LIFEL1K3 (LIFEL1K3 #1) by Jay Kristoff - Book Review

Monday, May 21, 2018

cover of LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff


On a floating junkyard beneath a radiation sky, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap.

Eve isn’t looking for secrets—she’s too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she’s just spent six months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, and the only thing keeping her Grandpa from the grave was the fistful of credits she just lost to the bookies. To top it off, she’s discovered she can destroy electronics with the power of her mind, and the puritanical Brotherhood are building a coffin her size. If she’s ever had a worse day, Eve can’t remember it.

But when Eve discovers the ruins of an android boy named Ezekiel in the scrap pile she calls home, her entire world comes crashing down. With her best friend Lemon Fresh and her robotic conscience, Cricket, in tow, she and Ezekiel will trek across deserts of irradiated glass, infiltrate towering megacities and scour the graveyard of humanity’s greatest folly to save the ones Eve loves, and learn the dark secrets of her past. Even if those secrets were better off staying buried. (Goodreads)


*A big thank you goes to Netgalley & Knopf Books for Young Readers for giving me the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this book.*

Jay Kristoff has the amazing ability to always create incredibly relatable and human characters. I think this is probably the main reason I am always left impressed and in awe after finishing one of his books. Everyone is interesting, has realistic flaws, and perhaps most enjoyable, lingers on that fine line between good and evil. It is easy to understand pretty much everyone's motivations for what they are doing (or have done). His characters are so real, that it is difficult to not fall for them, to not cheer them on. 

There is one thing I have learned though, no one is EVER safe and things are never what they seem in a Jay Kristoff book. Knowing this did not prevent me from (stupidly) falling for the majority of the characters in Lifel1k3 though. Several moments in this book left me screaming internally "NOOOOO DON'T YOU DARE!!!" and "OMG HOLY CRAP...WTF!?!" which to me is a definite sign of an amazing story. While it ultimately is not my favorite book Kristoff has released, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and still think it deserves a five-star rating. It did give me a new character to add to my favorites list in Lemon Fresh and I absolutely adored Cricket and Kaiser.

Rating: ★★★★★5/5

Book & Author Information: Goodreads

Published: May 29th, 2018