by Jay Kristoff
Series: Lifelike #3
Published on June 30, 2020 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9781524714017
Format: eARC
Pages: 480
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
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.
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A Good Finale- and Lemon Fresh is Still the Best
The Highlights:
- Lemon. Fresh.
- High stakes
- Cool action scenes
- Consequences didn’t match the stakes…
TRUEL1F3 was a good finale. It was solidly on par with the rest of the series. This isn’t a series that ever truly wowed me, but it was fun to read from start to finish. Now that the final book is almost here, new readers will have a blast binging the whole series. It’s fun, fast, so very action-packed, and full of lovable characters. It never hit that five star mark for me, but I really liked it and felt like TRUEL1F3 was a really good ending.
The characters have always been the strong point of this series for me and that didn’t change in this book. Lemon Fresh is still the best, she always will be, and to be honest, I’d totally read more books about her. Eve was more fun to read in this one. I actually liked her better in this book than in the prior two. And all the other supporting characters were fun and unique. This series is held up by its characters, all the way to the very end.
With TRUEL1F3, I felt like this world finally came into its own. It finally felt less like Mad Max/Bladerunner/Fallout/whatever else was thrown in there, and more like Kristoff finally found that perfect balance of originality and inspiration. It actually makes me a little sad that this is the last book now, because I was more drawn into the world than before and would love to read more. That said, it was a solid ending for the series.
Now, yes, it was a solid ending. But the ending is what really kept me from giving this five stars. And this really comes down to personal taste, but the stakes were pretty high and in my opinion the consequences just didn’t match up. Not going to go into it too much so that I don’t spoil for anyone, but it just missed the mark for me. I’m coming to realize this is a staple in Kristoff’s finales, which is fine for a lot of readers but it’s just not what I want. It’s also common in YA in general, so I can’t really see this being an issue for most people looking to read this book. Just a matter of personal preference and honestly it’s about what I was expecting.
So yeah, TRUEL1F3 was a fun ending to a fun series. Lemon Fresh deserves a million more books. I think fans of the series are going to be really happy with this one, and for me it was the strongest in the series. It’s a very on brand book for Kristoff. I’m happy with the ending even if it isn’t quite what I wanted, and I could see myself revisiting this series again one day.
About Katie
I'm a twenty-something aspiring writer who really, really needs to get back to revisions. I've been reviewing books since 2014, and am determined to somehow make stories my day job. I truly think that every book out there contains something good and is meant for somebody.
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