This was my first TJ Klune. I thought it was great. The story had many elements from other stories going on. When I was reading the book I was thinking of the movie The Brave Little Toaster. There’s one part where Nurse Ratched reminds me of Elektra from Pose where she first meets Hap and they are trying to talk to him and keep him in line. The book is about friendship and family and the extent one goes to save them.

I would like to personally request compensation from Mr. TJ Klune for the damages he has done to my heart. Every time I read one of his adult novels I absolutely sob while smiling at the same time and feeling like I’m losing my mind and this was absolutely no exception.

In the Lives of Puppets is some of the most incredible fiction I’ve read probably ever. The way Klune tackles the inherent idea of what it means to be human is so beautiful and poetic and heartbreaking and loving and I’m crying again just thinking about it. The relationship between Victor and the family he’s surrounded himself while also being the only human in the mix that brings a purpose to these machines other than what they were created for is so good.

The humor is amazing too. So subtle but made me laugh out loud several times. The love throughout this novel is perfection. Familial and platonic and something akin to romance while navigating the world and protecting each other in the best sort of found family way makes me want to scream.

I 1000% recommend this book. If you buy anything this year, let it be this and be reminded of the joys and sorrows of what it means to be human especially in our present world where it’s so hard to remember. This book will absolutely be staying with me for a very long time.

One word describes this book, and that is phenomenal. It is deep and meaningful in so many ways that I can't even describe. It takes a look at the futility of man, but also its strengths in ways that make you stop and think. All of these characters are uniquely written that there leaves no room to doubt who is who, but overall I'm awestruck by just how well this is written. I'm so grateful that I was given the chance to read this as an ARC. Klune is a master storyteller, so do yourself a favor and pick up a copy when it comes out; you won't be disappointed.

I was so excited when NetGalley sent me an ARC of this book. I have enjoyed everything I have read by TJ Klune, and have been eager to read this.

I know I mention this in many of my reviews, but discussing this novel without giving away too much of the plot is a challenge. I don’t want to spoil it for y’all!

[Pausing to go read the official book description.]

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised; They reveal almost everything in the blurb, which is why I usually avoid reading them. I guess that means I can continue without worrying about spoilers, as I won’t mention anything they haven’t already spoiled.

Our protagonist, Victor, lives in a world filled with robots. Some are humanoid, while others, like Rambo, are not—Rambo is obvi a modified Roomba. It’s very Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall•E. Pinocchio’s influence is also evident, especially given the epigraphs.

I absolutely love the world this story is set in—the freaky robots-rule-the-world-post-apocalypse future that we’ve all been afraid of since learning about Skynet from The Terminator. I wish there was more about how this world came to be and about the (other) robots and the City of Electric Dreams (which must be Las Vegas, right?).

Who would have imagined a sarcastic semi-psychotic nurse robot (Registered Automaton To Care, Heal, Educate and Drill—Nurse Ratched for short) and a dim-witted but loyal and loving Roomba as the ultimate family and adventure companions? Each character has unique quirks and personalities, drawing us into their world.

As we delve into Victor’s life amid a world of robots, we’re forced to reconsider our understanding of what it means to be human and reflect on the potential for artificial intelligence to experience genuine emotions and self-awareness. Can a robot truly experience emotions? Possess free will and its own unique desires? What does having a heart mean for a machine?

In conclusion, the story masterfully balances this introspection with humor, adventure, and the occasional heartstring tug, making it an engaging and thought-provoking read. This novel is a must-read for fans of TJ Klune and anyone who enjoys a unique, thought-provoking, and entertaining story. And after finishing it, you’ll be crossing your fingers and hoping for more featuring these characters and their world, just like me.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for an advance copy in exchange for sharing my opinions. All opinions in this review are my own.

After reading and loving The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door, I had really high hopes for this one. It started out strong and I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook because the narrator's voices for the robots were incredible. I was laughing out loud at times and I enjoyed the thoughtfulness that went into each character, especially Nurse Ratched and Rambo. The setting was described perfectly and once again, Klune had me wishing that the world he created was a real place.

When I was about a quarter of the way through though, I started to lose interest. I thought the sexual references were too frequent and felt a little weird since most of the comments were referring to robots. I was loving the characters and wanted to continue to love them, but some of their dialogue and banter became annoying after a while. This book wasn't for me, but I have seen some amazing reviews for it, so if you've loved Klune's books in the past, I wouldn't shy away from it without reading other reviews first.

Thank you NetGalley, Tor Books and MacMillan Audio for sharing digital and audio copies with me!

An enormous thank you to NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group, and the amazing TJ Klune for providing me with an eARC of this book. I am voluntarily leaving a review, all opinions are my own.

This was such a wonderful story. I was sucked in from the beginning, though anything with robots has always fascinated me. I'm also a sucker for groups of misfits setting off on epic journeys against the odds, and this was such a great rendition of that.

The characters were fantastic- I loved Vic and his sheer determination to see the journey through to its end, no matter what that meant or how the odds were stacked against them. Gio was such a great character, I loved learning more about him as the story progressed and what happened to make him who he was. Nurse Rached was hilarious and added so much to the story, as did Rambo- that little vacuum was the greatest comedic relief possible, he reminded me so much of Wall-E and I loved him all the more for it.

I will forever read anything that Klune writes, it started with The House in the Cerulean Sea, and then I got to read Under the Whispering Door as an ARC, and I adored them both so much. This one was no different, it kept me reading from beginning to end, just wanting to know how it all played out in the end. I absolutely cannot wait for whatever story comes next. I loved the sci-fi spin on this Pinocchio retelling.

I cannot express how much I loved this book. TJ Klune combines fantasy and science fiction better than most and creates such a beautiful and heartfelt story. While drawing from Sci-Fi legends like Asimov and Dick, Klune takes his characters on a journey akin to that of Frank L. Baum's story through the land of Oz. Even though he takes inspiration from such legends of genre fiction Klune creates his own futuristic tale of robots and humanity.

I could not put this book down and I enjoyed every page of this often funny, other times heart wrenching, journey that Klune has so masterfully written

I received an advance digital copy in exchange for
an honest review. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher.

Gio is living a peaceful life in the forest when two people show up and fearfully beg him to protect their child until they return. This, we are told, is the beginning of the relationship between Gio and Victor Lawson, father and son.

As Victor grows, he, like his father, becomes a creator. From the scrap yards, he crafts Rambo, a vacuum with child-like innocence, and Nurse Ratched, whose name should tell you all you need to know - except she’s also a robot. When these three friends discover a discarded human-ish robot, we then meet Hap, the hysterically angry puppet.

Similar to Klune’s previous novels, the book focuses on the importance of family and relationships, the many different ways we find and express love, our human flaws, and the importance of hope. Did I adore it as much as Under the Whispering Door? No. But would I read it again? Yes. Would I recommend it? Absolutely.

Pub date: April 25, 2023.

Thanks to TJ Klune, Tor Books and Netgalley for this ARC in return for my honest review.

Another wonderful book by TJ Klune! Like his previous books, you can't help but fall in love with the main character and the friends and family they find along the way. In the Lives of Puppets is perfect for old fans and new fans of all ages.

Klune is a very successful American author of many novels including "The House in the Cerulean Sea" and "Under the Whispering Door". This new release is a listed as fantasy, but leans more towards the science fiction and is a very loose retelling of the story of Pinocchio. Set in the future, we meet three robots, Gio (an inventor), Nurse Ratched (a nurse android) and Rambo (a vacuum). We also meet Victor who is human. Their peaceful life is interrupted when Vic is out scavenging and rescues another robot he has named HAP and both HAP's and Gio's pasts are brought to light. When one of them is captured, a rescue mission ensues. This is a thought provoking, humorous adventure story that is also a cautionary tale about artificial intelligence. It is a wonderful recommendation for his already many fans, but also something to recommend to fans of books such as Matt Haig's "The Humans" or Martin L Shoemaker's "Today I Am Carey". I really enjoyed it.

As an avid reader of all things fantasy and speculative fiction, T. J. Klune has quickly become one of my favorite authors. In The Lives of Puppets is different from his previous novels. While it evokes the same sense of nostalgia and familiarity of his previous works, it is unique in that it is set in a world run by machines. Filled with unique characters and witty dialogue, I can see this book easily becoming a classic.

Victor Lawson is throughly lovable. He makes mistakes and doesn’t always know what his next move will be. He believes that everything deserves another chance and that you don’t always have to do what you’re programmed for. While the world building is perhaps not as strong as it could be, the depth of characters more than makes up for it.

A Pinocchio reimagining, In The Lives of Puppets reminds us that time is finite, we must live while we can, and above all else, be brave.

This is an outstanding story about love in all its forms and written with TJ Klunes gentle voice. The world building is outstanding and the heart and depth of the story is impressive. The story takes us on a quest to rescue Giovanni Lawson. Victor Lawson is the only human remaining in a world where the robots have taken over and eradicated humans. With the help of Ratched a sociopathic nurse, Rambo, a loving but anxious vacuum, and HAP, short for hysterically angry puppet. Victor embarks on his rescue mission to save his father. Along the way, as they travel to the City of Electric Dreams., the group experiences many obstacles. It is only with love, forgiveness, friendship, and family that they will reach their goal.

This is a must read. I would love to see this made into a movie as well. It has a wonderful message.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for the gifted copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is the “it’s not you, it’s me” of book reviews. There is nothing bad to say about this book except that I haven’t been able to focus on it,

The section of this book that I have read so far is beautiful. It’s shaping up to be a classic TJ Klune exploration of love, family, and what it means to be alive. The writing is charming and world building is exquisite. However, I can’t get into the right headspace to really appreciate it so I’m setting it aside for now. I’ll finish it when I can give it the attention it deserves.

This was the first TJ Klune book I read after many recommendations from colleagues and I was blown away by the characters and their depth. The characters absolutely sold this book for me: Victor's anxieties and emotions, his worries and shaky bravery feel so real in contrast to the robotic society around him. This really emphasizes his humanity, like he is ultra human to make up for the fact that he's surrounded by androids. His relationship with Hap is complicated, leaving room for questions and uncertainties, but because of that I thought it did a good job of showing the intricacies of regular human relationships.

While I wish there was more complex world building to help us better understand this alternative society, I really enjoyed the growth through the story and felt really at home with the characters.

I'm in total awe of another TJ Klune masterpiece. TJ Klune is an auto-buy author for me because not only does he know how to craft a beautiful written piece of work, but he also knows how to tackle big personal issues. As an LGTBQI+ author, TJ wrote another story of past history that comes alive in today's presence with robots. Do these robots tackle the meaning of love with strings attached? OR do the robots leave it up for fate to decide? YOU must see this story for yourself!

I honestly hate to give a less-than-shining review of a TJ Klune book after absolutely loving The House In the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door and anxiously awaiting this new one. The two aforementioned novels are among my favorites and I love the queer and magical worlds you get to dive into with Klune. However, this one just fell short for me. It took me a while to get into it and I feel like it could have been a lot shorter. I am glad I requested both the audio and digital ARC of this one because I really needed the audio to push through the beginning. Retellings are fun and I did enjoy the story, but this one felt more YA (and I do love a lot of YA, but sometimes the YA is a little too YA when you are approaching 30, if that makes sense) than the other books I have read by Klune and I was not expecting that. While I do not regret reading this one, I will definitely be recommending other works by this author over this one in the future. Thank you to NetGalley for the audio and digital ARCs!

I had previously enjoyed Klune’s other adult novels, The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door. Both are beautiful, gentle, fantasy reads. I was hoping for and found more of the same from Klune’s latest work In the Lives of Puppets, but what I love about Klune’s work is that despite some similarities with his other works, such as a strong found family and embracing individuality and diversity in a world that often makes those who do not conform feel like outsiders, there is also a great deal of originality and creativity in the characters and stories that he shares.

In the Lives of Puppets takes inspiration from the classic story of Pinocchio and then weaves a very modern story about a group of robots and one young man, Victor, living a sweet fairytale existence in their treehouse compound in the woods, until one day the father figure is snatched away by a whale like air ship and Victor and his friends including the newly restored and refurbished HAP set out to rescue him. The story looks at what it means to be human in a world filled with AI and if it is possible to overcome one’s past programming to become a new and better person. There is humor from Rambo, a neurotic rumba desperate for approval, and a nurse robot who is both equal parts motherly and sadistic. If like me, you loved Guillermo del Toro’s recent film retelling of the classic story, this one is also definitely worth checking out. I received an advance copy of In the Lives of Puppets from Netgalley and the publisher in order to provide an honest review. The book will be available April 25.

I have read and unconditionally loved UTWD as well as HITCS and this book was the toughest for me to get into. HITCS might be my most favorite book ever and I don't understand why I struggled with In the Lives of Puppets because the writing was as amazing as ever and the characters were pretty great. I would say it took me to almost 50% of the book to actually get invested and willingly keep going. I love TJ Klune and his books, but this one was hard for me.

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: Previous to reading this book I had read Klune's "The House in the Cerulean Sea" (loved it), "Under the Whispering Door" (loved it), and "Tales from Verania" (liked it). I ended up liking this story a lot but not loving it as much as I loved Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.

This book is set in the future where a robot, Gio, has raised a young human boy, now older, named Victor. Victor finds another decommissioned robot in the scrapyard named HAP. This find triggers a series of events that reveals secrets that Gio has kept from Victor and Victor ends up on an unlikely adventure to the City of Electric Dreams.

Compared to Klune's normally flawless writing style, this book felt a bit off to me. It starts slow and a lot of the sex robot jokes and the heavy theme of sexuality throughout the book seemed a bit jarring when taken with the other themes of family and love. This was almost like a blend of the prevalent sex jokes of the "Tales of Verania" and the themes of love and family of "Cerulean Sea" and "Whispering Door".

Additionally, although I grew to love the quirky characters here, at points they felt over-characterized. Rambo was just sooo ignorant and naive, and Nurse Ratchet was sooo serial killer crazy...etc. It just took me awhile to fall in love with them and really engage with them. This is another thing I haven't had an issue with in Klune's previous books.

I did enjoy the adventure Vic and crew had on their way to the City of Electric Dreams; this is where things really started to pick up for me (I think that was about halfway through the book). The overall world-building and plot seemed a bit tired. The whole "humanity is taken over by the AI they created" theme has been done sooo many times before. There were some small twists to the theme and story that helped this book not to feel completely stagnant.

The book was easy enough to read and there is a lot of goofy humor in here that had me chuckling. The story leaves you feeling happy and hopeful. I enjoyed the book but just didn't fall into it and love it as much as other recent Klune novels.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I really enjoyed this book, but it wasn't as amazingly awesome as Cerulean Sea and Whispering Door were. It took me a bit to get into the story and engage with the characters. I also felt like the world-building was a bit lacking. It's a fun read though and if you enjoy the whole "what it means to be human" in a world of robots, you'll probably enjoy this. I did love the humor and the crazy characters. I am eager to see what Klune writes next.

3,5⭐️
A dystopian sci-fi retelling of The Adventures of Pinocchio with reversed situation. Instead of a puppet boy living in human world, it’s a human boy living in the world ruled by machines.

There’s a band of misfits living in the forest: A creator android as the father figure, a boy, a nurse machine, a vacuum robot, and the last addition of the member: a mysterious android called Hysterically Angry Puppet.

There’s some trace of the original plot but it’s adapted and given new flavors. Overall its so heartwarming and fun, but something about the writing was off for me and idk why the jokes should be sensual sometimes. The ending made me weep so that’s that