LIFEL1K3 (LIFELIKE)

Written by Jay Kristoff

Narrated by Erin Spencer

‘Hey, you. Yes, you. Put this grimy, beautiful, devastating, hilarious, screaming, writhing, all-out post-apocalyptic girl-buddy-road-warrior-lost princess-techno-thriller in your face and read it right now. It is every kind of badass’ – Laini Taylor, NYT bestselling author of STRANGE THE DREAMER and the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy

A thrilling new series from Jay Kristoff, internationally best-selling author of The Nevernight Chronicle and The Illuminae Files.

It’s just another day on the Scrap: lose the last of your credits at the WarDome, dodge the gangs and religious fanatics, discover you can destroy electronics with your mind, stumble upon the deadliest robot ever built…

When Eve finds 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 and her robotic sidekick in tow, she and Ezekiel will trek across deserts of irradiated glass, battle cyborg assassins, and scour abandoned megacities to save the ones she loves…and learn the dark secrets of her past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jul 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9780008301354

Jay Kristoff

Jay Kristoff is the NEW YORK TIMES and internationally bestselling author of The Lotus War, The Illuminae Files, and The Nevernight Chronicle. He is a winner of five Aurealis Awards, nominee for the David Gemmell Morningstar and Legend awards, named multiple times in the Kirkus and Amazon Best Teen Books lists and published in over thirty-five countries, most of which he has never visited. He is as surprised about all of this as you are.

Reviews for LIFEL1K3 (LIFELIKE)

[Shalane Du Preez · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the story, however it seemed to drag on a little longer than I personally felt it needed to. It's also one of those books that you need to pay attention to because if you miss a few seconds you have to go back. But other than that it was an interesting story with interesting characters - different :)

[Robin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awesome this book is freeeaaaking great by jay kristoff, man loved it

[Trishna Namchoom Kulshrestha · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

the plot is really good. the story is fast paced. and the ending is really really good.

[Nina · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

that was really good ya sci-fi, dystopia. really cool concept, worldbuilding and characters.

[unsquare_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book from NetGalley.

LIFEL1K3 is the rare book that I mostly enjoyed until the end soured me on the whole thing. It’s a mash-up of a lot of genres and tropes, which gives it a certain amount of madcap charm, but it squanders that good will with some draggy pacing, an overload of teenage angst, and a final twist that feels like a gotcha moment designed only for shock value. It’s also overstuffed with plot and world-building, so it’s almost impossible to summarize succinctly.

When you live in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, you have to make ends meet in whatever way possible. Eve builds and pilots homegrown battle-bots from spare parts and pits them against challengers in gladiator battles with the help of her trusty little robot, Cricket, and her best friend, Lemon Fresh. She has a cybernetic eye and a “memdrive” installed in her brain to help her remember her past life, cut short when she was shot and left for dead.

When the book opens, she’s about to fight a malfunctioning corporate bot to get medicine for her ailing grandfather, Silas. The battle goes south, but she’s saved at the last minute when she unleashes some kind of telekinetic power that fries the malfunctioning bot.

Only problem is, gladiator battles are broadcast throughout the local area, and her performance brings her to the attention of some unsavory types, including a religious sect who kill “deviates” on sight and a corporate bounty hunter who wants to capture her for nefarious purposes.

Lucky for her, she’s saved by a beautiful “lifelike” robot named Ezekiel, designed to resemble a handsome young man with super-strength, who she salvaged when his ship crashed nearby. When they try to make their getaway, another lifelike named Faith captures her grandfather, so Eve and her friends have to save him while also running from the bounty hunter hot on their tails. Complicating things is the fact that Ezekiel and Faith both seem to recognize her and call her by another name, Ana.

Now, it’s kind of hard to explain my criticisms of the book without spoilers, so I’m going to warn you now that the rest of this review will be full of them. When Faith damages Eve’s memdrive in a fight, Eve starts having flashes of another life different from the hardscrabble one she thinks she knows. It turns out that Eve isn’t who she thinks she is, which becomes a running theme.

Eve begins remembering her life as Ana, who lived in a corporate tower with her father, the inventor of the lifelikes. She knows the lifelikes and has a shared, tragic history with them! Also, her grandfather isn’t her grandfather. Instead, he’s an engineer who gave her fake memories so that she could have a fresh start.

Ezekiel was the boy of her dreams, Faith was her best friend, and the lifelikes (except possibly Ezekiel) betrayed her family and killed them in a revolution. The angst and the drama build as Eve tries to reconcile her identities and histories, deal with her buried feelings for Ezekiel, and fumes about people lying to her.

You might think that everything I’ve summarized up above is more than enough for one book, and you’d be right. However, Kristoff still has a few twists left up his sleeve. The first few twists just stir up more drama and angst, but the final twist is what soured me on the book.

It turns out that Eve isn’t even the real Ana – she’s secretly a lifelike designed to think she was Ana. After she was shot, Silas installed the memdrive to give her a fresh start as someone new. This revelation puts her over the edge, and she pushes her friends away and slides into apparent villainy in the final sentence of the book.

By that point, I’d already lost a little bit of patience with the number of plot twists and the angsty in-fighting characters, but I wouldn’t have minded the final twist so much if Eve’s decision was less black-and-white. If she’d gone out into the world to find herself with mysterious motivations, I’d at least want to find out more about who she decides to become. Instead, she seeks out another lifelike with clearly villainous motivations and tells him that they have a lot of work to do.

It felt like Kristoff was trying to force Eve’s decision to BE EVIL, and it made me not care about her journey. LIFEL1K3 was a bit of an exhausting read thanks to its everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink storytelling, but that final twist just felt like it sold out the main character for a cheap shock.

Originally published at Full of Words.

[jpeterman-190606 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book. I liked the idea, but I wasn't sure about reading it. I received it as a gift, and while I felt it a litttttle bit slow in places, I ended up loving it. The pacing is actually pretty good, just a little slow in some spots. The ending was like WHAT?! I promptly bought the 2nd book and will be starting it today. A bit of romance, some implied sex (no described sex). I think it worked perfectly for the story. Quite a lot of violence, for those who don't like that sort of thing. Just overall a great read!

[deslivres5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Except for the unexpected pronunciations of {automata, machina, logika} painstakingly introduced in Chapter 1 and then repeated throughout the novel [are these Australian English pronunciations? The audio book I listened to was read by a narrator with an American accent], I really enjoyed this high tech sci-fi YA tale, first in a series.It takes place in a post-apocalyptic California where humans and a variety of levels robotic machines live. The highest, most human-like and most indestructible machines are called Lifelikes. There are only a handful of these Lifelikes.Without giving too much away, the story revolves around a girl named Eve who battles using robots as a domefighter, a Lifelike named Ezekiel and Eve's cool friends, a girl named Lemon Fresh, a robot named Cricket and a cyborg dog named Kaiser.They are being chased by a bounty hunter for some unspecified client and the chase as it unfolds brings some surprising things to light.A major theme surrounding the story is one of robotic slavery and robot rights.Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

[librarianryan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jay Kristoff has done it again. He has put together a world beyond my imagination and made me think about things better left in the dark. This futuristic tale takes place after WW4.0 which I take to mean world war four. We don’t have a specific year (that I remember) in which the story takes place, but it is far enough in the future that androids and intelligent machines exist and live among us like normal people and objects. Another clue to the future is that nuclear winter is over, and the atmosphere is fried due to the lack of an ozone layer. Eve is a big machine fighter. She builds them, and then batters them in the name of winning to survive and pay for gramps meds. Meds are important in this world as cancer is rampant. See the ozone thing above. At her first big battle in the book things go wrong. So wrong that it puts her life, and all her friends life's in jeopardy. Friend number one, and most important is Lemon Fresh. The human girl who reminds me so much of Kenzie Solo from Lost Girl. She is a sidekick, but a kick ass, smart mouth, do anything for her friends sidekick. She is also the oft needed comic relief. The you have Cricket. The robot, or mechanical that isn’t an android but isn't’ alive either. He’s short and porcupine headed, almost like a robotic Sonic the Hedgehog. He is programed to obey the rules of robotics created by Isaac Asimov in 1940. He is not only Eve’s protector, but her friend. Her maniacal dog is amazing, and partially real. Gramps is a grump, but a loveable one. And then there is Ezekiel. He is a true android. He is almost impossible to distinguish from human. And he will either the be savior, or the destroyer of Eve. Only time will tell. This is a story of life and death. Eve does something that she shouldn’t be able to do. When she screams, she can stop mechanicals. Almost like a private EMP. Humans are not supposed to be able to do this. She is a Deviant and the consequences could be death. Ezekiel has been searching for Eve. It has to do with Gramps. But she doesn't exactly know. How does Gramps know this very unique android. LifeLike 3s are super rare. Super Rare. Yet something is there. Eve and her posse will set out to recuse Gramps, run from the Brotherhood, and possibility find the clues to eternal life.What sets this book apart from others is that Jay doesn’t just consider the future as a one dimensional setting, but in all dimensions, including what modern slang would sound like. It can be hard to read at the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, the book moves slowly. He thinks about the setting as more than just a place, but as an actual character. How does it move, how did it get where it’s at? What happened to make it the way it was now. Anyone can write great characters with lots of depth, but Jay does it with every aspect of the book. Yes, there are holes in the world he has built, but I have a feeling those holes will be patched in the sequels.There are so many things in this book to think about. It would make great discussions for teen book clubs. You have the idea of life. What is life? Is it living organisms? Is it conscious thought? Is it just existing? Are the 3 laws or robotics still a good practice? Would they really work in our modern world? What scientific breakthroughs are just too much and shouldn’t be messed with? So much to contemplate and talk about. So it wouldn’t be a Kristoff book without some heartbreak, tears, and hearts skipping beats. The major twist I did not see coming and was like YES!!!!! And OMG!!!, and ??????!!!!!!!! but it works. The twist at the very end I saw coming a mile away. It just made sense. Especially knowing that the sequel is out in 2.5 months.If you like punk science fiction, dystopia, etc, pick up this book. Then pick up the sequel, because you are probably going to want it. It’s a wild ride. But an enjoyable one.

[kristymk18-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2.5 StarsUnpopular opinion here, but I just couldn’t get into this one. I can’t pinpoint why exactly I found it boring, there was plenty of action, romance, and science-fiction goodness, but every time I’m put it down I struggled to pick it back up. I’ve loved Kristoff’s co-authored series, The Illuminae Files, so I’m disappointed I didn’t enjoy this one more. He definitely has a distinct and unique writing style and I think if you’ve read any of his other books you’ll love this one.

[titania86_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Eve is only trying to survive with her sickly grandpa. She only has a few credits left and fights malfunctioning robots in a mech for money, but a rigged game has her losing and exposing a power to disrupt electronics with her mind. Her power is considered deviant by the Brotherhood and they will stop at nothing to hunt her down. On top of this, a lifelike or android named Ezekiel approaches her calls her by a different name. Then her whole world falls apart around her. Along with Ezekiel, her best friend Lemon Fresh, and her voice of reason bot Cricket, Eve needs to remember her past and save her loved ones.LIFEL1K3 is like Max: Fury Road, Pinnochio, and Blade Runner all smooshed together. The world is almost unrecognizable. California is its own island because of an earthquake. Corporations are fighting against each other in War 4.0. The Brotherhood rules all with a fantical iron fist. Abnorms and deviates came from proximity to radiation which can result in some pretty spectacular powers. There are all different types of artificial intelligence from lifelikes (now illegal) to logika to bots to blitzhunds, descending in complexity. People can be enhanced cybernetically like Eve is. She was shot in the head as a child, so her eye is robotic along with some of her skull. Technology enhances peoples lives and also irreparably destroys them.The characters are all lovely people that I rooted for the entire time. Eve has a fauxhawk and a tough attitude with skills to back it up, only necessary living in this time. Her friendship with Lemon Fresh is super supportive, equal, and awesome. Cricket has a bit of a Napoleon complex, but he is the voice of reason throughout the novel. Ezekiel is a literal coin operated boy and developed a relationship with Eve. He's fiercely loyal and fights through anything. This band of misfits (plus a blitzhund) travel around getting into scrapes and fighting their way out of it one way or another. Their dialogue is hilarious to read. Though the story is pretty fantastical and science fiction, the book is at its core about finding where you fit in and choosing your family.LIFEL1K3 is a crazy in your face science fiction adventure with family and friendship in the center of it all. I did have a few problems with it. Some of the action sequences didn't make sense to me in the way they were described. For instance, there are people shooting pretty close and a storm with literal glass in it, but the main characters get out without a scratch. What??? However, I really loved the ending. It's a bit of a gut punch but totally makes sense and makes me want the next book NOW.

[kamoorephoto · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two things up front: I think ‘LIFEL1K3’ is a great novel, essentially a sci-fi novel, and I think readers might either just love it or hate it. Not much in between. And I have to say just a few things about it right before release day, even though there have been so many reviews and I already know that this wild and crazy book by the behemoth (in more than one way) Jay Kristoff will be a success no matter what.The success of the Illuminae Files (written with Amie Kaufmann), and the books ‘Nevernight‘ and ‘Godsgrave’, immediately meant that ‘LIFEL1K3’, once announced, was on everyone’s TBR lists and getting preordered right out the gate. But I think so many books (especially by big name YA authors) are getting pre-judged based on hype, so I really want to try and write about the book I read; ‘LIFEL1K3’ seems to be one of those books that will have people buying ahead, and I hope the right readers are there for it.The thing that Kristoff does so very well is world-building, and from the time you open the book until long after you finish it, you are thrust into a post-apocalyptic Earth that barely resembles the one we live on today. Kalifornya is now called Dregs and is (surprise) an island after the big Quake, and has split from the the rest of the Grande Ol’ Yousay. There has been War 4.0 and the land is desolate, scrap piles of piles of metal and junk lay waste where gangs try and salvage what they can for weapon parts or for machina building. The environment has now become so blisteringly hot, that it’s dangerous to be out in sun without protective clothing let alone SPF (what’s that now?). Real food is the thing of the past, and now Neo-Meat (trade-marked, I might add), that comes in a can is what humans must subsist on: salty colon, anyone?But this is all small fry when it comes to the entirety of the world that Jay has created; he has created a whole way of speaking for this book, new words (how does he come up with all this stuff?), and envisioned humans living in a future with not only robots, androids, but also a type of more human-droid called (naturally) LIFEL1K3s. They are so real in terms of how similar they are to humans, it’s frightening, but with advanced abilities to heal.This is the crux of the story. The merry band of characters that Kristoff has centered the novel around: Eve, Cricket, Lemon Fresh, Kaiser (a mechanical dog, a blitzhund), meet Ezekiel, a LIFEL1K3, who tells Evie that she is actually Ana, and everything goes crazy from that point onwards. It starts with giant bot fights and that isn’t the craziest part of the book. There is so much action in this book that it’s hard to describe too much, but given that readers will be largely from a YA audience, and that they will be met with a major amount of science fiction, they may be surprised at how it does not slow down; once you are in, you must commit to a sci-fi novel. I really feel like it’s less YA, and intensely post-apocalyptic and science-fiction. There is definitely romance in this book, and a plot line where ‘Lil Evie’ is tryin to come to terms with her identity and her past, but while you can take a breather more easily with the Illuminae Files, thanks to the format, this is far more immersive. Kristoff has done a fantastic job at making the reader feel entirely swept up into this world; just like the characters who are stuck in their fates, the reader must stay entirely absorbed to grasp everything going on.I’d say that ‘LIFEL1K3’ is a book like nothing I’ve read before and it leaves you feeling a little bit chewed up and breathless. And with a major cliffhanger. I will expect that some readers may feel like that wasn’t what they were expecting but if you go along for the ride you will have read some genius.

[theyodamom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just finished this moments ago and am in a whirl of Oh My's. Holy twisted crumpled tales of love, hate, and robotics.  I LOVED IT. Mr. Kristoff, what was that ending ?  Oh you are good, cruel but deliciously good. This is why I read all your books, you challange my expectations. The beginning of the book was a slow start, the slang slowed me down. It was different enough that I couldn't flow through it. It was a short struggle, to maybe 15 % and I got it. The story never slows, never goes where you expect, it's an unknown path ahead in this book.The story follows Eve, who as a young girl loses her everything in a violent event. She is a being raised by her grandfather, surrounded by her best friend, and robots.  Everything is going as well as it can till a reviled being is found in a crash wreckage. This is a world or radiation, gangs, androids, love and hard core everything. It had moments that reminded me of many moves and TV series. It was Thunderdome, Mad Max,  and Westworld. Speaking of Westworld, wait till you met The Preacher, and hold on when you do he's a...well you'll see.Romance, it's there, unexpected in such a story but fits so well and twists the heartstrings in all the bleeding places. Rocky, filled with pain and sweetness, it's a hard one to walk away from when the book ended.  I was so invested in these characters I was left feeling gutted at the ending. Mr. Kristoff, leaves us hanging off the side of a thousand foot cliff lined with broken bones and scrap metal.I received this book from the publisher for a non biased review.

[angelajmaher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jam packed with action, adventure and emotion. A roller coaster rise through a plausible bleak future that somehow retains the essence of hope. Imagination and reality have merged perfectly in this explosion of post-apocalyptic sci-fi chaos.