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kathrynleereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Jay Kristoff has done it, once again. After the twists and turns that brought Lifel1k3 to a close, I was a little worried that Dev1at3 might be lacking the awe-factor that made me fall in love with Kristoff's writing.
As usual, I was very quickly corrected. Dev1at3 focuses more closely on Lemon, Ezekiel, and Cricket, Eve taking more of a backseat, as they fight their way through the week or so following the events of Lifel1k3.
Following four such different characters allowed readers to observe how many different ways character growth can be shown.
As the only human among the four, Lemon's growth was the most traditional, in terms of what might be expected from a YA dystopian book. She met people, learned more about family (and, more specifically, found family, which is my personal favorite), and really came into her own.
Eve, Zeke, and Cricket, on the other hand, are each going through what I consider to be less as growth, and more as awakenings.
Cricket spent the later parts of the book experimenting with what it meant to follow orders from humans, using Solomon as a guide. He learns to question things that he has just accepted and taken for granted in the past.
Ezekiel starts to come to terms with the fact that, despite his high breadth of knowledge, he is really only a few years old, and isn't as emotionally mature as he might seem, even to himself.
Eve spends Deviate trying to reconcile who Ana Monrova was, who she herself was, and who she is now. As Eve's POV was significantly less present in Dev1at3 than in Lifel1k3, it was sometimes difficult to understand where her head was.
I believe this was done to put readers in the same shoes as the other characters, who were just catching glimpses of her atrocities instead of really being able to understand her reasoning (not that her reasoning would have helped much, she was committing some pretty awful acts).
As Kristoff (again), wrapped up the book with most character's fates up in the air, I am dying to know where Truel1f3, the final installment in the series, brings our characters.
As usual, I was very quickly corrected. Dev1at3 focuses more closely on Lemon, Ezekiel, and Cricket, Eve taking more of a backseat, as they fight their way through the week or so following the events of Lifel1k3.
Following four such different characters allowed readers to observe how many different ways character growth can be shown.
As the only human among the four, Lemon's growth was the most traditional, in terms of what might be expected from a YA dystopian book. She met people, learned more about family (and, more specifically, found family, which is my personal favorite), and really came into her own.
Eve, Zeke, and Cricket, on the other hand, are each going through what I consider to be less as growth, and more as awakenings.
Cricket spent the later parts of the book experimenting with what it meant to follow orders from humans, using Solomon as a guide. He learns to question things that he has just accepted and taken for granted in the past.
Ezekiel starts to come to terms with the fact that, despite his high breadth of knowledge, he is really only a few years old, and isn't as emotionally mature as he might seem, even to himself.
Eve spends Deviate trying to reconcile who Ana Monrova was, who she herself was, and who she is now. As Eve's POV was significantly less present in Dev1at3 than in Lifel1k3, it was sometimes difficult to understand where her head was.
I believe this was done to put readers in the same shoes as the other characters, who were just catching glimpses of her atrocities instead of really being able to understand her reasoning (not that her reasoning would have helped much, she was committing some pretty awful acts).
As Kristoff (again), wrapped up the book with most character's fates up in the air, I am dying to know where Truel1f3, the final installment in the series, brings our characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Medical content, Gore, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, War, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Abandonment, Car accident, and Cursing
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