Review: Lifel1k3 by Jay Kristoff

Eve is an orphan living with her Grandpa Silas and best friend Lemon Fresh in a apocalyptic version of California (now separated from mainland USA and known as the dregs.) Grandpa doesn't have much money, he's dying of cancer but he has a knack for building robots and Eva has a knack for making them fight for money. One day, she encounters a lifelike, a robot that looks human. He recognises her, but the girl he recognises is named Ana and her and Eve's lives may be more entwined than what Eve realises ...

Lifel1k3 is an action packed adventure that is likely to appeal equally to male and female readers. Like all good novels of this type, there is a lot of blood, explosions and mutant children amid a vivid landscape of a world that is just like ours, only a zillion times worse. As the cover suggests, the whole thing is a little bit Mad Max, and a little bit X-Men. And a little bit of a whole lot of other things. In any case, the author knows his genre and his intent quite well and the whole thing is well done. I felt a bit lost in all the detail in places--the nasty nicknames the characters had for each other were amusing, but it was very easy to lose track of who was who. 

Recommended.

This book was read as part of the Aussie Author Challenge 2018

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