"In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots--fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They're a family, hidden and safe. The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled "HAP," he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio's former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic's assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming. Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?"

Thank you Netgalley for letting me listen to an audiobook of In the Lives of Puppets. It is one of my favorite reads of the year. I loved following the characters and learning about the world. The writing style is fun and I liked most of the jokes in here. Some of them were a bit too silly, but that's okay. I enjoyed being in this world Klune created and I can't wait to see what they create next. I love the theme of found family.

I was originally given an eArc from NetGalley, but I didn’t finish in time so I went out and bought a copy. I loved the story, the nods toward Pinocchio, Swiss Family Robinson and Wizard of Oz. I read a review recently that mentioned how this book is so very human-even though there is only 1 human… it’s true. I highly recommend In The Lives of Puppets! Go read it!

2.5 stars

These characters were so annoying. The robots were so two dimensional, the jokes fell so flat and the conversations were way too on the nose. I much prefer commentary to naturally flow through the story, but it tried so hard to be inclusive that it was brought up in conversation when it didn't make sense, taking you out of the story.

A lot of these characters were just copy/paste to Cerulean Sea, but with Cerulean Sea, you really cared about the characters. Their trauma made you care about them. I never cared about these robots.

2.5 stars

These characters were so annoying. The robots were so two dimensional, the jokes fell so flat and the conversations were way too on the nose. I much prefer commentary to naturally flow through the story, but it tried so hard to be inclusive that it was brought up in conversation when it didn't make sense, taking you out of the story.

A lot of these characters were just copy/paste to Cerulean Sea, but with Cerulean Sea, you really cared about the characters. Their trauma made you care about them. I never cared about these robots.

I am a huge fan of The House in the Cerulean Sea and have read others by the author. I really, really wanted to love this one too but sadly could not finish it. I couldn't get invested in the puppets and never felt invested in their stories or personalities.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for an advanced copy of this book!

I am a bit late with my review of this book. I wanted to finish Klune's previous work before I got into this. From the beginning, I was excited to read this. I enjoy Klune's stories as they always include tropes I enjoy like found family, slow-burn romance, etc. This novel had that and more as its set in a sci-fi backdrop. In the first half of this story, I was vibing with the wholesome moments between Victor, the robots, and Giovanni. Then we get to the latter half and that's when I started to fall off of the story. I wasn't invested in the journey and I felt like the pacing could have been better. Overall, I enjoyed the characters more than the overarching plot. The story is still worth the read if you are a fan of Klune's works like I am. At the time of this review, the book is out so I suggest checking it out and giving the audiobook a listen if possible.

Always a treasure reading TJ Klune.
This book was hilarious especially our little Rambo. And emotional!
It has this great family aspect and I loved it

The House in the Cerulean Sea is one of my favorite books. I also thoroughly enjoyed Under the Whispering Door. I was super excited about Klune's new one, In the Lives of Puppets - and it didn't disappoint! Another amazing, touching, feel good, charming story that was funny too. As per usual, each character was lovable, and unique.

Read if you enjoy:

• charming
• found family
• lovable characters
• queer retelling

"You are a hope. A dream of a forgotten world. Carry that in your soul...and may the burden never cause you to stumble."

🩵

very TJ style with the heavy topics and sad plot line but the characters were likable and I was enchanted to read about them all!

Victor has lived his life together with his father and two robots in the middle of the woods. When he finds a broken down android in the scrap yard he couldn't have dreamed it would lead to the discovery of his origins and the secrets of humanity's fate. When robots destroy the home his family has built, Victor sets off with Rambo (a vacuum, a nursing bot, and HAP (short for Hysterically angry puppet), to find his kidnapped father GIO before he gets decommissioned.

I've enjoyed all of T.J. Klune's more mainstream books to date, especially Under the Whispering Door. While this title wasn't as strong for me, I stilled enjoyed it. There's a lot of discussion here on identity, what makes a person a person, the responsibility someone has to others, sexuality, and family. I really enjoyed the read. My only issue was the jokes throughout the first half of the book. They were pretty funny over all, but they were unrelenting. Every half page it felt like someone was making a quip or joke. Once the pace of the plot picked up and tone was more serious, I appreciated it more.

Klune’s books always have sweet moments and have the best characters, but this one was just not for me. I had a hard time getting into it with all of the mechanical bits and bobs at the beginning. The pace felt a bit slow, and it just took too long before things got going.

TJ Kline has a way of making readers in love characters in just a couple of pages, and In the Lives of Puppets is no exception. The book get a little wierd at the end, but I loved the characters so much that I would follow them anywhere. He's become an auto-buy author for me.

Loved it! T.J. Klune is a powerhouse when it comes to taking a story I would never have wanted to read and turning it into one that I can't put down.

I always love his characters. They are the soul of the story and I want to hang out with the characters. If you're looking for a found family story that feels both fresh and comforting, look no further!

Quick take: Klunes books always center around found family and this one is no different. I found this one to be funnier than his previous books (hello nurse ratched) and is my favorite of Cerulean Sea. You honestly can't go wrong picking up a book by TJ Klune.

Thank you to netgalley, T.J., and Tor books for an advance copy of In the Lives of Puppets.

Victor is a human in a world of robots. His ‘father’ is an android inventor, and his friends are a nurse’s station machine and a vacuum. They live amongst the trees and spend their days wandering and looking for salvageable parts for Giovanni to use in his inventions. On their latest trip they come across an android called Hap, and an unknown and frightening history involving Gio comes out.

Hap is unaware that they are still tied to the world of human-hunting and transmits information about Gio and his family’s location sending Gio back to his old life and spawning a rescue mission led by Vic.

I am convinced that T.J. just never misses. I’ve still yet to read his entire catalog, but everything I have read I’ve loved. Once again, I found myself crying happy tears and just feeling like my heart could burst.

This story was so creative. Pinocchio meets Terminator meets The Brave Little Toaster meets Edward Scissorhands meets Wizard of Oz meets Moby Dick meets probably 4 or 5 others that I forgot. What a wonderful mashup of stories that came out being nostalgic and yet totally original at the same time.

The world that was built felt so foreign but I could picture it perfectly in my mind. I love his ability to create a world in a standalone book.

Every character was so lovable, it was a perfectly imperfect found family, which is one of my favorite tropes in fantasy books, and also something that T.J. is an absolute master of.

I really tried. I love both his other books, but this was hard to read. I unfortunately DNF but I will try again. I can't not try again bc he is a beautiful writer.

Found family with a little Pinocchio and a little Wizard of Oz going on.Decent read but not my favorite of his works.

4.5 rounded up to a 5. A lovely fairytale with so many references to classic stories (Pinocchio and The Wizard of Oz and I'm sure a few more) but in a fresh and unique way. I loved all of the robots and their distinct personalities, and Victor is such a special human. Love the found family aspect and the message of how you can love someone for who they are while not forgiving past mistakes.

I was lucky enough to meet TJ Klune and hear him talk about this wonderful book, the rise of AI and all things queer. What an amazing man! He's smashed it out of the park again with this one. Now I'm not going to pretend this hit me quite as hard as House in the Cerulean Sea, nobody will ever come close to Chauncey, but I'm now convinced Nurse Ratched is my spirit animal. Who'd have thought you could write robots with such depth of character? Loved it, massive 4.5 stars, rounded up cause it deserves it.

This was such a heartwarming book! I was not entirely sure what to expect from a book that is compared to Pinocchio, but I loved every second of this. It was such an interesting book to read, and so heartwarming. Tj Klune is the king of found family, and my heart can't take it!