Eve lives in a world where machines live side-by-side with humans, though they are second class citizens. The world is in turmoil after a catastrophic rebellion by "life-like" androids changed the way humans look at robots. When Eve manages to take down a mammoth logika with the power of her mind, all eyes turn to her, she has to run for cover. With the help of her friend Lemon Fresh, her dying grandfather Silas, her two pet logikas, and a salvaged life-like, Eve struggles to survive in a world where posses and gangs are hunting for her. This novel was unexpected and original in the character development and plot twists. The characters are multifaceted and genuine and I hope there is a sequel coming soon!

Having absolutely loved Jay Kristoff's Illiminae Files he co-wrote with Amie Kaufman, I knew I had to see what he did with his own book. I saw that Lifel1k3 was described as "Romeo & Juliet meets Mad Max meets X-Men, with a little bit of Blade Runner cheering from the sidelines" and since I'm a sucker for crazy post-apocalyptic, X-Men, and futuristic Bladerunner type worlds, I needed to scoop this book up.

I also got a vibe of a loose retelling of a post-apocalyptic Pinocchio, especially when the gang was swallowed up by the whalelike creature. I mean, a little robot named "Cricket"?!

We're introduced to Evie and her sassy best friend, Lemon Fresh (yes, that's her name!), both who live with Evie's grandpa, Silos, in a landfill full of trash. Silos uses the junk to build robots and fix stuff. (Geppetto similarities?) Ok, ok... I'll stop with the Pinocchio comparisons now.

Enter Ezekial, a handsome Lifelike android. And the action NEVER stops! There are some pretty good twists, incredible fights, and an ending that made me want to throw my Kindle across the room.

All in all, a very fun read!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Books for the copy of this book!*

LIFEL1K3 is set in the future where robots are already part of the society. Honestly, the reason why it took me days to finish reading this book is because I find it slow in the first chapters and I had a very busy schedule. But, when the action-thriller part started, I can’t stop reading. I’ve fallen into its world. Start questioning and be frightened. I can’t help but think the possibility in the future that the setting in this book would be so near. Also, the possibility that humans are ruled by robots. Memdrive specifically caught my attention and my curiosity. That wetware interface is promising. It wouldn’t surprise me if there is Memdrive in the future. With our technology nowadays and boundless imagination, there is a probability that LIFEL1K3 will be come true, and I am scared for our future.

What I like in this book are the badass characters written by badass author, Jay Kristoff. I love all the characters especially Mr. Cricket and Miss Lemon Fresh. How could a logic like Mr. Cricket be so adorable? His sense of humour is way better than other humans (sorry, but that’s really true). I can’t help but ask for my own Mr. Cricket. He is like your to-go and more logical friend in other novels. Miss Lemon Fresh always gives a good vibes and lighten the mood when it gets heavy. I really love her personality. Mr. Cricket and Miss Lemon Fresh’s tandem and banter are always a winner and very funny. Moreover, Grandpa or Silas or Mr. C. caught my attention because of his sense of humour. He is the true master of having good humour. Evie, on the other hand, broke my heart. Though she is a strong girl, I pity her. If I am in her situation and find out a big revelation about myself, I do not know if I’ll take it like Evie took it. Another heartbreaking character is Ezekiel. He is a lifelike yet he is charming but pathetic. I adore his compassion, loyalty, tenderness and kind heart. Further, The Preacher is very persistent and his dedication to finish his duty is admirable.

Moreover, I like the intensity of the story especially the action-thriller part. All twists are SHOCKING. Tightens my heart. Every keeps on hurting me. It is beyond my imagination. After reading, I am SPEECHLESS. I feel like I am being SCAMMED by Jay Kristoff. I screamed because can’t believe what I have read. But I am still to have the next book ASAP.

LIFEL1K3 is engrossing, captivating, page turner, has very unique story and always get me on the edge of my chair. Highly recommend this one if you love reading science fiction and enjoy reading books with twistable twists.

GAH!! Jay Kristoff is an absolute master. I would read his grocery list.

I really wasn't sure, but since I trust this author, I was more than willing to give it a go. And omg. It is BRILLIANT.

The opening scene was so bad ass. It reminded me of real-life Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, but on steroids. Even that small aspect was action-packed, so I knew I was in for a treat. And I can positively say that the action never stops.

I found Eve extremely likable. Actually, just about every character was—minus Preacher. Lemon was hilarious. Ezekiel was swoon worthy. But, Cricket? Easily my favorite. Hands down. Sort of a mini robotic Jiminy Cricket with a better personality and sense of humor.

Add this crew together and set them on a wild ride to discover the truth and that's what the story is all about. I think I was kind of shocked to learn the truth about who Eve was. Clearly she was more than what she thought, but I didn't guess the truth right away. As the chase began, I was glued to my Kindle screen. I both wanted it to end and to never end.

So much fun. So addicting. I am DYING to know what comes next!

★★★★★

An ebook was provided via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

LIFEL1K3 was one of my most anticipated reads of 2018, and it did not disappoint. I have been sitting here trying to figure out how in the world I am going to review this book. Because it has been a week and I have not fully recovered.

Inspired by Fury Road/X-Men/Romeo & Juliet/Bladerunner, Jay Kristoff brings new life to some of our favorite stories. LIFEL1K3 revolves around Eve, a young girl who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where robots are reduced to slaves or scrap metal. While salvaging in the scrap yard with her best friend Lemon Fresh and a robot named Cricket, Eve finds Ezekiel, a human-like android also known as a lifelike which are outlawed. Little does Eve know, Ezekiel has secrets, secrets that can change everything.

This book immediately had me hooked and it didn't let me go. I loved everything about it, but the best part for me was Lemon. She was fierce, strong, and HILARIOUS! Her puns and jokes were amazing and only made me fall more in love with her. The friendship between Lemon and Eve is brilliant. They completely have each other's backs and it's so refreshing to see.

Jay Kristoff has managed to send my brain into a meltdown because I was not expecting that ending to happen. I had so many ideas, but I was wrong, so wrong. The ending was completely mind-blowing. It has sent me into a terrible book hangover and I do not know how to claw my way out of it.

There is something about Jay Kristoff writing that just fills me with joy but also breaks my heart at the same time. So many instances in this book that I wanted to cry just because of how beautiful his words were. Not many authors can do that, well at least for me. So if you enjoy sci-fi reads or just books that will make you genuinely laugh out loud and cry because your heart has been ripped out, then this book is totally for you. If I could give it a billion stars, it still would not be enough.

I don’t even know where to begin.

It’s exactly what you’d expect from the co-author of The Illuminae Files (which I bloody love, by the way) - fast-paced and action-packed with brilliant characters, witty writing, big twists and the cruelest of cliffhangers. I don’t know how I will function until the next book comes out.

My favourite thing about this book, though, was the way it situated itself within the world - Hollywood is now known as “Holywood” (appropriate), it makes references to Pinocchio and even a song by the Dresden Dolls (I think?), and there are loads of biblical references as well. But the BEST element for me was its allusions to a particular historical event - I don’t want to name it because spoilers, but it is subtle enough that if you’re not familiar with the event then you wouldn’t pick up on it. It absolutely delighted me, and added another level of depth to the story.

If you like sci-fi or robot sidekicks (there’s a robot dog!!) or action packed stories or historical references or girls named Lemon then you need to read this book.

AHHH. This book is so good! Jay Kristoff is one of my favorite authors of all time. He is such an amazing person and writer and I am a sucker for anything and everything he writes. This book was so good!

Lifelik3 by Jay Kristoff is a complex and dynamic young adult sci-fi story. Mr. Kristoff throws us in the deep end in the beginning and expects us to swim. In a future world, post additional world wars and serious advances in robotics. People are fighting for survival in the aftermath of corporate wars and radiation exposure threatens many people. In the midst of a robotic gladiator fight Eve uses her mind to destroy tech and save her life. That abnormal ability will doom her to be hunted if the wrong people find out. When she and her friend Lemon discover the wreck of an advanced android robot, a Lifelike 100 life gets even more complicated. When the Lifelike, Ezekiel, wakes up and seemingly recognizes her but with a different name its the first step along a crazy path.

Leaving her home in the wake of threats that are after her and have kidnapped her grandfather, Eve, Lemon and Ezekiel are in for a wild ride across their world. The more Eve learns about herself, hidden memories and Ezekiel, the more she learns how many secrets have been kept from her. The quest that they undertake becomes more complicated with every step they take and nothing is what Eve has been told, as even those closest to her are hiding things. "Stronger Together, Together Forever" the mantra that Eve an Lemon share becomes the thread that holds them together as well as the complexities of love and life.

In Lifelik3, Jay Kristoff created something that I very much enjoyed and he didn't take the easy way out, he took the story where it needed to go. There are some definite familiar themes from things like Bladerunner that can be seen, but the story itself goes places that are both unexpected and real I very much enjoyed the vast complex settings and world as well as the detailed and fascinating characters. The story is filled with layers and details that will keep you glued to every page along the way.

(I voluntarily reviewed an advance review copy of this book I received for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my open and honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.)

This book was well written and very fun to read. The characters were great and I enjoyed the world building. The author does a great job at introducing the characters and moving the plot along. There were a few things that I didn't like, but it wasn't enough to really sway me one way or the other. It's definitely a story that I can get lost in and both feel for the characters. It is definitely a go-to novel that I highly recommend to anyone who loves a great read. Definitely a highly recommended read that I think everyone will enjoy.

Okay, I initially thought LIFEL1K3 (Lifelike) was the first Kristoff book I’ve read, but then I remembered that I read Illuminae. So this was technically the first book written only by Kristoff that I’ve read. Then I immediately downloaded more of his books.

Honestly, I went into this rather reluctantly. Nothing against Kristoff or anything, I just didn’t think I was feeling it at the time. I decided to give it at least a couple of chapters, already trying to decide which book I’d read instead. Pfft … I couldn’t stop once I started. I got totally sucked and had a great time with it.

It’s like this crazy post-apocalypse world that I found completely engrossing. I know there are tons of books like that out there, but this one really stood out for me. I love the mix of this darker gritty world mixed with the advanced technology that got weirdly cool sometimes View Spoiler ».

These characters! I love them all, even the seedy bad-guy characters were done really well. I am so freaking here for the friendships!! I will take a solid, down ass bitch friendship over a romance 80% of the time, and this has one that makes me so damn happy. Eve and Lemon are honestly my favorite thing about this book. Then mix in Cricket … yeah, this trio is the best!

Seriously, Kristoff impressed the hell out of me with this book. There’s just all kinds of awesomeness that kept me glued to every page – action, humor, fun banter, friendship, romance, mystery … it has it all! I desperately need the next book!

Sorry guys, I know you are all waiting for this book and hoping it is yet another masterpiece by the amazing Jay Kritoff but sadly I cannot tell you that I enjoyed this book all that much. It was ok, but nowhere near as amazing as everything else he has written. There is NO comparison.
Here is what I liked: the last page! That was a very good ending and it has the potential of making a fantastic second book. I will read the next book because of that last page alone.

The rest was either just ok or on the verge of being the most boring book I have read this year.
The first half was really slow, to the point I had to convince myself not to dfn it because it was a Kristoff book. I was tempted... so very tempted.

At that point it got a lot better. The story picked up and got more interesting. The problem than became predictability. The story of cyborgs turning against their human creators and of a human falling in love with a cyborg is over used. Why so many scifi books follow that story line? *eye roll* It was easy to see every plot twist ahead of time (if you can even call most of them that). The only surprising thing was that last page.

I am a romance reader (as most of you know) as well as an ya reader, and so, when the romance sucks I get very frustrated. The romance here was odd rather than heart warming. I can handle insta love, but this was just weird. There was no real connection between the characters or enough character development to make it believable.

There is also a language issue. OMG I wanted to scream at all the weird and unnecessary fabricated slang and jargon. I grew tired of it all fast.

I felt like the book was written to a very young young adult audience.
Do I recommend it? maybe if you don't usually read scifi, so at least it will not feel like you have read it a million times before.

Anything Jay Kristoff writes is an automatic buy for me, and this was no exception. I loved every minute of it.

I have to start this review with a confession: I had never read a book by Mr. Kristoff before LIFEL1K3. It’s not that I didn’t want to, or that I don’t have copies of his books already on my shelves. More like, it’s so hard to read backlist when you are busy reading books for review. So, when LIFEL1K3 nearly fell into my lap through Netgalley, I jumped at the chance to read it and I am forever grateful.

This book is amazing and un-put-downable. Seriously. Were it not for a little thing called sleep, I would have read LIFEL1K3 in under 24 hours. I like to think of it as Westworld meets Stranger Things set in a gritty, post-apocalyptic world. And man does it work! I love all of the characters, human and not. Cricket is probably my favorite, he just has the best come-backs! That mixed with his undying love for Eve gave him a special place in my heart. I also really love the lingo/slang used throughout this book. Lemon Fresh is always quick with her words and so witty; I just love the back-and-forth and want someone to talk like this with me.

Aside from the wonderful characters and the gritty world, the plot is incredibly fast-paced and so much happens; lots of action and twists. So buckle-up, strap on your welding goggles, and go grab a copy of LIFEL1K3, you won’t regret it!

Thank you so much to Knopf Books for Young Readers & Netgalley for sending me a copy of LIFEL1K3 to review!

I've been wanting to read a Jay Kristoff book for ages. AGES! I was so sure that I was going to adore LIFELIK3--but I didn't. The writing was incredibly irritating, the characters were bland, and the story had too much drama. This book's basically Lauren Kate's Fallen with robots.

1. WRITING: My biggest problem with the book was the writing. The book uses a lot of slang/weird-ass jargon from a supposed future America, which I quickly grew tired of. It was hard for me to connect to, and was just overall really cheesy for me.

2. CHARACTERS: The main characters in LIFEL1K3 have as much personality as my life-sized teddy bear. Which is just about none, if you're wondering. We have Eve, who suffers from multiple flashbacks so we get zero sense of her character, and Ezekiel, who is, well, a robot. Inside and out.

The side characters were a lot more endearing, especially Eve's best friend, Lemon Fresh, who is really cute and acts realistically.

3. STORY & PLOT: PRE-DICT-A-BLE. I felt like I've read this story a thousand times before--well, minus the robots. There was so much build-up for the twists, too, and they weren't even that "whoa," if you get what I mean?

4. WORLD-BUILDING: LIFEL1K3 gives us a look at post-apocalyptic America, where there are robots, androids, and "lifelikes" that live among humans. Personally, this was the aspect I liked most about the book.

It was interesting seeing another perspective of what the future might look like, scary as it is. We have the WarDome where robots fight to the death; the Scraps where Eve and her friends hunt for discarded materials they can revive or rebuild.

5. ROMANCE: Creepy. Fast-paced. Zero chemistry. Makes 5% sense. Wait, I totally forgot we were talking about LIFEL1K3--I thought we were talking about Fallen or Twilight. Eh, same thing.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, although ultimately it didn’t live up to quite a few of my expectations.

The worldbuilding isn’t tremendously developed here, but what is shown was enough for me to draw a satisfying idea of what it must be like. Post-apocalyptic future, in that, without surprise, humans have been destroying their planet to the point of tsunamis ravaging California (the story is clearly set in its remnants) and solar radiations giving anyone cancer if they walk out unprotected even for an hour or so. It’s a harsh world to live in, where people eke out a living by foraging scraps, prostitution, being in gangs, or competing in the WarDome game by piloting huge robots meant to punish AI robots who stopped obeying the Three Laws (yes, that’s Asimov’s Laws—they tend to work well in various sci-fi worlds, methinks).

Piloting one of those ‘machinas’ is exactly what Eve, the main character, does to earn money and pay for her grandfather’s medication, encouraged by her tiny robot Cricket and her best friend Lemon. Except that her latest fight doesn’t go well at all, and she finds herself manifesting a strange power that sends religious fanatics and bounty hunters on her trail… although not only. This is how she meets Ezekiel, the ‘lifelike’ (an android built in such a way that he looks completely human not only on the surface, since he has blood-like liquid in his veins, metal bones and not simply motors, etc.) This merry band runs away, trying to escape their pursuers as well as to find what happened to Eve’s grandfather, in a world that would look great on screen: radioactive deserts with storms full of glass debris, enemies on motorbikes with rocket launchers, a city made of a whole landlocked float, the ghost town of what used to be a powerful corporation, a living underwater ship… The author doesn’t disclose that many details about geopolitics or history in here, however what he shows us worked for me, and let me imagine this world where Eve and her friends have to live.

In terms of characters, mostly I didn’t care for them, except Lemon. She comes off as the most human and balanced (both strong and fragile), with a cocky attitude and a to-the-death loyalty that felt genuine.

Also, special mention for the novel crossing Anastasia with Pinocchio. I don’t think I had seen or read that yet, and I found the idea interesting, as well as working fairly well.

Where I wasn’t happy with the book:

1) The romance. As often in YA, it was too much of the insta-love kind, without chemistry, and since we get to see how it started only through flashbacks, there was very little in it to make me like it. Eve took a bullet to the head and her memories are sometimes frazzled, and Ezekiel is too many shades of ‘I love you and you’re the only one who gave meaning to my life so now I’m here and I’ll do anything for you’ (commendable, but not very interesting nor even plausible, considering we never got to -feel- how it developed).

2) Ezekiel. Here we had an excellent opportunity to show a character that is not human, yet was built to be like humans, only without the emotional maturity that we develop over ten, twenty, thirty years. Granted, this is mentioned a couple of times, when it comes to the other lifelikes and the way they learnt to love (quickly, brutally, in a way that could drive them mad if the relationship broke, since they didn’t have the emotional background to soften the blow)—but then, this came through -them-, instead of through Ezekiel’s experience.

I think part of the problem stems from the fact we don’t have chapters from Ezekiel’s POV. Eve, Lemon, even a few minor characters now and then: sure. But not Ezekiel. So, in the end, we really get that ‘doll-like’ character who, sure, is an excellent fighter, but whose motives to help Eve never raise past the state of plot device. I would have loved to really see his point view rather than been told about it, see his inner questioning, how he sees the world, how he accepts (or not) his condition of nearly-but-never-human being, especially since this would’ve worked with a certain plot twist also prompting another character to question what being human means.

(A note here regarding the sexual relationship between Ezekiel and Eve; we don’t see it, but it’s more than just vaguely implied. I know that for some people, this is a complete turn-off. I must say I did find it interesting, not so much abnormal and disgusting than intriguing and raising lots of questions about, well, being human, what it means, how it is defined, etc. Did the lifelikes have sexual relationships because they were programmed to, in a perfectionist desire to copy human biology? Was it something that developed ‘naturally’ in them because they looked so much like humans and lived among them? Did they read about it, and so were conditioned from the beginning to believe it was the next step, and from there, would it mean that they could’ve learnt other forms of physical love if given the chance? So many roads to explore, but that weren’t… -sigh-)

Conclusion: In terms of action and of a world easy to picture, this was a fun and entertaining read. However, I regret it didn’t go further than that.

It took me a little while to really get into this book, but once I had the chance to connect with the characters, I was hooked and raced through it. I’m a new reader to science fiction and fantasy, so this was surprising to me that I would enjoy it so much. The story actually starts off pretty exciting and then cranks up until the end..

Writing:
The dialogues are mostly street slang but the book is also jazzed with something lyrical here and there.

Alliterations: “Because beneath the bravado and bluster...”, “whispering winds”, “grit and glass” Rhymes: “dust and rust”, “stronger together, together, forever”

The ghetto talk and the poetic prose meld impeccably on the pages, creating an exquisite flavor unique to the book. Not bad for my first Jay Kristoff book.


Characters:
Eve as a main character is at the middle of my likability meter. She is a hardworker, a loyal friend and a filial grandaughter but she can only do so much with the plot given to her. Her main motive in the book is to run away from various people chasing her and at the same time, find out the truth about herself despite the fuzzy memories and the lies of some people around her. Her personality is badass but all serious-like. I like the personality of her bestfriend Lemon Fresh better. The love interest Ezekiel has the personality of a robot, as he literally is, with a boring must-protect-Eve-at-all-costs role. The villains are yet to be villainous. And who are the actual villains here? The rebelling robots? The CorpStates? Still a lot of dancing around, cat-and-mouse style, which is understandable since it’s just the first book.

Plot:
At the beginning Eve is a Domefighter which is like a gladiator fighting inside a human-operated machina with a wide live audience, betting and bookies involved. Something that happened in the WarDome and later something that Eve found in the streets made a cult and a street crew come after her armed to the teeth. And then a war-freak android comes knocking down her door hellbent on either kidnapping or murdering her. All of these lead to Eve and crew running away for the most part of the book until they accidentally get swallowed by a giant kraken under the polluted sea, where Eve experienced a lot of flashbacks. Ugh, too much flashbacks for my taste. I was actually having headaches along with Eve, true cert’. And then after that, moooore chase scenes!

The plot is in non-stop frenetic motion that it gets tired and boring after a while. I was literally droning on with absent-minded reading and was able to only jolt awake upon the climax. The book draws a lot of parallels with Pinnochio, with it’s characters obviously being versions of the characters in the beloved fairy tale. The book has it’s own surprises but if you are too familiar with it’s inspiration, you will almost get spoiled.

Will I read the sequel:
Yes, because I like Jay Kristoff’s writing. Plus, there are still a lot of characters that we are yet to meet in flesh (in metal?). And there is something about Lemon Fresh and the way she always touches her her five-leaf clover necklace that tells me she will have her own origin story in due time. Plus the book ended in uncertain terms on how Eve processed and handled the truth that she found out. She seemed to be allying herself with the same characters chasing her before. Hmm, interesting.

(I also created a list of films that reminded me of the book, which will be posted live on my blog on Jun 12. Link is added below)

3.5 stars. Jay Kristoff’s YA post-apocalyptic novel LIFEL1K3 stars seventeen-year-old Eve as its tough, fauxhawk-sporting protagonist. Eve is a gifted mechanic who lives with her grandfather, her only relative, in a post-apocalyptic island version of “Kalifornya” called the Dregs. She has a cybernetic eye and a memory drive (“Memdrive”) implanted in the side of her head, with silicon chips behind her ear that give her fragmentary memories of her childhood and supply her with other useful life skills. Eve’s secret pastime ― at least it’s secret from Grandpa ― is engaging in robot deathmatches to fund Grandpa’s anticancer meds. Eve’s besties are a feisty redhead named Lemon Fresh, whose name comes from the box in which she was found abandoned as an infant, a cranky little robot named Cricket who has major self-image issues related to his short height, and a loyal cyborg dog, or “blitzhund,” named Kaiser who is internally armed with a powerful suicide bomb.

Eve’s latest robot gladiator battle goes badly: not only does her robot, Miss Combobulaton, get reduced to a useless heap of parts, but at the end of the battle Eve manifested a psychic power that completely shorted out the robot she was fighting. Now several factions are out to capture or kill Eve, including the dreaded Brotherhood that kills all mutants as a tenet of its faith, a stunningly powerful and physically augmented bounty hunter called Preacher, and the local greedy and bloodthirsty gang.

On the way home from her ill-fated robot battle, Eve and her friends see an aircraft crash land in a junk heap of old auto wrecks. They pull the remains of a handsome android, an illegal “Lifelike,” from the pilot’s seat. At Eve’s and Grandpa’s home, the android, Ezekiel, unexpectedly comes back to life. Ezekiel seems to recognize Grandpa and Eve, though he calls her by a different name, but can she trust him? Maybe she’ll be able to figure it out while they’re on the run …

Kristoff originally pitched LIFEL1K3 as “Romeo and Juliet meets Mad Max meets X-Men, with a little bit of Bladerunner cheering from the sidelines.” LIFEL1K3 is a cheerfully violent pastiche of those iconic works and more. There’s a Terminator type of character, an unstoppable bounty hunter cosplaying an Old West preacher. Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics play a vital role in the plot. Pinocchio is also expressly referenced several times by the characters, just in case any reader might have otherwise missed the allusion.

It may be derivative, but there’s creativity and enthusiasm in the pages of LIFEL1K3 as well. As our main characters quickly move from place to place, the pace moves swiftly as well. Robot battles and other armed conflicts are interspersed with the developing relationship between Eve and Ezekiel. The human (and android) drama element of the story is also heightened by flashback scenes of a mass murder that plays out at the beginning of the first several chapters, and by Eve’s gradual gain of knowledge about her past. Sometimes Eve overreacts to the new facts about her past; though she’s a volatile character, it seemed (especially at the end) artificially included for the sake of the plot and increased drama. I couldn’t quite believe and accept some of the characters’ actions and reactions at a few key points. The villains in this tale are also a bit cartoonish, with motivations that are understandable but rather simplistic and single-minded.

The romance, though it’s central to the plot of LIFEL1K3, never really took fire for me, perhaps partly because it involves sex (though not explicitly related) between a fifteen year old girl and an android. Despite the unusual and star-crossed partners, the romance itself remains firmly mired in standard YA romance land. More powerful for me was the depth and loyalty of the friendship between Eve and Lemon.

The cyberpunk-infused post-apocalyptic setting is, even if inspired by other novels and movies, well-imagined, with many gritty, vivid details that add to the realistic feel. Also adding to the pleasure of reading this novel were the twists and turns in the plot. Kristoff deftly threaded the needle here with twists that were surprising but had enough foundation in the previous events of the story that they didn’t come completely out of left field. My only quibble was with the very end of LIFEL1K3, which added one additional and rather unlikely twist of the knife to a cliffhanger ending. We’ll have to wait for the publication of the as-yet-unnamed sequel to see how it plays out, and I’m definitely on board for that.

Once upon a time, there was a family: a father, a mother, three sisters, and a brother. But once upon a time only leads to happily ever after in fairy tales…and this is no fairy tale. This is a Jay Kristoff novel. So instead, we have Eve, and a world that is nothing but heat and radiation now. Eve lives with her grandfather, trying to earn enough for his medicine in Dome battles with machina. When she bets it all on a battle that goes sideways, AND discovers she has the power to destroy the machine—which will get her killed—Eve thinks her day has gotten as bad as it’s going to get. Then she finds the broken automata…and she learns that the road to hell truly is paved with good intentions.

I’m a huge fan of Jay Kristoff, and have been since his Lotus War series. So I was excited to read LIFEL1K3, the start of his new trilogy. And as expected, it starts out fast and just keeps going. One of my favorite aspects of his writing is his characters. He has a knack for creating people—characters who are human and flawed and beautiful and horrible, all at the same time.

Eve is seventeen, smart, sassy, and daring. She’ll do what it takes to get things done, though the outcome of her actions is not always what she might predict. She’s tough, but it hides a girl who has horrible nightmares that never go away. Her best friend Lemon is, in many ways, her opposite. She tends to be more the voice of reason, and to stick more to the shadows—but she has Eve’s back, just as Eve has hers. And then there is Ezekiel—a machine that seems human. And here is where Kristoff really nailed it. There’s a line between writing a human and writing a machine…and somewhere in the middle is where automata would be. Ezekiel is human enough to believe…until he’s not. Then he can be frightening, and powerful, and everything one could imagine a machine–a lifelike robot–should be.

As is often the case, the characters here are products of their environment—and this environment will quite literally kill you in minutes. Life functions at night, and cancer is what awaits you if you break that rule. This is the world after corporations had an all-out war, and all of humanity paid the price. Kalifornia is now the Dregs in the Grande Ol’ Yousay. Zona is out there somewhere…but in between are deserts of black glass, and the ocean is where no one ever dreamed it would be. Of course, the corporations still rule the world–each seeking an advantage over the other. This USA is similar enough for the differences to be stark, as well as a frightening reminder of what could await us if we are not careful.

Having said that, another thing to be careful of is your heart. Both your heart rate, and how easily it will be broken. Kristoff is a MASTER at emotional manipulation—and he’s so damn good, you will be begging for more. Even if you believe you have guarded your heart, or figured out what will happen, you will be wrong. On both counts. It is not uncommon for me to finish one of his books with a panicked expression (I would assume, based on my emotions) and a hearty, “WTF JUST HAPPENED?!?” LIFEL1K3 is no different.

However, what makes this story unique is the questions you will find yourself asking (other than that already mentioned): Who—or what—defines what a slave is? Can a slave be something created, or does it’s very programming remove the aspect of slavery? And for slaves and free, how much do our choices define who we really are, and how much does nurture vs. nature play a part? These seem like heavy themes—and they are. However, it really wasn’t until I finished reading the book (that damn ending again!) that I really stopped and allowed the impact to sort of sink in. Honestly, anyone could read this book and not get that out of it and just enjoy the robots, the battles, and the bit of romance. But for others, there are definitely thought-provoking aspects that I cannot wait to be explored further as the trilogy carries on.

I absolutely recommend this book. Jay Kristoff is like the fair rides you enjoyed most as a kid—those that leave you with a stomachache and a spinning head, but which were SO MUCH FUN you rode them again and again and again. This is another ride you’ll need to hang tight to until the end, and then you’ll be back in line waiting for the next go-round.

Actual Rating 2.5 Stars

This is marketed as Romeo and Juliet meets Mad Max, X Men and a little of Blade Runner. A mashup of sci-fi futuristic technology, in a post apocalyptic world featuring super powers led to memorable world building. Unfortunately the character development took a backseat to fitting in elements that never felt cohesive. Eve is a likeable protagonist who is determined to survive on a island exposed to radiation while dealing with traumatic memories from her past. Ezekiel is a lifelike, a robot immune to almost anything, who had little defining personality other then his relationship to Eve. Eve and Ezekiel have a Insta-Love formed bond with starry eyed romance that never felt real.

"Rule Number Three in the Scrap: Carry the biggest stick."

Eve's best friend Lemon Fresh and Cricket were interesting and funny, but only served as two dimensional characters to balance out the violence and conflict in the story. Lemon Fresh who's name I never got used to had little desires or opinions that mattered to the plot or other characters. Cricket is a little bot focused on safety but his suggestions and advice was never listened to. He brought humor and logic to a story that needed more of both. The slang used in the book grated on me and never felt "fizzy" (what characters used to describe something good).

"But you get fancy, Mister Stabby gets dancy, you read me?"

I did enjoy the world building, action and villains, but never felt tied to this world because of the characters. The sci-fi elements were great including a sea creature who is a mix of organic and artificial parts, along with giant fighting robots. But in a world the author wants us to care about human like robots, I never found empathy for the Lifelike robots in the book. While I did finish the book there were too many twists that lead to a unsatisfying conclusion. I am a fan of Jay Kristoff's other books. he just missed the mark by combing awesome elements with little character development.

Recommended for Readers Who

-enjoy action packed post apocalyptic settings

-can tolerate a plot driven novel

-aren't hung up on romance that develops instantly