First of all, thank you Knopf books for sending me an eARc of this!

I am a huge Jay Kristoff fan, and I knew this would be a crazy finale! Lemon Fresh is by far my favorite character in these books, so I was really curious to see where her story would go! And of course what was going ot happen between all of the lifel1k3s!

Without spoiling anything (which is always difficult when writing a review for a series finale):

Following the events of Dev1at3, a lot of questions have been answered, but a lot of questions have also risen up about our 'freaks' and why they're so wanted. Well, we get our answers. I think one of the reasons I love Jay's writing is that he's not afraid to break some hearts and kill off some characters. There was a lot going on, it was sometimes difficult to follow, but in the end I still really enjoyed how he ended it!

Over all liked it, but of course we never get the perfect ending because Jay feeds off of our sadness! Thank you for such a wonderful series, Jay!

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

It is always difficult to discuss books in a series when reviewing them without spoilers, so I will try to keep this brief.

All of the questions I had from the first two books were answered. Nothing fought for came easy. Sacrifices were made along the way. New and old enemies, frenemies, and friends come to bat during this epic conclusion to a cyberpunk-y dystopian series.

Jay Kristoff's writing is on par with his usual, though I will say that I prefer him as an adult writer when solo. I feel like the details that Kristoff includes are some of the things that make him stand out, and his young adult works don't necessarily have the space that allows him to showcase that as well as his adult works. Which resulted in a 4 star rather than 5, so clearly it isn't hurting anything that badly.

I also listened to the first two books in this series via audiobook, and feel like the audiobook really added to my reading experience for those books. I do wish I had also had the audiobook available for this, though it likely would not have changed my overall star rating.

Kristoff is an auto-buy author for me at this point. I'll read whatever the man wants to write, and am so ready to dive into vampires in 2021.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

This was a great conclusion to the series. As usual it was action packed from the beginning until the end. There were the same twists and turns as in the previous books in the series. One of my favorite characters died, so that sucked but it was also predictable. I almost wished some more favorites would have died because it had a little too much of a happy ending. Even though the ending was predictable, I still really enjoyed the story and felt this book did justice to the reader but giving us what we wanted.

I don't know. I think it was the characters? I didn't really care about them. The writing was good and the world building fantastic, but ultimately I wasn't invested in any of the characters.

There was nothing wrong with this book at all - I just found that as the series went on, I lost interest.

TRUEL1F3 takes the reader on a roller coaster and brings the Lifelike trilogy to a bittersweet ending.

The dread that I feel at the end of a series is too real. I dread that a favorite character is going to die, I dread that the bad guy is going to win (although, my love of complex stories also believes this to be a great twist), I dread that a million and one things are going to go wrong. But, I push through it, read faster than I ever have towards the end of the novel so that I can just rip the band aid off, and come out at the end usually feeling a little worse for wear, but mostly intact.

Save for my emotions. My emotions always take a hit or two if I'm this invested.

All and any reservations that I felt about Eve's dark twist into hatred and vengeance in DEV1AT3 and the end of LIFEL1K3 were erased in TRUEL1F3. Thank you, Mister Kristoff, from the bottom of my bruised heart for giving Eve such a big part in this installment. I'm not going to say that I forgive her for everything she's done, or that I “like” her. I was rather fond of Eve when all of this started, but along the way she lost her charm and I still can't quite forgive or trust her. But given what she is put through, given how torturous she's treated and how justified her negative belief in humans has turned, and given the fact that you can see that she wants to change-- Yeah, I give her a break. She did good here, she has a chance, and the pull that I'd hoped Lemon would have on her came to pass. That bestest that let her down in LIFEL1K3 brought her back to herself, and it was a lovely moment to see.

I always like to touch on my favorite characters, those that stand out the most, because they make the story for me. Lemon Fresh, from the start, has been a star. This young girl shone in this third book, and she brought me most of the feels that I had along the way. I lost count of the times that she was struck down, either literally or metaphorically, but she got back up every single time. She kept fighting for what she believed in, for her friends, she never gave up. Lemon is the little spark of hope that can barely be seen waiting at the end, and she dragged herself to it by tooth and nail. Her spark, alongside Cricket's amazing little logika affection (I know, I know, “Don't call me little”) made me sit on the edge of my seat and hold on for dear life every time that they dove into danger.

And the danger strikes at these characters from all angles. It's something that one would think might make a novel drive forward at the speed of light from start to finish. But I found myself feeling the same thing that I felt in LIFEL1K3, where the beginning of the novel lacked something for me. There's a certain special touch of snowflake (you get that reference if you've read these books) that's missing almost until half of the book, and then it picks up fast and doesn't let you go 'til its fin. Just like in book one, this doesn't take much from the story's enjoyment, but it's enough to be noticeable. It's still merely a small point in the overall good of the plot, however.

There's plenty to make TRUEL1F3 worth the read, especially if you've already enjoyed the first two books: great friendships, beautiful romances, badass fights, more than a few good punchlines. And at the center of it all is a hell of a showdown during the last few chapters between humanity and those not quite. A battle that brings enemies close, fighting against a common foe—it's a rush to see that moment pull up in the pages.

The antagonists Gabriel and Faith... Eve joined their ranks, but these two have been the constants since the opening chapters, and the wrath that has driven them has been almost frightening. It's so easy to dislike them, but there's something about these lifelikes, just like there is with Ezekiel, that made me feel sorry for them. All they wanted was to be their own person, something that we all want. Something that we all get to have, elementally, as human beings. Their wants, and what drives them, never wavered until the very end at Faith's hand. They are horrible, they're wonderfully created in their perfect hostility, and I enjoyed them as much as I do every well-crafted adversary in a fictional tale.

There are times when you really do almost hope that the bad ones win something out of it.

And if you wonder “Did the good guys win? Did a favorite character die after all?” Well, let's just say that good and bad things happened, and this reader is still recovering from some of those moments.

This was a great ride.

Rating: 4.5/5 logika with a heart of gold

Format: ebook. I’d like to thank Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To sum up:
This is the third and final book in the LifeL1k3 series by Jay Kristoff. To avoid spoilers, I’m going to talk more about how I feel about this series as a whole, and what I think it did really well. This series is set in a dystopian near-future after a third world war and a major earthquake that separates part of California from the rest of the country. This world run by two major corporations at war with one another and our characters are tossed in the middle of this war. Our main characters consist of a combination of humans, Deviates (humans with extraordinary abilities, think X-men), 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. The machines in this world are bound by three laws of robotics which are as follows:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.

The main driving force of this trilogy comes from some of the robotic/lifelike characters pursuing freedom from these laws, and are willing to kill anyone (especially the humans that created, and in their minds, enslaved them) in pursuit of this freedom. While the laws were put into place to prevent an AI uprising endangering humans, it also prevents robots from having free will and choice, that they feel they deserve. Therefore, a big part of this series delves into a discussion about free will and technology, how this topic ultimately causes a rift between friends and allies, and what the characters are willing to sacrifice in pursuit of their ideals.

What I loved:
What I loved most about this trilogy, is the major theme of resistance and change throughout and in each character. Like many futuristic dystopian stories, there is a theme of REVOLUTION and RESISTANCE, but I think that it’s particularly cool that we get to see this resistance from the robot’s point of view. In most robots vs humans stories, it is all too easy to choose the side of humans, but this trilogy really strives to give equal time to both sides, which can make some of the choices made really heartbreaking and intense. Every character’s motivations are really clear and aren’t exactly painted black or white. The line between good and evil, villain and hero, is often hard to draw. There is such a fantastic arc of development and change in each major character to this series so that most of them are by one character or another, seen as both a hero and a villain. As a writer myself, I really admired this level of complexity to the characters, it was a really cool way to demonstrate that every revolution has more than one side, and every “villain” has their reasons (whether or not we agree with them).

I also loved the friendships in this trilogy. A lot of YA focuses on romance, and don’t get me wrong, there is excellent romance in this series as well, but I think this trilogy is more about friendships and the lengths we will go to preserve those friendships. There are friendships between humans, human and deviate, deviate and machine, and all of them are done with beautiful depth and sincerity. My favorite for sure is the friendship between Cricket (a logika) and LemonFresh. There was MORE THAN ONE moment in this book where their relationship made me tear up, it’s so beautiful!

I also have to mention the WORLDBUILDING. Like many of Jay Kristoff’s books, he immerses the reader in a concrete and well-thought-out world containing relevant history, slang, religion, topography, technology obviously, and politics. The way slang and curses are used is a particular strength of his, and this book is no exception. I may not have wanted to live in this world while I was reading it, but it was easy to feel completely immersed in this world due to the level of detail we are given about the world.


What was meh:
Honestly, I can think of very few things! The ramping up action and tension were great, the development and world-building were great, the themes were interesting, I just felt there was a little something missing that I can’t quite put my finger on. When I set the book down I wasn’t dying to know what would happen next (which I felt like while reading LifeL1k3 and Aurora Rising). Since that is pretty vague and unhelpful as a critique I’m only knocking of half a star and I’ll have to update this review if I think of more to add!


Overall, I highly recommend this trilogy, and this book in particular if you’ve enjoyed the first two books! It’s a great finale to the trilogy, jam-packed with action, drama, feels, and of course all the sass, plot twists, and betrayal we have all come to expect from a Jay Kristoff book!

Who I'd recommend it to: Fans of the LifeL1k3 series so far, Illuminae, Aurora Rising, X-Men, The Runaways, The Hunger Games, and Stranger Things.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free e-ARC.

Without giving much away since this the final book in the series. I will say that I could have had a little more character development and felt some parts just didn't hit the mark. Overall I still really enjoyed these books more than I thought I would. I will say it is exactly like the tag lines say Mad Max meets Romeo & Juliet.

Huge thank you to Knopf Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Jay Kristoff has done it again. I seriously don't know how he does it, but Kristoff consistently puts out absolute bangers. He is one of my favorite authors. One of the things that I like best about Kristoff's books is that he includes a quick recap of the previous books in the beginning. This is so helpful when it's been a long time since reading the previous books. He did this again with TRUEL1F3 and I loved it!

TRUEL1F3 picks up immediately after the events of DEV1AT3. The action starts immediately and does not let up. The entire book is non-stop! And I mean literally NON! STOP! Our rag tag group of characters are constantly getting themselves into all sorts of dangerous situations. TRUEL1F3 is a super exciting, fast-paced read that is jam packed full of fun.

I was so happy to be back with this incredible cast of characters . . . Cricket, the freaks, and my girl LEMON FRESH! Spank my spankables! Lemon is one of my favorite characters ever and she was once again she is totally *brilliful*! Lemon is fierce, sassy, independent, and so much fun. Her point of view chapters are always my favorite. I'm keeping this review spoiler free, but Lemon goes through a horrible trauma in TRUEL1F3. Kristoff did a great job of showing Lemon dealing with the physical and emotional tolls of this. It made Lemon Fresh even more fierce and powerful!

Besides Lemon Fresh, my favorite part of this series is the freaks . . . Diesel and Grimm. The team of freaks grows in TRUEL1F3 and I couldn't be happier! I would definitely want to be a part of the team.

Of course I have to mention that it's a Kristoff book . . . so that means I was an emotional wreck multiple times.

One character that I did not like at all . . . Eve. She has been the worst since the second book. I understand she is dealing with an identity crisis and incredible emotional stress, but Eve's decisions and actions are horrible. One of the overarching themes of TRUEL1F3 is that your actions are what defines the type of person you are. So basically Eve is awful. The ONLY reason I deducted 1/2 star from my review is Eve's arc/ending. It was too easy and seemed way off base for her story. To keep this spoiler free, I will include what I think would have been a more appropriate ending at the end of my review.

The LIFEL1K3 trilogy is an exciting, fast-paced, and action-packed series. Jay Kristoff creates the most thrilling worlds and captivating characters. TRUEL1F3 is no exception. I flew threw this book and I could not get enough of this incredible story.

TRUEL1F3 will be released June 30th by Knopf Books for Young Readers!

SPOILERS BELOW . . .











I think that Eve suddenly switching to the good side was totally off base and inconsistent with literally every single decision she's made. I think it would have been more appropriate for Eve to sacrifice herself in order to save Lemon and Ezekiel. The fact that she just becomes good, kills the enemy, and then it's all sunshine and roses for her just doesn't seem right to me. This was my only issue with this book and series.

Mind blown by anything by mister Kristoff I just can’t get enough of this writting in literally at the edge of my seat with all this books

Great ending to a great series! Kristoff has created great characters. Although it wrapped up well, it did seem at bit rushed at the end. I will miss these characters!

Kristoff has done it again - this was a stunning conclusion to this trilogy. While I found the language to be a bit overdone in the other books, I found the slang and language to have been less prominent in this read. Cricket is my absolute favorite ever. If you've loved the previous two books, you will love this one as well.

A great third book! Like any of Kristoff's books, it'll make you feel all the feelings and keep you caught up in the action, so before you know it, you've devoured the book in one sitting.

This trilogy kept getting better with each book. This final installment is full of high octane energy and rollercoaster emotions.

Our beloved characters are tested to the limits of their endurance. Loyalty and love, friendship and self growth, everyone has to reach for the peak and stretch to the breaking point. To do anything less will mean the end of humankind.

If you want to meet unique, snarky, strong characters, this is the story for you. If you want to see how humankind perseveres against all odds, read this trilogy. It's a post apocalyptic world on the brink of extinction, it's a fight for their lives and a test of their humanity.

*The series must be read in order.

This was an epic conclusion to this series, true cert! It was a non-stop ride from beginning to end with all sorts of twists and turns and edge of your seat action. There were times when I truly did not want to put this book down.

All of the characters that we have come to love over the course of this series are back. Lemon Fresh pretty much dominates the storyline again in this one, and perhaps shows the most growth. I loved how her relationship with Grimm grew through out this book. Grimm was also awesome, and what he does with his power is amazing. Eve, unfortunately, was lost in Lemon’s shadow once again, but we do see more of her and her struggles in this book. All of the characters continue to change and grow, and switch their loyalties throughout the book so you are never sure what is going to happen next.

The thing I really enjoyed about this book is that we finally get to the heart of BioMaas and Daedalus’s views of the world. I was initially intrigued by BioMaas in the first two books, but when we finally got to City Hive and saw exactly what was going on, I found that quite terrifying. Daedalus was just as scary, in the way that they view world as well. I don’t think I would like to live in either place.

The world building and the plot are really the stars of this series. I really appreciate it when authors take the time to develop a world fully with original slang and swears. Some of the slang was inspiring, true cert. The desolation of the YouSay was so depressing, but totally foreseeable. But the will of humans to survive and adapt to that world was inspiring.

The themes and the overall plot of this book was also outstanding. There are some great themes here, of family, friendship, trust and loyalty, identity and what it means to be human. I was glad that we got to see parts of the story from Cricket’s and Solomon point of view, as their take on the state of the world was always different from the LifeL1k3s and the humans. The plot was fast paced, and you were not given many chances to catch your breath, just like the characters. The ending seemed a little rushed, and the final conflict between the LifeL1k3s was perhaps the weakest part of the story, but it still worked.

If you have read and enjoyed the first two books, you are in for quite a treat with this final book.

5/5 Stars

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the early e-galley!

Absolutely Brilliful.
This book was just as beautiful and brilliant as Ms Fresh. This story over the trilogy had so many twists and turns that caught me totally off guard. Our main characters separate and converge, rinse and repeat. Side characters become more important, main characters become less important. Important characters die. I was honestly expecting more characters to die though so that was definitely a surprise.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Truelife was the conclusion to a sci-fi trilogy by one of my favorite authors of all time, so I was very inclined to like it. And I did!

I think the world building of this series is phenomenal. The world has been broken by humans through war and radiation, and out of the ashes loom several companies that function as rulers. One that creates machines, one that creates bioengineered life, and one that has fallen extinct after the death of its creator at the hands of his creations.

The actual plot of the series is not that large in view, however. It’s about two girls, a robotic human replica known as a “lifelike”, and trying not to get killed in a world where almost everything wants to kill you. Below the surface, the books also deal with themes of family, trust, and identity as well as the question: what is it to be human?

This book, Truelife, widens the lens from the previous two. It has quite a few more point of view characters than the others, which I really enjoyed, and focuses more on the state of the world rather than the state of a certain person or people. We also got to see inside the corporations and learn how they work, rather than only getting the outsider perspective. The various final showdowns (no spoilers!) were epic and as believable as possible given the fact that it’s a dystopian novel.

The characters were memorable and distinct, with vivid personalities and narrative voices. I liked getting a glimpse into the heads of more of them in Truelife. Particularly Faith, who goes from antagonist to narrator as the series progresses, and whose motivations prove to be increasingly complex.

The ending was surprisingly happy and had more of a bow on it than I was expecting. I’m not a fan of illogically happy endings for the sake of making the reader feel good, but in the case I thought it (mostly) worked. Plus, I’ll admit it was nice to read a hopeful ending to a grim story.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

TRUEL1F3 was an okay-ish book. I was honestly really excited to dive into this but the ending just felt like such a cop out. I mean, I went through an emotional ride of liking and disliking Eve throughout the entire book. Yes, she made some pretty awful and dumb decisions but I could see that she was upset and hurt as well.

Yet, towards the end she just easily switched sides and everyone was like - YAY! Meanwhile I'm just like.. uh what? You can't seriously just welcome her back and think everything is all good again right? Of course she was trying to do something nice towards the end so maybe that's her only redeeming factor?

Besides not being the biggest fan of Eve this time around, there's Ezekiel. Yikes, his character was confusing as well. He's with Eve (sort of) but really only cares about Ana. Which definitely leaves to a super bittersweet moment but then the ending kind of gives me hope again?

Other than that, the beginning kind of hurt my head. It was just chaotic with all the switching of POV's and I was just trying to follow the story the best way I could. Definitely had to take some small breaks just to think things through and understand it all.

In the end, I just kind of wanted a different ending.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

TRUEL1F3 is the third book of the LIFEL1K3 series and it's a wonderful and intense conclusion! Jay Kristoff never disappoints!

In the final chapter of this action packed saga everything is different and changes. From friends to enemies, from lovers to strangers, from Eve and Lemon, whose friendship was changed by the reality about themselves and one other. With the danger of a new world war, though, everything will be different and complex again. There will be betrayals, unusual alliances, a lot of plot twist in this epic final book.

Having read other books written by Jay Kristoff, it's not a surprise I love this one too! The author has the wonderful ability to capture the reader's attention until the very end. I laughed, I was scared, I cried, I felt so involved in the story, living it with these extraordinary and brilliant character, above all Lemon, with her sarcasm and attitude.
This book is filled with love, friendship, loyalty, hope and I really loved it. It deals with what it means to be human and this book series will be with me for a very long time.

I recommend it to everyone eager to have his/her breath taken away by a rollercoaster of emotions and action packed plot twists!

The challenge with joining a series late in the game is having the story stand on its own. The summaries at the beginning seem to be a bit long and numerous and we were clearly so deep into the story that it was hard to connect to the characters. To truly appreciate this book, it likely is necessary to read its predecessors.

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

I wasn’t ready for the way this book would end. I kept thinking there just wasn’t enough book left to wrap up the series. I really thought we were going to get another book at about 85% through. I should know by now that Jay Kristoff can write so much in just a few pages. Why did I ever doubt?

I struggled to get into the beginning of it even though I loved Dev1at3. I was also suffering from a severe book hangover after the last book I read. But after about the 60% mark, I flew through this book. It was a wild ride!