LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-fi
Content: Strong Language, A couple of mostly fade to black sex scenes


On an island junkyard beneath a sky that glows with radiation, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap. Seventeen-year-old Eve isn't looking for trouble--she's too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she spent months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, she's on the local gangster's wanted list, and the only thing keeping her grandpa alive is the money she just lost to the bookies. Worst of all, she's discovered she can somehow destroy machines with the power of her mind, and a bunch of puritanical fanatics are building a coffin her size because of it. If she's ever had a worse day, Eve can't remember it.

I had a hard time deciding what to rate this book. There were elements that I thought were really cool. This book is like post-apocalyptic cyberpunk. There were things about it that reminded me of Terminator, Mad Max, iRobot, and Blade Runner, with the Romanovs and a little Pinocchio thrown in there too. It is so many things all put together and for the most part it works, but the romance kind of ruined parts of it for me. Now I'm a person who generally likes romance in the books I read, but in this case the main romance was too instant - not to mention it also begins when the main character is only 15 years old.

***Spoiler here - I'm really having a hard time getting behind a 15 year old, who has never even been kissed, suddenly having sex with a robot. Yeah...no. - End of Spoiler***

Then on top of that there is another romance in the book that becomes, in my opinion, a weak catalyst that finally sets off a rebellion.

Then there were some inconsistencies in the book. The one that comes to mind first is during a pursuit through a glass storm (it's a sandstorm where the sand has melted into glass). One character is driving a large vehicle that is severely buffeted by the storm and his skin is being shredded by the glass. Then there are other characters that are on motorcycles that seem to be having no problem at all getting through the storm and they don't seem to have a mark on them. I could add more examples, but you get the point.

I do need to mention here that I loved the characters in this book. They were one of the best parts of the book. My favorite was definitely Lemon Fresh. She reminded me a lot of this girl in personality, and well, everything.

My only complaint about the characters would be the antagonists. The main antagonist did not feel all that scary to me. He came off as a spoiled brat, and except in flashbacks, he doesn't appear until near the end of the book. I understand his motivation even though I feel like what drove him to finally act could have been something better, but I really couldn't get behind the complete personality change of a couple of the others who joined him. Then there was the bounty hunter who is sent after Eve. Trying to kill him was seriously like trying to kill a cockroach. He just wouldn't die. And he wasn't even really an important part of the story.

There were a few twists in the book but I don't think any of them are all that surprising. The only thing that surprised me was the choice Eve makes at the very end. With that rather surprising ending I feel like I need to read the next book in the series. Overall I liked the post-apocolyptic, sci-fi-ish aspects of this book. That, the characters, and the whole conscious A. I. aspect of it is what kept me reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for giving me a copy of this book.