This was a great conclusion to the LIFEL1K3 series! I don't want to say too much because spoilers, but I loved all the twists to this story and I loved the characters so much, it was hard to say goodbye.

Please note that this is the third book in a trilogy so there will be spoilers for the first two books. If you have not started this trilogy I highly recommend you skip this review and just start reading LIFEL1K3 immediately 🙂

Immediately after I finished DEV1AT3 I knew I needed to start TRUEL1F3 because DEV1AT3 ended on such a crazy cliffhanger. And right from the start the action gets going in TRUEL1F3 picking up right where DEV1AT3 left off. I absolutely adored Lemon Fresh in this book especially. I feel like her character was developed so well over the course of this series. My heart broke for her so many times… she did not deserve the terrible things that happened to her. But I LOVED how close she got to Grimm and Diesel. Their friendship and banter was so fantastic. I also really felt for Zeke… he was being torn in so many directions but I loved that he was able to stay true to his beliefs. One character that I was really surprised to feel a kinship with was Abraham. At first I didn’t think he would have a very big role to play in this story but was I ever wrong.

This book was such a heart pounder with action galore. But what I really loved was that there were also comedic and heart felt moments scattered throughout. I laughed, I cried, I felt anger… so many emotions while reading. These characters are so special that it was hard to say goodbye to them at the end of this book. Overall, I think this was an incredible ending to this series and once again Jay Kristoff proves he is worthy of being one of my favorite authors of all time.

5 Stars

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: TrueL1f3

Author: Jay Kristoff

Book Series: Lifelike Book 3

Rating: 5/5

Recommended For...: sci-fi, ya, dystopian, robotics

Publication Date: June 30, 2020

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Recommended Age: 16+ (sex mentions, language, gore, violence, death)

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Pages: 480

Synopsis: Best friends have become enemies. Lovers have become strangers. And deciding whose side you're on could be the difference between life and death. For Eve and Lemon, discovering the truth about themselves--and each other--was too much for their friendship to take. But with the country on the brink of a new world war--this time between the BioMaas swarm at CityHive and Daedalus's army at Megopolis, loyalties will be pushed to the brink, unlikely alliances will form and with them, betrayals. But the threat doesn't stop there, because the lifelikes are determined to access the program that will set every robot free, a task requiring both Eve and Ana, the girl she was created to replace. In the end, violent clashes and heartbreaking choices reveal the true heroes . . . and they may not be who you think they are.

Review: Overall, I thought this was a really good ending for the series. The book still had the POV switch, but it mostly focused on Lemon Fresh, which I’m not complaining about. I think the character development continued here and while I wish we found out more about Lemon Fresh’s backstory, why she was left in a box and stuff, I think it didn’t need to be explained. I think Lemon Fresh is for the kids and adults who don’t know where they came from and it showed them that they too are important. I also felt like the world building was well done and I literally sped through this book because it was that good and compelling.

However, I did feel like the pacing lulled in parts and the big fight scene was a bit chaotic. The book also has a lot of character deaths and it will break your heart.

Verdict: Well done series!

Lemon Fresh really stole the show in the last two books of this series. When I first picked up LIFEL1K3, I was captivated with Eve's storyline and Lemon was more of a sidekick afterthought. As the series progressed, Lemon grew up and completely overshadowed Eve.

This last book finds everyone thrown into the start of a war between BioMaas and CityHive. Lemon is separated from her friends, and Eve is still trying to figure out what she wants. Everyone is coming to terms with their present circumstances and trying to decide where they stand. The story jumps right into the action and doesn't slow down until the end. Through the chaos, the characters manage to find moments of humor and heart. While Eve really fell flat for me in this book, the rest of the character storylines wrapped up nicely and I am sad to see this trilogy end.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for review.

TRUEL1F3 is packed full of the same non-stop action and thrills as the two previous installments and concludes the trilogy in a way that leaves the reader feeling satisfied. The Lifelike series was one hell of a ride and I would highly recommend it to any fan of YA Science Fiction.

The book picks up exactly where DEV1AT3 left off so it’s easy to fall right back into the story. Not to mention that once again Jay Kristoff blesses his readers by giving a short run-down of the plot/characters before the first chapter. Seriously, can we please make this a thing with all sequels? Instead of struggling to remember everything and everyone through the first few chapters, I can jump right in like no time at all has passed since the previous book.

My one issue with DEV1AT3 was that Eve’s POV wasn’t as prominent and she didn’t have as big of a voice in that book. I was super stoked to find that her and Lemon Fresh both had equal amounts of the proverbial limelight in TRUEL1F3. I was really glad to be back in Eve’s head, especially with all the emotional turmoil she was experiencing regarding her identity.

In all honesty, however, TRUEL1F3 didn’t stand up to the I had for LIFEL1K3 or the enjoyment of reading DEV1AT3. The book was non-stop action from the first page until the last, which I generally enjoyed, however it was almost too fast-paced at times where it felt like I was getting whiplash from being bounced back and forth every chapter. I also felt like there were some aspects where I needed more convincing, especially regarding Ezekiel’s true feelings. It seemed to get brushed over and we never really get inside his thoughts or emotions enough for it to convince the readers.

That being said, TRUEL1F3 wrapped up the trilogy nicely. If you enjoyed reading the other two books in this series, TRUEL1F3 will sure to please you as well!

It is no secret I adore Jay Kristoff's novels. I have two different tattoos containing his words, and his books remain among my all-time favorites. The final book in the LIFEL1K3 series ranked among my most anticipated books of 2020. Except, while TRUEL1F3 is a perfectly satisfactory ending to a fantastic series, I did not love it like I thought I would.

In many ways, it is a typical novel by Mr. Kristoff. He is not afraid to jump right to the worst-case scenario in any scene and does so here many times. He does this to show his characters' true motivations and personalities, for it is within conflict a person's true nature comes to the fore. In that regard, the series morphs from being about Eve, as in books one and two, to being about Lemon Fresh as a sidekick turned heroine in her own right. Frankly, I like her character more anyway, so this was a welcome change.

Still, I didn't LOVE TRUEL1F3. The ending was a bit too...pat...for my taste. While there are battles and apocalyptic explosions, it is not as dark and therefore as emotionally wrought as his other novels. In his adult novels, his characters fight for every ounce of happiness. That isn't quite true in his standalone young adult work. Even with his collaborations, you know that he is not afraid to sacrifice a character for a storyline. I never felt that any of the characters were in danger, and therein lies my issue with this final book. It is almost as if Mr. Kristoff played things too safe. I missed that edge, that fear that your favorite character might die on any page, and while you would mourn, you know the story is stronger because of that death. There was none of that here.

That being said, any Jay Kristoff novel is better than most of the other stuff published these days. He is probably the only author these days willing to place his novel in the middle of a radiation zone with easy access to nuclear weapons. I also love his sly criticism of modern-day priorities where in his world, they have the ability to build AI with the ability to feel emotions and genetically modify any living thing on the planet but cannot do anything about cleaning up and repairing the environment. Maybe it isn't such a departure for him after all.

It's so hard to rate this. I loved the beginning of the story. It kept me captivated throughout. I always wanted to know what happens next. Pretty interesting. I gave it 3 stars! I had more fun reading this book than book 1 or book 2.

Having read enough books by Jay Kristoff to know, I was a bit worried going into this third and final book in his Lifelike series. And, yup. I was right to worry. Dang you, Kristoff!

Truelife starts out where Deviate ended, with Lemon Fresh as a captive of BioMass, and Eve as a captive of Daedalus Technologies. To be honest, at this point I didn't care a bit where Eve was or what she was going through. All I cared about was Lemon and if she'd survive. And in a surprise twist, I finally realized this series was really Lemon's story, not Eve's and I couldn't have been happier.

Kristoff tends to give us heroes and heroines who we absolutely adore. With that said, I want Lemon as my own bestie! And I want my own squad of Grimm, Diesel, Crickett, Zeke, and Abraham!

The squad separates to try to save both Lemon and Eve, and in the midst of non-stop action that follows, we even get a few kissing scenes. The gang then pulls out all the stops to prevent insane Gabriel from wiping out the human race and populating what's left of the world with Lifelikes and robots. Even more action ensues culminating in the final battle.

Yes, there are tears. It wouldn't be a Kristoff book without them after all, but I can honestly say that I was very satisfied with the ending.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Books for the advance copy!*

Jay has done it again.

A wonderful finale to a wonderful series.

I admit Eve didn’t fully redeem herself. But I’m okay with that.

I had a hard time here with so many points of view. I felt like it took away from my emotional reactions to the things that were happening to them.

But overall, enjoyable!!

5/5 stars
 
Absolutely brilliful as Miss Lemon Fresh would say! I loved how much was packed into this entire series and I can't wait to reread it through audiobook. There was so much character progression for everyone throughout this series, but especially in this story. Everyone seems to be coming to terms with the past, the possible future, and having to pick a side in this post apocalyptic world. It made this finale even better when everything comes to an explosive, emotional end that I absolutely loved! Overall, I can't recommend this entire series enough for the adventure, action, laughs, character progression, so many feels and bit of romance. 

***Thank you so much to Random House Children's, Knopf Books and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this amazing digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this conclusion to the series. Great characters, action and thought provoking ideas in an era where the questionable future of the planet does not seem so questionable after all.

I remember back in 2016, when I met Jay Kristoff (and Amie Kaufman) at a book signing at my local Barnes & Nobles. I don't know what happened. Maybe the bookstore hadn't bothered with any publicity. But here were two Rock Star authors...and eight fans! I kid you not.

What must have been terrible for Jay and Amie was a boon for those of us who showed up. We were able to sit around for ninety minutes and just talk to these two wonderful people. We talked about everything: books, politics ("What is going on with you Americans?" they asked), war. It was an exhilarating conversation which made me into a life-long fan.

Jay's latest book is Truelif3, the last in a Dystopian trilogy that is part Mad Max, part road trip, and completely riveting. I loved it.

What I Liked:
Setting:
The books are set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland called the Yousay (a clever riff on the good ol' U.S.of A), where city-states compete for resources. One city is driven by technology to provide the Yousay with energy and innovations, while another relies heavily on genetic engineering to supply the other cities with food. Both are rich playlands for the elite. The majority of people, however, live in squalor, eking out a living on the scraps of the rich city-states, and dreaming of a better life. The pollution is so pervasive that the Grand Canyon is filled with plastic trash!

Characters:
Eve has only recently learned that she is a Lifelike, a replacement for Ana, the daughter of a genius inventor. All her memories have been implanted. This has severely messed her up! She is now obsessed with finding Ana and destroying her. In fact, most of the Lifelikes borderline psychotic. While their bodies are that of young adults, they are emotionally immature, quick to anger, and obsession.

Lemonfresh, is a Deviant. She's human, but has super-human powers, and can manipulate electricity. What I love about this series is that the main characters change with each book. Lemonfresh was only a side-kick in the first book. I love how she becomes the focus of the second and third books. She is sweet, kind, and an underdog. You can't help but root for her!

I also like that more attention is paid to side characters such as The Preacher, Abraham, Solomon, and Cricket. Each of them have complete story arcs, and makes the series full and satisfying.

Themes:
How much should we rely on technology? In one city, the elite let technology do all the work so they can bliss out in virtual reality tanks. Life is brutal for everyone else in the areas around the city. They aspire to get this life for themselves, and will do anything to get it. It's a classic tale of capitalism run amok.

In another city, cloning has been embraced. Every person is genetically engineered to fulfill a narrow purpose in society. They seem happy. Everyone has enough to eat, and find satisfaction in their tasks. But there is no individuality. No choice.

One of the other strong themes explores the role of servitude (slavery) in society. Machines have just enough conscious thought to know that they have no choices, doomed to do the bidding of humans. The author really does a wonderful job of creating empathy with Solomon and Cricket, as they begin to realize they are slaves.

What I Was Mixed About:
My only gripe with this book is with the ending. While most characters have logical and satisfying resolutions, Eve's is too abrupt. Without any preamble, her personality changes. Are there any consequences for her actions? I wish there had been a deeper exploration into how she turned out.

This concluding volume of the LIFEL1K3 series is the only one that I physically read - I enjoyed the audio versions of the first two books - but I have to admit, that I enjoyed this one the most of the three. Not that the audio performance was bad, but I really liked having the map, and it was also fun to see the spelling of some things. There was a little head-hopping that I hadn't noticed in the earlier novels (it is more forgiving to listen), but luckily, this didn't happen enough times to make me really frustrated with this one.

I feel like all of the characters really grew here - and as usual, this was an absolutely action-packed read! There are plenty of reminders and refreshers for readers who have waited a year for this one and most importantly, it really does have a satisfying conclusion that doesn't leave too much dangling at the end. And also like the previous installments, this one relies on great visuals of the world-building. No real new characters are introduced here which leaves room for even smaller roles to show some growth. I had a hard time putting this one down and I quite thoroughly enjoyed it! This makes me even more excited to not only catch up on Kristoff's earlier writing, but also to keep an eye out for him in the future!

Kristoff is by far one of my favorite authors. I LOVE EVERYTHING HE WRITES!!! I was so happy when I recevied this arc and couldn't wait to get reading it! I give it a million stars if I could! Picking up right where book two leaves off, we jump right back into action after the nuclear bomb explodes. There is never a lull in action or a dull moment for the rest of the book. I fell IN LOVE With Lemon and Grimm.. Their love story was ahhhh so sweet and perfect. I could have just read an entire series on them! But I do love how throughout this book you are reading all the different POV and are there when they all converge in one epic battle in the end.

MY only complaint would be that I really wanted Eve to come around much sooner than it happened. I hated hating her character when she was my original badass female crush from the first book. I've always loved Lemon, but there was something about wanting Eve and Zeke to fall in love from the first book that was so frustrating to see Eve struggle throughout the second and third books. I thought for sure she would join forces with the right crew by the last book but it was still such a fight to get her to come to her senses and that would be my only complaint. Not that it skewed my opinion on this book overall though because i still LOVED IT!!!!

There's just something about the way Kristoff writes. It draws you into a whole different era of the way the world might be so far into the future that you really feel like you're in the YOUSAY. (which is hilarious to me that its now YOUSAY instead of USA). There are so many little things like that throughout the book that make you smirk and are fun little easter eggs to find. I LOVE THE WAY HE WRITES!!!

Every single book is such a joy to read and I can't wait to jump on the next book that his beautiful mind creates. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book early, its been one of my biggest reads I've been looking forward to all year and I am so happy its out in the world now :)

After absolutely loving LIFEL1K3 and enjoying DEV1AT3, I had high hopes for TRUEL1F3. Unfortunately, I felt like this one wasn’t quite up to the same level as its predecessors. Part of what I loved about this series was the characters. While the action was fantastic and the world well-developed, the characters were really at the heart of the story for me. And there were just too many characters in TRUEL1F3 for me to really feel that connection with any of them. This book, particularly the ending, felt rushed and I didn’t understand why Eve and Ezekiel made the choices they did. But saying more than that would be spoilers.

While I didn’t quite enjoy TRUEL1F3 as much as the first two in the series, I do think that, as a whole, Jay Kristoff has written a great trilogy. The themes this story deals with are timely and relevant and I think that Kristoff handles them well. Plus, like all of his books, the world-building was quite good. Overall, I’m very glad that I read the Lifelike trilogy and will probably be rereading it again in the future.

Ahh, what an ending. It was quite a ride with these characters! And boy, it got brutal at times. I loved the characters and all the different shifting dynamics. I especially loved watching Ms. Lemon Fresh evolve & became more than a sidekick, true cert. This really was an enjoyable trilogy from beginning to end.

I like this series and I was happy to be back with this cast of characters. The characters are what makes this series amazing. You just can help but love them. Especially Zeke and Lemonfresh and Cricket. I also loved Diesel and Grimm.
But sadly the ending was very rushed and didn't explain or tied all the loose ends. We had some major battles and all the action but it was all rushed, rushed, rushed.
I just needed more explanation, especially at the end. Eve was so confusing in this book and I really didn't like her. If her final decisions were explained more maybe it could have been different and better.

I was excited to receive a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

My first thought upon finishing this book was that I was surprised at the number of characters who were still alive. It’s not that I expect Jay Kristoff to kill everyone in every book… but I try to not get my hopes up about anyone surviving.

TRUL1F3 picked up right where DEV1AT3 left off without a break in the action. From the beginning, the drama was high and the plot moved quickly. There was never a dull moment, and the details and events included in the narrative certainly feel intentional.

I love a book with multiple perspectives and plotlines, but there were times where it felt like individual plots and characters didn’t get as much focus as they perhaps needed. I was really hoping that after so much Lemonfresh in DEV1AT3, this book would swing back around and give us more of Eve’s perspective. It was challenging to follow her motivations throughout the story. She was understandably still struggling to discover who she really is - Eve or Ana - but how she came to certain decisions was often fuzzy and underdeveloped. To compound the issue, the other characters didn’t react to her in any kind of predictable way. Again, it’s understandable that Lemon and Ezekiel have mixed feelings about Eve, but their motivation behind changes in perception was never terribly clear.

Putting on my educator hat for a moment here: While I absolutely love the elaborate system of slang in this series (and really everything that Jay Kristoff writes), it creates a stumbling block for a lot of young readers. There is enough to contend with in this series - keeping track of a multitude of characters and subplots - I feel like that language may be a bridge to many for a lot of the students I work with. That being said, I’ll absolutely still recommend it, true cert.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following unbiased and impartial review:
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4*
Pros: A tidy ending to the trilogy. Deepened and multidimensional characters. Introduction of imaginative and innovative new creatures and machines. Exquisite battle-scenes, this time in a full-on war setting. Some well-executed plot twists, that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Funny and witty banter. Complex and heartwarming friendships. Fizzy romantic scenes. Beautiful focus in standing up for what you believe it's the right thing to do, on not staying silent, on fighting for those who can't.
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Cons: Rushed and immensely sugar-coated ending. Nonsensical holes in character development and plot. Unsatisfactory unfolding of events throughout the whole book.
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Trigger Warning: physical violation while unconscious.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you were to walk up to me on January 1st 2020 and tell me that I was going to read a Mad Max/Borderlands style trilogy and LOVE it. I would say you're insane. I loved the Nevernight Chronicles and the Illuminae files which is what put Jay Kristoff on my radar. I had seen this series on a couple of different websites and didn't think much of it. I'm not much of an android type of gal and I rarely read sci-fi but this. This was the amazing mashup of all the campy tropes we love in sci-fi adventures with this gritty undertone that only Mister Kristoff himself can provide.

Imagine someone runs up to you, grabs your hand and screams "Run!" That is this book. The action doesn't stop and it's filled with twists and turns that makes you question which direction is UP.

This final book is the culmination of the entire series and things end with a BANG. I'm really happy I got to read it and I'm going to be proud to add it to my collection when it comes out. Jay Kristoff is one of my favorite authors.