4.5 stars
Pinocchio meets Wall-E with lots of heart. Another wonderful story by T.J. Klune. Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC.

I truly was not sure if I should request this book when I saw it pop up on Netgalley. I absolutely adore Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea, and his Green Creek series, but the last book I read by him — Under the Whispering Door — just did not click with me. I was worried that I had outgrown Klune’s work, and that I would never like another book by him. But I decided to chance it, and clicked REQUEST TITLE. Tor has always been nice to me, so they accepted my request, and here I am to tell you that (drum roll please) I absolutely loved In the Lives of Puppets. Klune has an absolutely dreamy way of talking about life, death, love, and grief that just really resonates (most of the time). Thankfully, all of the characters in In the Lives of Puppets were easy to like. There were no Wallaces here. (He was my main problem with Under the Whispering Door, but that’s neither here nor there.) Klune’s character work really shines here, and I am so happy to say that I just really loved this book.

In fact, the characters were really what brought this book to life. Our main character is Vic, a young man — a human in a world taken over by robots/machines. He is seemingly the only human left on earth, and his humanity really wears off on the machines around him. Said machines were all hilarious, heart-warming, and ah. I just adored them. Especially Nurse Ratched — she was laugh out loud funny a lot of the time. Same with Rambo, who I pictured as a roomba. What a little cinnamon roll. Victor’s father, Gio, was a human-shaped machine, and he had a heart of gold, despite his past. And lastly, but not leastly, there’s Hap. I won’t spoil what he is, but oh. He ends up breaking your heart, and putting it back together. Klune once again wins at the found-family game with this cast. Like, he just knocks it out of the park.

The plot was interesting enough to keep my attention, and I loved all the side characters, but I had one glaring issue with this book. Exactly how old was Victor supposed to be? He comes across as being very young, but I think that comes from being raised by literal machines, and being very naive. Throughout the whole book, I was thinking he was somewhere from like….16-19ish. Which would have been fine, if there hadn’t been a tiny little romance plot sprinkled in. As a whole, the romance didn’t bother me, but honestly? The book really didn’t need it. It would have been a fantastic example of a book strictly about familial love without it. But saying that, it didn’t hurt the book, either.

Either way, I really, really liked In the Lives of Puppets, and I am so so glad that I can go back to saying I like Klune’s work again! Four and a half glowing stars.

Adding TJ Klune to one of my all time favorite authors. Another poetic book that reminds me why I love reading so much. Perfectly written.

This was the third TJ Klune book I’ve read, and it has the warmth I’ve come to expect from his stories. I was a little hesitant when I heard it was based on Pinocchio because I’m not a fan of that, but this was great.

It’s a fantastic journey of a boy and his robot friends. His friends are the best! They made me laugh out loud. (And if I ever get a robot vacuum, I’m naming it Rambo.) The author really knows how to write characters you care about. And these characters- some of them have done pretty terrible things. The book has found family, character growth, and real heart. It made me ask myself what it means to be human, what makes us who we are, how do we move on from the past.

Is it sci-fi or fantasy? Maybe a little bit of both, but it’s accessible to non-genre readers. I highly recommend it. It comes out April 25. Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for my copy.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune is a book that intrigued me based on the beautiful cover and the premise that it's inspired by the story of Pinocchio. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was immediately hooked just a few pages in. I ended up finishing this in about two days. I couldn't read it fast enough. It's a fantastic book! I loved the fantasy/sci-fi aspect with the use of machines and robots. The characters all had their own voices and personalities. I loved reading about this family, made from spare parts. It shows you that no family is perfect and that's okay. You just need to have each other's backs, which is what these characters represented. They were willing to go to the above and beyond to prove that. It was easy to picture this book as a movie with the descriptive scenes and dialogue. This was my first TJ Klune book, which I wasn't proud of, but I honestly couldn't have picked a better one to start with! I am so grateful to the publishers for allowing me to read this before its release. TJ Klune has another hit on his hands with this book.

I went into this book with high expectations based on the last two T.J. Klune books that I read and loved. I’m sad to say that this book just didn’t affect me like his previous titles did.

I won’t go into the details of what this story is about, instead I will share my thoughts. In the Lives of Puppets did provide a creative story with quirky, lovable characters, but the thing that was lacking for me was the heart behind it all. I felt like I knew what the author was trying to do, but too much was going on at once for the overall message to be impactful. There was a lot of dialogue in this book, sometimes cringey conversations and comments and I felt disconnected from the characters- maybe robots just aren’t my thing.

Overall this was a three star read for me and I’m glad I read it. However, I would advise you to read The House in the Cerulean Sea or Under the Whispering Door if you’ve never read anything by this author.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC, this one is available 4/25/23.

I am a massive TJ Klune fan so I squealed with excitement to receive this book! It gives all types of Pinocchio vibes!

In a little home built into a large tree deep in the forest, there live a little family of three robots: Gio the inventor, Nurse Ratched the funny yet sadistic medical android and Rambo the anxiety ridden and lovable vacuum.. Gio's son, Victor, also lives there. Victor is human. Together they live happily and safely until everything changes when Victor, Rambo and Nurse Ratched rescue an android they have never seen before labeled HAP. Soon Victor will have to face his father's past and the world outside the only woods has have ever known.

T.J. Klune has done it again. In my opinion, he is a master at writing the "found family" trope and it just makes my heart so full. He really takes the time to make you fall in love with the characters, believe in the bonds they have with each other and leave you rooting for them to win. This story is meant to be influenced by the story of Pinocchio and I loved the twist of having Victor be the one human, or "real boy", among the robots. I honestly never thought that I would feel so much emotion from a group of androids, but I laughed and cried throughout the book. Also, I don't know if T.J. Klune has stated this, but I wondered if Victor was neurodivergent. My son is on the autism spectrum, and I saw many of his characteristics in Vic. It was wonderful to see a character like him go on an adventure and be surrounded by so much love.

If you loved The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door, definitely check this one out! T
Thank you to Tor Books & NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this boo

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wholesome AF. Again.
You’re a monster for making me feel….feelings, TJ Klune. Why do I keep reading their stuff?! Why?

Once again in love with the characters that were conjured into existence and seared into my memory forever. This is my favorite of TJ’s to date. Family, loyalty, forgiveness, acceptance. The usual topics when it comes to a Klune novel. This story is anything but typical, though. I think it’s better to go into this one blind, as even the synopsis is a bit spoiler-y. I will say that I found my spirit “animal” (robot) in Nurse Ratched, who is delightfully dark and sarcastic.

Thank you to @netgalley and @torbooks for access to an electronic copy. It’s excellent and I feel truly honored to be able to peep it early and let my friends know it’s a great read.

This book left me with an odd feeling. I loved the writing style, the main idea behind the story, and the cute robots. But I also hate the main character, Vic. He just doesn't seem human with many of the thoughts that go through his head (especially when the reader finds out he's likely the last human. He just doesn't seem to care as much as I feel like a normal human would.) I also did not at all enjoy the romance side of this story.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
Publication Date: April 25, 2023

Robots have taken over. Gio is in hiding with his human son, Victor, and their robots, Nurse Rachet and Rambo. Victor discovers a decommissioned android, Hysterically Angry Puppet aka Hap,  in a scrap-yard and decides to bring him home with the help of his robot friends. He doesn’t know when he brings Hap home with him, he is about to set off a series of events that Gio has feared for years and will change all their lives. It is a sort of really loose retelling of Pinnocchio meets Frankenstein but with robots, constructs and androids. 

This book is just as heartwarming and cozy as Klune’s other books. However it differs from The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door as there is a bit more adventure and a quest of sorts that the characters must set out on. There is the usual look into human nature with some moving scenes layered between comic relief and filled to the brim of loveable characters. Nurse Rachet in particularly was absolutely golden in terms of comic relief and character evolution. Well at times she lives up to the character she was named after she really is just a big old softie covered in metal and filled to the brim with sass.

It is also a really well thought out critique of just how weird and contradictory human beings are as Hap familiarized himself with all the weird needs and quirks of humans.

Just like with the end of any Klune book, I wanted to hug my Kindle because I felt like I just made a whole new set of friends all too quickly and now we were being forced to say goodbye. 

Thank you to Tor Books for providing an advanced reading copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

this book gave me Pinocchio vibes but like all. of his books TJ klune can make me cry and laugh I truly enjoyed reading.

First of all, thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for giving me an early copy of this book.

3 stars.
This is my first TJ Klune book, I have heard a lot of people raving and praising his books especially The House of Cerulean Sea, being one of the best cozy fantasy books out there. Personally, I was always a bit hesitant to read his books because it’s not a genre that I usually read and also because of the crazy hype and I’m scared that I’m not going to like it.
In the Lives of Puppets is a very unique book, I’ve never read a book about non-human characters like the robots in this book. It started off really slow for me since it’s a fairly new genre for me, but I’m glad I finished this book. Although the theme or the plot isn’t what I usually gravitate towards, I real liked the found family aspect in this book. Which is why I gave it 3/5 stars.

I will definitely try more of TJ Klune’s books in hopes to find a new favourite of his!

"New York Times bestselling author T.J. Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts.

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?

Inspired by Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door."

I think we also have to mention Philip K. Dick too right? I mean, "Electric Dreams."

This is a complicated novel to review. Because I loved Whispering Door and Cerulean Sea I had super high expectations for In the Lives of Puppets. I wanted the same kind of cosy, heartfelt vibe I found in Klune's previous adult books, and objectively, that is was Puppets delivers, but in a very different way that may resonate differently for some readers.

It has been marketed as a Pinocchio retelling, which I would say is true only in the loosest of senses. Rather, imagine Pinocchio (the only "real boy" here) venturing with an ensemble cast of robots to see the Wizard of Oz to rescue his robot father, where one of the robots in the party is also the Terminator. If that sounds strange that's because it is. As a result I found getting invested in the plot and suspending my disbelief in order to embrace this very post human sci-fi world was difficult. In addition, I found myself far more invested in the lovable side characters and their dynamic than I did with the main character, his relationship with his father and mysteries surrounding what happened in this world.

As a standalone novel it is an interesting exploration of what it means to be human, what our purpose in life is and what family means, but to be honest I have seen this done better in works like Becky Chamber's "Psalm for the Wild Built." Even so, it is enjoyable, humorous and will likely still bring a few tears before the end.

Wow! What a wonderful story of humanity, love, and the family we choose. Vic is the only human living with his robot father, Giovanni, who told Vic that he was given to him as a baby by parents who needed to keep him safe. At the age of 22 he is living in the forest in a "Swiss Family" like compound and working a a bit of an inventor like his Dad. They also live with Nurse Ratchet, a quick-witted robot nurse with sociopathic tendencies. And last but not least, Rambo, a robot vacuum whose mouth is always running.

One day, Vic, Nurse Ratchet and Rambo are at the landfill nearby when they discover another decommissioned robot that has some life left in him. They bring him back to Vic's home and patch him up. By giving him a new "heart" Vic is able to bring human qualities to Hap. This also starts a series of events that force the group to head out of the forest and have a dangerous adventure.

There is a lot of dialogue in this book and I love it. It is through the dialogue that these robots are given their personalities and humanity. TJ Klune has brought us characters who have more humanity than many people in other books. I can so clearly see the world he has created.

Sounds bizarre? I generally don't read sci-fi anymore, it was something I enjoyed in my youth, but I loved this world and these characters. Kudos to Klune!!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Thank you NetGalley! I thoroughly loved this book. I loved the characters, the humor, the writing and the premise. It was all done so very well and I wouldn't expect anything less from Klune. I cannot wait for this book to come out and more people can get their hands on it to read!

This story harkens its inspiration from Pinocchio but I immediately saw nods to the mother of science fiction and horror herself, Mary Shelley. While not necessarily a horror novel, I could see small influences of Frankenstein mixed with the much larger influences of Pinocchio as I read through the novel. It was fun to read through and guess at what other influences the author might be using as they wrote the book.

This is a book I got pulled into right from the beginning. I was lost in this new world that the author built and the story and world building was incredible. I immediately loved our little robot/android friends we went on this incredible adventure with who by the end of it even if they were androids were beautifully, full of flaws, wonderfully human.

I am still left with so many questions, and this would be a great book for a book club or other discussion forum. I am burning to talk to someone about this book because it has my mind whirling in a thousand different directions. Ethical questions, logistical questions, what happens to Victor questions. I also loved some of the different relationships and ways of navigating the world that were explored in this book. There were some that I would say aren’t really given a platform in mainstream literature and it was refreshing to see. Love was also an overarching theme, and even with the trials the characters went through it was really amazing to read a book that prioritized love. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and I think other readers will as well.

Please be advised I received this advanced reader’s copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thankyou Net Galley and Tor Publishing group for allowing me an early E-arc in exchange of an honest review!

I’m fairly new to T J Klune as I have only read the House in the Cerulean Sea. This book has made me feel the NEED to go and red all his other books as the whimsical writing really sucked me in. The characters really have stuck with me and I love them all and their found family dynamic. The story made me smile all the way through and tear up suddenly many times. I found it really easy to visualise everything which added to the escapism of the book. Pacing was really good for me and I didn’t really find myself getting bored at any part.

Such a wholesome book and I honestly loved it.

This was yet another adorable book by TJ Klune! I adored House in the Cerulean Sea like everyone else, and I was so moved by Under the Whispering Door. I think this was a book that really did well at setting itself apart from his two other very popular works. I liked the sci-fi route and I thought the world building and setting of this were so vivid, for me at least.

I thought the cast of characters was very eclectic and had Klune's signature corniness. His characters are often caricatures whose personalities are over the top and overdone, but it feels purposeful so I can't fault that too hard. However, I think it did become a bit much after a while to hear Nurse Ratched insist she was exasperated with the group and could easily annihilate them all. I think it was meant to be humorous but after it happened so many times, it felt like too much. Also, the interactions between Nurse Ratched and Rambo took up more time on the page than almost any of Victor's thoughts or actions. I felt a bit disconnected from Vic (likely in part due to this being written in 3rd person) and therefore had a hard time figuring him out. This also was probably the reason I found the groups almost obsessive one-sided devotion to Vic a bit much. They seemed to shower him with love and encouragement while he didn't really give a ton back. However, I think the lighthearted nature of the group's interactions and the intrigue of the journey masked these issues enough that I had a great time regardless.

The world building and atmosphere are where this book really shined for me. Despite many questions being left unanswered or unaddressed (How did Gio produce Vic from an unfertilized egg? What's happening around the world, in other countries? How far did the Authority's power stretch?) I think the world building was done as much as it needed to be. This was so reminiscent of the 2001 movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence, I was just waiting for a sex-bot that looked like Jude Law to pop out.

Despite the things I wish were different, I am a sucker for TJ Klune's books and I will continue to read anything he publishes.

Leave it to TJ Klune to make me fall in love with the strangest characters. This go around: a vacuum cleaner and a decommissioned Nurse robot. One gave me the heartwarming feeling that a small puppy would give me and the other has the weird humor that sparked occasional giggles out of me. Sometimes though, the crude jokes placed within the story made me cringe.

There were points in this book where the plot became rather dull and the paragraphs grew longer that I felt exhausted reading through the chapters, making me need a break by picking up another book. However, my attention was fully into this book at the climax of the story. The visuals in my head played out in similar fashion to the amounts of Pinocchio from what I could remember. This could work in some animation kind of adaptation and I would love to see it. I'm going to be on the hunt now for fan art from this story because I would love to see how others imagined the characters to look!

Overall, this unique story had its good moments. Did it grab me like House in the Cerulean Sea did? No. But I applaud the author for continuously creating unique fantasy stories with absolutely stunning cover art!