WOW! Talk about a finale!

First rule of the Scrap: Stronger together, Together forever!

I was not prepared for the ending of this trilogy. I cannot believe how much information was packed into this novel. From Evie's story, Lemon Fresh's and the LIFELIKES endings, all of it hit me over and over.

Admittedly, the beginning was slow and I had trouble connecting to prose. However, with a little bit of effort I pushed through the lag and MAN was I glad I did! About 40% into the novel I was hooked.

In true Kristoff style, TRUELIFE was not what I expected but was SO. MUCH. MORE.

I highly recommend this trilogy to anyone who loves the Anastasia story, R&J, Blade Runner and SCI FI/Dystopian worlds. Kristoff did not disappoint!

TrueL1f3 was a fast-paced, action-packed book of epic conclusions! Kristoff never fails on writing extraordinary books from YA to Adult fantasy.

I'm sad that this trilogy is over, but so excited to see what else he has in store

This entire series has been one giant roller coaster to the end of the world. The world of LIFEL1K3 is one of my favorites created by Mister Kristoff. I've been an avid reader of his stories since his debut with Stormdancer. But the grit and grim and betrayal and humor woven throughout these books is a true homage to what kind of writer and storyteller Jay Kristoff is.

TRUEL1F3 picks up right where DEV1AT3 ends, the nuke bound for Juggertown is saved by the deviates, Lemon is taken to Cityhive, and Eve, Gabriel, and Ana are transported to Megopolis. And from there we get points of view from mostly the entire ensemble. Jay Kristoff does not have any concept of hitting the breaks; every second of TRUEL1F3 is fueled with plot development, character arcs, and no-stop explosive banter and dialogue--and it was one wild ride. From the brewing war between the two CorpStates, the lifelifes goal of unlocking the Myriad super computer and gaining access to the Libertas virus and creation of new lifelikes, and the unlikely group we all know and love fighting to stop the world from going to even more shit, this series is one that I truly recommend to all.

I will say, the betrayal of Solomon actually broke my heart. That little fugger was the highlight of reading book 2, and I was upset that he turned on Cricket and Abe and the rest when Libertas released him from the Three Laws. I do give Jay Kristoff props for really tugging my leg at Solomon's deceit, that I did not expect. And while, with Preacher, I should have expected his constant betrayal, I just enjoyed his crude character so much I held out time and again. Though his just desserts was mighty fine, too.

It is a bittersweet ending coming to the conclusion of TRUEL1F3, and while I wasn't sure where this book would eventually end up, the way everything ties together is somewhat nice and wholesome as Eve scrounges up spare parts to bring back Cricket, and the original group is almost all together again with a hopeful future. The characters that really shine in this installment are Lemon Fresh (but she honestly shone bright in all three books), Ezekiel, and even Eve, who has been a rough character for me to read as she undulates from hero to anti-hero throughout the series.

With an enjoyable fight scenes and final battle scene, character deaths that stung and others that were so, so well-deserved, and an ending that tied a ribbon on it all, I am both happy and sad say goodbye to these wonderful cast of characters.

Everything Jay Kristoff touches is gold. I loved reading more about this band of misfits and love every single one of them. Not to mention the cover design for this series is stunning.

A good finale to a decent series. I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish this series or not but I am glad I did.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this book! I have anticipated this book for a long while, but due to Covid have put it off. All of this authors books have been 5 stars for me!

I can't believe it's over. I feel like I've waited so long to pick this book up and finish this series. I fell in love with its setting, its plot but most of all its characters (especially Lemonfresh!).

In Truel1f3, Jay Kristoff brings us up to speed if we forgot what happened before this finale. He made an effort to write a long reminder and I have to say while I had really good memories of book 1 and 2, I really appreciated it and it made me sad that not many authors do this. It would really help us readers.

I have to say I feel like this finale will not give me strong memories like book 1 and 2 did unfortunately but overall, I still enjoyed seeing how it all ended.

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

<b>Rating:</b> 3.75/5 Stars

I received an e-ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is the final book in the LIFEL1K3 series. Which is kind of like a mash-up of Romeo & Juliet, i-Robot and Mad Max. The first two books were INSANE! I couldn’t put them down. While I loved this series overall… I feel like this book fell a little flat for me and I’m honestly so disappointed that I didn’t like it more.

In TRUEL1F3 we are finally to the big showdown between Daedalus and Biomass with the Likelike team causing their own havoc in hopes of a robotic revolution and bringing their siblings back from the dead. We have our original cast again: Lemon, Eve/Ana, Cricket and Zeke with multiple POV throughout the book.

What I liked:
This book is fast-paced and action packed. We hit the ground running pretty much were DEV1AT3 left off. I love that Kristoff is so willing to put his characters (and us) through some very hard situations. His writing is seriously stellar and I will read anything he writes for ever and always! So of course you have his usual snark, crazy situations, amazing character and world development, and out of this world plot twists.

What I didn’t like:
While I really enjoyed Lemon and was excited to see her shine a bit in the second book, I wanted more of Eve. She was a protagonist whose world got shaken and she became an antagonist. You don’t see that plot a lot in books and I was dying to spend more time in her POV. I think that would have helped me understand her actions a little better. Yes, I understand she was upset that her life was basically a lie and she wasn’t who/what she thought she was but her 180 change was something I could never really wrap my head around. I had hoped that to get flushed out more in this book as well as more focus on the Likelikes themselves but that just never really happened. I think not having that kind of killed this book for me.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book! It’s such a fun, action-packed series and Kristoff remains the King of Fantasy/Sci-Fi!

First I want to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

TrueL1f3 is the third and final installment of the LifeL1k3 series. Mister Kristoff has done it again! This book was full of laughs, tears, complications, love, WTF moments and all the things you love about a Jay Kristoff novel.

This book picks up where book 2 left off.. in freaking chaos, which is kinda nice. It’s good to be consistent right? The main group that we have grown to love have had their main falling out and have split. Riot Girl goes off with her crazy ass Lifelike brethren and Lemon goes with Crick to find the Deviants.

Then of course all hell breaks loose in the middle of hell breaking loose (dude can these kids catch a break?), and we reencounter BioMass who are all jacked up cloning people and wanting to use Lemon in less than savory ways. We have Preacher who we are still iffy about because can he just choose a damn side already? Please? And the biggest battle of the century between the two massive companies of the USA just got an unexpected player.

Who’s gonna win in the battle between evil v.s. evil? Yes the book tells you but I won’t 😉

I loved this very much! The characters, the actions and even the plot itself! Very inspiring for my own book too!

Absolute perfection as only Mr. Kristoff can deliver! No spoilers, but you cannot fathom the ending. King of world building, and character development! Mr. Kristoff delivers everything with excellence! I cannot WAIT for the final installment in this series! Bravo! 5/5 stars!

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

4.5 Stars.

I have adored this series from the beginning despite the fact that robots and artificial intelligence are not tropes that I typically enjoy. Kudos to Jay Kristoff for being able to write such a compelling series that I couldn't put it down. He may have opened my eyes to entirely new genre.

This finale to the Lifel1k3 trilogy is a firecracker. The tension kicks in very early on and it's a wild ride from beginning to end. There is a lot of action and a quickly paced plot in this narrative that is both darker and heavier than the two previous books. There is a lot of creativity in the world building. It feels both complex and simple at the same time since everything constructed feels so entirely believable. It's creepy in places, but it completely makes sense.

Aside from the truly gripping action sequences that had me near biting my nails in places, the character development in this novel (and indeed the entire series) is just magnificent. Cricket has been my favorite character to watch from beginning to end. I have a soft place in my heart for him. The character of Eve was so well constructed. Though she does fade away from being a truly central focus in this novel, her character trajectory is captured well and is an incredibly important part of the story. This character arc was both emotional and logical...and both heartbreaking and frustrating to read. Lemon. Oh, Lemon. That girl is tough as nails and so incredibly brilliant and brave. She is one of the most lovable characters in the book and I adored her. Even Faith's character complexity and development was enthralling--blurring the lines of alive and lifelike. So ingeniously written, really.

There were a couple of things with the ending sequences that were left without sufficient information for my liking, but otherwise this was a completely stellar read and the series as a whole was just completely enjoyable. I never would have guessed I'd find myself placing a series about about essentially humanoid robots in my favorite reads of the year, but...here we are. Brilliful.

This book crushed me something fierce and I'm still not over it. The angst, the drama, the HURT.

It's not fair.

Finally, the last book in this awesome series. As usual, Jay Kristoff does not disappoint. This book is full of just as much action as the other two, but we get to see a lot more of our characters together! This made me so happy. I hated it when our group was split up. They started as such a tight-knit family and so much has changed since then.

What was hard was trying to figure out what side I was on. I obviously thought that Eve was in the wrong, but I understood her and Gabriel’s side. I just didn’t like how they were trying to solve the problem. As always, I adored the rest of the group. I loved Eve in the beginning but after Dev1at3 I slowly stopped liking her. My favorite, as always, was Lemon Fresh. I loved getting to know more about her in this book. From book 1, it seems like this trilogy is about Eve and what she is going through, but in this book, we see that this story is really about Lemon.

This group goes through a lot of tests and trials in Truel1fe and it’s a scary journey, especially not knowing who will live and who will die but it was such a fun ride. There were times when I didn’t know what was real or not, and I loved that! I’m sad that this series is over but love that I can revisit it as many times as I want.

If you loved the first 2 books you won’t be disappointed with this one!

EPIC FIVE STAR READ. This series is one of my favorites from Kristoff and this book did not disappoint. It was everything I wanted and more. The storyline has me gasping, crying, smiling and feeling every emotion under the sun.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.

This was a very fitting ending to the series, and possibly one of Jay Kristoff's more happier endings?? This one picks up right where we left (most) of the ragtag group. I won't go into details, cuz spoilers if you haven't read book 2 yet. Truel1f3 really feels more focused on Lemon and Ezekiel a bit more than the others, but I really enjoyed the character development for Lemon. She's still rough around the edges, but she had more depth in this one. I think watching the AI's Cricket and Solomon go through moral dilemma's was the most interesting part. You almost forget they're robots at times. Gabriel hits peak crazy in this one, but low-key...I kinda feel bad for all of them. Just so many lost kids here. There was a decent balance to action and plot. There was really only one issue I had with this ending, and that is Eve. I get that she's going through this whole loss of identity thing, and kind of pulls a 180 in book 2. She's still in that frame of mind for pretty much this whole book, and then the ending comes and it just felt rushed and a little too nicely wrapped up. Now maybe I just think this because I'm used to the way he ends his adult series?? I don't know I feel like changes were too quick with nothing to really back them up, it just sort of happens. Overall though I really liked this and felt like it was another solid series.

This is an awesome and undersung series that should be recommended right alongside Kristoff's popular YA work. I love Lemon and the rest of the characters--this is far from a forgettable story.

Absolutely loved the ending to this trilogy.
So much action, moral questions, and destruction to satisfy my sci fi lust! Lemon Fresh is still one of my all time favorite characters to read. I enjoyed questioning Eve's moral compass and loyalty for 2 whole books. I felt distraught reading through her POV for the entire book.. Honestly, it made me dislike her character the most. 😅 Overall, enjoyable read just like the rest of the series.
Stronger together, together forever.

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.

TRUEL1F3 is the third and final installment in author Jeff Kristoff's Lifelike trilogy. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic USA. The story will take readers deep into the heart of Megopolis, home to Daedalus, and City Hive where we will find BioMaas and their myriad of strange beings including the Hunters who were sent out to retrieve Lemon. In this world, Bio Maas provides most of the country's food with gene modified crops, while Daedalus supplies power via solar farms. The story alternates via a whole lot of characters, so, if that is not your ball of wax, be prepared for whiplash.

Our main characters consist of a combination of humans, Deviates (humans with extraordinary abilities), logika (independent machines with intelligence and personalities), and Lifelikes, which are machines/robots that appear just like human beings but with extraordinary strength and healing abilities. One of the key aspects of this series is friendships. After all, the series started with Eve and her friend Lemon Fresh and ends with the same pair having forever changed by their actions throughout this series.

The Cast: Cricket, the little bot who is now stuck in a battle-bot body in New Bethlehem home to a religious cult called the Brotherhood. He's lost track of Lemon Fresh, his once friend Eve is a psychotic killer, and Ezekiel is stuck obsessing over Ana. But, he has new friends in Solomon (logika) and Abraham who is a human deviant. A boy who has powerful abilities. Abraham has a really messed up family. True Cert. Cricket hasn't forgiven Eve for her betrayal, but what's worse is losing Lemon Fresh who he was supposed to help protect.

Eve Carpenter: she's turned fully into a psychotic murderer who searched everywhere for Ana Monrova and finally found her only to be captured by the Preacher and given to Daedalus where she will undergo torture the means of which should be illegal. Eve is a hard character for me to like due to the fact that she's been her own person her entire life then suddenly she chooses her alleged brothers and sisters in attempting to destroy humanity. She's never lived Ana's life. She has her own memories and people who loved her with no requirements. One of those people was Lemon Fresh.

Lemon Fresh: Strangely, my favorite character in this story. She's grown above and beyond just being Evie's sidekick. Lemon is a genetic abnormality. Lemon’s abilities to manipulate electricity mark her as a deviate, and deadly corporate operatives are hunting her to use as a weapon in the war between BioMaas Incorporated and Daedelus Technologies. Hell, she literally stopped 6 nuclear missiles in their silos. She's fallen for a boy, Grimm, who has treated her with kindness and respect. She's befriend a girl, Diesel, who can create portals. She refuses to allow Eve and her insane brothers & sisters to destroy the world by releasing the Libertas virus which can override the 3 laws any robot it infects.

Then there is the truly head spinning obsessions: Ezekiel with Ana, Gabriel with Grace, and Faith with Gabriel. Preacher has done his share of violence against almost every character in this story. He's got nothing to show for it. He's like that reoccurring character you'd love to kill off only to discover that you still have even more strategic violence and betrayal to commit before you get your comeuppance. There is plenty to keep readers entertained. The pending war between mega-corporations puts everyone in danger. Add in Gabriel's obsession with Grace and his desire to rule the world, and you have to wonder if anyone will survive until the closing chapters.

I agree with fellow readers. 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. Pay attention to the breakdown of each character. 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. The ending was a bit on the curious side for me. After all that has happened, no spoilers, the author kind of walks away dusting off his hands by saying like it or leave it.