This was a DNF for me. I tried reading this book. I tried listening to this book. I truly just could not get into it. At all. I had little care for the characters or what would happen to them.

And I won't lie and say Cerulean Sea took me a hot minute to get into, but I cared about those characters. I hate giving this book a low rating. But I have been tying to read this book since earlier this year and I just could not get further.

I really really hate to give a TJ Klune book 2 stars. But after starting In The Lives of Puppets in April, I have just finally made it to the end in August. It was a tough one for me. I’m not sure where it went wrong but every other book I read in the time period took precedence over this one.

There were some aspects to the book I enjoyed, such as (in true Klune fashion) the found family, but 90% of it just rang boring for me.

If you’re trying TJ Klune for the first time, I would definitely recommend one of his other books first.

This is my third T.J. Klune book and while I enjoyed it, it didn't have the same emotional pull or magical ah-ha moment that I experienced with "The House in the Cerulean Sea" and "Under the Whispering Door." The MVPs of this book are definitely the Rambo and Nurse Ratched. Probably because they reminded me so much of the hilarious dynamic of R2D2 and C-3PO.

If you're a fan of Pinocchio and Wall-E, then you will love this imaginative re-telling chaotic mash-up of sorts.

I love TJ's writing so much! This book hosts a wide range of emotions and is so well-written that I didn't want to stop reading, let alone for the story to end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 rounding up to 5 stars for GoodReads. After reading and loving both The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door, this was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint! I could be in the worst mood ever but the moment I pick up a Klune book, I am serene. The romances in these stories are without a doubt the best part because I absolutely love how Klune writes characters and it is my favorite type of romance within a story. The characters that absolutely shine in this one were both Nurse Ratched and Rambo. These robots were hilarious!!! That is not to say the other main characters didn't have their shining moments because they all did. The reason I can't give this one five stars like I did the others is that I just didn't like it as much and the middle dragged just the slightest bit. If you liked previous Klune books than you will like this one. They have a certain "recipe" or "formula" to them, but I cannot get enough and I love seeing all the different types of representation in this novel! If you are looking for a light-hearted story with a great message and some hilarious characters, pick this one up!

Klune has done it yet again with another masterpiece of a story. Full of heart, silly humor, and mystery, Victor and his family will pull you in and keep you close. Curl up and plan to enjoy this fantasy novel.

TJ Klune has done it again, this book is short, sweet, and a perfect example of a great book. I love the fantasy throughout his books, it adds a flair to typical writing. We have already purchased this title for our library.

Pinocchio but make it LGBT friendly, and throw in some robots! This was a very sweet, heartwarming story. After reading "The House in the Cerulean Sea" TJ Klune shot up to my must buy authors. Klune always does a good job implementing science fiction elements without making it cheesy or absurd. The plot, interesting and thought-provoking. Would recommend this to anyone of all ages.

Nobody does cozy, quirky found families full of love and laughs as well as TJ Klune. This book was an absolute delight.

I could feel the beginnings of a story formula in "Under the Whispering Door". With "In the Lives of Puppets" it seemed too obvious and I couldn't enjoy the read. I did find Nurse Ratched immensely entertaining though.

I only made it half way through this novel. DNF

I am a TJ Klune mega fan: 4+ reads of HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA, first on the library waitlist for UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR. This book was missing so much of what I loved about his previous stories. The romance angle seemed forced, and the story clunked along with too much sarcasm and not enough of the tender humanity that made his previous two books such showstoppers. I wanted to love this book, but sadly robot Pinocchio left me wanting more.

This was a such a heart felt read and i loved it!! I loved the science fiction elements and and also the robots eleemts it def gave me wall-e vibes and also fairy tale vibes. I adored the characters and really loved the found family dymanics and just thought it was a sweet lgbtq+ story and it just was adorable it was a quick read!! And def a new favorite by this author!!

The heart of TJ Klune shines through once again in "In the Lives of Puppets." The mystery is hooked and set with the story of a child and a father living in treehouse on the periphery of a still dangerous ruins, with the pagentry of made-family robotics around them. The adventure to flee this paradise and why is unwrapped like a box of chocolates and just as enjoyable.

Klune's sequence of cozy queer speculative fiction continues with In the Lives of Puppets, the darkest of his major releases so far. The characters are all warm and lovely, and this found family fable finds Klune in his sweet spot once again. That being said, I found this one to be the weakest of his three Tor releases so far, and I'll be excited to see him mix things up going forward.

I’ll never not enjoy a TJ Klune book. They know the way to write characters. Lives of Puppets was no exception . This book lost me a bit in the middle. I just believe the fantasy part got to be too much for me. The biggest part of the book I loved were the side characters. Truly unique 🫶👍🏻

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune was a beautiful sci-fi fantasy. I loved how different and quirky this story was! "Author TJ Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts." This was such a fabulous choose you want to be story and it captivated me as TJ Klune always does. Thank you Netgalley for my copy!

There are three robots who live together in a house in the woods, in the trees. There is Giovanni (AKA Gio) - the father-like inventor and leader of the trio. There is the nursing machine, Registered Automaton To Care, Heal, Educate and Drill (AKA Nurse Ratched), and there is a hyper-active vacuum robot named Rambo (Rambo the Roomba?). There is also living with them a human - Victor Lawson.

Victor spends his days digging through salvage and he finds and repairs a machine they come to know as HAP (Hysterically Angry Puppet). HAP sends out a signal that alerts other robots as to the whereabouts of Gio, Ratched and Rambo. Gio has been laying low but now the other robots find him and take him back to the City of Electric Dreams where he once worked. He is now in danger of being decommissioned or given a full memory wipe and reprogrammed. His only chance at survival is if Ratched, Rambo, HAP, and the human can rescue him.

But it's a dangerous territory out there, nothing at all like the serenity of the trees, even for robots and a human.

I'd seen some advertising hype for this book and the author and I definitely got sucked in by it. I'm not at all familiar with Klune's work, but the sci-fi premise sounded interesting enough. And looking at the Goodreads page at this moment, it's gotten over 4 stars in ratings by more than 13,000 people. Impressive! So clearly somehow I'm missing something here.

The first couple of chapters were delightful. I liked the characters, I liked the writing, and I chuckled a few times. Immediately I made the comparison to some of the early Ron Goulart books I read as a teen (which I greatly enjoyed).

Then about a quarter of the way through, I was waiting for something to happen. Were we still just setting up the characters and situation? At a third of the way through ... same thing. Half way through the book I let out a big sigh. So ... we're just going to keep doing the same old thing?

I didn't feel we got anywhere until nearly 80% of the way through the book. By then I'd lost any reason to care. Also ... robots. I'm not sure how you make the stakes really high for a robot (I know some authors can do it), but this odd family was not appealing to me. They were completely dysfunctional (which was used well for humor) and so I didn't buy in to caring about them. So Gio gets recycled into scrap metal. Who cares? I guess we're supposed to.

The humor was sometimes very middle school-esque:

Nurse Ratched said, “Victor’s penis was flaccid even after I engaged my Flirting Protocol. Since I know what I am doing, it is not me, but him.”
...

“Ohh,” Rambo said. “Are you scared of his penis?”
Vic looked away, throat working.
“Do not be silly,” Nurse Ratched said. “I doubt he has genitalia. He does not appear to be an android designed for sexual pleasure, and there would be no need for him to expel urine or fecal matter as you do. Gio does not have a penis or an anus.”
Vic glared at her. “I don’t need to know that.”
“Why? It is the truth. He does not. You are the only one here with genitalia. There is nothing to fear about them, or the lack of them. It is what it is.”
“Do I have an anus?” Rambo asked.
“No,” Nurse Ratched said. “But you are one, so.”
Rambo beeped in confusion. “I thought I was a vacuum.”
“You are. An anal vacuum.”
“Huh,” Rambo said. “I like learning new things.”
Clearly there are people who absolutely love this book. I am not one of them.

Looking for a good book? In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune is a scifi novel featuring (mostly) a trio of dysfunctional robots who manage to survive in spite of their odd behaviors.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This book was such an interesting twist on Pinocchio. I was hooked from the first page, and it's stayed on my mind days after finishing the book. I loved the LGBTQ+ positivity and also the open ended approach to the ending--it was totally not what I was expecting! The sidekick characters were so well rounded and their banter kept a smirk on my face. The book has some sexual references (not explicit) that are better suited to a YA than a MG audience. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it for readers who are mature enough for the content.

TJ Klune is just a word magician. All his writing illicit such nostalgia in me. Loved this fantasy book once more.

I loved the characters in this. Nurse Ratchet, Rambo, and Hap were my top 3. While Victor the main? Fell a bit flat. It’s not that I didn’t like him. I think he was great representation for asexuality and mental health. However, I think he just couldn’t live up to the character’s development or eccentricities the others had. The interactions between the 4 ranged from comedic to tearjerking heartfelt moments. I found myself wanting nothing more than for them to succeed and for them to do it together. Character development was truly the strong point in this book.

If the characters were the strong point then the pacing was the weak point. Various parts dragged through. I actually found myself forcing myself to read it little bits at a time because I kept getting bored. Though once I reached the ending, I picked up my speed, and I really enjoyed how it was all resolved.