Jay never fails to amazing me with his writing and I can’t believe the adventure he took me on this one my heart just can’t and I just want the next book at this very moment

The much-awaited follow-up to LIFEL1K3 is back with even more genre-bending action and insanity. It's Old Man Logan meets Mad Max meets iRobot meets Real Steel meets Humans with a side of Dealpool 2, Star Wars and Boaty McBoatface thrown in for good measure. While I found this sequel to drag a bit at times -- and I'm definitely not a fan of separating all your main characters for an entire book -- the last few chapters took the story up to eleven, ending on one hell of jaw-dropping a cliffhanger. I'm supposed to wait a year for book three how?

In a brutal, blasted country called the Yousay (USA, of course), hostile androids contend against regular humans and superpowered mutants against a backdrop of robot death matches, in a dystopian Mad Max type of world. DEV1AT3 is the sequel to Lifel1k3, which should be read first. Obligatory warning: This review ― not to mention a helpful four-page glossary that author Jay Kristoff provides at the very beginning of DEV1AT3 ― contains a few major spoilers for LIFEL1K3. (Those spoilers are also in the blurb for this book. So.)

Eve has spent her entire life thinking she was human, until discovering at the end of LIFEL1K3 that she’s an extremely realistic android, called a Lifelike, indistinguishable from humans except for their extreme strength, speed and self-healing powers. Deeply bitter about all the lies she’s been told, Eve has joined five of the six remaining Lifelikes in the search for Ana Monrovia, the daughter of their founder who was injured and hidden away in suspended animation. Ana is the key to unlocking some old Monrovia technology, including the information needed create more Lifelikes and a nanovirus that erases the Three Laws (protect yourself, obey humans and, most importantly, don’t kill humans) from a robot’s core code. The Lifelikes already have this Libertas virus, but are intent on obtaining it and spreading it to all of robotdom.

Meanwhile, Eve’s former best friend, human fifteen-year-old Lemon Fresh, has been hiding a “deviate” mental superpower all her life: the ability to overload electronics and burn them out. Lemon and the one remaining Lifelike who is friendly to humans, Ezekiel, are on the run, hiding from the agents of two powerful feuding megacorporations searching for the person who has this power and can turn the tide of the war between them. Lemon gets separated from Ezekiel and winds up with a group of humans who may just be her type of people. But the megacorps’ agents are still hunting for her, along with the ruthless members of a religious cult whose goal is to kill all mutants or deviates, like Lemon. Ezekiel is trying to beat Eve’s group to find Ana, in the company of a companion who will be a surprise (possibly welcome; but maybe not) to readers of LIFEL1K3. Ezekiel is hoping that Eve still has a conscience about killing people, but is that hope a vain one?

DEV1AT3 amps up the suspense from LIFEL1K3, and benefits from a more coherent plot. The characters are both colorful and memorable, and the stakes are high: humanity itself is at risk. There are a couple of robot deathmatches to liven up the plot along the way, starring Cricket, Eve’s formerly small robot companion whose brain has been put into a 77-ton WarBot. It’s a previously longed-for but uncomfortable change for Cricket, as he finds himself at the mercy of others’ agendas. Another entertaining character is Solomon, a humorously cynical robot who’s figured out a way to finesse the Three Laws and gain for himself some more personal freedom.

The theme of love and loyalty for friends and found family is strong here, particularly in Lemon. Her loyalty to friends (even the robotic ones) is laudable, even though it leads her to make some highly questionable decisions. Another character whose actions I sometimes found difficult to believe was Eve. Her character transplant lends itself well to the plot of DEV1AT3, and is perhaps even necessary to drive the plot, but didn’t entirely ring true to me.

Anti-religious views seem to bubble under the surface of DEV1AT3. Traditionally religious characters are inevitably fanatical or twisted or both, and when a new friend shares a copy of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species with Eve, she reacts with a spiritual fervor to its message, tears in her eyes and all. It’s the Good Book for deviates!

Other than these quibbles, I enjoyed DEV1AT3 a lot. There are some great plot twists that truly caught me by surprise, and it kept me engaged from beginning to end. I’d recommend this LIFELIKE trilogy to readers who enjoy dystopian YA science fiction. I’m definitely planning to read the next and final book in this series.

*eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, but I also preordered this before I got the ARC and this review comes from me reading the finished copy so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯*

You know, I didn’t think Deviate could top Lifelike in terms of cliffhanger endings, but it did. Well, I suppose when you have FOUR storylines to wrap up instead of one, you are can have four cliffhangers. Jay Kristoff does love torturing his readers (love ya Jay).

Let’s start at the beginning. Eve has just split from the group (Ezekiel, Cricket, and Lemon), reeling from Lifelike’s cliffhanger. And then the group splits up even more. We still have our four main characters from the first book, but now, everyone is on their own. And I’ve tried summarizing WHY they are by themselves, but don’t want to spoil too much of the opening. Just know that Eve, Ezekiel, Lemon, and Cricket have completely split up. Luckily, there are POVs from all four main characters throughout the book. Deviate is mostly told from Lemon’s POV, but it is interspersed with Cricket and Ezekiel’s journeys, and has a few chapters told from Eve’s POV (which is a shame, cause she’s the one I wanted to focus the most on after Lifelike).

-I really loved Lemon’s narrative. She was clearly a side character in Lifelike (she admitted it herself), and it is refreshing to switch the focus to her instead of keeping it on Eve. After all, Lemon’s got some plot revelations of her own to go through.
-Cricket, separated from the people he loves, finally has to come to terms with what it really means to be a robot in this world. That is, a robot who has to deal the with Three Laws. Eve barely ordered him around and treated him like a person, but he is faced with a whole new reality when he falls into unfriendly hands. It does lend a lot weight to the narrative the lifelikes are pushing, that they need a revolution and more Liberatus virus to free the logikas from slavery.
-Ezekiel spends most of the book searching (but for whom? 😉) and makes some strange alliances along the way. He’s also struggling with Lifelike’s cliffhanger reveal and trying to decide where his affections lie.
-Eve is…dealing with her own demons. She goes down a dark path, and I really hope the events of book 3 with bring her off it.

Deviate was a wild ride. Our motley crew of spare parts that worked so well together in Lifelike are now on their own. So the reader has four journeys to go on, and yes, four cliffhangers awaiting them at the end. I really enjoyed Deviate, perhaps more than I enjoyed Lifelike, and am eagerly awaiting book 3!

*sigh* You'd think I'd learn, wouldn't you? Death, destruction, and shattered hearts (namely mine). That's what to expect from a Kristoff novel, and DEV1AT3 is no different. I'm pretty sure I was holding my breath at the end - my chest still hurts. (No spoilers.)

Ok, so this one continues right after LIFEL1K3 leaves off, so I'll word things very carefully for those who may not have read that one yet. See how considerate I am? UNLIKE KRISTOFF. Anyway...Eve is so busy rejecting what she thought she was that she can't see what she's becoming. Lemon Fresh is so anxious to fit in that it blinds her to the truth. Ezekiel doesn't know WHAT he should be doing and his confusion gives way to a bargain that goes south when he least expects it. And Cricket, well...he's just doing his best to ensure his continual survival while he tries to help ALL of his friends. Gentle giant, that one.

*double sigh* That synopsis is completely unspoilery accurate and yet it completely FAILS TO NAIL DOWN THE PAIN INFLICTED UPON HIS READERS BY KRISTOFF. Don't say I didn't warn you.

She closed to seventeen years old, but that was a lie. Just like everything else about her.

This book picks up right where Lifel1k3 leaves off. Eve is doing so great, Zeke is doing so great, Lemon Fresh isn- you get the point. Scattered and as crazy as ever, we follow them as they try to get back to each other, or stay away, and of course, survive.

The characters where just as amazing as ever in this book Jay Kristoff has an amazing talent for dialogue that is perfectly fit into the world. Charming slang, creative curses just sucked me into the characters. Those were the moments I lived for most of all with this book.

The part that lost me were the descriptions, the action sequences, and plot stuff. Which sounds like a lot, it probably is a lot. Most of the time, they are awesome epic and super cinematic, they just didn't keep my attention for more than a paragraph.I basically struggled to know what was going on at any given point, but everything seemed to be going just fine. I honestly don't know for certain who's dead or alive at the end of this book. I think I know, but I may be totally wrong. So yeah, this book was a bit tricky.

My fav has always been Lemon Fresh and Cricket, both get so much screen time! Yay! I'm really glad that this book gave the side characters a chance to develop their own arcs, even bringing back people I didn't expect; building the world up and adding even more color to this cast of characters. There was lots of development on both sides good and bad. Mostly bad, this world has a lot of enemies. It was pretty cool. I wish I had been able to get more out of some characters, but no complaints.

At times, I found the pacing jarring. That might have just been me with my on and off reading of this book, but it just seemed kind of sudden stuff then big lulls. It just felt off at times.

I wish this book had more Eve/Ana. I know they basically got the entire other book, but still!!!

I think that's pretty much all I have to say about this one. The twists get twistier. The blood gets redder. The jokes get sillier.
TL;DR This book was tough to get through, the writing style just couldn't hold my attention. But this book is a massive fun ride of sci-fi/desert world and the characters make the story worth reading.

I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you enjoyed the rest of this series, you will enjoy this new installment. There's everything from the previous books, with a bunch of plot twists.

The pacing of the book was fast and keeps you enthralled. There are multiple points of view again, and I loved getting to read each of the characters thoughts and feelings.

The characters have developed a lot and I feel like in this book we got to see more of each characters' thoughts and feelings. I really loved seeing their interactions with each other.

Overall, this sequel was really good and if you liked the previous books, you will enjoy this one for sure! If you like dystopian books, then you should give this series a read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another pulse pounding, creative, poignant and humorous adventure that speaks of friendship, loyalty, romance and a significant commentary on the destructive nature of human beings.

Omg just as good as Lifel1k3!! I’d definitely recommend this series to anyone! Love these characters and I can’t wait to see what’s in store next!

5/5 stars

Dev1at3 is finally here and it was freaking amazing! It was easily a 5 star read for me. I felt like this sequel gave me more of the things I loved within the first story, LifeL1k3!

<u> There's even more:</u>
• of the dystopian world of Yousay we love!
• Miss Lemon Fresh and her spitfire self
• Ezekiel, Eve and my 'little' favorite worry bot Cricket
• new characters to love…and hate… and love to hate!
• action packed, adventure!
• all the feels!
• and twists…with a capital 'S'…for SEVERAL.

<u>Synopsis</u>
Back in the land of Yousay, everything's gone to…you guessed it. The story picks up a few hours after Lifel1k3 left off and everyone is dealing with the aftermath of what went down in Babel. Lemon Fresh, Ezekiel and Cricket find themselves separated after an occurrence outside of Babel and get pulled in different directions. Lemon Fresh falls in with a group of deviates. Cricket finds himself sold off to the Brotherhood who believes he's a seasoned war bot and killing machine. Ezekiel gangs up with a dangerous ally to relocate Lemon and Cricket while he's still trying to get his head on straight from Anna and Eve. Meanwhile, Eve teams up with her new brothers and sisters in Babel and sets plans in motion that may mean utter destruction for all.

<u>Pacing and Points of View</u>
The overall pacing was fast. I read this book in a day and loved it! I loved how the beginning first pages immediately lists the characters and gives you a run down of the who's who and where we saw each character last! It was very helpful, and fun to read, especially with the amount of characters and happenings in the last book. Once again, there were multiple points of view like Lifel1k3 and this time Cricket is added into the mix! There are still points of view from Eve, Lemon Fresh, and Ezekiel. I never once felt bored by any point of view and loved reading each characters story within the story.

<u>Characters</u>
All the favorite characters are back and I felt this story delved more into each individual characters thoughts and feelings. I loved seeing the world from Cricket's point of view. He felt annoying at times in the first book, but I truly loved his character progression in this story. Lemon Fresh is still my favorite though! I love seeing where this story is taking her, good or bad. Eve and Ezekiel took a step back a little to make room for the other two, but I still loved reading every interaction. There were several new favorite characters as well including a bot! A few new villains as well which are making the world of Yousay even more dangerous!

<u>Overall</u>
Overall, I really loved this sequel. I cannot recommend it enough to dystopian lovers! It definitely lived up to the Lifel1k3 expectations for me. I cannot wait to read the final installment of this story especially after that cliffhanger! Which was a pretty big one. I'm not gonna lie. I'm still a little antsy about it and I need to find out the end to this slightly troubling, yet entertaining, path all of these characters are on!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers at Knopf Books for Young Readers and Random House Childrens for blessing me with the opportunity to read this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. I love this sequel and I can't wait to buy anything this author writes in the future!

I knew Jay was going to ruin my life with a cliffhanger but dammit, I want more! I want more of Lemon Fresh, Zeke, Eve and all the new friends Lem made in this book! And Cricket! Oh my god, this series is so amazing. I know it's rifled with l33t speak and can be a little over the top sometimes but Jay really knows how to tell an excellent story!

DEV1at3 was a fantastic sequel to LIFEL1K3 that vastly expanded the world and set the stage for an explosive finale. There was still plenty of Kristoff's trademark humor and entertaining action sequences.

While I wasn't a huge fan of splitting up the major characters at first, I ended up loving where all of their personal journeys led them. DEV1at3 is really Lemon Fresh's story and it was so fun to watch her come into her own. Plus Ezekiel and Preacher are my new favorite duo. I also loved seeing how Eve changed over the course of the story and am so intrigued to see how Kristoff is going to wrap everything up. I also enjoyed learning more about the different factions and the major companies.

I'm so excited for the finale in this trilogy! I'm always amazed at how Kristoff can balance plot, character development, and humor so well. DEV1at3 was such an entertaining book, I devoured it in just a few hours.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Jay Kristoff has delivered another thrilling book. Like it’s predecessor, DEV1AT3 was action-packed, features a cast of amazing characters, and is full of plot twists and reveals that will keep the reader begging for more.

First of all, the book begins with a recap. Bless you Jay. As silly as it may seem, I really wish more authors would do this with their series! It’s so incredibly helpful and saves me from either searching the internet for a recap or spending the first few chapters trying to remember everything that happened in the last book.

DEV1AT3 focuses a lot more on Lemon Fresh and her story. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this, but once I started it was a total non-issue. I really enjoyed her character in the first book and I loved following her journey in this one. She makes some important discoveries for herself and finally starts to develop of sense of self-identity. There were some X-Men vibes and I was totally digging it! We’re also introduced to some new fun characters; in particular, I was really enjoying reading about Grimm and Abraham and hope to learn more about them.

Besides Lemon Fresh, the story also features chapters from Cricket’s and Ezekiel’s POVs, but only few from Eve’s. Eve’s presence wasn’t as prominent in DEV1AT3, which I think is what led me to holding back a star, but I understand the decision to withhold her perspective. Eve is going through an identity crisis and therefore is make some really terrible choices. I really feel for her and I think by the end of the book she was beginning to realize that perhaps the path she has chosen is not what she really wants or believes in. I have total faith in her for the next book.

Jay absolutely killed it with the end. And by that, I mean he pulls another jaw-dropping cliffhanger that has me itching for the third book. DEV1AT3 was full of non-stop action and a fast-moving plot that pulled me in from the prologue. I absolutely love these characters and this world that Jay has written and I cannot wait for the conclusion!

I am really enjoying this series. I think this second book in the Lifelike series is better than the first. It is rare when the second book is better than the first book. It does not have that middle book feel to it. It seems to be a bit darker than the first book too. The story picks up right where LIFEL1K3 left off. The focus is more on Lemon Fresh, Cricket and Ezekiel. It is fast paced, edge of your seat, and non-stop action. The ending is going to make you wish you had that third book now.

ARC provided by Knopf Books in exchange for an honest review.

I had so much fun reading this one, y’all. I really loved LIFEL1KE, and this sequel did not disappoint. I will admit, however, that I didn’t love it as much as the first book. But that’s just because I had a few issues with the pacing and some of the predictable twists (which, honestly, is not a bad thing.)

DEV1AT3 picks up right after the events in LIFEL1K3. The group is separated into four POVs: Lemon Fresh, Cricket, Eve, and Ezekiel. Lemon Fresh finds a group of deviates hiding in a bunker, Cricket, no longer a small bot, gets taken in by a cult, Eve is off doing her own weird shit (I know, I’m being vague), and Ezekiel teams up with an old favorite of mine.

I’m going to start out by saying that one of my favorite themes in this series is the friendships and found families. DEV1AT3 still holds true to those themes. Even when Lemon Fresh lives among fellow deviates, she’s always fiercely determined to go out to find the friends she was separated from. And Cricket will forever have my heart. He has so much character growth for a bot, and I want nothing more than for him to be happy!

And while we all know how things ended with Eve in the last book, I can assure you the religious references and vigilantism is still strong in this one. I will say Eve’s POV was probably my least favorite, though, because it wasn’t quite the main focus in this installment.

But the huge new plot line in this book is the Brotherhood, and how it mirrors some wild cult behavior we are seeing today. The Brotherhood is basically out there trying to erase all deviates (people who have “different” abilities) And wow… if that isn’t a giant metaphor for xenophobia and racism we still see today in America…

Overall I immensely enjoyed this sequel, and in true Kristoff fashion, we are left with some more questions than answers! But I adored the journey, and the banter, and the action. I’m already looking forward to the final book!

An action-packed sequel to Lifel1k3 with major Mad Max: Fury Road vibes in the best way. Where book 1 focused mainly on Evie, this book takes a closer look at Lemon Fresh. AFter separating from Evie at the end of Lifel1k3, Ezekiel, Lemon, and Cricket set out across the Glass, but are soon separated. They all find themselves tied up in the Brotherhood affairs in New Bethlehem in strange, unexpected, and dangerous ways.

Once again, the ending was a bit abrupt, but it caught me off guard less than it did in the first book. And even though Evie's characterization continued to feel a bit unjustified to me (and it certainly didn't help that we almost never got to see her perspective), I still thoroughly enjoyed it overall. The worldbuilding of this future world where corporations reign supreme and technology vs biological / genetic manipulation is at the heart of pretty much everything--not to mention the persecution of people with superpowers AKA "deviates"--is just incredibly well done and fascinating. I'm very thoroughly hooked on the series at this point and can't wait to see where book 3 takes us. There's clearly a lot still in store.

Received this arc for a Honest review from the publisher.

I loved this book so much it was a excellent read and it didn’t disappoint. I mean it is coming from Jay Kristoff it won’t disappoint.

I loved the main characters in the story as well.

Totally recommend if your looking for that great read that is action packed.

Anything that Jay Kristoff writes, I will read. I was excited to get an early copy of Deviate, and was just as happy when I was finally going to sit down and start. I glossed over Lifelike to refresh some, but I was very thankful for the glossary in the beginning. Everyone always needs a refresher, right?

Please note, there is so much that I want to say, but I will refrain myself from saying anything specific to avoid spoilers.

Dev1at3 starts off with a bang. Literally. Lemon and Ezekiel find themselves in a dilemma, and then it just takes off from there. I found myself constantly engaged and on the edge of my seat. Did I lose sleep so I could read this? Absolutely. Do I regret it at all? No way! I loved how much Lemon’s voice came through. I enjoyed to see how much badassery she can actually do, and her inner monologue? LOVE. Snark with a side of sour, just like a lemon. Seriously love it.

Eve and Ezekiel definitely make their presence known in Dev1at3, with a twist. I love how much Eve has advanced, and especially enjoyed where her story has progressed. I mean [insert beeps to avoid spoilers here]. Right?

It fascinates me how many voices Jay’s characters take, but there is a familiarity of the tone he uses. There is a familiarity that I didn’t know I needed, which is good, because with Jay’s books you just never know when someone will die or when shit will hit the fan. I mean, we’ve all read his other books, right? Ya, you know what I mean.

I can’t wait to see what happens next! Aggghhhhh, another year?! Okay. Okay. We’re fine.

*Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.*

Ok, Wow, this book just sort of…. Wow. Jay Kristoff just jumped to the top of my list of favorite ScFy authors. This series is everything that I like about science fiction, great characters that you fall in love with, kick-ass technology and snarky AI’s and other intelligent robots. Plus some great friendships and a little bit of romance. Awesome!

The narration is split between Lemon Fresh, Ezekiel, Cricket and a little bit from Eve and a few other characters. I continue to love Lemon Fresh. She is just so likable and I love her devotion to her friends, old and new. Ezekiel is awesome, he too will do anything to help his friends and to find Ava. Cricket is always a fun character to have around. His need to follow the Three Laws of Robotics, keeps him from doing some things, but he is determined to help the humans he considers friends.

We meet many new characters in this one. Some good, and others not. Some human, some robots and some others who are hard to classify.

Lemon saves and then joins up with some other deviates. I loved them as much as her. Fix was very charming and I loved his gift, Diesel was a take no prisoners type of gal, but also very sweet when she wanted to be. She also has the most amazing gift that I have ever seen. Then there is Grimm, loved him to pieces, and his gift was pretty cool. The Major was someone who I never quite trusted, with as it turned out that was a good thing.

Cricket also makes some new friends. I adored Abraham. He really wants to do the right thing, but his circumstances often prevented him from doing so. Solomon is a logika like Cricket, but he has quite the personality. He is the one that shows Cricket how to bend the rules a bit.

We see much more of the Brotherhood in this book, and my oh my, are they evil.. Just really nasty, but necessary to the plot. We also meet some more biotech from BioMass Inc. I kind of liked Hunter, but she was also kind of creepy. Biomass is also on my list of not very nice people in this world.

The plot is amazing. I had a hard time putting this book down at times, especially as I got closer to the end. And Wow what an explosive ending! It blew me away. Unfortunately, there is quite the cliffhanger. You might want to wait to read this one till closer to the release date of the last book. That way you won’t scream and want to throw the book when you get to the end, because you have to wait a year for the next one. (I did not throw my i-pad but I did let out a small scream of frustration)

Final thoughts, I loved it and can’t wait for the next one! The cover makes more sense once you have read the book. If you enjoy science fiction this is one you shouldn’t miss.

As soon as I found out this was a book with Lemon Fresh, I was all over it. Then the first page was a glossary slash refresher of all of the characters and I couldn’t stop grinning.

I loved Lemon so much. I was thrilled to get so much time in her head. She’s snarky and maybe a little prickly, but really the softest of marshmallows. There are a few new characters, but I’m going to leave that super vague. Same for what’s going on with the old characters.

Plot wise, it starts with a bang and doesn’t let go. It’s filled with robot battles and explosions and killer bees and rifts opening in the sky and so many other things that could be spoilery. My main complaint is that I never really felt settled into the story. There are so many pieces and so many directions and it was a bit much for me.

Overall, it’s one hell of a roller coaster and as usual the ending makes me want book 3 right now.

**Huge thanks Knopf BFYR for providing the arc free of charge**