This was a miss for me. I was wondering at 5% if I should DNF because I was bored, didn't care about the story, and found the too-quirky characters to be incredibly annoying (especially the middle-school bathroom humor that undercut every interaction). I was wondering the same thing at 12%. At 35% I realized I still felt exactly the same about it and decided to cut my losses and say that this book isn't for me.

Part if it may have been the narrator, as the voices he chose for each character tended toward the whiny and irritating. He also tended to overdo the drama. He also voices Vic very young, and he is written very young, and I have to keep reminding myself that it says in the text he's 21 because he seems about 14.

It's disappointing because I think I *could* have loved Rambo and Nurse Ratched if there hadn't been quite so much middle-school bathroom humor in their every scene. And they had a lot of scenes. I actually still don't have a very good sense of Vic, and he's the main character. But his extremely quirky robot companions get most of the lines and page time which is weird.

I read through the big twist / reveal and I think it was supposed to be heartbreaking, but I didn't really feel anything? I didn't feel Gio was there enough as a character to make me care about what happened to him. Which is the same thing I feel about Vic, now that I'm thinking about it.

Since my feelings about the story haven't changed from 5% to 35% I think I can safely say that they aren't going to and it's just not for me.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Tor/Forge, and Macmillan Audio for providing an early copy for review.

This book made me so happy the entire time I read it. The writing, world building and characters are all so unique and full of life, that I fell in love instantly.
Vic, Giovanni, Rambo, Nurse Ratched, Hap - even the other characters you meet along the way, all were so beautifully written. I loved the fresh take on Pinocchio, and the other subtle connections to other pieces of work. Another great one by this author for sure!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I think I should begin this by saying that this is not my typical genre, nor my preferred genre, so please don't look to this review as a source for how well this book fits the style, themes, etc. of said genre. In fact, this was the first book I have ever read about robots!

I do however love T.J. Klune's writing style, and I really enjoyed his last two published books. So, that is why I made myself read this even though I had a lot of doubts going in. And honestly, I am so glad I did. I ended up really enjoying this book. Even though it was about robots/machines, it all felt very human. I devoured it in 2 days.

I absolutely loved the characters - Rambo and Nurse Ratched make this book worth the read on their own. But, it is the love the characters have for each other that really pushes the narrative forward. The themes of loneliness and sacrifice really moved me. And, I was shocked at how invested I was in Victor and HAPS's relationship. However, I will admit, I was also terrified by how real this book painted the possible future of AI/human relationships - eek!

Overall, I will say, even if you are not a big Pinocchio fan (which I am not) or a lover of sci-fi, "robot fiction," technology fiction, etc. (which I am not), you should definitely give this book a shot. Like Klune's other novels, the book is truly beautiful, and I would definitely recommend it to others.

I also want to say thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advance digital copy for review!

I have to start this review by noting that I absolutely adored both The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door. They are some of my all-time favorite books. I think In the Lives of Puppets is a solid 4 stars, but it wasn't as compelling to me as those other two books. But that's still to say I loved it!

The cast of characters are all loveable and memorable, and Nurse Ratched was just hilarious. Rambo was quirky and maybe not the brightest, but loveable all the same.

The reason this book isn't 5 stars for me is just that the book felt slow, and I wasn't as compelled to pick it up and keep reading. It took me almost a month to read... which is not normal for me. That could be partly due to life circumstances, but I wanted a book that I couldn't put down and this book didn't quite scratch that itch for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the copy in exchange for my honest review!

As charming as it is thrilling, Klune has one again given us a touching tale of found family and the lengths we will go to protect those we love, even those without a beating heart. Filled to the brim with lovable characters, from the neurotic Roomba Rambo, the sociopathic Nurse-bot Ratched, to our humble but very darling human protagonist Vic, Klune surrounds the reader with a group that they don't want to leave, on a grand adventure to save their adoptive father from the hands of a shadowy organization. The beginning at admittedly of a slower pace, but those who are willing to let the book flow into them, the current will eventually carry you to places that will surprise you, in wonderful ways. Also, I really appreciated the asexual representation, as it is shown early on that the book understands and appreciates the intricacies of the sexuality and its many shades, which as an ace person is a touching thing to read.

I will update the review with the link to on our blog as soon as I can.

I'd like to thank the publisher Tor Books and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review

In the Lives of Puppets is a dystopian, fantasy/sci-fi twist on Pinocchio where Vic, a human, must rescue his automaton father, Giovanni, from the Authority.
All with the help of his friends: Rambo the anxiety-ridden robot vacuum, a sociopathic Robot Nurse Ratched, and Hap - an automaton whose memory has been wiped of his previous designation and remains somewhat of an intriguing mystery.

TJ Klune always manages to keep family, love and acceptance at the heart of his stories all while transporting the reader into a fantastical story with obsession-worthy characters. I love the messaging that love and family does not need to look the same for everyone - and that we should love each other for our unique differences, not what makes us the same.

I flew through this book this weekend and my only wish is that it was longer! ♥️

It’s not fair to compare, or go in with certain expectations, but I absolutely adored Cerulean Sea, and really liked Whispering Door. So I went in with expectations that I would thoroughly enjoy this. Unfortunately, I did not. It started out really slow (something mentioned in the synopsis doesn’t even happen until like 30% or more?) and throughout the whole book, the pacing just felt off. I had both the ebook and audio from netgalley, and I tend to follow along with the ebook while listening - and I felt like the narration was so slow, it was taking ages for me to be able to turn the page, and I had it on 2x speed! It just felt super slow, and I admit, I always speed audiobooks up, but 2 or 2.5 is normally my sweet spot. 2x on this still felt so slow, and I really struggled through it (user error on the app made me think that was the max speed, but I eventually got it to 3x speed and it was more enjoyable at that speed).

So on top of the narration and plot both feeling slow, I just didn’t love the story itself as much as I wanted to. One of the characters is super quirky and perhaps that comes across better in print but I wasn’t a fan of it in the audio, the character just kind of annoyed me or made me cringe. Maybe it was the specific humour, I don’t know. The humour felt a bit young, but what do I know. There were some things I liked, but I think the things I disliked overshadowed the good things. I felt a couple times like I was supposed to be feeling certain emotions based on the writing, but it fell flat or missed the mark for me. I do admire TJ Klune as a writer and I really enjoyed the other ones I’ve read, but this one just didn’t work for me.

Well, I loved this one! This novel was definitely the heartwarming escapism I needed. While this one is more sci-fi given the androids and murderous robots inhabiting the world, if you've read Klune's other books, you will immediately recognize the satirical tone and the tropes of found family. While there are nods to Pinocchio, so much of this story was very unique. I loved the way it explored the autonomy and free will and all the characters. I did feel like there could have been more to the plot, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I had listened to audiobook of The House in the Cerulean Sea and the audiobook of this one is narrated by Daniel Henning as well. I thought he did an excellent job bringing the eccentric characters to life!

Thank you so much to Tor Books for the ARC and finished copies of this and Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

****ARC REVIEW ****
Author: T.J. Klune
Title:In the lives of puppets
Publisher: @torbooks
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thankyou @netgalley and @torbooks for this advanced reader copy. This is my honest review

Synopsis:
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?

Thoughts:
- this is my first netgalley approved book and I was so excited it was for this
- An odd quirky book with a little Pinocchio esque vibe that is so beautifully written that will give you all the feels
- screams love, family and humanity with themes of connection and free will
- amazing world building with perfect characters
- entertaining and great conversations between characters
- Gio is the creator filled with love
- Vic is the last human alive and was given to Gio to care for who has amazing relationships with his robot family
- Rambo is a funny little vacuum robot that gets excited about cleaning
- nurse ratched is a empathic nurse robot that flips between empathy and sociopaths
- hab is rescued from the scrap yard , an android responsible for wiping out the human race put back together by vic with humanity and a heart
- Beautiful book
Published 25 April 2023

Wow! This book was so different to what I usually read but I was absolutely hooked!

I don’t want to give away the story so I’ll just say that it’s the kind of story your wildest imagination could’ve dreamed up. Giovanni and his “son” Vic are such vivid characters I felt that I knew them. There’s moments of humour, witty dialogue and also moments of pain. For me it’s ultimately a story of found family and what you’ll do for those you love.

Sometimes a book is just extremely catered toward my very specific interests, and this is one of those gems that was truly made for me!

What do you get when you have a Pinocchio retelling and a cast that consists of: an anxious yet cheerful roomba with arms, a sassy medical robot who would like to drill into you as much as she would like to flirt with you, and a human young man who is sweet and brave, AND the mysterious android the three of them find and fix up? You get found family story full of great banter and a lot of heart and a journey into the mysteries of the world inside and outside the forest on that gorgeous cover.

In the Lives of Puppets was such a fun read, but also fun in the way that pulled at my real human emotions (I shed at least one tear!) and had me rooting for the crew the entire time even when I like any person watching an adventure tale was going "nooo....!"

I have such a soft spot for robots with feelings and there were so many feelings in every robot we met, and so many laugh-aloud moments (including waiting for the two love interests to notice that fact! Just like the rest of the group were!).

Thank you SO MUCH to NetGalley, TJ Klune, and Tor for approving my ARC request.

TJ Klune is back again with another quirky, beautiful found family story that happens to involve mostly robots and androids. In a dystopian world after the age of humans, we meet Victor, a human, Gio, his android father, and their merry band of misfit robots including a bot vacuum named Rambo, and a medical bot named Nurse Rached.

They all live happily in the forest of what used to be Oregon until they find a new, decommissioned android in the scrap heap. Rescuing him sets off a series of events that threaten their family and sends them on an adventure.

Klune is a master at creating unbelievably lovable characters that pull at our heartstrings. This book starts slowly as we get to know these characters but really picks up pace after about the 30% mark. Be patient! The story and characters are worth it.

This book felt like if Frankenstein’s monster, WALL-E, Nebula, and a human went on a Wizard of Oz/Pinocchio style journey. It was a gloriously character-forward, sci-fi adventure and I enjoyed every minute.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

In the Lives of Puppets releases April, 25, 2023.

TJ Klune has such a talent for writing about identity and choices. Regardless of what you start off as you can always choose to change and become your true self. ‘In the Lives of Puppets’ is about just that—choosing for yourself. Our main character Victor goes on a bit of a hero’s journey, on a mission to save his father, reunite their little found family and maybe also fall in love. Facing danger at every turn, Victor leads with his heart. He’s lovely, one of my favorite characters of Klune’s. Described by the author as a queer retelling of The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, there’s plenty of familiar references, just also with robots. It’s delightful. Even when the stakes were high and I had no idea what to expect next, the tone of the story felt gentle and loving. Klune gives so much space and time for readers to really fall in love with his characters.

The rest of our cast of characters is so good and funny and lovable. Klune writes family dynamics so well! I loved Nurse Ratchet and Rambo from the moment they appeared on the page, Rambo especially has my heart.

I adored this and it of course leaves me wanting more from TJ Klune!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A little home built in the trees filled with the most interesting characters. A fatherly android (Giovanni) , a sarcastic sociopathic nurse robot (Nurse Ratched) a nervous little vacuum (Rambo) and a sweet and curious human (Victor) . All is well until Victor salvages and repairs an android named HAP. The story then uncovers a dark past and shatters the safety of their family. Victor discovers terrible truths about his father, his world and himself.

I enjoyed this novel and all of its characters. The characters were so well formed and I had all the feels. I did find myself often laughing out loud . I love how the author explored the complexities of life and emotions. Although it is often called a queer re-telling of Pinocchio I felt that it was pretty original. It is inclusive of course. It had a bit of a slow burn but ultimately as I read on I was completely captivated.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world where robots have destroyed humanity Victor lives in the forest with his father, Gio, and friends Nurse Ratched and Rambo. Vic doesn’t realize he is unique, he is human. One day while looking for scraps he comes upon an android, Hap, who joins their family. One day the authorities are alerted to their whereabouts and they are no longer safe and hidden. Gio is taken and Vic, Nurse Ratched, Rambo, and Hap must travel to the City of Electric Dreams to get him back.

TJ Klune does it again! I’m convinced I need to read his entire catalogue. His characters are always amazing. This book was a bit different for me than Cerulean Sea and Whispering Door in that I didn’t feel super connected to Vic or Hap but I LOVE Nurse Ratched and Rambo. I have not laughed out loud so much while reading a book in a long time and it was great to have that lightness in a book that is actually really heavy. There is great discussion about humanity, our treatment of each other and the machines we create and use. I absolutely loved the Pinocchio aspects (even monstro the whale is here) with some heavy I, Robot vibes. This one will stick with me for a very long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Victor and his father fix machines and live happily in the woods with their companions, an anxious robot vacuum and a sarcastic robot nurse. When Victor finds and repairs another machine from the scrap yards, secrets are dragged from the past and Victor and his friends must face a larger, harsher reality outside of the woods they call home.

A science fiction re-imagining of the Pinocchio story, In the Lives of Puppets is full of vivid imagery, high-stakes adventure, raw emotion, and beautiful friendships. I loved this book! How did a book about robots have me feeling my humanity so deeply? T.J. Klune is a master at tapping into our shared human experience and emotion. I fell in love with these characters, and the found family aspect of this book. There is definitely an adventure and suspense side, but overall it still has the wholesome quality of a hug in book form. If you cried watching the movie A.I., this is the book for you. Even if you didn’t, you will likely enjoy following this man and his robot friends on their adventure.

My book taste has gravitated towards fairytale retellings and sci-fi robot books this year. But that is not why I picked up this book. I got it because I loved reading Klune’s The House on the Cerulean Sea. So I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this had both! It is a beautiful and heartwarming Pinocchio retelling that’s full of adventure, love, and of course robots.
What I love about stories with robots is that they usually involve a robot that breaks from its hardwired programming to find heart and humanity. And this was no exception! My favorite was the hilarious banter between Nurse Ratched, where it wasn’t always clear if her function is to heal or murder you, and Rambo, the anxious robot vacuum.
I loved it so much, I bought a copy for myself and a friend.

Happy Publication Day!

Favorite quote: "I think he is a MILF.
Victor had never heard that before. 'What's that mean?'
'Machine I'd like to fornicate...Just kidding. I do not wish to fornicate with anything as I do not feel lust or attraction. That was a joke. However, given my knowledge of faces, I would say his is the best I have ever seen. Why is your face not as symmetrical?"

In the Lives of Puppets is a queer retelling of The Adventures of Pinocchio featuring an inventor named Victor, an anxiety-ridden Roomba vacuum named Rambo, a sociopathic nursing robot named Nurse Ratchet, and an android with a mysterious past named Hap (Hysterically Angry Puppet).

This cast of characters were so fun to follow, each very unique, and their ridiculous conversations added so much joy to my reading experience. Klune created a brilliant world filled with amazing banter, heartwarming moments, and a beautiful story that examined what being human and humanity really means.

My favorite aspects of all of Klune's books is his humor and the banter between his characters. This one had me cackling and cry laughing several times. I just loved this book. Highly recommend it and I can't wait to meet TJ Klune at an event at my work next month!

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

A truly original story using one of the oldest stories as inspiration, Klune has written a heart-warming tale about what it means to be human. The world building is incredible, and the characters are memorable. Making robots seem human is no small task and Klune excels at giving all the android characters complex personalities and emotions. I can’t recommend this book enough!