TRUEL1F3 (TRUELIFE)

Immediately following Dev1at3 (Deviate) (2019), all parties have their final showdowns.

The storyline recaps, character list, and story elements guide at the beginning will come in handy for readers jumping back into the fully realized post-apocalyptic future through a wide, revolving cast of point-of-view characters. First up: a flashy sequence where readers left off, with a nuclear missile heading straight for New Bethlehem (and Cricket) with deviates Diesel and Grimm incoming on a suicide mission to stop it. When the smoke clears, those still standing are torn—do they rescue Lemon from BioMaas, or retrieve Eve (and Ana and Gabriel) from Daedalus? Foils Lemon and Eve suffer through mirrored themes of violations of bodily integrity at the hands of the dueling corporations that wish to weaponize them—and Lemon would rather die than be used. With multiple parties threatening different genocides, stakes are high, but there’s still time for themes (mostly around choice and free will) and relationships. While there are multiple romantic storylines and love is a powerful motivating force all around, the story doesn’t limit itself to just romantic love, instead branching out and giving weight to a variety of deep platonic connections. The ending wrap-up, which follows an extended cacophony of battles, is disappointingly tidy by comparison and slightly rushed. Lemon is White, Grimm is coded Black, and Diesel is Asian.

A sprawling, heady, explosive (literally and emotionally) conclusion.