I read this novel after reading Isaac Asmiov's "I, Robot" and that leant a wonderful perspective to what TJ Klune was doing with his characters. The different robots and their emotions/options were entertaining at times, but at some points felt over the top. Overall this was a strong work from Klune but did not have the heart of his other adult novels. It felt like it had a lot more of the YA slant to it.

Mood: You're looking for Wizard of Oz adventure--a human accompanied by three fantastical friends, a touch of sci-fi with robots who you might fall in love with more so than people, banter to make you smile, and of course queer representation. You want a book that isn't "just a story" but a work of art on discovering who you are and what you're made of when characteristic are nurtured regardless of background. You want a story about "found family."

This is the story to satisfy such a mood and what more can I say than this will make you put your hand to your heart and look at your robots (Alexa? Rumba?) a little more fondly.

This book was all around a fairly solid book. The characters were strong and not to mention hilarious. I highlighted A LOT of nurse ratched quotes. I think she is the one that made this book good in my opinion. I enjoyed the story well enough but I unfortunately felt a large disconnect. Anytime I picked it up, I would place it down after a chapter and would take a couple days before reading the next chapter. I was able to get the audiobook (which I absolutely recommend as a format for this book) and finished it in a more timely manner. Once I started on the audiobook, I enjoyed the pacing and the world better. All around great character development and story building, just a disconnect on the execution. 3.5 stars rounded up.

In the Lives of Puppets was such a heartwarming book!! The found family and relationships in this book were top tier.

Also, this book was freaking hilarious. Rambo and Nurse Ratchet together were so funny and made me love this book 100 times more!!

T.J. Klune is definitely an auto buy author for me because whenever I’m having a rough day, his books always cheer me up and make me smile. I can’t wait to see what he comes out with next!

This story left me with a serious book hangover. Vic and his ridiculous but fantastic pals are perfection. Gio and the development of his story is heart wrenching. What do machines do when there’re no humans? The story left me aching for more.

The world-building in this tale is phenomenal. I’ve been a TJ Klune fan since some of his very first published books and it’s been a privilege to watch his writing evolve. His recent work has moved into such an elevated place. I love his romantic comedies as well but his current work is prizewinning quality, and I hope he gets his flowers!

TJ Kline is the king of found family. This booo captured my heart and attention from the first chapter in this unique sci-fi/dystopian about a human boy growing up in a world run by robots.

The characters in this book hold a special place in my heart and I loved how unique and special each character was. I flipped back and forth between these characters and who I could call my favorite because they each had amazing aspects that were incorporated into the story beautifully.

The plot flowed naturally and I still have a couple lingering questions regarding the city and the robots living there but overall it was a captivating and beautiful story about what it means to be human

Another amazing read from TJ! As a big fan, I'd heard both good and bad reviews of this book but I can honestly say I loved it! Definitely a different direction for him, but I really loved all the characters, the robots personalities were so funny and witty and the pinocchio themes throughout tied the story together!

TJ Klune has done it again! In the Lives of Puppets is a great novel centering around the trope of found family. This was also the case in Klune's previous novels, only this time, the family consists of multiple robots and one human - the last human on earth. I loved reading about the Lawson family and how they interacted with each other. You could tell that they all really love each other. I especially enjoyed reading about Rambo and Nurse Ratched. A very wholesome read!

Thanks to NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review!


TJ Klune will never disappoint! The humor of this book felt like a combination of House in the Cerulean Sea and the Extraordinaries. Which was truly perfect. I was laughing out loud multiple times with this book.

I especially recommend the audiobook because the narration for the various robots is such a fun touch.

My only issue with the book was the robot and human romance. It works out but also, I wasn’t a huge fan. I was thinking since this is a Pinocchio retelling. I didn’t enjoy the human and a robot romance and kept thinking it would go somewhere else and was hopeful right up until the very end. I would say it’s still worth the read, but be prepared for a unique romantic relationship to say the least.

This book was one of my most anticipted books of 2023, because I just adored ''The House in the Cerulean Sea'' and frankly I was dissapointed. I just couldn't click with the story as I expected, even though I appreciated the way characters were written. I loved the banter between friends and the writing style was superb.
However I just didn't care for the rest of the story, it didn't grip me and most of the time I was bored. It took me over 2 months to force myself to finish this story.
However I still be reading everything T.J Klune will write, because I'm pretty sure it wasn't the books fault that I didn't enjoyed it, maybe robots, androids and other scifi stuff is just not for me.

Having enjoyed T.J. Klune's previous novels and hearing good things about In the Lives of Puppets, I was more than eager to check it out. I'm really glad I did.

Technically, this book is not about puppets. You'll know that from reading the synopsis though. It is a cross between Wall-E, Futurama, and The Wizard of Oz. And it's really, REALLY enjoyable. Vic's two robot friends, Nurse Ratched and Rambo, provide a lot of the humor and entertainment, while the other androids in his life, Gio and Hap, provide the heart of the story.

I had no idea what to expect from this novel and I was surprised many times. It was really creative and well done. You definitely need a suspension of disbelief as the robots take on a lot of human characteristics. Some parts were unsettling to picture, but overall everything was really well orchestrated. It provides a lot of food for thought, but it is harrowing at times.

The synopsis doesn't match up to what actually happened in the story, but I won't say anything more than that. I kept wondering if I had missed something crucial though.

If you're looking for something clever and absorbing, definitely give this one a try! I still can't stop thinking about it and there is so much to unpack and discuss. I am not casting it as it's way too difficult, but I think Noah Schnapp would be good as Vic, and I could see Rose Abdoo as the voice of Nurse Ratched.

In the Lives of Puppets lived up to the hype. It’s a feel-good story about finding yourself and your family.

After reading and reviewing Klune’s last three novels, I have come to the conclusion that he is just not the right author for me. I understand why people love his books, but I do not feel the same way.

Like every TJ Klune book, I seek the same joy I got from House in the Cerulean Sea! And for the first time, this one came close! the futuristic robots that took over the world setting was great, and the author is so dang skilled at bringing each character to life (whether they were actually alive or not!). The only thing is I found one robot really annoying to listen to and some of the dialogue was extremely childish.

In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune

Publication date: April 25, 2023

Date read: January 29, 2023



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.

I put off writing a review of this book for a while, because I’m still having a difficult time figuring out how I feel about it. I first want to say that I love The House in the Cerulean Sea (one of my all-time favorite books) and Under the Whispering Door. So I wanted to love this book more than I actually did.

There is a lot to like about this book. The side characters - especially Nurse Rached and Rambo - were wonderful and really funny. I just didn’t mesh with our lead characters at all. I really liked Vic, but unlike in Klune’s previous books, I just didn’t connect with him in a way that would make this book resonate with me like the others did.

I thought the setting was really interesting, and the idea of a world made up almost completely of robots was a really fun concept. Klune’s books are always completely unique in their premise, which I do appreciate. I also love his writing style, and in that sense this book did not disappoint.

I honestly just think that maybe it was the wrong time for me to read this book. There was a lot I enjoyed, but at the same time it just dragged for me. I can’t completely reconcile the idea that I can like a book and also that it takes me forever to read, which made it really difficult to rate

In the end, if you like Klune’s previous books I would still recommend this one. It didn’t completely work for me, but I also can’t find a lot of fault in it - it just didn’t affect me like I was hoping it would.

Content warning: child abandonment, fire, violent murder.

Note: sexual humor and talk of masturbation.

Rating: 3.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book

I found this unique story to be quite intriguing and a absolutely hilarious at times. I really loved Victor’s character and his support system of Rambo and Nurse Ratched, even Giovanni and HAP! The robotic component of this story was so fascinating and kept me hooked. The seemingly non-existent human kind left me baffled and curious to know what the bigger picture was for this read!

The ending was where the story sort of fell apart for me. The City of Electric Dreams and Heaven were odd and took away from the innocence and wholesomeness of the story up to that point. I understood it’s importance to the plot of the story but I just didn’t connect to that portion of the story.

I went into this story completely blind because I love the way TJ Klune writes and creates intricate worlds and complex characters. In the Lives of Puppets was a solid read, just not a wow for me. There were parts I adored and parts I didn’t care for. Overall, it was a 3 stars for me.

In the most bizarre way possible, In the Lives of Puppets is giving Chobits if it was written by Becky Chambers. It takes the kind of hope-punk, feel good Sci-Fi genre Chambers has made her niche and adds in an uncomfortable romantic subplot between the last human on Earth and the robot he saves and reprograms. The star of the show is not the couple themselves though, but the vacuum cleaner sidekick and the snarky medical robot that accompany the two on a journey to save Victor’s dad.

Victor’s dad is very obviously the Giovanni of the “Pinochio” story that this book is very loosely retelling. It’s a journey book, one much more about the banter between the quartet as they try to restore the robot dad’s consciousness. These type of stories always seem to tread the same tracks of the circling question “what is humanity”, and I think this book took a little too many pages to get there… if it ever did.

I’m not sure this is necessarily a fault of the storytelling, but this book very noticeably raises the issue of there being a single human being left alive on Earth - and leaves it as that. It doesn’t really get into the existential dread that seems inescapable of being the last of your race in the universe. Victor just seems to take it in stride that all his friends and family are robots that only have humanity because he gave them his human blood. And doesn’t question at all the implications or his own existence, or eventual lack thereof.

In the oeuvre of TJ Klune’s feel-good adult novels - this fits itself solidly between Cerulean Sea and Whispering Door. It’s charming at parts, drags at others, and never quite answers all of the questions it raises. Uncomfortable romance subplots aside, I do feel like I’ll remember these characters and the easy way they’d slot into any other hope-punk Sci-Fi worlds in the same vein.

Thank you to the publisher Macmillan Audio for providing an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

This book made me cry! Such loveable characters, something Klune specializes in. I think Klune is the current king of cozy yet all-comsuming fantasy.

I really liked that this is a retelling of Pinocchio but what really bothered me was just because it's a queer story does it have to be overly sexual. There were moments where things were said that they made me very uncomfortable like they're talking about penis sizes but their machines. Why? I've enjoyed other stories from this author where the story didn't just focus on sex. It's confusing to me that machines would be programmed to say sexual things if the person programming them isn't overly sexual.

I started listening to the audiobook first since I did get an arc of it but I had to stop 12% in. Rambo's voice was just too annoying. The upspeak was giving me a headache. I switched to the ebook and that seemed to go better, though I did find all the characters got on my nerves.

Ended up dnfing this book at 30%. I can not handle the overly sexual things happening in this book. It's so out of place. I feel like I'm hanging out with a bunch of 13 year old boys and to everything I say they reply back <i>"That's what she said."</i> It's a shame because I loved the authors other book; <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53205888-under-the-whispering-door" <b>Under the Whispering Door</b></a>. Sadly this one wasn't for me. I wanted to get the feels but just too many immature sexual jokes killed all vibes for me.

“You’re not a puppet. Not anymore. Your strings have been cut. You’re free, HAP.”

If TJ Klune decides to write a telephone book it would melt my heart. That’s how much I love this author.

Twisted retelling of Pinocchio in a WALL-E sci fi setting all wrapped up in a warm hug. It is a story about lost humanity, and choice, and friendship, and bravery. How a fantasy sci fi where most characters are robots can squeeze your heart, I don’t know. But that’s exactly how I felt.

The characters are AMAZING! There is an adorable Olaf (Frozen) roomba character, a wonderfully newborn-like naive yet fiercely protective HAP robot (hysterically angry puppet) and a fabulous coachman with a sentimental side…I loved so many! But I have to say nurse RACHED has to be my favorite, a sociopathic sarcastic robot, her dialog never missed!

Don’t be afraid of this oddly perfect mix of a story. I’m not a sci fi fan, but I loved it. The robots you meet are more human than a lot of humans are lol! Dive in and get lost in this world. It’s well worth the trip!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!!!

“Your flaws are what make you superior in all ways. No matter what machines can do….it is the absence of flaws that will be our undoing….Our only flaw is that we’ve condemned ourselves to spend eternity mimicking that which we deemed unfit to exist….We can never be you. Instead we became your ghosts and will haunt this world until there is nothing left…..It is not a flaw, Victor. There must be no greater feeling in the world than to know that this isn’t forever.”