DEV1AT3

Jay Kristoff never disappoints. This geeky, tech-filled, post-apocalyptic world and amalgam of machine, artificial intelligence, bio-engineering, and superpowers hit all the right buttons. The dialogue is snappy and full of sass. The world-building is crystal clear, disturbingly so given its bleak view of the world. The story and action are rapid and fascinating, so much that you can only hang on for the ride. Focusing on Lemon gives us the chance to see this world from a different viewpoint, and seeing it from Cricket’s point of view is sheer genius. I cannot wait for more.

Literary Merit: Fantastic
Characterization: Great
Recommended: Yes
Reading Level: High School
I love Jay Kristoff's writing and immediately want to read anything he publishes. This is the second in his LifeLike series and it was a hilarious adventure sequel. I do think it fell victim to a typical middle book blunder of losing some spark because our beloved cast of characters were split up on their own personal plot lines. However, I really enjoyed seeing each character grow and do something different from what we came to expect from them in the first book. If you like futuristic steam punk meets wild west vibes meets rogue AI meets witty banter, then you'll find all of that and more in this book. True to the multi-meaning title, each show more character deviated from expectations and their adventures raised even more questions as they found a few answers about their world and backgrounds. The cliff hanger ending leaves me eagerly wanting to read the next book. show less

The gang's all split up. This one was an emotional roller coaster. I don't know how to feel about Eve's story arc. Mad. Sad. Betrayed. *sigh*

Lemon is finding her own way and that makes me happy. She says it herself, she's the sidekick. The tagalong. She's not that anymore! Good for her.

There's so much action in this one, it's kind of hard to keep everything straight. This second in the trilogy is knocking it out of the park. Can't wait to get in to the 3rd and final book. I'm excited and also a little afraid of where this is going to go!

Once again I’m in awe of Mr. Kristoff’s writing. How does he do it? Kristoff has created such real and relatable characters in this series, so much so that I’ve even become attached to some of the villains. How does he make up such catchy slang words? True cert, and at the risk of sounding like a total lunatic, I find myself wanting to use these words in real life all the time.

Come read the rest of my review on my bookblog!


https://deesreadingtree.blog/2020/04/30/deviate/

Great continuation of the story. This book has Eve as a more secondary character, the focus here is mostly on Lemon. Also, several new characters appear, so there's more adventure.