Thank you Tor Books for providing me with an ARC.

I definitely enjoyed my time reading this book. Klune consistently writes magical worlds with adorable found families. I loved the pinocchio retelling aspect. You’re launched right into a silly family dynamic with hilarious banter. It’s a very cute and very heartwarming story.

Beautiful and thoughtful. This story will leave you with an ache in your chest (but in the best way possible).

I liked this book. It wasn't my favorite out of the other books I've read by TJ Klune, but it still had the vibes I was going for. I liked the forest setting but wish there was more of a cozy aspect to it. I'm typically not a big fan of sci-fi and especially sci-fi with robots, but I decided to give this a shot anyways. I didn't love it, I found it boring at times, but overall I would recommend it to certain people. My mom really loves all of TJ Klune's books, and I can see her enjoying this one, so I assume most of his fans will as well.

📗Book Review📗

Thank you to @torbooks for the eARC of In the Lives of Puppets.

In the Lives of Puppets is a general Pinocchio retelling, but only in very loose ways. There is only one human in this story, Victor Lawson. How this young man came to be and the journey he must take in this book are very imaginative. I liked the story and how it developed, but it wasn’t a book that had me dying to pick it back up when I had to set it down for real-life responsibilities.

My absolute favorite parts of this book are Victor’s companion characters of Nurse Ratched and Rambo, a hilariously sadistic nurse machine and a small vacuum respectively. The banter between these two machines is top notch and I would read any spin-off or novella featuring these two. Perhaps, they might’ve even stolen the show for me?

Lots of deep topics explored in this book, including what it means to be human. This was a thinker, but not a rapid page turner book.

I recommend this one to former Klune readers, but if you’re new to this author I’d probably recommend Under the Whispering Door first. Good, solid read, but not my absolute favorite from him.

This book had a lot of wonderful insight and was an intriguing concept for what could happen as humans continue to become increasingly dependent on technology. It poses a lot of questions, such as the meaning behind what it really means to be human, and makes the reader really think and reflect. The characters were lovable and quirky. It was a little slow in terms of pacing at times but overall this is an enjoyable read.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first TJ Klune novel, and I loved it so much. It’s a retelling of the Adventures of Pinocchio, but with robots. Victor, Gio, Rambo, Nurse Ratched, and Hap are the sweetest found family and a beautiful testament of love, loyalty, and sacrifice. It’s also a story about humanity and having the ability to choose who you want to be. Just… so good. There are some books in which the themes and stories will affect me for quite sometime after I read them, and this book is no exception. It took me a bit longer to read it than previous books, because I just wanted to sit with the story. I also love books that can make me laugh unexpectedly, and this book continued to do that from cover to cover. The banter from Nurse Ratched and Rambo continued to make me laugh so hard, and they reminded me of C-3PO and R2-D2 a bit.

Honestly? Robots aren't really my thing. But I adore this author and knew he wouldn't let me down. My copy is filled with highlights and notes because there is so much to love in this book.

Klune took some people's fear of a world in which robots take over and made it endearing by bringing the characters to life. You get to know all the characters intimately. There's Rambo, with his incessant rambling, Nurse Ratched, the sociopath, who has the best sense of humor, HAP, who's learning a whole new way of life, Gio, who made this all happen, and his son Victor, an exceptional young man. (Also, when I read Victor Lawson, I immediately thought of The Bloggess, and now I need her to read this.) The world seems hopeless at times, and this little crew is the shining beacon in that bleak world.

I want to talk more about Nurse Ratched because she was my absolute favorite character. She is always on. She's hilarious but so very complex. There are layers to her. She is thoughtful and caring, witty, and feeds well off others. She's emotional without showing it, and it feels like she has walls up to protect herself. I could go on all day because she's one of my favorite fictional characters.

I laughed so much reading this, and I love the humanity Klune brought to the robots. I also cried a few times. This book is an absolute whirlwind. The dystopian premise, the humanity, the love, it's all this fantastic bundle of goodness. When you finish reading, you will be left with so many feels that will stay with you for a long time, and I cannot recommend this book enough.

Thank you to TOR for letting me read an early copy of IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS by TJ KLUNE. This book publishes on April 25.

I absolutely loved THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA, it's one I've bought multiple copies of for friends. I also enjoyed UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR by Klune quite a lot. When I finished both of those books, I wiped my tears and gave the book a little kiss after. This one didn't really leave me with the same feeling. This is a retelling of Pinocchio and it's a great story full of unforgettable characters and is super entertaining, but I can't put it on the same level as the other books I've read by TJ Klune. I still recommend this one!! I can't wait to talk about it!

This is a delightful story about a human, Vic, who raised by robots. His father, Gio, Rambo (a vacuum), and Nurse Ratched. I absolutely loved the quirky vacuum robot, Rambo but I had a hard time connecting with the other characters. There are Pinocchio retelling threads throughout and I liked how those themes were cleverly woven into the plot. I found that the artificial intelligence and human interactions were well-written and definitely made me think about the role A.I. will have in the future.

I enjoyed the ending and felt that TJ Klune did a great job writing about forgiveness and mistakes but I struggled with the overall pace of the book. It just seemed too long and I found my mind wandering while trying to finish. I will continue to recommend and read more of TJ Klune's books as he is an amazing author but I just didn't find this one to be very engaging.

Thank you to TJ Kline, Tor Publishing Group, and NetGalley for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book although it slowed down a little at times - I was caught up in the story and the characters. How you can you not absolutely adore the secondary characters. In fact, I think that was thing I enjoyed the most. This book actually gave me Wizard of Oz vibes even though I believe it was supposed to be more Pinocchio. I was definitely routing for the characters and although I would of liked a more concrete happy ending this one was happy enough and probably more fitting then anything super happy. It was quirky and charming and thoroughly enjoyable.

This did not land for me! If you're familiar with Klune's backlist, this to me is the most similar in tone and plot to The Lightning-Struck Heart which is not my favourite of his. Generally, richly-created characters are what make Klune's books enjoyable for me, and I found these characters a little bit hollow. The plot here was also quite thin for the length of the book, and I don't think that any themes were explored with any amount of depth. Overall, this was just lacking for me!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the e-ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for giving me an ARC (eGalley) to review. Always excited to read new works from Tor Books and this was no exception <3

In the Lives of Puppets is an interesting story that was fun to dive into and heart-warming to finish. I was hoping this book would end up being a five-star read for me, but while I did enjoy the story, world, and ending of this novel there were a few elements that fell short.

The concept and world are great but I wanted so much more from this novel. That being said, I would still recommend In the Lives of Puppets as the journey brings you to a beautiful ending.

What I Enjoyed

1. This reminded me so much of The Iron Giant and The Brave Little Toaster but for adults. The inclusion of robots is an obvious similarity but the overall tone of the book matches with those films. The quirkiness of the robots in particular is what gave me The Iron Giant and The Brave Little Toaster vibes. The Iron Giant was one of my fave movies so I thoroughly enjoyed having another piece of media that reminded me of that movie.

2. All the robots have interesting designs and unique personalities. I love a robot with anxiety yet a peppy attitude and thus I'm a big fan of Rambo. Nurse Ratched took a while to grow on me, as at first, she seemed to just slot into so many stereotypes, but I liked her character the more I got to see her develop and interact with Victor. The robots were charming and fun!

3. I would love to see this as a film adaptation. The writing reads like a film to me and the uniqueness of the world could make for great visuals. In my mind, I could see this film as a claymation. Think of the movie Coraline but with more bright colors and talking robots. In a way, I think this book is almost better suited as a film than as a book due to its formulaic nature (which works great for films) and that the film would be able to highlight the unique visual world of In the Lives of Puppets.

4. Although the characters are primarily robots, this book is incredibly human. The ending was, in my opinion, beautiful, and it's what brought up my rating from three stars to four. It ended appropriately for the journey we were brought on and left me satisfied. The story is emotional and grapples with what makes us human.

How It Could Be Improved

1. My biggest peeve is that this reads like a Young Adult (YA) novel but is an Adult novel. While reading, I checked online multiple times to make sure this wasn't actually a YA novel and I was mistaken. The novel is written in the formulaic way that YA novels are written and the parts that are more "adult" felt thrown in to make the book feel more adult. This book may have been better suited as a New Adult novel and the more "adult" aspects could have been better handled.

2. One of the "adult" aspects of the book threw me off. All the mentions of sex (for those curious, there are no sex scenes just mentions of sex and arousal) felt forced and easily could have been taken out. I would have preferred if they weren't in the story because they did not add much. If there was meant to be some sexual tension between Vic and Hap, I could understand that, but there was very little of that, and most mentions of sex came from the robots. Every time sex or arousal was mentioned, it felt thrown into the story a bit aggressively and I would have liked to see the story without it. Please note this is not a huge part of the story, so don't let this deter you from reading it. You can easily skim past the parts that mention sex/arousal and still understand and enjoy the story.

3. This is meant to be a Pinocchio retelling. It was by no means a true retelling, which is all fine and I can still appreciate when a work isn't a true retelling, however, the way in which Pinocchio was used felt like proper nouns from Pinocchio were being thrown around without the storyline really needing it to be there. If you replace all the use of proper nouns from Pinocchio with original proper nouns, the story would be just as interesting. The proper nouns from Pinocchio sometimes took me out of the story and the world too, so I even can see original proper nouns being more effective for the story. There are also so many pop culture references in general that the story becomes muddled with them. I wish this would have leaned more on the use of original content than on the Pinocchio retelling aspect and on the pop culture references. Not to say the story isn't original, but because it is so original that the use of Pinocchio as a crutch takes away from the originality of the story.

4. I talk a lot about what should be taken out of the story, but in its place, I would have liked to see Klune build more on the characterization of each character and the relationships between these characters. At times the characters, while still unique and interesting, felt as if they were falling into common stereotypes, and more focus on making them live outside of those stereotypes or even breaking those stereotypes would have been interesting. The characters are what keep me invested in a story, but I do feel the characters are so important to Klune's story. A story about what makes someone (or even something) human, which relies on the relationships between characters, can improve by focusing much more on characterization and veering away from stereotypes.

I also felt the relationships between characters could have been better developed, slowed down, and more detailed. I would have liked to see more father-son moments between Gio and Vic before Vic is separated from Gio to make the separation more emotional. I also wanted more interactions between Vic and Hap, specifically more interactions that connect the two characters on a more romantic level. I would have liked to see the story slow down to give us more intimate moments between these core relationships to make the impact of the story even stronger.

While I had a lot of thoughts on how In the Lives of Puppets could improve, I also felt a strong connection to the story and thought the ending made the journey worth it. I recommend purchasing it when it comes out and giving it a read.

I am a huge fan of T.J. Klune‘s writing and this book is no exception. That being said, it is NOTHING like the others. I have read. This book is a science- fiction/fantasy, a queer love story, a tale of unlikely friendships and a lesson in morality and equality. It is about making mistakes and finding forgiveness. The story begins in future Oregon, where Victor ( a human boy) is living with his dad Gio in a robotic world. The adventure really starts when Vic and his friends set out to rescue his father. Klune makes us think about issues facing us in todays society-racism, sexism, hate crimes, and prejudices-and while the story is whimsical and laugh-out-loud funny in parts, it still sends a clear message of the importance of tolerance and inclusion. The characters are lovable and quirky and the descriptions are vivid. There are so many quotes that I found relevant that it was hard to choose a favorite but I especially liked when Victor told the Blue Fairy “The past doesn’t have to define the future “. While not at all what I expected, I enjoyed every page. Another winner for T.J. Klune!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am a big fan of TJ Klune and will read just about anything he writes. I have enjoyed his previous books immensely and In the Lives of Puppets was no different. One of my favorite things about Klune's previous books has been the aspect of found family, In the Lives of Puppets included that too. I enjoyed all the characters, especially Rambo, the anxious Roomba!

Klune's books have always been unapologetically queer, but I especially appreciated the ace representation Klune included in this story. Sexuality is a spectrum and Victor showcases this very well. My most favorite parts of the book, however, were the characters and the dialogue between them. I loved Victor and Hap, their relationship was so wholesome and sweet despite the hardships they've both been through. Gio, despite all his flaws, was such a loving father and I appreciated Klune not shying away from the darker parts of Gio's past. Nurse Ratched and Rambo were the real stars of the show, though. Such quirky and lovable characters, and they added some much needed humor to the story as well.

In the Lives of Puppets was such a treat from start to finish and if you have enjoyed Klune's previous books, then I am sure you will enjoy this one as well. Such a fantastic read, I look forward to whatever Klune writes next!

Unfortunately for me, IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS was missing the magic I found in UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR and THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA. I'm also undecided on how I feel about the plot points that circled around the potentially romantic love between a human and an android. Rambo (an anxiety-riddled Roomba vacuum) and Nurse Ratched (a sociopathic nursing machine, the Registered Automaton To Care, Heal, Educate and Drill) get all 5 stars though. I loved how their personalities balanced each other out.

Overall I found that I never ended up caring for Victor Lawson, or what happened to him and that I mainly stuck along just to see what Rambo and Nurse Ratched got up to. It's an interesting reimagining of THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO and SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, but after really loving UTWD and THITCS, my expectations were super high. I can see other people loving this book, and I am glad I read it, it just turned out to not be what I was expecting based on the other novels I've read from Klune.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group, and Tor Books in exchange for an honest review.

I am not a fan of Pinocchio anything, I just have never liked it. I do however, love TJ Klune. This book was really good and it surprised me that I enjoyed it. It felt very familiar and unique at the same time, I think in part because of his character building. Everyone was so loveable even with their faults and I'm also a sucker for found family.

I will note that the amount of sexual jokes may be off putting for some, there were a lot more than I normally prefer.

Thank you so much to Tor Books, NetGalley, and TJ Klune for this ARC! This book is set to published on April 25, 2023.

I was expecting this book to be all about puppets and a real close Pinocchio retelling but it's definitely it's own story. At first I was confused about all the characters because everyone was introduced so fast but I caught on shortly after reading a bit more. This is a sci-fi adventure story with highly likeable characters, Rambo (roomba vacuum) and HAP being my favorites. TJ Klune always creates such heartwarming stories that tug on a few of your heartstrings.

Rating:4.25/5 Stars
I really loved The House in the Cerulean Sea but this one is a close second!

Once again TJ Klune has written characters and a world that I just want to go live in. From the author’s note on the first page I knew I was going to love this book. The tone and the writing just take you right into the setting and makes you immediately fall in love with the characters. Don’t let the fact that this is about robots scare you off if that is not your normal thing. If you loved his other books you will love this one too. With hints of Pinocchio and to me Wall-E this story is not even really about robots. It’s about the family you choose and overcoming your past to make your own future. Vic is the he only human in his little family of robots. His dad Gio has a past hidden from his son that soon comes out to cause chaos as he is snatched back into it. Vic, Nurse Ratched (automated nursing machine that gives of Lucy vibes if you have read Cerulean Sea) Rambo the little vacuum robot and HAP the android they rescued and brought back to “life” set off on an adventure to save Gio from his past. Such an amazing read and I’m so sad it’s over. Well done #tjklune and thank you to #netgalley for the chance to read and review. #thelivesofpuppets #bookstagram #bookreview #booksaremylife

Honestly, I was a bit skeptical, the setting sounds weird. But then I got into it and it was another very well written, feel good-book from an author who has as of yet never disappointed. I would not recommend it as the first book by the author (for this, I stick with The House..), but I think it's more easily accessible than Under the Whispering Door (the ending of which didn't really fit, btw).

3.5 stars, rounded up

I absolutely love, love, LOVED <i>House in the Cereulean Sea</i> and<i> Under the Whispering Door</i>, so it pains me a little to say that I had a much harder time connecting with <i>In the Lives of Puppets.</i>

Part <i>Pinocchio</i> and part <i>Wizard of Oz</i>, mixed with a few dashes of other tales and a pinch of steampunk...it seems like it should have been another total hit for me, but it just took me SO long to get into the story that I was never really fully immersed into it.

Ultimately, I did enjoy this one, and the characters were delightful in that special TJ Klune way, so I'm going to chalk my feelings on this one to me still being in a book slump. I'm pretty sure that everyone else is going to love this one the way I wish I would have!