Audiobook Review: DEV1AT3 by Jay Kristoff

If Lifel1k3 is more about Eve’s story, then Dev1at3 is Lemon’s story. The story starts right where Lifel1k3 ended, with the journey of Lemon, Ezekiel, and Cricket leaving Eve. I loved how the story plays off the title with each character getting their own portion of the story. Check out my full thoughts below in this 5 star review!

Thank you to Penguin Random House & Listening Library for the review copy which in no way influences our opinions below.

DEV1AT3 (Lifelike, #2)

by Jay Kristoff
Narrator: Erin Spencer
Published by: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
on June 25, 2019
Genres: Young Adult, Sci-Fi
Bookshop, IndieBound
Goodreads

Lemon Fresh has seen better days.

After the climactic battle in Babel, she finds herself separated from Ezekiel and Cricket in the wastelands. Lemon’s abilities to manipulate electricity mark her as a deviate, and deadly corporate operatives are hunting her to use as a weapon in the war between BioMaas Incorporated and Daedelus Technologies. Instead, Lemon finds herself falling in with a group of fellow deviates—a band of teenagers with astonishing abilities, led by an enigmatic figure known as the Major, who may hold the secrets to Lemon’s past.

Meanwhile, Cricket finds himself in possession of the puritanical Brotherhood, a religious cult set for a head-on collision with the Major and his band. Searching for Lemon, Ezekiel finds a strange ally in an old enemy, and uncovers a plot that may see him reunited with his beloved Ana.

And inside Babel, a remade Eve hatches a plan to bring an end to the world.

Review

Dev1at3 picks up right were Lifel1k3 ended, but this time the main focus is on Lemon Fresh. Lemon came across as a quirky, fun, comic relief character in the first book, which continues on into Dev1at3. We also get more information on her back story, which lets us see the vulnerable orphan for who she really is, with all the layers peeled away. In other words, we get to delve into the heart of her character while learning more about the world in which she lives, and how it has become the way it is.

The journey that Lemon, Ezekiel, and Cricket take comes across as the gritty underside of the different areas and factions that live in the cities they pass though. You do get a little about Eve and Anna and where they are along the way, but they impact the story to a more minor degree allowing other stars to shine and new characters to emerge.

Although there were a few perspectives, it never felt like too many. The book flows in a fairly fast paced way, keeping you invested and interested in what’s going on in each location and with each character. I can’t wait for book three, with all the background and set up on all the characters it is sure to come together in a completely unexpected and amazing finale.