt about Eve's dark twist into hatred and vengeance in DEV1AT3 and the end of LIFEL1K3 were erased in TRUEL1F3. Thank you, Mister Kristoff, from the bottom of my bruised heart for giving Eve such a big part in this installment. I'm not going to say that I forgive her for everything she's done, or that I “like” her. I was rather fond of Eve when all of this started, but along the way she lost her charm and I still can't quite forgive or trust her. But given what she is put through, given how torturous she's treated and how justified her negative belief in humans has turned, and given the fact that you can see that she wants to change-- Yeah, I give her a break. She did good here, she has a chance, and the pull that I'd hoped Lemon would have on her came to pass. That bestest that let her down in LIFEL1K3 brought her back to herself, and it was a lovely moment to see.
I always like to touch on my favorite characters, those that stand out the most, because they make the story for me. Lemon Fresh, from the start, has been a star. This young girl shone in this third book, and she brought me most of the feels that I had along the way. I lost count of the times that she was struck down, either literally or metaphorically, but she got back up every single time. She kept fighting for what she believed in, for her friends, she never gave up. Lemon is the little spark of hope that can barely be seen waiting at the end, and she dragged herself to it by tooth and nail. Her spark, alongside Cricket's amazing little logika affection (I know, I know, “Don't call me little”) made me sit on the edge of my seat and hold on for dear life every time that they dove into danger.
And the danger strikes at these characters from all angles. It's something that one would think might make a novel drive forward at the speed of light from start to finish. But I found myself feeling the same thing that I felt in LIFEL1K3, where the beginning of the novel lacked something for me. There's a certain special touch of snowflake (you get that reference if you've read these books) that's missing almost until half of the book, and then it picks up fast and doesn't let you go 'til its fin. Just like in book one, this doesn't take much from the story's enjoyment, but it's enough to be noticeable. It's still merely a small point in the overall good of the plot, however.
There's plenty to make TRUEL1F3 worth the read, especially if you've already enjoyed the first two books: great friendships, beautiful romances, badass fights, more than a few good punchlines. And at the center of it all is a hell of a showdown during the last few chapters between humanity and those not quite. A battle that brings enemies close, fighting against a common foe—it's a rush to see that moment pull up in the pages.
The antagonists Gabriel and Faith... Eve joined their ranks, but these two have been the constants since the opening chapters, and the wrath that has driven them has been almost frightening. It's so easy to dislike them, but there's something about these lifelikes, just like there is with Ezekiel, that made me feel sorry for them. All they wanted was to be their own person, something that we all want. Something that we all get to have, elementally, as human beings. Their wants, and what drives them, never wavered until the very end at Faith's hand. They are horrible, they're wonderfully created in their perfect hostility, and I enjoyed them as much as I do every well-crafted adversary in a fictional tale.
There are times when you really do almost hope that the bad ones win something out of it.
And if you wonder “Did the good guys win? Did a favorite character die after all?” Well, let's just say that good and bad things happened, and this reader is still recovering from some of those moments.
This was a great ride.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2021
I’m still trying to figure out how he fit SO MUCH into this book. It’s brilliant and heart pounding and just so good! So satisfied with that ending.
December 25, 2020
Well I thought that was a perfect conclusion to a perfect series. No complaints about how it was all wrapped up at all!
Truel1f3 is another action packed book with battle after battle and some amazing scenes as all our major characters use their incredible gifts. I predicted in my review of LIFEL1K3 that Lemonfresh would eventually own this series and she did! She was by far the most likeable, honest and talented character and she just got better and better in each book. I have a soft spot too for Ezekiel who tried his best and I was happy for him at the end. I am not going to comment on Eve. You need to read the book and make up your own mind about her.
This was a brilliant series altogether. Thank you to Jay Kristoff. Please keep them coming!
Truel1f3 is another action packed book with battle after battle and some amazing scenes as all our major characters use their incredible gifts. I predicted in my review of LIFEL1K3 that Lemonfresh would eventually own this series and she did! She was by far the most likeable, honest and talented character and she just got better and better in each book. I have a soft spot too for Ezekiel who tried his best and I was happy for him at the end. I am not going to comment on Eve. You need to read the book and make up your own mind about her.
This was a brilliant series altogether. Thank you to Jay Kristoff. Please keep them coming!
July 9, 2020
This this such a good conclusion even tho there were things I don’t like about it.. still a good conclusion in my opinion
I love there were so many actions and robot battle scenes through this series and my fav aspect on this whole trilogy is the FRIENDSHIP story! I think Jay Kristoff is one of the author that can built amazing friendship story (ZEKE DESERVES EVERYTHING THE BEST BTW I want to be his bestfriend!)
Things I don’t like : some of the scene felt too chaotic and very jumpy and there were so many POVs i barely feel anything to some of them, so when bad things happened to them… I just couldn’t care less
3.5⭐️
I love there were so many actions and robot battle scenes through this series and my fav aspect on this whole trilogy is the FRIENDSHIP story! I think Jay Kristoff is one of the author that can built amazing friendship story (ZEKE DESERVES EVERYTHING THE BEST BTW I want to be his bestfriend!)
Things I don’t like : some of the scene felt too chaotic and very jumpy and there were so many POVs i barely feel anything to some of them, so when bad things happened to them… I just couldn’t care less
3.5⭐️
January 9, 2023
Mi sento parecchio delusa da questo finale.
Quando leggo ultimi volumi di saghe, ho determinate aspettative che qui non sono state soddisfatte.
O almeno in gran parte non è accaduto.
Posso dire di aver apprezzato i parallelismi con Lifelike, perché trasmettono sempre una sensazione di chiusura. Fino al 60% sono stata particolarmente interessata agli eventi, in quanto conosciamo le corporazioni Daedalus e BioMaas e le diversissime città di Megopolis e CityHive.
Però la risoluzione dei vari conflitti l'ho trovata prevedibile e irrealistica.
Inoltre, il problema della trilogia resta la mancata caratterizzazione di Evie, che ci viene presentata come protagonista nel primo libro e arrivati a TrueLife sembra quasi una comparsa nella sua stessa storia. In generale, le alleanze cambiano in modo troppo repentino e poco credibile.
Il finale è confusionario, ci si sofferma su aspetti inutili e non si approfondiscono le informazioni importanti.
Mi dispiace davvero, perché è una storia molto promettente all'inizio, ma che si perde sulla via.
Quando leggo ultimi volumi di saghe, ho determinate aspettative che qui non sono state soddisfatte.
O almeno in gran parte non è accaduto.
Posso dire di aver apprezzato i parallelismi con Lifelike, perché trasmettono sempre una sensazione di chiusura. Fino al 60% sono stata particolarmente interessata agli eventi, in quanto conosciamo le corporazioni Daedalus e BioMaas e le diversissime città di Megopolis e CityHive.
Però la risoluzione dei vari conflitti l'ho trovata prevedibile e irrealistica.
Inoltre, il problema della trilogia resta la mancata caratterizzazione di Evie, che ci viene presentata come protagonista nel primo libro e arrivati a TrueLife sembra quasi una comparsa nella sua stessa storia. In generale, le alleanze cambiano in modo troppo repentino e poco credibile.
Il finale è confusionario, ci si sofferma su aspetti inutili e non si approfondiscono le informazioni importanti.
Mi dispiace davvero, perché è una storia molto promettente all'inizio, ma che si perde sulla via.
Want to read
June 17, 2020I received this complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
March 25, 2022
While I expect to have to suspend my critical thinking skills when reading a Kristoff novel, this installment took things a few steps too far.
Now, I get that this is sci-fi and you get to make stuff up, but there still has to be some internal consistency, some logic respected, some sense. Here many things happen, but it doesn't make sense that they would happen the way he describes. In one storyline, War 3.0 happened in the not too distant past and people living now were around for it and are still eating leftover pre-war army rations. But in another part of the story a race of extremely complex beings have evolved in what, a generation? He brings up Darwin ad nauseum but you can't have selection taking place over one generation. Just not happening, sorry mate. And many other examples of things going down in ways that make no sense...
I eventually got bored enough that I skimmed where possible. Sadly the ending wasn't enough to make up for previous failings. I've read a fair bit of Kristoff and I've had fun, but I may have reached my Kristoff-limit.
Now, I get that this is sci-fi and you get to make stuff up, but there still has to be some internal consistency, some logic respected, some sense. Here many things happen, but it doesn't make sense that they would happen the way he describes. In one storyline, War 3.0 happened in the not too distant past and people living now were around for it and are still eating leftover pre-war army rations. But in another part of the story a race of extremely complex beings have evolved in what, a generation? He brings up Darwin ad nauseum but you can't have selection taking place over one generation. Just not happening, sorry mate. And many other examples of things going down in ways that make no sense...
I eventually got bored enough that I skimmed where possible. Sadly the ending wasn't enough to make up for previous failings. I've read a fair bit of Kristoff and I've had fun, but I may have reached my Kristoff-limit.
June 22, 2020
5 stars
Thanks for the free book @PRHGlobal/@prhinternational! I was lucky to get an ARC of that story but it has no influence on my review.
That book was brilliful!
What’s that word? It’s a word for something both beautiful and brilliant.
Long review ahead #sorrynotsorry !
First, we begin with a helluva opening scene that will set the tone and the pace for the whole book!
There are some deep topics here!
Like : what makes us human? Biomaas chose the path of no free will everyone honed to be the best of his kind. Similar.
Daedalus thinks the best is to have every mechanics under control. Ne free will for robots and humans above all else. Just another form of slavery from Biomaas as both live by control and order.
The other life form like the deviate is chaos. More alive and more humans than what these companies want humans to be.
So I’d say that what makes us human come down to free will.
And who are you? What makes you you? Who do you want to be?
What defines a person? That’s when Jay went Dumbledoresk on us with quotes like “You’re not defined by what you are, Eve. You’re defined by what you do.”
Also what makes a family? The blood you share? The people who have your back no matter what?
This book is also full of second chances: at love, at friendship, at living on this planet.
Now let’s talk about some of the characters!
From the end of book one I wanted Fresh to be something other than somebody’s sidekick! Lifl1k3 focused on Eve as main female character but Miss Fresh had already hijacked my heart and I wanted her to have the floor! Well in Dev1at3 and certainly now in Truel1f3 my wish has been granted!
Freckles will have to up her game and true cert, she’ll be fizzy doing it!
Cricket had clearly been inspired by Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio. He was Eve’s conscience in a way. He began this series as a wee thing and ended up as a giant robot. Hit outer growth only mirroring his inner growth.
Because one thing that I loved in this series was the personal growth and journey all main characters went on, Cricket included! Yes, that’s right: a robot had his own evolution!
And as in real life, some characters had a rocky growth, often erring on the dark side for some time and Jay made it so convincing that I never knew if one day, some of them would see the light again!
Let’s talk about my boy Ezekiel now or Dimples.
He was worthy of all my admiration through all these books! Mind you, he will fight to prevent Gabriel to make more of his kind, knowing that he and his remaining brother and sisters are the only left of their kind. All that because he realized how wrong they were for human kind! He knows who he wants to be and that’s someone who has hope, no matter what and who will believe in other’s goodness.
He has an ingrained sense of right and wrong and will do everything, even make hard choices, to do what’s right. Deeply loyal, love and friendship are things he believes in wholeheartedly. And of course, being pleasing on the eye is an extra bonus right?
But the characters and topics are not the only things that make this series stand out!
What I also adored and that’s something Jay excels at was all the inner lingo and “Lifl1k3” language this book offers! Expression like “Fizzy”, “True cert” fill the book, giving it its own special flavor! One of my favorite expression, derived from our common ones: “Can’t make a mint julep without crushin’ some ice.” Or another one “She realized how deep in the fertilizer she actually was.”
I love when authors invent nearly a new language in their books! Something that makes us feel that we are in that universe they imagined for their heroes. It’s like a personal seal. The series brand, more than the author’s brand!
Last but not least, I got all the FEELS !
Jay made me cry with what’s been done to Lemon, with what happened to Ezekiel that resurfaced the little lost boy. But he also made me shed tears for happy reasons as some scene of reunion between friends, machine and human were packed with so much tenderness that my eyes just teared up.
Mister Kristoff also surprised me with plot Twists! Some betrayals I never had seen coming!
He also made me rage, often. Fear the worst for our heroes! This book is filled with guns blazing heart pounding escapes. With loss and grief. Full of battles, dangers and turning points, so much that I was sitting at the edge of my seat thinking “Don't make Grimm die Jay” or “Don’t make Fresh die!” or “If you destroy Zeke, I will hunt you to the end of the earth Jay”. Because guys you know Hell hath no fury like a reader scorned!
#sponsored #partner @PRHGlobal/@prhinternational
Have you read this series already?
Thanks for reading
Sophie
Find me on:
Wordpress: Beware Of The Reader
Facebook: Beware Of The Reader
Facebook group : Beware Book Boyfriends Alert
Instagram: @bewareofthereader
Twitter: @BewareOffReader
Thanks for the free book @PRHGlobal/@prhinternational! I was lucky to get an ARC of that story but it has no influence on my review.
That book was brilliful!
What’s that word? It’s a word for something both beautiful and brilliant.
“First rule of the Scrap: Stronger together. Together forever.”
Long review ahead #sorrynotsorry !
First, we begin with a helluva opening scene that will set the tone and the pace for the whole book!
There are some deep topics here!
Like : what makes us human? Biomaas chose the path of no free will everyone honed to be the best of his kind. Similar.
Daedalus thinks the best is to have every mechanics under control. Ne free will for robots and humans above all else. Just another form of slavery from Biomaas as both live by control and order.
The other life form like the deviate is chaos. More alive and more humans than what these companies want humans to be.
So I’d say that what makes us human come down to free will.
“But in trying to make everything fit in these neat little boxes with these oh-so-helpful labels, you’re taking away the stuff that makes us special! To you people, what you are is more important than who you are!”
And who are you? What makes you you? Who do you want to be?
What defines a person? That’s when Jay went Dumbledoresk on us with quotes like “You’re not defined by what you are, Eve. You’re defined by what you do.”
Also what makes a family? The blood you share? The people who have your back no matter what?
This book is also full of second chances: at love, at friendship, at living on this planet.
Now let’s talk about some of the characters!
From the end of book one I wanted Fresh to be something other than somebody’s sidekick! Lifl1k3 focused on Eve as main female character but Miss Fresh had already hijacked my heart and I wanted her to have the floor! Well in Dev1at3 and certainly now in Truel1f3 my wish has been granted!
Freckles will have to up her game and true cert, she’ll be fizzy doing it!
“Truth was, part of her still felt like that snot-nosed, punk kid who’d set out as the tagalong in someone else’s story. The sass on tap. The comedy relief. She wondered who she was to be standing up in a fight like this. To be counting on others to do the same. Despite her speech in the silo, she didn’t feel like any sort of leader.”
Cricket had clearly been inspired by Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio. He was Eve’s conscience in a way. He began this series as a wee thing and ended up as a giant robot. Hit outer growth only mirroring his inner growth.
Because one thing that I loved in this series was the personal growth and journey all main characters went on, Cricket included! Yes, that’s right: a robot had his own evolution!
And as in real life, some characters had a rocky growth, often erring on the dark side for some time and Jay made it so convincing that I never knew if one day, some of them would see the light again!
Let’s talk about my boy Ezekiel now or Dimples.
He was worthy of all my admiration through all these books! Mind you, he will fight to prevent Gabriel to make more of his kind, knowing that he and his remaining brother and sisters are the only left of their kind. All that because he realized how wrong they were for human kind! He knows who he wants to be and that’s someone who has hope, no matter what and who will believe in other’s goodness.
He has an ingrained sense of right and wrong and will do everything, even make hard choices, to do what’s right. Deeply loyal, love and friendship are things he believes in wholeheartedly. And of course, being pleasing on the eye is an extra bonus right?
“He said nothing. Just looked into her eyes. Seeing her hurt like this, seeing her pain, he couldn’t help but feel a stab of pity. He and Faith were still family, despite everything, and that still counted for something. That was just who he was. Who he’d decided to be.”
But the characters and topics are not the only things that make this series stand out!
What I also adored and that’s something Jay excels at was all the inner lingo and “Lifl1k3” language this book offers! Expression like “Fizzy”, “True cert” fill the book, giving it its own special flavor! One of my favorite expression, derived from our common ones: “Can’t make a mint julep without crushin’ some ice.” Or another one “She realized how deep in the fertilizer she actually was.”
I love when authors invent nearly a new language in their books! Something that makes us feel that we are in that universe they imagined for their heroes. It’s like a personal seal. The series brand, more than the author’s brand!
Last but not least, I got all the FEELS !
Jay made me cry with what’s been done to Lemon, with what happened to Ezekiel that resurfaced the little lost boy. But he also made me shed tears for happy reasons as some scene of reunion between friends, machine and human were packed with so much tenderness that my eyes just teared up.
Mister Kristoff also surprised me with plot Twists! Some betrayals I never had seen coming!
He also made me rage, often. Fear the worst for our heroes! This book is filled with guns blazing heart pounding escapes. With loss and grief. Full of battles, dangers and turning points, so much that I was sitting at the edge of my seat thinking “Don't make Grimm die Jay” or “Don’t make Fresh die!” or “If you destroy Zeke, I will hunt you to the end of the earth Jay”. Because guys you know Hell hath no fury like a reader scorned!
#sponsored #partner @PRHGlobal/@prhinternational
Have you read this series already?
Thanks for reading
Sophie
Find me on:
Wordpress: Beware Of The Reader
Facebook: Beware Of The Reader
Facebook group : Beware Book Boyfriends Alert
Instagram: @bewareofthereader
Twitter: @BewareOffReader
January 11, 2026
Trama/Plot ⭐⭐⭐
Personaggi/Characters ⭐⭐
Stile/Style ⭐⭐⭐
Sono un po' delusa da quest'ultimo capitolo: bello come tutti i nodi vengano al pettine, come le situazioni si risolvano, ma la sensazione generale che ne ho ricavato è di una lunghezza esagerata, capitoli pieni di non-avvenimenti, ripetitivi nelle prese di posizione dei personaggi e nelle loro azioni, e con un po' di banalità in quell'uniamoci tutti insieme contro il cattivo comune che si trova nei capitoli finali. Beh...che dire, prima o poi doveva accadere di non trovare perfetto un libro di zio Jay!
***
I'm a bit disappointed by this last chapter of the saga: it's nice how all the issues come to a head, how the situations are resolved, but the general feeling I got readging it, it is of an exaggerated length, chapters full of non-events, repetitive in the points of position of the characters and in their actions, and with a bit of banality in that "let's all unite together against the common villain" mode found in the final chapters. Well... what can I say, sooner or later it had to happen that I didn't find an Uncle Jay book perfect!
Personaggi/Characters ⭐⭐
Stile/Style ⭐⭐⭐
Sono un po' delusa da quest'ultimo capitolo: bello come tutti i nodi vengano al pettine, come le situazioni si risolvano, ma la sensazione generale che ne ho ricavato è di una lunghezza esagerata, capitoli pieni di non-avvenimenti, ripetitivi nelle prese di posizione dei personaggi e nelle loro azioni, e con un po' di banalità in quell'uniamoci tutti insieme contro il cattivo comune che si trova nei capitoli finali. Beh...che dire, prima o poi doveva accadere di non trovare perfetto un libro di zio Jay!
***
I'm a bit disappointed by this last chapter of the saga: it's nice how all the issues come to a head, how the situations are resolved, but the general feeling I got readging it, it is of an exaggerated length, chapters full of non-events, repetitive in the points of position of the characters and in their actions, and with a bit of banality in that "let's all unite together against the common villain" mode found in the final chapters. Well... what can I say, sooner or later it had to happen that I didn't find an Uncle Jay book perfect!
March 22, 2022
“The things you do become the person you are.”
When the book opens with a nuclear bomb going off, you know the author has taken Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s advice to heart. Sadly, there is no true life in this bomb’s crater. There is no artificial life either (or intelligence for that matter). Only action on autopilot, leading nowhere.
TRUEL1F3 brings us back to the wasteland of shattered civilisation for a messy finale of an adventure that started with an alluring simplicity but in the meantime evolved into a precarious hybrid.
Problem number one: rationale.
There is one basic premise for everything that happened so far, and this premise is built on the crude Marxist notion of exploitation. Here we have a transhumanist take on this issue: In this story humans exploit (sic!) the machines they built because (the horror! the horror!), these machines are treated instrumentally.
“You built a world on metal backs. Held together by metal hands. And one day soon, those hands will close. And they’ll become fists.”
Hint: Instrumental 1) serving as a means or agency; 2) Of, relating to, or accomplished with an instrument or tool. To put it simply, the problem is that things are treated like things when they feeeeeeel they are persons. Oh, the magic concept of lived experience.
To spice the inedible trans existential gibberish of what does it mean to be, there is also the motif of humanity as an evolutionary blind alley, a failed experiment or perhaps a tumour on the ravaged face of the Earth. A tumour that must be eradicated. Do you save humanity or not? Are they worthy of another chance? Can a collective (or an individual) redeem oneself regardless of the committed atrocities?
Problem number one hundred: the mess.
When you add the above together, you end up in a situation where everyone is hellbent on genocide for reasons that are in some cases bizarre (like, I understand BioMass hates robots but ordinary humans are perfectly organic so why annihilating them too?) in others just idiosyncratic. Right, Gabriel? Gabriel is just raving mad so one could simply dismiss his libido driven obsession thinly disguised as a saviour complex, if not for the fact that the other, supposedly sentient lifelikes allegedly endowed with the intelligence of an average genius go for this idiocy without employing this intelligence even once to question either cause or consequences of the selected strategy.
In general, the novel features too much action and only a fraction of what happens makes sense when you stop for a moment and consider who and for what reasons perform the deeds. No wonder that liberal use of nuclear bombs seem to be the only sensible course of action. I mean, this is the PROtagonists doing so, not the ANTAgonists plotting bloody mayhem.
And then on top of bots, androids, hive minds, paranormal abilities and murderous cults, we have a random VR thrown in. TRUEL1F3, the thing that gave the title to the whole book is explained in one paragraph, and then mentioned a couple of times with only minor significance of it. This tells you how the whole thing is designed: it is not.
The worst for me was that in all this, the reader is forced to fill in the blanks. And there are many of those . It doesn’t make it easier that the characters are all over the place, switching sides at will whenever the plot needs it (Preacher!). Why? Good question! Keep asking. Especially that the crucial character transformation, the one that everyone (and their robot) has been waiting for since the end of book one, happens by the by, off-screen and as if nothing ever happened. Unbelievable.
I was thinking how we start with Evie, who quickly gets sidetracked and for the rest of the story, she is more of a petulant villain throwing killing tantrums here and there. I wouldn’t complain because I liked Lemon Fresh more if not for the fact that so much in this book rides on the relationship between these two girls and the soundness of what transpires is not substantiated (especially in terms of how Evie overreacts). The same applies to love life and how the precarious triangle was resolved .
Ultimately, I love the idea, and hate the execution. Perhaps if Jay Kristoff could rewrite this book with the finesse of a more mature writer, it would deliver all it has promised.
Also in the series:
1. LIFEL1K3 ★★★☆☆
2. DEV1AT3 ★★★☆☆
When the book opens with a nuclear bomb going off, you know the author has taken Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s advice to heart. Sadly, there is no true life in this bomb’s crater. There is no artificial life either (or intelligence for that matter). Only action on autopilot, leading nowhere.
TRUEL1F3 brings us back to the wasteland of shattered civilisation for a messy finale of an adventure that started with an alluring simplicity but in the meantime evolved into a precarious hybrid.
Problem number one: rationale.
There is one basic premise for everything that happened so far, and this premise is built on the crude Marxist notion of exploitation. Here we have a transhumanist take on this issue: In this story humans exploit (sic!) the machines they built because (the horror! the horror!), these machines are treated instrumentally.
“You built a world on metal backs. Held together by metal hands. And one day soon, those hands will close. And they’ll become fists.”
Hint: Instrumental 1) serving as a means or agency; 2) Of, relating to, or accomplished with an instrument or tool. To put it simply, the problem is that things are treated like things when they feeeeeeel they are persons. Oh, the magic concept of lived experience.
To spice the inedible trans existential gibberish of what does it mean to be, there is also the motif of humanity as an evolutionary blind alley, a failed experiment or perhaps a tumour on the ravaged face of the Earth. A tumour that must be eradicated. Do you save humanity or not? Are they worthy of another chance? Can a collective (or an individual) redeem oneself regardless of the committed atrocities?
Problem number one hundred: the mess.
When you add the above together, you end up in a situation where everyone is hellbent on genocide for reasons that are in some cases bizarre (like, I understand BioMass hates robots but ordinary humans are perfectly organic so why annihilating them too?) in others just idiosyncratic. Right, Gabriel? Gabriel is just raving mad so one could simply dismiss his libido driven obsession thinly disguised as a saviour complex, if not for the fact that the other, supposedly sentient lifelikes allegedly endowed with the intelligence of an average genius go for this idiocy without employing this intelligence even once to question either cause or consequences of the selected strategy.
In general, the novel features too much action and only a fraction of what happens makes sense when you stop for a moment and consider who and for what reasons perform the deeds. No wonder that liberal use of nuclear bombs seem to be the only sensible course of action. I mean, this is the PROtagonists doing so, not the ANTAgonists plotting bloody mayhem.
And then on top of bots, androids, hive minds, paranormal abilities and murderous cults, we have a random VR thrown in. TRUEL1F3, the thing that gave the title to the whole book is explained in one paragraph, and then mentioned a couple of times with only minor significance of it. This tells you how the whole thing is designed: it is not.
The worst for me was that in all this, the reader is forced to fill in the blanks. And there are many of those . It doesn’t make it easier that the characters are all over the place, switching sides at will whenever the plot needs it (Preacher!). Why? Good question! Keep asking. Especially that the crucial character transformation, the one that everyone (and their robot) has been waiting for since the end of book one, happens by the by, off-screen and as if nothing ever happened. Unbelievable.
I was thinking how we start with Evie, who quickly gets sidetracked and for the rest of the story, she is more of a petulant villain throwing killing tantrums here and there. I wouldn’t complain because I liked Lemon Fresh more if not for the fact that so much in this book rides on the relationship between these two girls and the soundness of what transpires is not substantiated (especially in terms of how Evie overreacts). The same applies to love life and how the precarious triangle was resolved .
Ultimately, I love the idea, and hate the execution. Perhaps if Jay Kristoff could rewrite this book with the finesse of a more mature writer, it would deliver all it has promised.
Also in the series:
1. LIFEL1K3 ★★★☆☆
2. DEV1AT3 ★★★☆☆
April 9, 2020
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
TRUEL1F3 was an okay-ish book. I was honestly really excited to dive into this but the ending just felt like such a cop out. I mean, I went through an emotional ride of liking and disliking Eve throughout the entire book. Yes, she made some pretty awful and dumb decisions but I could see that she was upset and hurt as well.
Yet, towards the end she just easily switched sides and everyone was like - YAY! Meanwhile I'm just like.. uh what? You can't seriously just welcome her back and think everything is all good again right? Of course she was trying to do something nice towards the end so maybe that's her only redeeming factor?
Besides not being the biggest fan of Eve this time around, there's Ezekiel. Yikes, his character was confusing as well. He's with Eve (sort of) but really only cares about Ana. Which definitely leaves to a super bittersweet moment but then the ending kind of gives me hope again?
Other than that, the beginning kind of hurt my head. It was just chaotic with all the switching of POV's and I was just trying to follow the story the best way I could. Definitely had to take some small breaks just to think things through and understand it all.
In the end, I just kind of wanted a different ending.
TRUEL1F3 was an okay-ish book. I was honestly really excited to dive into this but the ending just felt like such a cop out. I mean, I went through an emotional ride of liking and disliking Eve throughout the entire book. Yes, she made some pretty awful and dumb decisions but I could see that she was upset and hurt as well.
Yet, towards the end she just easily switched sides and everyone was like - YAY! Meanwhile I'm just like.. uh what? You can't seriously just welcome her back and think everything is all good again right? Of course she was trying to do something nice towards the end so maybe that's her only redeeming factor?
Besides not being the biggest fan of Eve this time around, there's Ezekiel. Yikes, his character was confusing as well. He's with Eve (sort of) but really only cares about Ana. Which definitely leaves to a super bittersweet moment but then the ending kind of gives me hope again?
Other than that, the beginning kind of hurt my head. It was just chaotic with all the switching of POV's and I was just trying to follow the story the best way I could. Definitely had to take some small breaks just to think things through and understand it all.
In the end, I just kind of wanted a different ending.
April 19, 2020
This trilogy kept getting better with each book. This final installment is full of high octane energy and rollercoaster emotions.
Our beloved characters are tested to the limits of their endurance. Loyalty and love, friendship and self growth, everyone has to reach for the peak and stretch to the breaking point. To do anything less will mean the end of humankind.
If you want to meet unique, snarky, strong characters, this is the story for you. If you want to see how humankind perseveres against all odds, read this trilogy. It's a post apocalyptic world on the brink of extinction, it's a fight for their lives and a test of their humanity.
*The series must be read in order.
Review ARC graciously provided by the publisher via NetGalley
Our beloved characters are tested to the limits of their endurance. Loyalty and love, friendship and self growth, everyone has to reach for the peak and stretch to the breaking point. To do anything less will mean the end of humankind.
If you want to meet unique, snarky, strong characters, this is the story for you. If you want to see how humankind perseveres against all odds, read this trilogy. It's a post apocalyptic world on the brink of extinction, it's a fight for their lives and a test of their humanity.
*The series must be read in order.
Review ARC graciously provided by the publisher via NetGalley
April 2, 2020
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
Check out my review of LIFEL1K3 here and give it a like!
Check out my review of DEV1AT3 here and give it a like!
Thank you so much Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review TRUEL1F3!
It's been a few days since I've read TRUEL1F3 and I've spent this time thinking about this novel and how this series ended. Initially I loved it and was content, but the more I thought about it the more and more that I realized that it was kind of rushed and though it wrapped up well, I feel like it could have been better. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate TRUEL1F3. I think fans of this series are going to enjoy it and love it as much as the other novels in this series.
After the quite explosive conclusion to DEV1AT3 we learn all sorts of things and in TRUEL1F3 we learn the cost of the decisions. Eve and Gabriel have been captured by the mega corporation Daedalus, one of the two corporations that are trying to gain control of what is left of the US. Lemonfresh has willingly gone with Hunter to City Hive to learn why she is deemed "important" to them. Abraham, Cricket, Solomon, Ezekiel, Grimm and Diesel barley escaped Bethlehem after a missile from the military bunker that houses Grimm and Diesel's rebellion was headed straight towards them. Let's just say that a lot had happened and it's not all good.
My biggest issue with this book is that I feel like Eve isn't given enough on page time in this story to continue to understand her motivations and the thoughts throughout it. She has more page time in this novel then she did in DEV1AT3 but it isn't enough. There are drastic decisions made that I felt blind sided by, which I guess it the point of being shocked. But this revelations were very oddly placed or very random. I liked seeing her struggle with trying to find who she is. Is she Eve or is she Ana? Who she is suppose to be and her role in the grand scheme of things. But other then that I am a little dissapointed in this aspect of the story.
I feel like there is two stories going on at once since it change point of views so frequently. We have a showdown between Daedalus and BioMaas in Lemonfresh and Ezekiel's point of view and then we have Eve's point of view where they are trying to escape Daedalus and return to Gnosis to finish what they started. To me, it felt like there was so much going on at once and it was hard to keep track at times.
Ezekiel's character has left me conflicted, I've seen so much growth from him through out the series and I am happy to see that but I feel like with how the story wrapped up and everything that unfolded he still only cared about one thing: Ana. Its complicated to talk about this further with out spoiling anything so I am going to leave it at that.
Overall I did expect a lot more from TRUEL1F3. I feel like some parts that were rushed and not explained fully. But with that being said, I did enjoy TRUEL1F3 and I am glad I got to read the conclusion. I want people to take my review with a grain of salt though, you might not find to have problems with this issues that I did and might think that this is the best one in the series. I don't want my review to deter anyone from not finishing this series. So read it and learn how this story ends for these characters.
Check out my review of LIFEL1K3 here and give it a like!
Check out my review of DEV1AT3 here and give it a like!
Thank you so much Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review TRUEL1F3!
It's been a few days since I've read TRUEL1F3 and I've spent this time thinking about this novel and how this series ended. Initially I loved it and was content, but the more I thought about it the more and more that I realized that it was kind of rushed and though it wrapped up well, I feel like it could have been better. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate TRUEL1F3. I think fans of this series are going to enjoy it and love it as much as the other novels in this series.
After the quite explosive conclusion to DEV1AT3 we learn all sorts of things and in TRUEL1F3 we learn the cost of the decisions. Eve and Gabriel have been captured by the mega corporation Daedalus, one of the two corporations that are trying to gain control of what is left of the US. Lemonfresh has willingly gone with Hunter to City Hive to learn why she is deemed "important" to them. Abraham, Cricket, Solomon, Ezekiel, Grimm and Diesel barley escaped Bethlehem after a missile from the military bunker that houses Grimm and Diesel's rebellion was headed straight towards them. Let's just say that a lot had happened and it's not all good.
My biggest issue with this book is that I feel like Eve isn't given enough on page time in this story to continue to understand her motivations and the thoughts throughout it. She has more page time in this novel then she did in DEV1AT3 but it isn't enough. There are drastic decisions made that I felt blind sided by, which I guess it the point of being shocked. But this revelations were very oddly placed or very random. I liked seeing her struggle with trying to find who she is. Is she Eve or is she Ana? Who she is suppose to be and her role in the grand scheme of things. But other then that I am a little dissapointed in this aspect of the story.
I feel like there is two stories going on at once since it change point of views so frequently. We have a showdown between Daedalus and BioMaas in Lemonfresh and Ezekiel's point of view and then we have Eve's point of view where they are trying to escape Daedalus and return to Gnosis to finish what they started. To me, it felt like there was so much going on at once and it was hard to keep track at times.
Ezekiel's character has left me conflicted, I've seen so much growth from him through out the series and I am happy to see that but I feel like with how the story wrapped up and everything that unfolded he still only cared about one thing: Ana. Its complicated to talk about this further with out spoiling anything so I am going to leave it at that.
Overall I did expect a lot more from TRUEL1F3. I feel like some parts that were rushed and not explained fully. But with that being said, I did enjoy TRUEL1F3 and I am glad I got to read the conclusion. I want people to take my review with a grain of salt though, you might not find to have problems with this issues that I did and might think that this is the best one in the series. I don't want my review to deter anyone from not finishing this series. So read it and learn how this story ends for these characters.
July 30, 2020
LIFEL1K3 RATING ● 5 STARS
DEV1AT3 RATING ● 5 STARS
TRUEL1F3 RATING ● 4½ STARS
THE DETAILS●●●
● LIFEL1K3 SERIES #3
● YA DYSTOPIAN
● ACTION PACKED
● I ROBOT MEETS MAD MAX WITH A DOLLOP OF WALL-E
● STILL MORE LEMON FRESH THAN EVE
● SO MANY POV'S --THAT I COULDN'T KEEP TRACK OF THEM ALL
● LENGTH OF AUDIO - 13 HOURS, 25 MINUTES
● I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY
MY THOUGHTS●●●
I loved the first and the second book...and I rated them both five stars. The third book, I don't know, maybe I wanted more from the ending or maybe it was just me not fully connecting this time. I'm not sure what is was, but either way, this is a spectacular apocalyptic series.
This series has so many themes and these are just some of what you'll find in this series: friendship goals, what it means to be alive, free will, what makes a family, it's okay to be different. These indelibly written themes coupled with characters that are so very likable they feel like friends make this a trilogy that's not to be missed.
Erin Spencer did a fantastic job narrating this series...but it really should have had a full-cast narration. Why did you not go with a full cast, Mr. Kristoff??? It would have made this series epic.
DEV1AT3 RATING ● 5 STARS
TRUEL1F3 RATING ● 4½ STARS
THE DETAILS●●●
● LIFEL1K3 SERIES #3
● YA DYSTOPIAN
● ACTION PACKED
● I ROBOT MEETS MAD MAX WITH A DOLLOP OF WALL-E
● STILL MORE LEMON FRESH THAN EVE
● SO MANY POV'S --THAT I COULDN'T KEEP TRACK OF THEM ALL
● LENGTH OF AUDIO - 13 HOURS, 25 MINUTES
● I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY
MY THOUGHTS●●●
I loved the first and the second book...and I rated them both five stars. The third book, I don't know, maybe I wanted more from the ending or maybe it was just me not fully connecting this time. I'm not sure what is was, but either way, this is a spectacular apocalyptic series.
This series has so many themes and these are just some of what you'll find in this series: friendship goals, what it means to be alive, free will, what makes a family, it's okay to be different. These indelibly written themes coupled with characters that are so very likable they feel like friends make this a trilogy that's not to be missed.
Erin Spencer did a fantastic job narrating this series...but it really should have had a full-cast narration. Why did you not go with a full cast, Mr. Kristoff??? It would have made this series epic.
BREAKDOWN●●●
● Narration Rating ⇢ 4 STARS
● Plot ⇢ 4.8/5
● Characters ⇢ 4.3/5
● The Feels ⇢ 4.2/5
● Pacing ⇢ 4.5/5
● Addictiveness ⇢ 4.2/5
● Theme, Tone or Intensity ⇢ 4.5/5
● Originality ⇢ 5/5
● Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ⇢ 3.8/5
● World-Building ⇢ 5/5
● Ending ⇢ 4/5
● Summation ⇢ 4½ STARS
September 24, 2020
3.5 Brilliful Stars
TRUEL1F3 is the finale of the LIFEL1k3 trilogy which is a mash-up of the Wizard of Oz, Pinocchio and i-Robot which some fun new language added in just to make it all pop. The big showdown is coming between super corps Daedalus and BioMass but don’t count out the side players or Gabriel with team Lifelike who want to destroy humanity or the Deviates that are trying to find a way to save what is left of it.
All of our original characters have come so far from the beginning.
- Lemon is the weapon BioMass wants to harness and copy to destroy their enemy Daedalus. Welcome to not being the sidekick kid. I love how devoted she is to all of her friends.
- Eve and Ana are in the hands of Daedalus and could unlock how to make more Lifelikes which is probably a bad idea since statistically speaking most of them turn murderous as least for a little while.
- Cricket isn’t they moral compass anymore as he is also figuring out what he believes in and what he would do if he wasn’t bound by the three laws.
- Zeke has lost so much, the girl he loved, the girl he thought was the girl he loved and all of his family. He wants desperately to save Eve, even if it is just from himself but is unsure if he can destroy her before she destroys the world.
- Grimm, Diesel and Abraham are the new kids on the block but they bring a lot of deviate power to the table and an added love interest for you little Lem. They grow up so fast.
We hit the ground pretty much running as we pick up right where Dev1at3 left off and a big nuke headed for New Bethlehem and both Lemon and Eve in enemy hands. Kristoff is willing to put his characters through some very hard times. But even after the bomb is thwarted there is so much to do. Rescues to be made and the rest of the bombs to be protected. Our teams must divide and conquer and some unlikely pairings come out of it all.
This story is entertaining but it also asks some of the bigger questions of when are you considered alive and is true extremism bad. Daedalus being mostly tech is a big factor in the continued pollution of the world while BioMass’s genetic perfection is less environmentally harmful but at what cost to individualism. Gabriel’s dreams of freeing all of the robots from the three laws might first appear noble until his true thoughts and goals are revealed.
With the fate of the world on the line there is no end of drama to the story and again characters will be lost as is the nature of war.
I will say this is a satisfying conclusion to the story and I’m good with how things left off. It was a great ride with some very cool characters in a world that was interesting, a little bit crazy and a bit dark. Truel1f3 is also just a little bit deeper than what is on the surface and left me pondering things in my own current life and times.
Everything I needed from a final installment of a series and the biggest take away for me was…
TRUEL1F3 is the finale of the LIFEL1k3 trilogy which is a mash-up of the Wizard of Oz, Pinocchio and i-Robot which some fun new language added in just to make it all pop. The big showdown is coming between super corps Daedalus and BioMass but don’t count out the side players or Gabriel with team Lifelike who want to destroy humanity or the Deviates that are trying to find a way to save what is left of it.
All of our original characters have come so far from the beginning.
- Lemon is the weapon BioMass wants to harness and copy to destroy their enemy Daedalus. Welcome to not being the sidekick kid. I love how devoted she is to all of her friends.
- Eve and Ana are in the hands of Daedalus and could unlock how to make more Lifelikes which is probably a bad idea since statistically speaking most of them turn murderous as least for a little while.
- Cricket isn’t they moral compass anymore as he is also figuring out what he believes in and what he would do if he wasn’t bound by the three laws.
"Love is caring about someone else more than you care about yourself," Cricket said. "It's feeling better when they're around, and worse when they're away. It's wanting the best for them, no matter what."
- Zeke has lost so much, the girl he loved, the girl he thought was the girl he loved and all of his family. He wants desperately to save Eve, even if it is just from himself but is unsure if he can destroy her before she destroys the world.
“You built a world on metal backs.
Held together by metal hands.
And one day soon, those hands will close.
And they’ll become fists.”
- Grimm, Diesel and Abraham are the new kids on the block but they bring a lot of deviate power to the table and an added love interest for you little Lem. They grow up so fast.
We hit the ground pretty much running as we pick up right where Dev1at3 left off and a big nuke headed for New Bethlehem and both Lemon and Eve in enemy hands. Kristoff is willing to put his characters through some very hard times. But even after the bomb is thwarted there is so much to do. Rescues to be made and the rest of the bombs to be protected. Our teams must divide and conquer and some unlikely pairings come out of it all.
This story is entertaining but it also asks some of the bigger questions of when are you considered alive and is true extremism bad. Daedalus being mostly tech is a big factor in the continued pollution of the world while BioMass’s genetic perfection is less environmentally harmful but at what cost to individualism. Gabriel’s dreams of freeing all of the robots from the three laws might first appear noble until his true thoughts and goals are revealed.
With the fate of the world on the line there is no end of drama to the story and again characters will be lost as is the nature of war.
I will say this is a satisfying conclusion to the story and I’m good with how things left off. It was a great ride with some very cool characters in a world that was interesting, a little bit crazy and a bit dark. Truel1f3 is also just a little bit deeper than what is on the surface and left me pondering things in my own current life and times.
Everything I needed from a final installment of a series and the biggest take away for me was…
First rule of the Scrap
Stronger together.
Together forever.
November 25, 2020
Hate to say I’m disappointed...As much as I absolutely loved Lifelike, I am saddened to say that this series was just not for me. Deviate took me a long time to finish and I was hoping it was an exception but Truelife didn’t capture my attention either. Now I don’t think the story is at fault here, it was purely just my lack of attachment to all the characters except Eve. I did like that all the main characters have their own POVS and there is a good amount of character development in all of them. I loved the plot twists at the end of Lifelike and I was expecting more in the sequels but they didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The world building itself is very intricate and well developed so that was interesting to read about. I do have an issue with the ending however, to me it seemed a bit anticlimactic. In all honesty, I’m glad they got their happy ending but I didn’t picture it to be in this way. Thanks to Allen & Unwin NZ for providing me with a copy of this book for review ❤️
October 8, 2020
Hi, welcome back to another episode of Nova Not Enjoying the Things She Used to Love. In this episode I will be discussing the fact that I completely forgot this book was released, and how it may have affected my reading experience, as well as how that One Thing that happened months ago may have ruined every single series I loved at the time.
Except...I lied. I won’t actually be doing any of that. That takes effort, and effort is not something I want to do at 2 AM.
I will give some minor criticisms of this book, though. I never realized this when reading Kristoff’s books previously, but after reading Nevernight and seeing some of the reviews on it I realized that there’s something icky going on in a lot of his books: teenagers having sex. Why? WHY? Why is a middle-aged man writing about 16-year-old girls having graphic sex? Why is he writing about a 17-year-old lifelike having YA-level sex? Why is the arc of Lemon, a 15-year-old, being attracted to Grimm even a thing? I don’t like any of this, and I have no idea why I never noticed it before. It’s icky. Or maybe I’m just an ignorant aro/ace that just doesn’t understand the Wonders of Love and the Totally Normal Thing that is ~Teenage Arousal~. /s
Highly questionable subplots aside, the main plot was also subpar. I read the previous two books in a single day (not two at the same time; each one in a single day), and I don’t know whether it’s the reading slump or the slow writing that made me complete this in 3. Admittedly, it could be a LOT longer, but 3 days of having little-to-no interest in continuing the book is quite a while. I read this simply because I had nothing else to do. The pacing felt off, and the writing lagged at times. The constantly-switching POV gave me whiplash. Please, Jay Kristoff, stop switching the POV so many times; I can’t tell who I’m reading about half of the time. I did like how everything explored morality and freedom and whatnot, but I wanted more of that and less of the Highly-Questionable Subplots. The fact that Ezekiel is technically 3 years old is an entirely different thing I don’t want to think about. The deviations are never really explained over the course of the series, and neither are a lot of important worldbuilding details. I would’ve loved to know more about the structure of CityHive, or the past between BioMaas and Daedalus, but those details were never fully explained. Hmm...what else...uhh...oh, right, the unnecessary sexualization of every other character. But maybe I’m just too ace to understand. The writing style had a nice flow, but the pacing could’ve been better.
I realize that this makes me seem like I hated the book. I didn’t. I’m just disappointed because it could’ve been so much better, even though I had absolutely no expectations for it after that One Thing that happened months ago.
What I liked:
-The way it discussed morality and free will
-Eve’s character arc (well...kind of...I had mixed feelings on it. I understand how she felt like she could finally make her own choices, but I don't think she was ever really trapped? She hated Ana with such a burning passion because she felt trapped by her existence, and convinced herself that whatever happened to her never really happened to Eve, and her hatred for being basically a copy of Ana is understandable, but I don't understand why she suddenly turned to genocide. Not only did she start hating Ana and what she represents, she also started hating her own past as Eve in Los Diablos, even though that was all real and actually happened to her. Being able to make choices isn't supposed to make everyone suddenly turn to murdering everything they did in the past. Oh well.)
-The Preacher’s backstory
-Cricket ()
-Gabriel’s character arc, which was interesting
-CityHive and BioMaas’s beliefs
-More is Gabriel’s character arc
-Ezekiel’s character development
-Solomon ()
-Grimm was kind of cool, I guess. It’s nice to see Kristoff actually try to add more diverse characters, though having Grimm and Diesel be the only POC in the series doesn’t sit right with me. Ezekiel being vaguely tan doesn’t count.
-Faith was pretty cool, too, but I didn’t like how her entire personality and motivation revolved around her love for Gabriel.
-Gabriel's moral values, and his lack thereof. It was interesting to read about him from contrasting perspectives where some agree, and some don't. I found myself agreeing with him, too, at some points, though I would never be so extreme. Humans are terrible. I wouldn't want genocide, though. It was also interesting to see how much of a hypocrite Gabriel was. He says that all robots are their "brothers and sisters" in order to get them on his side, but then treats them like dirt. If they die, he doesn't care. He had an interesting (how many times can I even use this word? It's like I've never seen a thesaurus in my life) perspective on life and who deserves to be free and who doesn't, but I didn't really understand how his entire motivation revolved around bringing Grace back to life.
Yeah, that’s it. I wrote a review for once. I should do this more often.
Pre-Read Review:
I need this book immediately, because DEV1AT3 killed me, and AAAAAAAA.
Please please please book gods, give this book to me.
Update: IT HAS A TITLE!!!!!! IT HAS A TITLE, I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!!!! I NEED THIS BOOK NOW!!!
Another Update: IT HAS A COVER AND A SUMMARY?!?!?! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
words fail me
I cannot convey how much I need this book.
Except...I lied. I won’t actually be doing any of that. That takes effort, and effort is not something I want to do at 2 AM.
I will give some minor criticisms of this book, though. I never realized this when reading Kristoff’s books previously, but after reading Nevernight and seeing some of the reviews on it I realized that there’s something icky going on in a lot of his books: teenagers having sex. Why? WHY? Why is a middle-aged man writing about 16-year-old girls having graphic sex? Why is he writing about a 17-year-old lifelike having YA-level sex? Why is the arc of Lemon, a 15-year-old, being attracted to Grimm even a thing? I don’t like any of this, and I have no idea why I never noticed it before. It’s icky. Or maybe I’m just an ignorant aro/ace that just doesn’t understand the Wonders of Love and the Totally Normal Thing that is ~Teenage Arousal~. /s
Highly questionable subplots aside, the main plot was also subpar. I read the previous two books in a single day (not two at the same time; each one in a single day), and I don’t know whether it’s the reading slump or the slow writing that made me complete this in 3. Admittedly, it could be a LOT longer, but 3 days of having little-to-no interest in continuing the book is quite a while. I read this simply because I had nothing else to do. The pacing felt off, and the writing lagged at times. The constantly-switching POV gave me whiplash. Please, Jay Kristoff, stop switching the POV so many times; I can’t tell who I’m reading about half of the time. I did like how everything explored morality and freedom and whatnot, but I wanted more of that and less of the Highly-Questionable Subplots. The fact that Ezekiel is technically 3 years old is an entirely different thing I don’t want to think about. The deviations are never really explained over the course of the series, and neither are a lot of important worldbuilding details. I would’ve loved to know more about the structure of CityHive, or the past between BioMaas and Daedalus, but those details were never fully explained. Hmm...what else...uhh...oh, right, the unnecessary sexualization of every other character. But maybe I’m just too ace to understand. The writing style had a nice flow, but the pacing could’ve been better.
I realize that this makes me seem like I hated the book. I didn’t. I’m just disappointed because it could’ve been so much better, even though I had absolutely no expectations for it after that One Thing that happened months ago.
What I liked:
-The way it discussed morality and free will
-Eve’s character arc (well...kind of...I had mixed feelings on it. I understand how she felt like she could finally make her own choices, but I don't think she was ever really trapped? She hated Ana with such a burning passion because she felt trapped by her existence, and convinced herself that whatever happened to her never really happened to Eve, and her hatred for being basically a copy of Ana is understandable, but I don't understand why she suddenly turned to genocide. Not only did she start hating Ana and what she represents, she also started hating her own past as Eve in Los Diablos, even though that was all real and actually happened to her. Being able to make choices isn't supposed to make everyone suddenly turn to murdering everything they did in the past. Oh well.)
-The Preacher’s backstory
-Cricket ()
-Gabriel’s character arc, which was interesting
-CityHive and BioMaas’s beliefs
-More is Gabriel’s character arc
-Ezekiel’s character development
-Solomon ()
-Grimm was kind of cool, I guess. It’s nice to see Kristoff actually try to add more diverse characters, though having Grimm and Diesel be the only POC in the series doesn’t sit right with me. Ezekiel being vaguely tan doesn’t count.
-Faith was pretty cool, too, but I didn’t like how her entire personality and motivation revolved around her love for Gabriel.
-Gabriel's moral values, and his lack thereof. It was interesting to read about him from contrasting perspectives where some agree, and some don't. I found myself agreeing with him, too, at some points, though I would never be so extreme. Humans are terrible. I wouldn't want genocide, though. It was also interesting to see how much of a hypocrite Gabriel was. He says that all robots are their "brothers and sisters" in order to get them on his side, but then treats them like dirt. If they die, he doesn't care. He had an interesting (how many times can I even use this word? It's like I've never seen a thesaurus in my life) perspective on life and who deserves to be free and who doesn't, but I didn't really understand how his entire motivation revolved around bringing Grace back to life.
Yeah, that’s it. I wrote a review for once. I should do this more often.
Pre-Read Review:
I need this book immediately, because DEV1AT3 killed me, and AAAAAAAA.
Please please please book gods, give this book to me.
Update: IT HAS A TITLE!!!!!! IT HAS A TITLE, I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!!!! I NEED THIS BOOK NOW!!!
Another Update: IT HAS A COVER AND A SUMMARY?!?!?! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
words fail me
I cannot convey how much I need this book.
July 31, 2020
So, it would seem that I've really got this weird issue the last few years where my brain just WON'T LET ME FINISH SERIES. Guys, there are final books in series I've been working on for FOREVER that my brain just keeps finding excuses to not read. This one was bad enough at 3 1/2 weeks, but yeah... it's becoming an issue.
That aside, this book was, shall we say... brillful? (If you don't know what that means, you should read the series) I was quite happy with how things ended for everyone and how things played out in this book. Let me tell you, there were deaths. Oh, so many. And in true Jay fashion, this will probably rip your heart out just a tiny bit. Just a little itty bitty bit.
Lemon Fresh will probably be a character that will resonate with me for the rest of my life and she really stole the show over the course of this series. Lem is amazing, she's brave and honest, blunt, strong as hell, tough as nails, and boy does she love with all she is. Watching her journey was such a pleasure.
Super sad this is over, but I'm so glad that I read these books. As always, thanks for the ride, Jay.
That aside, this book was, shall we say... brillful? (If you don't know what that means, you should read the series) I was quite happy with how things ended for everyone and how things played out in this book. Let me tell you, there were deaths. Oh, so many. And in true Jay fashion, this will probably rip your heart out just a tiny bit. Just a little itty bitty bit.
Lemon Fresh will probably be a character that will resonate with me for the rest of my life and she really stole the show over the course of this series. Lem is amazing, she's brave and honest, blunt, strong as hell, tough as nails, and boy does she love with all she is. Watching her journey was such a pleasure.
Super sad this is over, but I'm so glad that I read these books. As always, thanks for the ride, Jay.
September 2, 2020
This was a super fast paced and entertaining conclusion to the trilogy. There's not a single dull moment to be found and I couldn't flip the pages fast enough whenever I got around to reading. I loved all of the different pov's yet again and the development in general was really well done.
In the end, most of the story-line development wasn't really surprising to me and I thought that Some of the things happening towards the end went a bit fast for my taste and maybe even felt a little too 'easy' regarding how it all was resolved, so hence the 4 star rating instead of 5.
But other than that; this was just a truly awesome read and such a good reading experience so it definitely deserves a solid 4 star rating imo. I hiiiighly recommend to read this trilogy if you haven't picked it up yet!
To the people who've read LIFEL1K3 & DEV1AT3 already; you're in for a treat with this one! Overall this was a really strong final installment that I thoroughly enjoyed reading! This one gave me yet again all the iRobot and Terminator feels from time to time < Loved it!
In the end, most of the story-line development wasn't really surprising to me and I thought that Some of the things happening towards the end went a bit fast for my taste and maybe even felt a little too 'easy' regarding how it all was resolved, so hence the 4 star rating instead of 5.
But other than that; this was just a truly awesome read and such a good reading experience so it definitely deserves a solid 4 star rating imo. I hiiiighly recommend to read this trilogy if you haven't picked it up yet!
To the people who've read LIFEL1K3 & DEV1AT3 already; you're in for a treat with this one! Overall this was a really strong final installment that I thoroughly enjoyed reading! This one gave me yet again all the iRobot and Terminator feels from time to time < Loved it!
March 29, 2021
TRUEL1F3, what can I possibly say about this book. I have been putting it off for a year because I was not ready for it to end. But this one was fantastic. Jay Kristoff just really does a great job writing a wonderful story. He knows how to keep you invested.
From the start, Lemon was my girl. She stole the show from the moment we met her and I am really glad Kristoff made her the more focal character of the series. Because she deserves the limelight. Her sass and humor were * chef's kisses* and I loved her relationship with Cricket. I loved all of these characters but those two were the stars of the show for me.
Now with the plot, I am happy with the way most things turned out. For obvious reasons, I won't spoil anything so there isn't a lot I can say. But just know that I am happy with it. Except for one thing but I'll leave that for you to figure out. TRUEL1F3 is still a wonderful conclusion to a great series!
I am so sad to say goodbye to Cricket, Lemonfresh, Eve, and Ezekiel. But if you are looking for a wonderful sci-fi trilogy, then this is the one to pick up.
From the start, Lemon was my girl. She stole the show from the moment we met her and I am really glad Kristoff made her the more focal character of the series. Because she deserves the limelight. Her sass and humor were * chef's kisses* and I loved her relationship with Cricket. I loved all of these characters but those two were the stars of the show for me.
Now with the plot, I am happy with the way most things turned out. For obvious reasons, I won't spoil anything so there isn't a lot I can say. But just know that I am happy with it. Except for one thing but I'll leave that for you to figure out. TRUEL1F3 is still a wonderful conclusion to a great series!
I am so sad to say goodbye to Cricket, Lemonfresh, Eve, and Ezekiel. But if you are looking for a wonderful sci-fi trilogy, then this is the one to pick up.
August 24, 2020
Notes:
I would have loved this trilogy as a kid. Now? It was good but lacked the layered depth to make me truly engaged by the world or characters. Solid wrap up for a series.
Yay for libraries! That's how I was able to dabble in the world of Lifelike. =)
I would have loved this trilogy as a kid. Now? It was good but lacked the layered depth to make me truly engaged by the world or characters. Solid wrap up for a series.
Yay for libraries! That's how I was able to dabble in the world of Lifelike. =)
December 3, 2020
Star Rating: —> 4 Stars
🤯 so very much think about! That was one epic finale!
RTC
🤯 so very much think about! That was one epic finale!
RTC
February 23, 2025
Después del movimiento de piezas de Deviate, el tablero ya está preparado para jugar la partida final y conocer el desenlace de la trilogía.
Como es difícil hablar de este libro sin hacer spoilers, voy a procurar hablar de la trilogía en general. Una trilogía postapocalíptica en la que el debate sobre lo que significa ser humano esta constantemente sobre la mesa independientemente de su protagonista (humano, mutante o máquina), una historia que nos plantea un futuro dominado por corporaciones que bien podría llegar a ocurrir algún día y unos personajes carismáticos que consiguen generar emociones (buenas y malas) al lector.
Todo ello con el estilo irónico y mordaz habitual en Kristoff, que consigue cerrar la trilogía atando todos los cabos que ha ido soltando a lo largo de los libros. El pero que le pongo es que quizás es todo demasiado previsible. Eso sí, consigue mantenerte enganchado a la historia capítulo tras capítulo narrando con un estilo ágil y trepidante.
Como es difícil hablar de este libro sin hacer spoilers, voy a procurar hablar de la trilogía en general. Una trilogía postapocalíptica en la que el debate sobre lo que significa ser humano esta constantemente sobre la mesa independientemente de su protagonista (humano, mutante o máquina), una historia que nos plantea un futuro dominado por corporaciones que bien podría llegar a ocurrir algún día y unos personajes carismáticos que consiguen generar emociones (buenas y malas) al lector.
Todo ello con el estilo irónico y mordaz habitual en Kristoff, que consigue cerrar la trilogía atando todos los cabos que ha ido soltando a lo largo de los libros. El pero que le pongo es que quizás es todo demasiado previsible. Eso sí, consigue mantenerte enganchado a la historia capítulo tras capítulo narrando con un estilo ágil y trepidante.
June 25, 2020
Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
This entire series was SO good!!!! I'll be completely honest, I have yet to read a Jay Kristoff book that I did not give 5 stars to.
This dystopian world that Kristoff has created feels like something that could very easily happen in the future. He did such a good job at creating a world that was both fictional and completely believable. The characters were full of personality and growth. Not gonna lie, I was attached enough to shed some tears.
Overall, this was a well done series and I LOVED it.
This entire series was SO good!!!! I'll be completely honest, I have yet to read a Jay Kristoff book that I did not give 5 stars to.
This dystopian world that Kristoff has created feels like something that could very easily happen in the future. He did such a good job at creating a world that was both fictional and completely believable. The characters were full of personality and growth. Not gonna lie, I was attached enough to shed some tears.
Overall, this was a well done series and I LOVED it.
July 1, 2020
I blitzed through LIFEL1K3. The novel was awesome as i expected it to be. It was refreshing, fabulous and interesting.
July 14, 2020
“You built a world on metal backs. Held together by metal hands. And one day soon, those hands will close. And they’ll become fists.”
Eve, Gabriel and Ana have been captured by Daedalus Technologies, while Lemon has been kidnapped by BioMaas. The two biggest Yousay corporations are preparing for war, trying to gain control of what's left of the country.
Daedalus is trying to access Myriad, and with Eve and Ana in their hands, they will eventually get Ana’s blood and brainwave patterns. The last two locks in a four-stage security sequence needed to possess all of Nicholas Monrova's knowledge.
At the same time, BioMaas needs Lemon to defeat Daedalus. Although she would’ve never thought they would be asking to clone her in order to do that.
In this final installment, we see how two best friends, sisters really, are on different sides of the story. They’ll need to choose a side, right or wrong, and face the consequences.
THOUGHTS
Just like DEV1AT3, TRUEL1F3 is merely focused on Lemon and, while I like her character, I was really hoping to get more inside on Eve.
She was a protagonist who became an antagonist and usually we don’t get this kind of plot in a lot of books.
And yes, we understand that her life was basically based on a lie and she wasn’t who she thought she was but I still don't know why she made a 180° change. We don’t see a viable reason why she went from being the good girl to a completely evil person who enjoys killing.
Besides our beloved main characters, TRUEL1F3 also has previous side characters who just won’t die, yes, I’m looking at you Preacher.
Kristoff also gives us a glimpse of how our world could be in a century or two. He included the importance of environmental protection and how we’re basically filling our oceans with plastic so much that, at one point, we will not be able to swim.
One of the things that I like about Kristoff’s books is how he includes a small recap of the characters at the beginning of them. It really helps when you’ve waited a whole year for the sequel and, most of the time, we don’t remember a lot from the previous books.
As for world-building, Kristoff created a masterpiece.
In LIFEL1K3 we learned the different types of androids and how lifelikes were created. In DEV1AT3, we learned more about the Brotherhood cult and deviates. And in TRUEL1F3, we have a glimpse on how Daedalus Technologies and BioMaas really are and what their aim is.
Overall, in TRUEL1F3 we will question if, by having free will, we’d still be ourselves or if we’d change and determine who we want to be.
Eve, Gabriel and Ana have been captured by Daedalus Technologies, while Lemon has been kidnapped by BioMaas. The two biggest Yousay corporations are preparing for war, trying to gain control of what's left of the country.
Daedalus is trying to access Myriad, and with Eve and Ana in their hands, they will eventually get Ana’s blood and brainwave patterns. The last two locks in a four-stage security sequence needed to possess all of Nicholas Monrova's knowledge.
At the same time, BioMaas needs Lemon to defeat Daedalus. Although she would’ve never thought they would be asking to clone her in order to do that.
In this final installment, we see how two best friends, sisters really, are on different sides of the story. They’ll need to choose a side, right or wrong, and face the consequences.
THOUGHTS
Just like DEV1AT3, TRUEL1F3 is merely focused on Lemon and, while I like her character, I was really hoping to get more inside on Eve.
She was a protagonist who became an antagonist and usually we don’t get this kind of plot in a lot of books.
And yes, we understand that her life was basically based on a lie and she wasn’t who she thought she was but I still don't know why she made a 180° change. We don’t see a viable reason why she went from being the good girl to a completely evil person who enjoys killing.
Besides our beloved main characters, TRUEL1F3 also has previous side characters who just won’t die, yes, I’m looking at you Preacher.
Kristoff also gives us a glimpse of how our world could be in a century or two. He included the importance of environmental protection and how we’re basically filling our oceans with plastic so much that, at one point, we will not be able to swim.
One of the things that I like about Kristoff’s books is how he includes a small recap of the characters at the beginning of them. It really helps when you’ve waited a whole year for the sequel and, most of the time, we don’t remember a lot from the previous books.
As for world-building, Kristoff created a masterpiece.
In LIFEL1K3 we learned the different types of androids and how lifelikes were created. In DEV1AT3, we learned more about the Brotherhood cult and deviates. And in TRUEL1F3, we have a glimpse on how Daedalus Technologies and BioMaas really are and what their aim is.
Overall, in TRUEL1F3 we will question if, by having free will, we’d still be ourselves or if we’d change and determine who we want to be.
July 15, 2020
Dropped stars for that garbage half paragraph “redemption” because there’s no way a character deserved anything but destruction at the end of this.
“TrueLife” gives us the thrilling conclusion to this series as the last remaining children look to open the door and remake the world in their image but not with resistance from our motley crew of freaks and bots looking to prove that humanity should be saved.
This book was so good up until it’s last breath when tying up loose ends felt more like a harsh slap to the face.
The entirety of this series and more importantly this book gave the characters so many chances to re-evaluate what they were doing and offered choices and yes I get the struggle but when you have some of them repeatedly beating the shit out of those they have decided they no longer care about and they wear out fourth, fifth and sixth chances to do what’s right I don’t have any sympathy for them nor do I believe they deserved the ending they received, history or not all of these characters have been battered and bruised and to just shrug it off with a crown on their head is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read.
Again if you’re going to play up redemption give it to us in beats give me that struggle of loyalty and betrayal and let me see it play out in their hesitations or their willingness to follow but for the love of god don’t give me a single line and expect me to feel anything but anger and frustration to the point that I never wish to think of this series again.
Wow what a way to burn a series with a book that would have easily been a 5 star read if not for those last few pages.
**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**
“TrueLife” gives us the thrilling conclusion to this series as the last remaining children look to open the door and remake the world in their image but not with resistance from our motley crew of freaks and bots looking to prove that humanity should be saved.
This book was so good up until it’s last breath when tying up loose ends felt more like a harsh slap to the face.
The entirety of this series and more importantly this book gave the characters so many chances to re-evaluate what they were doing and offered choices and yes I get the struggle but when you have some of them repeatedly beating the shit out of those they have decided they no longer care about and they wear out fourth, fifth and sixth chances to do what’s right I don’t have any sympathy for them nor do I believe they deserved the ending they received, history or not all of these characters have been battered and bruised and to just shrug it off with a crown on their head is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read.
Again if you’re going to play up redemption give it to us in beats give me that struggle of loyalty and betrayal and let me see it play out in their hesitations or their willingness to follow but for the love of god don’t give me a single line and expect me to feel anything but anger and frustration to the point that I never wish to think of this series again.
Wow what a way to burn a series with a book that would have easily been a 5 star read if not for those last few pages.
**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**
November 19, 2022
Questo libro è stato fantastico dalla prima all'ultima pagina. Faccio fatica a spiegare le emozioni provate. Veramente sarà per sempre una parte del mio cuore. In questo libro seguiamo sempre le avventure dei personaggi dapprima separati per poi unirsi. C'è una grandissima minaccia cioè una guerra tra la dedalus e la biomaas che potrebbe significare l'apocalisse e la fine del mondo. Poi l'altra minaccia è il virus Libertas che potrebbe infettare la terra intera. È stato fantastico specialmente le due guerre finale che sono state surreali, apocalittiche, soprannaturali,inimmaginabili, qualcosa di unico. Poi ci sono personaggi da salvare, tradimenti inaspettati e alleanze improbabili. Questo libro è un gioco d'artificio che non finisce mai. Io Kristoff lo adoro alla follia. Ha veramente creato una trilogia che per me è la perfezione assoluta. Poi il finale è qualcosa di unico e molto inaspettato. Io do la mia anima e il mio cuore per questo libro e per l'intera trilogia. Dire wow è veramente poco per descrivere la magnificenza di questo libro. Sono anche molto triste per aver terminato questa avventura favolosa e che mi ricorderò per sempre. QUANTE EMOZIONI!!!!!! LO CONSIGLIO E LO CONSIGLIERÒ ALL'INFINITO. GRAZIE KRISTOFF PER AVER CREATO QUESTI LIBRI😍😍😍♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
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