“Grinding across the YouSAy at a reckless speed with only a granule of hope and a whispered prayer for survival. This final conclusion of the LIFEL1K3 series will have you an emotional wreck, but in a good way.” Cecelia Beckman, Sheaf & Ink

My Thoughts

Jay Kristoff knows how to write an ending. TRUEL1F3 is a powerful conclusion to the LIFEL1K3 series.
Filled with all the fireworks and more action than the second novel, Kristoff throws every type of capital T at these characters. We continue into the bleak dystopia of the YouSAy, traveling at rapid speed from one major disaster to the next. With barely a moment to breath, these characters are thrown into the maw of chaos and only their strength, iron clad will, and their powers are going to save them (and they look good doing it).
It’s a harrowing ending with major threads of modern day topics weaved through the novel, particularly when it comes to humanities impact on a global scale. In fiction, authors are able to reshape the world we currently live in.

They can pour dark shades of radioactive sludge onto the canvas portraying an Earth that could potentially be our own future if we as a society continue down a destructive path. And even though Kristoff’s novel is a work of fiction he still poses poignant questions. These questions are not only for his characters , but also ourselves. Where we, like the characters, choose something better and be accountable for our actions.

TRUEL1F3 is not only about the choices we make, but also who we love, the friends we keep regardless of their mistakes, and the sacrifices made for a better outcome.

This novel was pure Kristoff filled with everything fans of the author come to the table to feast upon: snarky, bold, and clever dialogue, characters that you'll root for until the very end, villains who aren’t easily put down, friendships that are found and cherished, and all the action to fill your belly keeping you completely satisfied.

So go pre-order this book and get ready to buckle up (if a seat-belt is even available) hold tight (this is highly recommended) and brace yourself for impact. Because I hope your emotions can handle everything Kristoff hurls at you via these characters and the ending of this epic story.

Happy Reading ̴Cece

This was such a great conclusion to this trilogy! I laughed and cried throughout this whole book.
I definitely recommend this one.
I adore Lemon Fresh and think she's such a great written female character.

We all know Jay Kristoff does story extremely well. He writes well, he writes characters well but what I've noticed recently is he ends his story WELL. (can I say well one more time?)

The character development and world building were exceptional. I loved the aesthetic that Kristoff created for this world. It was such a unique blend of futuristic, dystopian, western, gladiator battles, bio development, and junkyard. Retellings are my jam and I loved the hat tip to the Anastasia/Romanovs tale.

As with most of Kristoff's books, this is long and action-packed with some incredibly cool scenes that just beg for a movie treatment as did the previous two in the series. In some places that characters act a little bit too juvenile, but then again, the situations that they're being placed in are so ridiculous as to justify it.

you have to get on this series if you are in for one hell of a roller coaster filled with witty hilarious dialogues, bizarre robotics, powerful characters, crazy slangs, sick action and some serious serious plot twists. Luckily this ending is satisfying and I can only hope for some type of companion series because I'd like to see these characters again.

Great way to end the series. My students have enjoyed the first 2 books, and won't be disappointed with this one!

These books have been so much fun to read! I love the world building and I wish I could know the characters in real life. I'm sad it's over, but I'm also happy to see how it all ends.
Lemon Fresh is by far my favorite character and she plays a big role in this book. She's so strong and fierce, but also vulnerable and just wants someone to love her back. Her character development has been awesome and I enjoyed seeing her come into her own.
On the other hand, Eve just got worse as a character and as this went on I began to hate her. I just couldn't understand her rage at humanity and how she could flip on her friends like that. I wish she had more redemption and her ending didn't feel realistic to me.

The plot moves quickly and I loved all the action parts and bits of humor infused. Grimm especially cracked me up with his odd sayings "I'm Robin Hood" haha. Abraham is a cutie and I'm glad we saw more of him standing up for himself. A couple parts were pretty sad and one in particular felt glossed over. I think it deserved a more attention and bummed me out.

A good ending for a great series, I was totally engrossed in this and it flew by. I can't wait for it to be released to the world!

It's been a few days since I've read TRUEL1F3 and I've spent this time thinking about this novel and how this series ended. Initially I loved it and was content, but the more I thought about it the more and more that I realized that it was kind of rushed and though it wrapped up well, I feel like it could have been better. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate TRUEL1F3. I think fans of this series are going to enjoy it and love it as much as the other novels in this series.

After the quite explosive conclusion to DEV1AT3 we learn all sorts of things and in TRUEL1F3 we learn the cost of the decisions. Eve and Gabriel have been captured by the mega corporation Daedalus, one of the two corporations that are trying to gain control of what is left of the US. Lemonfresh has willingly gone with Hunter to City Hive to learn why she is deemed "important" to them. Abraham, Cricket, Solomon, Ezekiel, Grimm and Diesel barley escaped Bethlehem after a missile from the military bunker that houses Grimm and Diesel's rebellion was headed straight towards them. Let's just say that a lot had happened and it's not all good.

My biggest issue with this book is that I feel like Eve isn't given enough on page time in this story to continue to understand her motivations and the thoughts throughout it. She has more page time in this novel then she did in DEV1AT3 but it isn't enough. There are drastic decisions made that I felt blind sided by, which I guess it the point of being shocked. But this revelations were very oddly placed or very random. I liked seeing her struggle with trying to find who she is. Is she Eve or is she Ana? Who she is suppose to be and her role in the grand scheme of things. But other then that I am a little dissapointed in this aspect of the story.

I feel like there is two stories going on at once since it change point of views so frequently. We have a showdown between Daedalus and BioMaas in Lemonfresh and Ezekiel's point of view and then we have Eve's point of view where they are trying to escape Daedalus and return to Gnosis to finish what they started. To me, it felt like there was so much going on at once and it was hard to keep track at times.

Ezekiel's character has left me conflicted, I've seen so much growth from him through out the series and I am happy to see that but I feel like with how the story wrapped up and everything that unfolded he still only cared about one thing: Ana. Its complicated to talk about this further with out spoiling anything so I am going to leave it at that.

Overall I did expect a lot more from TRUEL1F3. I feel like some parts that were rushed and not explained fully. But with that being said, I did enjoy TRUEL1F3 and I am glad I got to read the conclusion. I want people to take my review with a grain of salt though, you might not find to have problems with this issues that I did and might think that this is the best one in the series. I don't want my review to deter anyone from not finishing this series. So read it and learn how this story ends for these characters.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review

Jay Kristoff never disappoints. This book was just as amazing as the other 2 and he is definitely a one click author for me!

I was given an ARC for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the ARC.

I took some time to let this book really marinate within me. I have this volatile love/hate relationship with Jay Kristoff. He has this ability to really upset me as a writer in one minute then make me cry and want to hug everyone in the other. He's a great writer. He draws you in with the worlds he builds, the characters he creates, and the question of what is good and what is evil. His characters are never black and white. They always, always usually flounder in the middle, in the grey area. Even if you hate this character one minute, you will find yourself going, "Well, she's right about that," the next. I found myself going back and forth like that with TRUEL1F3.

This book had the potential of being 5 stars. From the beginning, I already liked it well above Dev1at3. This was going to be the epic conclusion to the last two books. We were finally going to see the showdown between Lemon Fresh and Eve. It was going to be a bloody massacre, and I steeled myself against the inevitable; someone was going to die and my heart was going to be ripped out of my chest.

Oh, this book is bloody. This book is rough to read at a time. There is torture and physical abuse all through out this book. We have crazy cults, crazy megalomaniacs, a bounty hunter that just won't die, and pants-on-head crazy lifelikes who want to essentially rule the world. This is what this series has boiled down to: all these people want to rule the Yousay, and someone is going to end up being screwed because of it.

Yet, there was something missing with this book. Every time I expected something to happen, something to really bring it home that none of these characters are safe, something would happen to save them and for a few more pages, they were safe. It almost felt abusive, this sense of false security. I kept waiting for the inevitable, but it never happened. I was so on edge half the time, that by the time the book ended, I was actually mad that spent about the last 200 pages with my breath held for nothing. Don't get me wrong, there are deaths. Some you will cheer about and some that will make you angry. But I expected to be devastated while reading this book, and I found that... I wasn't.

I'm not sure what demographic Jay was trying to write to with this book. It didn't feel Young Adult despite that it's marketed as young adult. There is a lot of cursing in this book. Now, I usually don't care. However, when a book is marketed towards a younger demographic, as a writer, you should be mindful of the language you use. I don't remember the language being as vulgar in the last two, but this book felt as if he got tired writing for a younger audience and quit censoring his words. If you are a parent wanting to buy this for your teen, just be mindful of the language. I don't think anyone under the age of 17 should actually read this for the language alone.

As far as the characters go, I really did adore everyone for the most part. Eve and her lifelike kin annoyed the ever living hell out of me, and I found myself not caring about them at all. That's not a good sign when your main character isn't worth a care, but she became a broken record halfway through Deviate, and she was no different here. She...grows in a sense towards the end of the book, but at that point it's much too late for me to genuinely feel for her.

Lemon Fresh and Cricket continued to remain the very best characters, and I will die on that hill. Preacher remains a waste of writing, and I really don't understand Jay's obsession with that character. He was a beaten dead horse since the last book, and he just started to rot and stink up the pages by the time he showed up in this one. Every time the chapters turn to his POV, I had to refrain from screaming profanities.

The story itself was a bit lacking, and I felt there were plot holes that never got filled or questions that never got answered. Where did deviates come from? How did their powers generate? It couldn't be just a mutation or an evolutionary response to the way the Yousay was. I wanted more of that, but perhaps that was answered in Deviate, and I didn't bother to pay attention because I honestly hate read that book for a good 75% of it. The wrap up of the overall storyline was too neat. I never thought I'd say this, but it was entirely too neat the way the conflict wrapped up. I don't want to get into details and spoil it, but as someone who loved, and I do mean LOVED, the friendship between Eve and Lemon, I found the ending to be a bit unrealistic.

All in all, this was a great series and this was a great end to that series. There were things I wanted more of, and there were things I wanted less of (*coughPREACHERcough*), but I knew going in that this wasn't going to be perfect. I still sobbed at the end, and for me, that was a win.

I should preface this by saying that I’m an absolute nerd for Jay Kristoff’s books so that means this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020 and it...kinda let me down? I know, you see the 4 star rating and go ‘Whu?!’ but for me this wasn’t Jay’s greatest work.

As the third and final book in the LIFEL1K3 series, I expected this book to be JAM PACKED with action, explosions, twists, turns, and general Jay fuckery, which it was, but at the same time it just felt like too much to me. We had multiple POV’s, which I could have done without, and when the action hit, IT HIT! Over...and over....and over...and over, to the point that it felt very redundant and just boring after awhile. I get that our crew had to fight two major corps before even getting to the lifelikes but good god, it just felt like a lot.

Character wise we had a LOT of characters, which, thinking back on the first book, I wasn’t really expecting there to be this many in the final book. I loved all of them (except Preacher because screw him and Eve because screw her too) but I really feel like Lemon Fresh shined the most. In the first book, she’s the silly sidekick with a secret. In the second we get more of her backstory and she comes more to the forefront of this story. In this book, she just took the spotlight and SHONE in my opinion. If there’s one thing that Jay can do, it’s write a kickass female character.

If there’s one thing Jay can also do, it’s write a really hateful villain and that’s Preacher. To be honest, I shouldn’t be surprised that he lasted as long as he did because hello, it’s Jay Kristoff, but good god, was it just a tad bit annoying to see him keep popping up! I didn’t loathe him as I’ve loathed other Kristoff villains but he was just like an itch that wouldn’t go away! The other villains (hello, Jay again) didn’t feel as fleshed out as this guy. Gabriel was just wanting revenge for killing his love, and the other two leaders of the corps just, surprise surprise, wanted to take over the world. Nothing overtly original but again, twisted enough by Jay’s evil mind to really make you hate them.
Storywise, again, Lemon Fresh had the most growth and the best storyline out of the whole bunch. I think Jay may have gotten sidetracked between the first book and this one by how loud Lem’s voice was because Eve, our original protagonist, just seemed kind of shoved to the wayside when it came to story arc. By this book, I honestly didn’t care about her because she just became annoying and triffling because wah, people lied to me! She would not let go of the fact that Lem hid her deviate-ness (out of fear of persecution and death, mind you) and so all of humanity should suffer! Give me a break! Even the ending couldn’t save Eve’s character for me because I just...didn’t care anymore.

Speaking of endings, this is not Jay’s best work. I hate to say it because I absolutely worship his work and think he’s a brilliful writer but considering how long it took to get to the climax, it just happened...and very quickly. I kept expecting the big fight at the end to take a good chunk of time and it didn’t, and I was very unsatisfied. I felt as if the showdown with Gabriel was rushed and not done as well as it could have been. It felt like an afterthought, tbh.

All in all, I love the trilogy. I think Jay is a mastermind at coming up with his own worlds and vernacular for his worlds. He writes truly engaging characters and this story is definitely a great way to showcase that. It’s not his best work but I enjoyed it for what it was and will definitely recommend this trilogy to anyone looking for original YA Sci-Fi.

Review to be posted via Goodreads and my blog on June 16th, 2020!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I was ecstatic when I was approved for this book. I love this series! I'm sad it is over but it ended well.

Lemon Fresh will always be my favorite character. She is awesome. Her sarcastic personality made this entire series. I've laughed outloud more times than I can count! Her and her new friends from the Missle Silo are my new favorite.

I didnt really care for Eve in this book. She pissed me off a couple of times, but I did like how her story ended. I know she was lost after book 1 but man, there were times I didn't even want to read her chapters.

Overall, this book is 4 stars and I enjoyed this entire series.

I really love the premise of this book. Machine versus Nature is definitely cool to read about it. Both BioMass and Daedalus go to extremes in their view which is interesting to read about. It almost seems like something that could happen in the future—far future anyways, and of course not as “fantasy type”. I also loved Lemon Fresh’s character. I could never really think of her as 15 though, but I enjoyed her snark and positivity. Cricket was also a favorite of mine in this book. His character really develops over the series. Unfortunately, I didn’t care for basically any other character. I feel like they were flat with no growth. Everyone was about revenge/evil. Even the ending didn’t truly satisfy me. Overall, I enjoyed the series.

If you're a fan of Jay Kristoff's work, going into the final book in a series is always a bit terrifying, because you just know things are about to get crazy. TRUEL1F3 is no exception, and it was action-packed and full of the craziness you've come to expect not just from this series in particular, but with anything by this author.

It's certainly an explosive ending to this series.

That being said, I feel like TRUEL1F3 is the weakest link in the trilogy. There are so many different things going on, so many threads and POV's to follow, and it's pedal to the metal from the get go and it feels like you lose a little bit of the impact. I didn't get very much time to digest what was going on, and I had a disconnect to what some of my favorite characters of his (hello Miss Fresh, I adore you) were experiencing and going through. Most of all, the 'redemption' of a certain character fell completely flat for me. They lived with seemingly no repercussions, when so many others didn't? It really loses me on the finale.

I may not have enjoyed this one as much as LIFEL1K3 or DEV1AT3, but judging the series on a whole? I'll still follow you anywhere Mister Kristoff.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for review.

Dropped stars for that garbage half paragraph “redemption” because there’s no way a character deserved anything but destruction at the end of this.

“TrueLife” gives us the thrilling conclusion to this series as the last remaining children look to open the door and remake the world in their image but not with resistance from our motley crew of freaks and bots looking to prove that humanity should be saved.

This book was so good up until it’s last breath when tying up loose ends felt more like a harsh slap to the face.

The entirety of this series and more importantly this book gave the characters so many chances to re-evaluate what they were doing and offered choices and yes I get the struggle but when you have some of the repeatedly beating the shit out of those they have decided they no longer care about and they wear out fourth, fifth and sixth chances to do what’s right I don’t have any sympathy for them nor do I believe they deserved the ending they received, history or not all of these characters have been battered and bruised and to just shrug it off with a crown on their head is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read.

Again if you’re going to play up redemption give it to us in beats give me that struggle of loyalty and betrayal and let me see it play out in their hesitations or their willingness to follow but for the love of god don’t give me a single line and expect me to feel anything but anger and frustration to the point that I never wish to think of this series again.

Wow what a way to burn a series with a book that would have easily been a 5 star read if not for those last few pages.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Spank my spankables
I can't believe this is over. What a KILLER ending!
Writing this review is going to be so hard, so that I don't spoil anything from the first two books, or this masterpiece, but, ugh, I just can't handle how much I loved this. The plot flowed nicely, I felt the struggle the characters were going through, I laughed, I cried all kinds of tears, and read the last page like 10 times. I do wish the last chapter had some more to it, or maybe an epilogue, but I'm nit picking. Well done, Mister Kristoff, well done.

Wow, I can’t believe this wonderful series has come to a conclusion! I immensely enjoyed Jay Kristoff’s cast of characters and found his unique writing style to be very engaging. At times it felt like he had created an entirely new language with the character’s frequent and plentiful use of slang. That said, there was quite a bit of swearing and several references to sex, which younger readers might find a bit off putting. I personally wasn’t bothered by it and was excited to see how the story unfolded. Ezekiel was by far my favorite character, and I didn’t mind Diesel and Grimm either. Lemon, on the other hand, became somewhat annoying and Cricket was definitely too overbearing. I didn’t love either of them, but they still looked like angels next to Eve, who was a remorseless mass murderer. Even so, I was satisfied with the positions everyone was in at the end of the book and thought it wrapped up nicely. I would definitely recommend this book to those who have read the rest of the series and commend the author on his visual and masterful story telling. This grand finale won’t disappoint!

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley, opinions are my own.

This was a very satisfying conclusion to the series. Throughout, I very much appreciated the different POVs and this installment didn't disappoint. Although I was sad at some of the outcomes, I felt that Kristoff was pretty "realistic" as to the resolution of the story arcs and there weren't many huge switches in character personality which would have come off as contrived. Kristoff continues to impress me with his visions and world-building, being able to create compelling futuristic situations that seem all too plausible. His dialogue is also incredibly rich and "new" which helps to immerse the reader into his worlds. This series will stay with me and bounce around for a while in a good way....

First rule of the Scrap
Stronger together.
Together forever.

Well, that was a rollercoaster ride of emotions. It’s been a while since I’ve finished a book in a matter of hours but I simply had to know how this story ended.

Fast-paced, action-packed. Filled with tests of loyalty, friendship, and love. You're constantly wondering what this world will throw at you next.

This was a book that made me consider a lot of things. What it means to be human. How hard it is to fight for a better future for everyone when it would far easier to just accept things as they are, to only look out for yourself.

The ending was realistic. The world was not wholly fixed, everything was not all roses and happy endings. But it was hopeful. As if, no matter how far we fall it is never too late to get back up and try again.

TRUEL1F3 was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint! After the heart stopping cliff hanger in DEV1AT3, I anxiously waited an entire year to feel closure and I truly felt we got it. There are some things I wish that were expanded on but it left it in a way that if he ever wanted to write more, there would be meat left for that to happen. As far as I know this is a trilogy only, though!

I loved the multiple points of view, I loved Lemon Fresh and her character ARC. Honestly when I started LIFEL1K3 I thought Eve would be the star but Lemon emerged from the scrap and stole my heart. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil anything! Once the series is out and people have had time to read it, I will expand more on my thoughts about this book and the characters. The love, the betrayals, the romance… I loved (and hated LOL) it all!

Just know that this book was an excellent conclusion to the series. It had action, adventure, so much laughter, heart warming moments… it does have a few triggering moments so if you are sensitive to some triggers please let me know and I can tell you so you can prepare. They aren’t graphic but it does add a layer of sensitivity to the issue.

Just like DEV1AT3 I have a hard time conceptualizing the time frame in which all of this takes place.. a matter of days.. a matter of weeks. It’s so hard for me to imagine Eve and her story ARC coming full circle in this time but again, it ramped up the intensity!

True Cert, this book was just what I needed to get out of my slump! I enjoyed seeing the direction the characters went! Jay Kristoff is a forever favorite author of mine.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House for a copy of this ARC for an honest review!

Back into this crazy world was actually refreshing. I really enjoyed these characters throughout this trilogy and I fell in luv with a few in this last book which kind of surprised me. As usual Kristoff keeps this story jam packed with action and the growth of all the characters was bitter sweet in the end.

Great conclusion to a great series!

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

I’ll be honest, when this beautiful ARC showed up on my kindle, I was more than a little hesitant to read it. After the way DEV1AT3 ended, I was genuinely terrified of this final book in a series I adore. We all know that Jay Kristoff is more than a tiny bit evil (see: Godsgrave), so I was worried about the path this series would take. After the events of book two, I didn’t see how Kristoff could wrap up the series without making me sob my damn eyes out.

I am happy to report, that I was able to finish TRUEL1F3 with minimal tears and more than a little laughter. This book was intense as hell and kept butterflies in my stomach from page one on. Somehow, with everything happening, Kristoff managed to tie up all of the loose ends of the series while making what I consider to be a pretty poignant statement about global warming and the importance of environmental protection.

I don’t want to spoil the book (writing reviews for book three in a series is SO HARD) so I won’t say much else. The only small thing that bothered me was the ending. The climax of the book was so intense that I was a touch let down by the overall easy wrap up. I honestly could’ve done with another chunk of epilogue, but maybe that’s me being greedy. I also hated that a character I didn’t love got a happy ending, while a character that I adored did not. That feels like more of a matter of personal preference than anything though.

If you read my reviews of this series, you’ll know that LIFEL1K3 was a little rough for me as I had a difficult time connecting with Eve. For me, the series didn’t really hit it’s stride until book two when it became clear that LemonFresh would be the main focus of the books. Her values and overall focus on friendship made her an easy to love character, while Eve remained someone I didn’t really like even through the end of TRUEL1F3.