From the bestselling co-author of the Illuminae Files comes the thrilling finale in the LIFEL1K3 trilogy–hailed by Marie Lu as “a breathless, action-packed exploration of what humanity really means.”
Best friends have become enemies. Lovers have become strangers. And deciding whose side you’re on could be the difference between life and death. For Eve and Lemon, discovering the truth about themselves–and each other–was too much for their friendship to take. But with the country on the brink of a new world war–this time between the BioMaas swarm at CityHive and Daedalus’s army at Megopolis, loyalties will be pushed to the brink, unlikely alliances will form and with them, betrayals. But the threat doesn’t stop there, because the lifelikes are determined to access the program that will set every robot free, a task requiring both Eve and Ana, the girl she was created to replace. In the end, violent clashes and heartbreaking choices reveal the true heroes . . . and they may not be who you think they are.
Title: TRUEL1F3
Author: Jay Kristoff
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Format: Digital ARC
Publication Date: June 30th, 2020
Goodreads//Amazon
Rating: 4.8//5
Okay its finally time for my review of TRUEL1F3!
You can find my review of LIFEL1K3 here and DEV1AT3 here.
SO, we start off right where DEV1AT3 ended…the bomb. Of course, our wonderful cast of characters are able to stop the bomb (unknown to Lemon), and save the horrible people of New Bethlehem. Like I get their lives were in danger too, but screw those people.
Meanwhile, the Preacher (seriously how is homie still alive??) has Eve, Ana, and Gabriel. Lemonfresh is with the Hive, and the Yousay is on the verge of war.
Okay so lets talk about my loves and where they are mentally and physically right now.
fire stolen from the gods. The last time humanity had unleashed this awful flame, they’d nearly destroyed their civilization, their species, their world.
Eve: We see a lot more of Eve this time around, and honestly I feel for the girl so much. She finally has time to think for a moment, and continues to struggle with her identity and what her future holds. I’m still a little weary of her at the beginning, but I love how morally grey of a character she is and how she grows throughout the series.
Zeke: My baby lifelike boy annoyed me a little bit this time around. He’s so torn between his love of Ana, his feelings for Eve, and wanting to save Lemon. He’s so trusting and willing to throw his pot in with anyone who says hello. FIGURE YOUR SHIT OUT EZEKIEL.
Lemonfresh: MY GIRL. I love Lem. Lemon has finally found her badass side and has decided that no, she’s not the girl waiting for her to prince to come, and she’s not the quirky sidekick, she’s the MOTHERFUCKING HEROINE. I love how Lemon grows even more awesome, and the struggles and hardships she goes through in this book are absolutely heartbreaking.
Cricket: MY FAVORITE ROBOT. I love Cricket. End of story.
Grimm and Diesel: Man, after the betrayal in the last book, I’m still iffy on these two. But they’re on the side of the good guys so they’re alright. But the way Grimm talks drove me CRAZY. Like why does he have to say “That’s Robin Hood” or “gone mum and dad”? Just say its good and they’ve gone mad! The time wasted explaining what he’s trying to say was just exhausting.
Abraham: adorable, talent, child. Also Abe is exactly what Cricket needed during this time.
Electrical current crackled in the air. The stab of ozone on her tongue, the thrill of goose bumps over her skin. And everything around Lemon started dying.
Now in the midst of this crazy cats personal issues and relationships, there is also TONS of war brewing.
War between:
BioMaas and Daedulus – fighting for control of the country, these two companies are fully coming to a head in a big way and will stop at nothing to come out on top. Also, fuck BioMaas for what they do to Lemon.
Humans vs Machine – war is on the horizon also for humans versus the robots that serve them, as some robot’s learn more about how to get around the three rules, the war between human and non transitions to oppressors vs slaves.
Human vs Deviate – technically different than human vs machine, its more of “Gabriel vs Everyone/thing else. But boys on a mission and won’t stop until he gets what he came for.
Will all the different fights going on, this book is INTENSE.
Also I cried. I cried sooo many times. There’s moments where I cried tears of relief, of anger, of sadness, I cried when things went right, and when they went horribly, horribly wrong.
This book does not disappoint in terms of plot twists, and almost every character goes through major growths, and some characters do outlandish, sometimes amazing, things that completely throw you off.
Overall, I loved this book. I loved how the characters continue to grow and change, I love how so many different ideas and possibilities come to a head, and at some points it’s hard to really see the lines of ‘good vs bad’. I had a few small problems with the end, I felt like some plot areas were resolved a little too quickly, some actions were forgiven with almost no explanation. But in the end, this is a great story about humanity, friendship and family, and survival.
I 100% recommend this series if you haven’t read it, and this was a really great ending to the story.
TRUEL1F3 hits shelves June 30th!!!
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 🙂
Caffeinated Book Owl 