I haven't read a book that made me feel like this in a very long time. In the Lives of Puppets is a gorgeously written, haunting, devastating, beautiful story that forces you to confront what it means to be human in a world where machines have become the dominant species.
Victor, a human that lives in a pacific northwest forest tree house with his android father Giovanni (Gio), his anxious robot vacuum Rambo, and Nurse Ratched - a nursing robot with a sense of humor that left me cackling, lives an isolated, simple life where he is free to explore and invent free from any outside influence. Victor's exploration of the Scrap Yards is what led him to find and repair Rambo and Nurse Ratched, but his final find from the Scrap Yards is what turns his life upside down and sends him on the adventure of a lifetime. Victor finds and repairs Hap, or as he is affectionately known by Rambo and Nurse Ratched Hysterically Angry Puppet, a decommissioned android with no memory of who he is or where he comes from. Using a combination of spare parts, wood, and a mechanical heart enhanced by Victor's blood, Hap comes back to life and through Hap we confront what it means to make choices for our future despite what we have in our past and the simple, but powerful effect free will can have on a life.
The choices that Victor, Hap, Giovanni, Rambo, and Nurse Ratched make to change and break the world they live in after The Authority comes calling in their slice of the world is an exploration of emotion and choice and how they shape who we are. T.J. Klune mixes humor and romance with adventure, soul searching, and reflection in a masterful way that both left me wholly satisfied, but also shattered in the end.

I was Wowed right from the beginning!
The affection you can develop for characters crafted with imagination, ink, and paper is astounding. This book left me with a sentimental book hangover. I am unbelievably grateful to have read this ARC.

Summary: Vic and his robot friends find an android in a scrap yard, bring it home, and repair it. Thus putting this story into action. Vic discovers that the android, Hap, and his father have a dark past. I don't want to give too much away but Vic and his friends go on an adventure to save his father in the City of Electric Dreams. The emotions, the new found feelings, self discovery, and the character attachments bloom in such a profound way.

This story comes to life, with a pulse that makes your heart beat in sync.

The decadence of detail in this fantasy novel makes you sigh with satisfaction. This immersive world had me thinking of Swiss Family Robinson if it had robots.
The tree house would give Walt Disney a run for his money. I re-read some of the story just to relive the treehouse description.

The friendship between flesh and blood and metal robots becomes so comfortable in an inspiring in a way. The interactions were fun, heartwarming, and simply priceless. The "Found Family" trope was beautifully crafted.


The humor was a hit after hit of laughs. I haven't laughed this much while reading a book in so long. The anxiety ridden vacuum named Rambo. What a character!You can't help but love him.

This is a book that gracefully entered into my head and heart leaving its footprints for years to come. A definite Adventure that I will read again.

I love me a book with a quirky, friendly robot and In The Lives of Puppets delivers an entire found family of them (plus one human)! I really enjoyed this book! The world building is amazing, I saw everything vividly in my mind like I was watching a movie. And that rarely happens for me when I read. I also really loved how unique each of the characters was. I have to say, Nurse Ratched, a sociopathic nursing robot, was my favorite. She had me cracking up and eagerly awaiting whatever she was about to say whenever I saw the words “initiating empathy mode.”

In The Lives Of Puppets has the characters on a dangerous Wizard of Oz style quest. It’s ultimately about love, loyalty, friendship, one’s purpose, and the power to choose your future.

A cozy scifi that is heartfelt and humorous, I definitely recommend you read this!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In The Lives of Puppets will be out 4/25.

Thank you to Tor Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC.

I received an electronic ARC from Tor Publishing Group through NetGalley.
Though this book is set in a world of androids and robots, Klune continues to make readers think about being human. What is free will? What makes us feeling beings? We meet a father (Giovanni) and son (Victor) along with two robot friends who live alone in the woods. Both are inventors and have created an entire life for themselves. One day, Victor brings home another android and sets in motion several near catastrophic events. His father is taken by the authorities, and Vic, Nurse Ratched, Rambo and their newest friend, Hap set off to find him. Much of the book is the story of this journey and how it molds and changes them all. Klune does offer a peaceful ending though not a happily ever after one.
I appreciate this author challenging readers to think about government, community and interactions with others. How much life has stayed the same even though androids run the world. We still find echoes of Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World along with more modern offerings. Utopia always has a hidden side and a cost to be paid.

There is no denying this is strange book - I expect it won’t be for everyone - but I think I am exactly the kind of weirdo it was written for and if you have cried over a space rover, you might be too.

I wouldn’t call it spicy - there’s discussions of Things but the ace MC doesn’t want to mess with all that - but I wouldn’t call it “clean” either. It is, sometimes hilariously, blunt and irreverent.
The banter between the characters is top notch, probably my favorite thing in the book. I about lost it each time Nurse Ratched switched Empathy Protocol on and off.

Situations swing from funny to devastating and back again on a whim, expected for a Klune book. I did make it remarkable far for one without crying though. That said, he did get me at 90% in, damnit. My heart was full of sad garbage.

I don’t always want them, but I feel like this book needed an epilogue. It does have a solid ending, but personally I would have appreciated additional closure to wrap it up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the ARC!

Thanks to Tor for the free copy.
TJ Klune's books are always some of my most anticipated of the year, and this one did not disappoint. I'll preface this with I haven't seen/read any of the comps, so I went in with no expectations and I was blown away. This story is so unique in plot, setting, and character, yet, I was fully invested from beginning to end. Nurse Ratched was my favorite. But I love how Klune is able to create such distinct characters that leave me feeling warm and fuzzy and also laughing. I can't wait to get a copy of this for my shelves, and I hope it is beloved by lots of readers.

In the Lives of Puppets is a fun, queer Pinocchio inspired adventure tale that will sweep its reader away in a sci-fi-ish world of imagination. As like the other Klune books that I have read thus far, this one has a found family element that will tug at your heart strings. All of that being said, I don’t think that this was quite what I was expecting it to be. I think I was looking for it to reach The House In The Cerulean Sea levels of enjoyment and this one just didn’t reach that level for me. The story felt a little too long for what it was and the themes were very on the nose in my opinion. A good read overall and definitely worth it if you enjoy Klune’s writing.

E-ARC generously provided by Tor in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!

4.5 stars. One-half Pinocchio, another half The Wizard of Oz, and all signature T.J. Klune, In the Lives of Puppets is a story that wears its fragile human heart on its cybernetic sleeve that brought me to tears several times.

What is free will? What is autonomy? What does it really mean to find yourself?

Klune does is it again in another magnificent work of whimsy. The start of this book has the feel of Star Wars (if it were only about R2D2 and C-3PO - serving the galaxies best banter.)

Victor Lawson and his dad Gio live alone in a secluded forest. They spend their days restoring androids, and enjoying the art and history of a supposedly struggling humanity. This all changes when humanoid androids of the mysterious “authority” show up in search of humans, and leave with Victor’s dad.

Victor is forced to grow up fast as he adjusts to the truth of the world, learns the meaning of forgiveness (and who is responsible for granting it), and tests the bounds of how far one will venture to hold on to the ones they love.

I’m confident that In the Lives of Puppets will debut as one of the most popular novels of 2023. With its insightful but lighthearted writing, phenomenal character arcs and more mature subject matter than some of Klune’s past books, it is sure to capture the hearts of many.

It was amazing to see an Ace protagonist. Particularly because Vic wasn’t tokenized, nor was his sexuality treated as a shocking plot point. Showing us once again that Klune truly cares about meaningful inclusion.

Overall, this book was cleverly written, features hilarious robots, and makes one appreciate the simple everyday luxuries we take for granted.

There was a couple of sections where the dialogue felt forced or where I questioned if a word was being used in the appropriate context (see Nurse Ratched’s graphic line bouncing in a “circadian rhythm”). But overall, In the Lives of Puppets is a highly entertaining and heartwarming read, and offers a new twist on the tried and true AI world domination plot.

I was excited to be approved for this arc because House in the Cerulean Sea was one of my favourite books last year. In the Lives of Puppets is definitely geared to a more adult audience, but would still be appropriate for teens. The dialogue was smart and funny, and the characters incredibly likeable. It was so sweet even though the general premise of the future Vic lives in is depressing as hell. Really enjoyed this one! Solid four star read.

This novel, a loose take on Pinocchio, tells the story of Victor, a human who lives with robots. Their lives change when Victor finds a decommissioned robot in the scrap yards and fixes him up. Hap is a gruff specimen who has completely forgotten his past, but Victor’s dad Gio knows what Hap did in his former life. The scrap yard discovery sets off a chain of events that will topple their whole world. This was a fun adventure story, but while all the other robots were fully developed, Victor felt flat and the story took a while to get going.

I found this book a chore to read. If I wasn't having to write a review about this book, I probably wouldn't have finished it. I found the characters really grating, the plot really slow and at times unbearable. Then when it came to the humour of the book, I found it eye rollingly bad. There wasn't the same charm as I have found in other examples of TJ Klune's work.

I received a digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

TJ Klune's books are books that I pick up when I want feel-good speculative fiction (Becky Chambers is another author that fits this category for me). I love knowing that I'm going to get a story with queer representation that's well-written and leaves me with a smile on my face and a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart.

That's not to say that Klune's characters don't experience hard things, because they do. But the worldview that Klune weaves into his novels leaves me feeling better about the world, despite how shitty it can be on a daily basis.

The only reason I didn't give this one 5 stars is that it was a little slow in places. But I loved how clever it was -- there were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, particularly with Rambo and Nurse Ratched. Obviously there's the Pinocchio story, but there's so much more going on here, with nods to Frankenstein, e.e.cummings, and more.

Giovanni is an android and an inventor who has created a life amongst the trees away from the world. Just as a deep sense of loneliness sets in a pair of humans arrive and leave their baby with him.

Giovanni with his anxiety ridden vacuum and his over protective, almost psychotic robot nurse raise his human son, Victor.

Victor, an inventor himself has an inquisitive mind and adventurous soul. On one journey away from home he finds a broken android, HAP. Brining HAP home threatens their peaceful existence and Victor becomes aware of the android run world.

TJ Klune has written these android characters in such a human way that I kept forgetting they should have no heart and soul. This quirky family and the banter which arises from their unique personalities was so engaging.

Perhaps the most interesting and surprising aspect of this book for me was the writing, perhaps that is due to this being my first experience with TJ Klune’s writing, but I loved the way that they created an atmosphere which I could sit within and completely immerse myself in the vibe of the story.

I love a good fantasy mixed with Sci-fi and this book delivered! Adventure, found family, romance, thought provoking, quirky characters and all the feelings.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC. I have chosen to write this review and all the words are my own.

In the Lives of Puppets is a TJ Klune book through and through, It gave me the feels, although perhaps not as much as The House in the Cerulean Sea or Under the Whispering Door. I enjoyed it lot. I appreciated the friendship between Vic and all of the robots. Lots of witty one liners that made me snicker. I got a little less interested in the middle portion but once the story started moving again, it really hit its stride. I feel like TJ Klune could re-write the phonebook and I would read it at this point. Definitely would recommend this one to his diehard fans as they will love it. Was it my favorite by him? No, but it doesn't mean he doesn't take us on a really wonderful ride with a great message of inclusion.

I never thought the words "I want to befriend Nurse Ratched" or "I would love to give Rambo a hug" would've invaded my mind before reading IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS. Yet here we are. These two robot characters steal the show in TJ Klune's latest novel, a retelling of PINOCCHIO by Carlo Collodi. Nurse Ratched and Rambo are hilarious, infinitely loyal and supportive to Vic (the sole human character in the book), and are the best ride-or-die bffs you'd want to follow on an adventure through this post-human, robot-dominated world. Do not expect this retelling Pinocchio to feel overly familiar; it is an extremely loose retelling. There is a Blue Fairy. There is a Whale. There is a Puppet. There is an inventor/creator named Giovanni. And there is a long, somewhat random journey Vic must take to meet the Blue Fairy to get his wish. This is where the similarities end.

I wish I could say that I loved this book. There are elements I enjoyed immensely--Ratched, Rambo, sweet Vic who is frequently embarrassed by his friends, and HAP, a robot discovering a new path which is very much against his initial programming. Oh, and there were many dick jokes that popped up (lol) frequently, much to my delight. Unfortunately, the story as a whole did not grab my heart as many of Klune's past books have done. There were too many happenstances in the narrative that completely stole Vic's agency. It was as if the events were happening *to* our hero, rather than him being the driving force of the story. In many cases, it felt as if he could be removed from the narrative and the story would progress just fine without him. It is too bad, as the last few chapters are beautifully written and emotional, so much so that I'd wished the bulk of the book and the journey we took to get to these deeply impactful, human moments had been a bit more earned.

Overall, I liked this book enough, but it is not a love-it-must-reread story. I would share this book with students as an example of an intriguing, loose retelling of a beloved classic children's story.

I ADORED In the Lives of Puppets and had a hard time hitting pause.

Three robots are living inside a tree: inventor father Giovanni, a spiteful nurse and a full hearted vacuum cleaner. Alongside them lives Victor, a human. Four things in a happy family.

Alas, Gio is stolen transported back to his homeland, Electric City. Together, the trio must go out and save Gio from an ugly fate. And figure out what love and friendship truly mean for themselves.

Daniel Henning brings T.J. Klune's latest novel to life. His little characteristics for each robots voice had me smiling and looking forward to each moment. The message at the end of the story hits him and makes you ponder on the little things. I definitely recommend this on audio!

Thank you Tor Books and MacMillan Audio for my alc in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t tell you how much joy this book has brought me. I’m not typically a sci-Fi fan, but this story was pure perfection. It’s reminiscent of so many other classic fairytales and children’s stories. This tale, about a human man in a post-human world, is inspired by The Adventures of Pinocchio. The compound where Vic lives with his family, is inspired by the setting of Swiss Family Robinson, a book Vic loved as a child.

The journey to the City of Electric Dreams reminded me of Dorothy’s pilgrimage to Oz. And the City itself felt a teeny bit 1984ish and (dare I say?) a smidge Vonnegutian. The Coachman reminded me of Ariel and Scuttle, pouring over artifacts from the human world. And naturally, there’s plenty of details that call to mind Disney’s Wall-E. The amazing thing is that all of these elements came across as fresh and inspired, not cloying and cutesy. Overall? Two very enthusiastic thumbs up from me. Even at its saddest points, this book felt like a warm, toasty blanket.

I know there has been some controversy surrounding The House in the Cerulean Sea, and I certainly don’t seek to trivialize those very real issues. But regardless, it’s an indisputable fact that TJ Klune is a master of creating characters who will leave an indelible mark on your heart (I would die for Theodore and Lucy). ITLOP is no different. Between the laugh-out-loud dialogue to the heartwarming devotion these robots have for their human companion, he’s done it again. Rambo and Nurse Ratched will stay with me for years to come.

TJ Klune’s newest novel feels familiar in the best of ways. With roots tangled in the tale of Pinocchio, In the Lives of Puppets takes readers on a new and exciting adventure. The larger than life setting created both a sense of nostalgia reminding me of tales like The Iron Giant, and a true fear of a dystopian world I hope to never see.

A typical journey to gather supplies goes awry, starting a chain reaction that will send our beloved found family on a journey from which they will never be the same. In the Lives of Puppets sends us straight to the heart of humanity, tackling the very traits that make us who we are. But can our heroes find what is is they’re searching for, or will they fall to pieces along the way? This beautiful tale of self discovery and love for others is a beautiful reminder to embrace what makes us unique and to always leave the world a little better than you found it.

Okay, I am behind on TJ Klune books. I have heard so much praise for The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering door that I bought them super quick, but haven’t gotten to start them yet! That being said, I didn’t know what to expect diving into In the Lives of Puppets. I’m a romance and mystery/thriller girl usually.. so let me tell you, I was SO surprised when I started this and simply couldn’t put it down. It was that good. I loved loved loved the characters. I was laughing so much throughout while reading my husband was scowling, much like I imagine Hysterically Angry Puppet was in the book lol. Nurse Ratched was my favorite with her wittiness and quick comebacks. Rambo was the cutest little anxious thing (never thought I’d relate to a robot vacuum, but here we are). Giovanni was brilliant and I could feel the fatherly concern and love for Victor and the others while reading. Hap was charming. I loved seeing him slowly open up to his new found family. And Victor, I loved him the most. He was brave, intelligent, loving, bashful… just amazing. I loved how much finding his father meant to him and how he didn’t allow anything to stop him from doing just that. I loved the relationship he developed with Hap and was emotional as he tried to create a perfect heart to get him back. I don’t want to give too much away and I’ve already typed the longest review I think I have in my entire life. So I will just say, thank you TJ Klune, Tor Publishing, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review. It was fantastic.