“Your past doesn't make calls on your future. It doesn't matter who you were. Only who you are.”

Jay Kristoff… you bloody bastard.

If you haven’t had a chance to enjoy Kristoff’s writing, then you have missed out. This is the new artist of our day - up there with the queen herself, Leigh Bardugo.

Let me start off by saying I sure as hell hope there is a sequel to this thing. I haunt Kristoff’s Instagram but have yet to hear a peep. Not that we aren’t getting other fabulous goodies like Aurora Rising. Stil…. We just might be waiting for a bit. I’m praying to all the publisher gods that they at least want him to continue.

ARE YOU READY

FOR A CRAZY RIDE

OF EPIC PROPORTIONS?

Yes, I’m being a little dramatic.

Taking on the premise of Isaac Asimov’s Classic I, Robot, Kristoff builds his world around the three laws. But in Kristoff’s world, we meet Eve living in the underbelly of the robotic world, trying to survive after a horrific event took her family away from her. During a robotic dome battle, Eve awakens a freakish ability that brings the attention of the world to her doorstep including a blue-eyed boy spouting secrets that might just change Eve’s life.

The first thing you notice in picking up this book is Kristoff’s unique tone. LifeL1k3 is my first book just by Kristoff, so I can’t say if this is normal for him. At first I found the writing jarring. It took me a moment to fully immerse myself. It’s sarcastic and feels more of a first-person inflection than a third person POV. Sometimes I would forget, thinking I lived inside a character's brain only to be reminded that was not the case and a fly on the wall was feeding me everything. I can’t say that I loved or hated it. But it made the entire book unique that I found I wanted so much more.

Kristoff will get a pat on the back for pulling off the tone throughout the entire story. Most writers can appreciate how hard that is to accomplish. Another reason Kristoff is a master and I bow to his prowess.

“Breathing in the ink and feeling all those wonderful lives beneath your fingertips. In between the pages, I'm an emperor. An adventurer. A warrior and a wanderer. In between pages I'm not myself-and more myself than in any other place on earth.”

Second item is Kristoff’s cast of characters. This I know he can pull off like a beast. Each one stands out with their own quirks and nuances, even those third string characters that tend to be forgotten. If you’ve read Illuminae you can know what to expect. The real surprise comes in two forms. I’m going to say something - and if you’ve read my review of Artemis you’ll know I never NEVER admit…

Jay killed his female protagonist.

Somehow he pulled it off better than other female authors. She was the perfect blend of believability, spunk, and personality. He didn’t fall into the holes that most male authors jump right into. I’ll even admit I forgot I complain about male authors writing female leads. Kristoff, you changed my mind.

Would it be wrong to say I thought he pulled off the female characters better than the male ones?

Action is not what brings his characters to life. It’s the dialogue. One-liners litter this beauty. And as most of you know, dialogue can be the hardest thing to pull off in writing. Dialogue requires the right amount of tension and each character needs to want something out of the conversation. So if you don’t have a book to practice with, this is the one to pick apart and learn from.

Still, even with all of that, Kristoff can still pull out an awesome plot. I can see the foreshadowing leading up to the big reveal, but it wasn’t so blatant to give it all away. Kristoff successfully walked the fine line to let his readers not feel betrayed in the end. Looking back I almost laugh that I didn’t guess it, but maybe that is just another reason he’s the master. Each clue was just slid so deftly in, we weren’t supposed to catch them. But we can’t get mad at him for not putting them there.

“It's simple to love someone on the days that are easy. But you find out what your love is made of on the days that are hard.”

And looking back, the story isn’t that original. We have I, Robot mixed with Pichnochio mixed with Terminator. Kristoff took these ideas, gave them a twist, and added in the characters that you want to root for. If this teaches you anything, you don’t need a super original story. What you need is your own take and strong execution.

Overall I’m going to give this book 4.5 stars. I loved it to death. I think my tastes are a little different, which prevents me from going all the way. Amazing read and one I want to reread and reread and reread until the next one comes out. I’m just going to sit here believing there will be a next one. Though reading the acknowledgements doesn’t give me much hope. Supposedly it took him five years to pull this one off. Oh well... I’ll just need to bribe his publisher to light a fire under his tushy.

Happy Reading

Love Kait

P.S I was listening to the Maleficent soundtrack while pounding this one out.

Reading Challenge: 63/100