I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

I’ve read quite a few T.J. Klune books at this point, and if you’ve been a fan of his books, you’ll be a fan of this one! It fits right in with his other books he’s published with similar covers, like Under the Whispering Door; a book set in an interesting world but where the focus remains on the characters and their relationships with one another. In the Lives of Puppets is another one of those internal stories, where the external world is exciting and intriguing and mysterious, but the true focus of the book still lies in the internal journey of the main character. There’s also the same, soft relationship and eccentric cast of side characters, and together it all just continues to work!

Despite how similar its pieces are to Klune’s other books, though, In the Lives of Puppets also just stands strongly on its own. It’s still very much its own story, and the similarities to his past works stop at those similar tropes/building blocks of the story. Victor’s troubles are entirely unlike those of the MCs of his other books, and he’s also much younger than those characters as well. There’s a stronger sense of isolation throughout the entire book too, tempered by how fiercely all the characters love each other, but it remains there all the same. Very few post-apocalyptic books manage to truly capture the sheer isolation that comes with being one of the few remaining of your species, but Klune does it really well here, and it becomes a driving force in many aspects of the book. It’s also fascinating to see here, because in some ways the robots that surround Victor are extremely human-like. However, we always end up seeing how not-human they truly are, despite their relationships with Victor being so close to normal human ones. It’s an interesting concept to see play out, made even more so by how much focus there is on these internal aspects of the characters as well! Usually these sorts of end-of-the-world books focus so much more on the action, and solving whatever ruined the world, and we almost never get to spend this much time actually thinking about what it all actually means with the characters that are going through it.

I also really liked how this book centered on familial relationships more as well. The MCs of Klune’s other books like Puppets are often very isolated: no friends, no family, no anything really. Victor is extremely different in that regard, all he has is family and friends, and his desire to create. We really get to explore what those relationships mean to Victor, and what happens when something threatens them. We also get to see what happens when secrets come out, and how even the most close of bonds can still suffer when one person realizes the other was keeping so much from you. And most interesting of all, there’s this constant thread of starting over, of trying again, and what that actually really means when it comes to both relationships with others and finding a home for yourself. There’s a lot of loss in this book, but in forms that aren’t often tackled in the fiction I’ve read, and it makes for such an interesting book, with so many threads to continue thinking about long after the book is done.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and the way it kept my head spinning in a more reflective way. It makes for a calmer, slower book, but those sorts of stories are often the best breaks from the world anyway!


Review will go live on my blog on June 2.

TJ Klune creates another cozy fantasy, but this one with some sci-fi elements. Very quirky and heartwarming as Klune is wont to do, but this might be too much in the way of science fiction for those that like Klune's fantasy. Overall, another winner from Klune.

Three robots - fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine named Nurse Ratched, and a small anxiety-filled vacuum named Rambo live with human Victor Lawson in the houses they’ve built into the branches of the trees in a forest - hidden and safe.

When Victor, Nurse Ratched, and Rambo find and repair an android with the label “HAP”, they learn of the dark past Gio and their new friend share. After getting back online, Hap unwittingly alerts robots from their past life to their current whereabouts and they capture and take Gio back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams.

Together, the makeshift family must journey across the country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Another amazing, beautiful, and touching found family novel from TJ Klune. I wrote down so many quotes from this novel (mostly from Nurse Ratched). I read over 100+ books a year and rarely do they make me actually cry - this one succeeded and therefore, it received 5 stars from me. And, like every year a new TJ Klune book comes out, this will be hard to beat for my choice of book of the year.

This is another book that, though it’s listed as SciFi/Fantasy, I can see so many people enjoying this. It does deal with Victor being the last human on Earth and the complications of loving those with an extremely complicated past, but it’s still a soft, found family read for me.

In the Lives of Puppets has an unforgettable cast of characters and the writing of Klune will make you care about an assembled group of robots and their human companion in a way I didn’t think would be possible.

I love this book and will be so highly recommending this to any and all for years to come.

*Thank you Tor Books and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Klune writes fiction that is entirely unique in the fantasy genre. His characters have a depth and compassionate that begets the finest of fiction tales, while interlacing humor and tragedy in equal measure. In the Lives of Puppets gives us hope as Chat GPT and Art AI take over our consciousness. This tale of a post-human robot world is not as far fetched as we would like to believe.

I confess I am a TJ Klune fan and his latest does not disappoint. As in House In the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door, he tackles big emotions in openly and sincerely. This Pinocchio retelling is heartfelt but still nuanced. Victor, a human, lives in the woods with his memorable, lovable, family of robots. When he rescues a new robot from the junkyard, Victor sets in motion a series of events that cause him to leave his home and question who he is, who his father is, and the complicated history, and future, of human and robot relations. Sweet and a little silly, in the way that makes it feel it would be perfect for a Studio Ghibli film adaptation, this earnest coming of age story will definitely please fans of his recent works.

In the Lives of Puppets is a beautiful story about hope and love and what we would do for those we care about. I feel in love with the characters and it’s honestly what kept me reading the book. I wanted to find out what happened next and what new adventure or roadblock they would encounter. If Vic, Rambo, Nurse Ratched, and Hap weren’t as quirky and lovable as they were in this novel I never would have finished it.
This novel is definitely not in my go to genres which made it a challenge to read. Then adding on chapters that took 30+ minutes to read… It was so hard to keep myself invested in this book. Overall, I loved the theme and that made it all worth it in the end.

I have long decided that TJ Klune is a favorite and again this book has proven that choice. This writer can write nothing but pure love that is golden and immeasurable with all possible reasoning for humanity and beyond.I have expected to feel good reading this and I was not disappointed. It was literally comfortable, with pure warmth and hugs and softness and never ending cuddles.

In The Lives Of Puppets was said to be Klune’s retelling to Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio. But this is more that just retelling! It gave me a an adventure that I did not expect! Victor is the only human left in the world of robots and machine and this is his story. I remember enjoying the character of Iko in the Lunar Chronicles and having Nurse Rachet and Rambo as machine characters brings back that affection to my love for robots!

True to TJ Klune’s fashion, the story made me cry and laugh and scared and angry at times because life is all that. The creator has bestowed upon us a gift that is all too magical, wonderful, frightening and strange at the same time that is profound and powerful! Its focus is that there is always hope and that one can always dream and regardless of being different there is atonement and there is forgiveness and music and books can bring back good memories that will keep humanity grounded.

I have so much love and admiration for this book because it is inspiring from start to finish and I can go on forever and a day and the ending will still be the same- a 5 star rating! Thanks to TOR Books via Netgalley for the e-ARC and MacMillan Audio for the copies in exchange of my honest review. I highly recommend!

This book was more difficult to sink into than the first two I’ve read of T. J. Klune’s. The characters in this book were fantastic, and Rambo often provided a chuckle during the heavy parts. All in all, I enjoyed the character development, but was not the biggest fan of the overall story. I will still read anything new T. J. Klune writes though!

In the Lives of Puppets takes bits and pieces from The Wizard of Oz, Pinocchio, and A Psalm Wild Built to deliver another completely Klune-esque read. Like his other books, his characters are endearing, the social commentary is optimistic, the love is queer, and the story is feel-good.

I do enjoy a good fantasy book or speculative fiction and love the adventure-like quality and the imaginative characteristics in the future in Puppets which is very different from the cozy cottage-core vibes from Cerulean and Whispering. Nurse Ratched’s empathy protocol is a hilarious win for me. Her empathy and suck it up buttercup dichotomy is so funny!

Unfortunately, some things fell flat for me. I overall felt the book read a little too saccharine. I didn’t fully invest myself into all the characters and often found Rambo’s happy-core manic pixie robot character to be annoying. Even though the plot was wildly different than Klune’s other books, it also felt too predictable with the characters, message, and ending all having a dejavu-like quality.

The pacing moved along for me well and while the book wasn’t a standout for me, it was still a highly imaginative and entertaining read.

Don’t miss this one if you are a fan of Pinocchio, The Wizard of Oz, or are a Klune stan!

Publication date: April 25, 2023
Pages: 420

Thank you to @netgalley and @torbooks for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

In the Lives of Puppets
by T.J. Klune
5 stars

what in the world did I pick up to read? I enjoyed every moment of this read but about 10% in I was just like what in the world is this? Absolutely loved the writing and the way it all came together. I have a feeling this is what our world will eventually turn into and I want a Nurse Ratchet for myself, it needs the attitude that one has though. I loved every moment even the sad parts.
Thank you, Net Galley and Tor Publishing Group for this eARC for an honest review.

We follow the lives of Victor, his father Gio, a talkative and slighlty neurotic vacuum called Rambo, and the blunt and sarcastic nurse bot called Nurse Ratched. They live in the safety of a forest. One day after scavening through a scrapyard, Victor rescues Hap, an android porgrammed. His fate is similarly linked to Gio's.
After Hap's unwillingly call to the authorities, Gio is abducted. A riskly and terrifying journey to unknown territory follows; a journey to what really matters.

Like his previous novel, In The Lives of Puppets deal with the matters of the heart. This time - a retelling of Pinocchio. However, this story stands very well on its own ground, it is infused with moments of deep tenderness and intimacies, hilarious and ridiculous situations pervade the novel's inner landscape.
Klune's novels feels like a fresh breeze, a cup of hot cocoa after a hard day. And dare I say, a book filled with deep wisdom embedded in coziness.


Quotes:
"Be warned, a heart is not like the battery you used to have. It's stong, but fragile. It will lift you up. It will ache without reason. You'll find yourself feeling things you never thought possible. A heart changes everything."

I sadly DNF’d this at about 23%. I love his other books, but this was just a bit too out there for me so I found it hard to relate to.

TJ Klune at it again with just a cozy vibe.

This book is giving Sci-fi adventure quest inspired by Pinocchio and I was not totally expecting that. Not in a major bad way, but I think it just was surprising.

I just felt like all the characters were meh except Rambo and Nurse Ratched. I honestly could have cared less about everything else and was just waiting for Rambo to make me laugh.
Vic felt so boring and Hap was meh. When the main conflict started and the journey began I was just getting dragged along for most of the book.

I think the plot is so unique and interesting this just was not the hit for me. Klune is an auto read author though because even if I am not in love with the story I know there will be one or two characters to make me love the book.

3.5 stars

Never knew I needed to read a robot love story unil this audiobook/book. How did I live without this genre in my life

First the audiobook review, the narrator was perfect . I don't think anyone else would have been right for voicing all these different characters IN ROBOT TONES. He made them all come alive. Between the sarcasm of Nurse Ratchet, the hopefulness of Rambo and the humanity of Vic.

Now to the story
This is my third TJ Klune and it was beautiful. The way TJ writes about love is touching.
Each books reminds you of the purity and rawness of love even between robots.

It's a mix of Wizard of Oz , Pinocchio with the classic Klune humor and touching kindness. Only this author could pull of a love story between a human created from an Android and an Android .
Every character stole my heart

Must be heaven!

TJ Klune writes such lovely books. I really like that all of his books have to do with kindness. I will say, I would love to see him challenge himself to write a different character than his normal grumpy/sunshine, but he does write those characters well.

Pinocchio is one of my favorite fairytales and I really liked this retelling with a dash of Wizard of Oz snuck in there. It was whimsy and an easy read. I almost forgot I was reading at times because Klune is easily able to get you lost in a magical world.

I absolutely recommend this book and am excited to purchase it in stores.

Story: B-
Prose: B
Characters: B
World: C
Theme(s): C+
Enjoyment: C+

The Good:
Warm, fuzzy, cozy. I mean, it's a lil found family who gets excited to listen to music and watch old movies together. Even the most sadistic robot is protective of Victor.
Fun writing style. Klune's writing is readable and lively, and he is generous with banter and other humorous bits.
Found family! One human and a collection of refurbished scrap robots protecting and supporting each other in times of strife.
Fun robots! Alongside Victor's scavenged family and their eclectic personalities, some of the other robots are just… really neat? The enigmatic Blue Fairy and their description is incredibly striking, for example.
Strong characterization. Although it sometimes feels a bit over-simplified, Klune's characters are distinct and sharply rendered.
Great reenvisioning of original material. Nods to the original work are easily identifiable, but aren't a forced 1-to-1 adaption.


The Bad:
Some timeline weirdness. Part of it is how Klune leads into some sections. He'll begin with all the ways the weather has changed, but then it turns out it's less than a week later. Another issue: Victor and Hap's relationship develops over a ridiculously short period of time and relies heavily on the way Hap "imprints" on Vic upon waking up.
Tonal incompatibilities. At some point the warm-fuzzy-found-family vibes jar violently with "my dad and my new friend used to hunt humans." (This isn't a spoiler, it's in the Amazon summary.)
World is a little thin. Some things don't make sense. Example: Humanity destroying the earth is a huge part of why robots decided to take over, but robots are still using fossil fuel–to the degree that Victor chokes upon smelling it.
Important ends left open. There are some pretty big world-wide implications and ripples from what the characters learn and the actions they take, and they're sort of ignored.
A number of long, unnecessary, or dull passages. Particularly at the start of a chapter. I skimmed ahead when the writing stagnated and forced myself to go back and read it in case I missed something, only to discover I hadn't missed anything.

YMMV:
Potty humour. Many bathroom-going references and dick jokes.
Quirky characters. Vic is accompanied by a neurotic, distractible Roomba and a sadistic nurse-bot.
A bit twee, depending on your taste. Look, you're either going to love when Victor's little group recites their core rules/values–ending with "And always be brave!"–or you're going to find it cloying.
Cured my hiccups. I had hiccups the morning I started the last third and no hiccups when I read the last sentence. Obviously, cannot guarantee the same for others.

Final thoughts: It's a nice adventure. I had a nice time. Klune's a solid writer. But there wasn't anything new here, and I feel like the core issue is that it's intended as something secular and cosy, but Klune's stretched out this big, underdeveloped setting for it

TJ Klune always surprises me with a book that I was sure I wouldn't like, but of course I end up enjoying. I don't care about robots, but now I care about robots. It did take a bit for this plot to really get going, but once it did it got there quickly. I almost could have used a little more of the journey, but this was so enjoyable. Read this if you're looking to pick you up.

This book transports readers into a realm where imagination reigns supreme and the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur. Klune, renowned for his captivating storytelling and unparalleled ability to delve into the depths of human emotions, once again delivers an enchanting narrative that leaves a profound impact. At its core, this novel explores themes of identity, self-discovery, and the power of love, beautifully packaged within a magical realm. This is a mesmerizing journey into the extraordinary that will captivate readers from beginning to end. TJ Klune's masterful storytelling, vivid world-building, and deeply human characters make this novel a must-read for fans of fantasy, magical realism, and heartfelt exploration of the human condition.

I think that this book may be someone's favorite book but just not mine.

I am aware that Klune's fanbase loves the two previous works that are out but this just did not do it for me.

I wanted to love this book, I would've settled for liking it, but it just never did anything for me. It's an interesting take on pinocchio and even funny at times, but about halfway through I just wanted it to be over. There's only so much telling the audience to be kind that a reader can take.

TJ Klune can do no wrong. Every time I get a new book of his I think to myself, "This cannot possibly outdo ____" and he always, always does. It is truly incredible how gifted he is. This book is completely unique; I've never read another book that feels similar in any way. His writing is immersive and atomspheric and this had me wanting to climb treehouses and just bask in the comfort of this book. I did not think I've ever grow attached to robots? But here we are. I am a sucker for found family, and Klune does it best. A shiny five stars for me!