This was an epic queer positive Pinocchio reimagining that features a found family of robots and one real human boy. Full of all Klune's trademark humor and heartbreaking moments that are sure to make you cry. Great on audio and highly recommended for fans of the Monk and Robot series by Becky Chambers. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early digital copies in exchange for my honest review!

“i have learned what it means to be alive. remember that, in the end. i am alive. and i will never let you see what’s in my heart. it was never for you.”

me every time i file a tj klune book under comfort read: something in the air….is changing….

hidden high up in the branches of a grove of trees live a strange little family— victor (human), gio (victor’s android father), a sadistic nurse machine, and a vacuum riddled with anxiety. when vic salvages an android labeled “HAP” from the scrap yards, he learns of a shared past between his father and hap. but one can only run for so long. when gio’s past catches up to him, he is captured and taken back to his former laboratory—one where gio and hap were once programmed to hunt humans.

to quote the great taylor swift: i think i’ve seen this film before. it is undeniable that klune has carved out a space for books about humanity. what does it mean to be human? why we do the things we do despite it’s futility? you’d think i’d have grown tired of it by now.

wrong.

this time it’s puppets. to look at machines through the eyes of a human and have that flipped around: to look at the lens of humanity through something not quite human at all. this time it begs the question: tell me about that heart that beats inside your chest. why does it matter when all it does is hurt?

there's something so special in finding that answer through the eyes of a machine. each breath, each laugh, each frown. it feels like a gift watching vic breathe life into them, to be the very heart beating in a chest of bolts and gears.

as for the question of why i don’t think i’ll ever tire of klune’s explorations of humanity—for as much as his books shatter my already fragile psyche, i'll never stop loving a reminder of how alive we are, how complex and disturbing and sometimes, foolishly brilliant. its so easy to forget all of this.

everywhere and everywhen, i love to search for home. to find it in the most unexpected of places. the relationship between each character is so profound that you can’t help but know in your bones that they belong together. they choose, they fight, they sacrifice. they pull each other back from the ledge and put each other’s pieces back together when they fall. pulling each other from the wreckage and starting over, building home, rediscovering memories and making new ones. pausing, but never stopping.

and ultimately, living for the hope of it all. hope that we can choose whoever we want to be. to be different. to be better. to make a choice. there are no strings on me. hope that whatever we are, it is enough.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy! Klune is one of my favourite authors and he didn't disappoint me with this one. A beautiful story that felt like a big gay hug. Absolutely enjoyable!

I flew through this book because I didn't want to put it down. It was hilarious, heartwarming, and devastating all in one package. It absolutely did not disappoint.

TJ Klune always has such great characters. In the Lives of Puppets is a new take on a Pinnochio type story but is also so much more. It was just a lot of good fun to meet all of the characters.

TJ Klune has done it again! I don't read a lot in the scifi/fantasy genre but his books make me feel so happy and cozy. This is a beautiful story of a found family of robots and a human that made me laugh and cry.

This book is so many things and addresses so many huge ideas that it is virtually impossible to distill it into a summary or even a relatively coherent explanation of why I loved it. It is beautiful. Heartbreaking. Funny. Depressing. Wonderful. On the surface it is about a man named Victor, his father Gio, and their friends. But going deeper, it is about the nature of creation and friendship, love and destruction. It is a quest, both to retrieve a missing person and to find what it means to exist. Honestly, it is too much to explain - just read it and then let's talk about it, okay?

Thank you Tor Books and NetGalley for early access to In the Lives of Puppets.

🎵”Heaven, I’m in heaven.”🎵

Oh Mr. Klune. The way you write these weird, interesting, unique misfit characters that just grab on to my heart and never let go is just absolutely beyond!

Rambo, Nurse Ratched, Gio, Hap and Victor have forever places in my heart and in my mind just like the characters in Cerulean Sea and Whispering Door.

This is one of my shortest reviews because I just don’t have the words to describe how much the humanity, kindness, and togetherness of this book and the two mentioned above me What an impact the words you use and the characters you create and the worlds you imagine make on readers.

I got an advanced digital copy but I now will go buy a physical copy so this book can live next to your others on my forever shelf.

Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced copy and most importantly thank you to TJ Klune for…well…everything!

“Be it man or machine, Victor thought, to love something meant loving the ghost inside, to be haunted by it. Humanity -that nebulous concept he didn't always understand had lived and died by their creations.
Perhaps Victor would too, one day, a final lesson in what it meant to exist.”

//

TJ Klune’s newest novel is a queer retelling of Pinocchio with it’s own futuristic sci-fi spin. It was a sweet story telling of found family, acceptance, forgiveness, and humanity. It also tackles the extremely topical discussion of the impact of robots/AI on our world and what could happen if they became conscious.

In The Lives of Puppets has the quirky, diverse characters that readers have come to expect with a Klune novel. Overall, this story was enjoyable but doesn’t beat Cerulean Sea or Whispering Door!

thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

(I’m trying to think of the right words after reading this book. I think all my TJ Klune reviews probably start this way.)

I usually read romcoms. Happy, happy romcoms. But I love how TJ Klune writes, so I keep going back for more. His deeply descriptive settings, his unique and lovable characters, his subtle lessons for humanity… his blatant lessons for humanity. In the Lives of Puppets is no different.

You can read the synopsis and get the drift of what the book is about, and I don’t want to drop any spoilers, so I’ll just say this… read this book if you enjoyed Under the Whispering Door and The House in the Cerulean Sea. It may not have beat Cerulean Sea as my favorite Klune novel, but… it’s really good and I couldn’t wait to see how it ended.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for In the Lives of Puppets to come out on April 25, 2023!

TJ Klune, I love you for this. Everything about this book was perfect. This made me audibly laugh more than any book I’ve picked up in a long time. The dialogue was absolutely insane, and I could sit and read the banter between Nurse Ratched and Rambo for hours. A unique, heartfelt, and devastating story that I’ll think about for a long time. I want to give this book a hug.

If there’s one thing TJ Klune’s gonna do, it’s leave you with a tear in your eye. What a beautifully told story of hope, resilience, legacy, and what it means to be human. While this is billed as a Pinocchio retelling, I would say it’s only that on the surface, but it’s not screaming Pinocchio at every turn and is definitely so much more. I absolutely ADORED the characters. Particularly the cynical, sadistic Nurse Ratched, and the adorable, wholesome Rambo. I promise you will fall in love with them too.

ITLOP didn’t leave me a gooey blob like The House in the Cerulean Sea or a blubbering mess like Under the Whispering Door, but it struck a chord with me nonetheless. Keep writing, TJ, I’ll keep reading!

Klune’s writing style and wit really shines through in this book. The characters, especially Nurse Ratched and Rambo, are true gems and add much needed humorous elements. The character conversations can be very funny and endearing. Unlike “Cerulean Sea,” this book tends to drag a bit and could have benefited from some streamlining of certain story elements. The biggest reason I’m giving this a 4 instead of a 5 is that, without giving away spoilers, I felt that the romantic element was…very awkward. I felt super uncomfortable with it for a reason I can’t put my finger on. It just seemed icky to me and I cringed a lot any time that facet of the story was referenced.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for an ARC of this book!

There aren’t enough glowing words to express how much I love this story! Part sci-if, part family drama with such great world building and strong characters. There’s nothing negative I can say about this one.
Gio Lawson builds a house in the middle of the woods and invents a sarcastic nurse machine called Nurse Ratched and a small people pleasing vacuum called Rambo. One day a couple appears out of nowhere and leaves a baby with Gio, never to be seen or heard from again. Geo thinks it is a gift from the universe for his years of loneliness and raises him as his son, Victor.
Gio is an inventor and Victor, now aged 22, enjoys going to the dump and finding parts of abandoned robots and rebuilding them. He rebuilds an android they name HAP, without realizing the dark past that HAP shares with Gio.
Vic and the Gang have to save his father, who has been taken to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams to be reprogrammed and in the process, Vic has to deal with his feelings for HAP.
I loved the found family and the fun banter between the characters was a treasure to enjoy. TJ Klune knows how to get to my heart and he has done it again.
Thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

This book yall. 👏🏻⁣
I was lucky enough to get an eARC and audio ARC of this fantastic book and went back and forth reading and listening and it was fabulous.⁣
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The narrator for this was chefs kiss amazing! The way in which every single character had their own unique voice and even robotic voices was fabulous. This story was brought to life and I didn’t want to stop listening. ⁣
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The subtle messages woven throughout this story on being kind, giving people second chances. Just because you’re broken doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a second chance or a chance at a different life. And so many more were just so beautiful. ⁣
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This book has so much heart and soul. Each character has their own personality and struggles. They may be robots but they each teach such beautiful lessons and are a family in their own way and can rely on one another.⁣
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This had Pinocchio and Wizard of Oz vibes. Vic and his friends on a journey to find his dad. The robot vacuum finding courage when he’s usually afraid. Nurse ratchet having sociopathic tendencies finding empathy, once HARP now HAP, a robot made to harm humans, now has a heart and adores Vic. ⁣
This was such a creative story with brilliant narration. I adored it. ⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TJ Klune is one of those authors that just warms my heart. In the Lives of Puppets starts off as a fairytale and quickly becomes a mysterious journey on the path to finding family. The language is beautiful and from the moment the vacuum robot Rambo made himself a penis, I was hooked. The snark is strong with Ratched and Rambo is sweet, but Victor is the lost boy in the woods searching for home that we can all relate to.

4.5 stars

I'm so absolutely honored to have gotten an early copy of this book. TJ Klune is a master of the found family, and for warming my heart through the power of his words.

This was a beautiful, futuristic, fantastical Pinocchio retelling. Nurse Ratched and Rambo made me genuinely laugh out loud, and will probably be my favorite characters of the year. I adored Vic and his personal growth and bravery.

I would recommend this book hands down to anyone looking for a pick-me-up. What an absolutely delightful journey this was.

I was fully entertained, loved meeting all the unique and magical characters, and loved the message of found family, loyalty, and resilience. It would make a great animated movie!

If you plan to read it, I strongly recommend the audio version. Daniel Henning gives each character an entire WARDROBE of personality with each voice.

[Thank you Tor-Forge and NetGalley for the e-Arc!]

In the Lives of Puppets was such a charming read! If you grew up with fairy tales and enjoy sci-fi, I definitely recommend giving this book a chance. It's a Pinnochio (the original story, not the Disney version) retelling with lovable characters and a compelling plot. I mean, who wouldn't want to read a Hero's Journey set in a dystopian tech future?

I found the book a bit hard to get into in the beginning because it was pretty slow-paced. However, I could not put it down once things started picking up and the exposition concluded.

This was my first TJ Klune book, and I'll have to read some of his other works!

I had a digital review copy of this e-book but waited with crossed fingers, hoping to snag an advanced listening copy of the audiobook. Success! Narrator Henning is BRILLIANT (as he was in THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA). Each character is hilariously voiced and drawn like the funniest cartoon.

In a flipped script of Pinnochio, we have one human (Victor) surrounded by puppets (robots and androids). There’s lots of love and acceptance, loads of witty banter, and a sprinkling of surprising sexual innuendo. (They feel like an inside joke for the parents watching a cartoon if that makes sense.)

I was utterly entertained, loved meeting all the unique and magical characters, and appreciated the message of found family, loyalty, and resilience. It would make a fantastic animated movie! Someone should call Pixar.

If you plan to read it, I strongly recommend the audio version. Daniel Henning gives each character an entire WARDROBE of personality with each voice.

Thanks, NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and Tor Books, for the ALC and DRC.