Wonderful tale of adventure and love. The main characters were enjoyable, but the side characters really held the whole story together. Fun, funny and emotional throughout. Loved all the different settings dispersed within. I love how Klune writes fiction in a way that feels real and timely.

I feel like the Grinch writing this review, because this novel was SO fundamentally heartwarming and endearing but in a way that bypassed sweet and went straight into saccharine. We're talking ooey-gooey lovey dovey friendship is magic soppy scripted ridiculousness of the kind I would write on my notebook in glitter pen and bubble stickers in middle school. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for hopepunk literature, and absolutely adore optimistic fantasy when it is done right. However, for my PERSONAL tastes (see again: Grinch) there is only a certain level of syrupy gush that I can take, and overuse can send a story careening into eye-rolling territory. I feel like I could have tolerated this a lot more if the story had the complexity to back it up, but all of the problems the characters face are hills, not mountains. There is conflict in this book, but nothing that is not easily bypassed by romance and heroics. There is heartache in this book, but nothing that is not put back together and wrapped up neatly at the end with a bow. There's also just a weirdly uncomfortable amount of bad sex jokes? Like, we're talking PAINFULLY bad. Of the kind that would have made my mom take away my screen privileges at age 13. This isn't to say that my own humor doesn't resemble that of a 7th grade boy now and again but when every single punch line resolves with LOL, SEX!!! especially when the main character is explicitly asexual it just loses 100% of its corny humor and just becomes cringe.

I also idn't feel particularly connected or compelled by any of the side characters: Victor's two robot sidekicks are rapidly established as buddy-cop comic relief and rarely stray outside the confines of those roles, and his romantic interest exists only to provide narrative irony, a bit of drama, and the classic "oh shit there's only one bed!" moment. The only dynamic in this story that felt true and meaningful was the gorgeous father son relationship that is explored between the pseudo-Pinnochio character and the psuedo-Giuseppe character (e.g. Victor and Gio). Klune has successfully evoked a rollarcoater of loneliness and love and pride and sorrow that gives the novel its emotional center. I do with, however, that Victor had been given more room to feel more complicated negative emotions toward the people around him, particularly Gio. In keeping with thematic mushiness, Victor isn't really given the opportunity to wrestle with emotions like resentment towards his father or despair towards his circumstances, which would have given the story much greater emotional heft.

This was my first TJ Klune read; I’ve had his books on my TBR for awhile now and just haven’t gotten around to reading them yet. But I’m still interested in reading more of his work.

I enjoyed this read. It’s a fun retelling of Pinocchio in a post-apocalyptic, sci-fi world of various robots/AI and humans. The book reminded me a lot of the 2001 movie AI: Artificial Intelligence mixed with the Wizard of Oz and Bladerunner.

A 3.5/5 star read for me rounded down to 3 stars mainly because I liked it but I didn’t like it enough to round it to 4 stars.

What I liked:
-Ace representation
-Atmospheric settings
-Most of the characters—Nurse Ratched and Gio were probably my favorites

What I didn’t like:
-the humor wasn’t really my thing, it felt forced or like it was trying too hard to be funny.
-there was a character I couldn’t stand
-it was a slow moving story that felt like it should have been faster paced

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the copy of this eARC!

Thank you Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchage for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. The characters are what really sold this for me. The story is pretty straightforward, and it actually takes quite awhile to get to the actual plot (around 20% in). I loved this though because it takes its time introducing the cast of characters and their different personalities. There was so much humor with the interactions between Nurse Ratched and Rambo that I found myself laughing out loud several times. And the father/child bond between Gio and Vic was wonderful.

This is an adventure story reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz but also a love story. It explores what it means to be human in this world, and what it means to hope. I can't say enough good things about this book. I highly recommend reading it!

Thank you to the gorgeous people at TOR and Netgalley for granting me access to another TJ Klune novel!
I have always enjoyed my reading experience with Klune’s writing. He has a way of taking these fairytale-like plots and adding sarcasm and wit that would appeal to older audiences as well.
As with Under the Whispering Door and The house on the cerulean sea, I fell totally in love with this book, especially the dialogue. Dark humoured robots? Yes. Heart metaphors and exploring the human condition? Yes.
Klune’s use of language really threw me into the book. The imagery is so vivid to me that I could see it as clearly as a film. And similarly to a film, the time seemed to fly by as a couldn’t put this book down.
The concept of love between a romantic interest, family and friends was my favourite theme explored in this novel. I felt so engaged in learning about this world even when there were a couple plot-heavy points.
It is always an enjoyable and comfortable read with Klune’s books. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next! And keep the non-stereotypical queer stuff coming!!!

In the Lives of Puppets follows Vic, a human, going on an adventure with a funny cast of characters to save his father. If you’re a fan of TJ Klune’s other novels, you’ll like this one.

I’m not sure I was the right audience for this. I usually enjoy his stories, but I think this one leaned into whimsy and cutesy humor a bit too much for me. Some of the comedic bits that were funny in the beginning got old for me quickly.

Overall, the story and the very human lesson at the center are nice, though!

Perfect isn’t a strong enough word for this book. I loved every second of it; I laughed, I cried (sobbed at points), I felt my heart ache and break and heal, and I’ve never wanted to hug a Roomba more.
Nurse Ratched is hilarious, slightly sadistic and sociopathic, but with a heart or gold. Rambo is THE most precious vacuum ever; so naive and sunny and full of love. Hap’s development and growth was so beautiful. And sweet Victor. I loved him and I loved how he loved his friends and family. Being human is so very hard, but it can be wonderfully beautiful.
Pinnochio isn’t even one of my favorite stories, but I absolutely loved all the tie-ins throughout the book. Honestly, just read this book. It’s completely amazing. Allllll the stars and butterflies.

One day a couple shows up and hands Vic a newborn, take care of him, we will come back. They never return and now Vic has grown and while he wants to know more of this couple, he has a solid family in Gio, Rambo, and Nurse Ratchet. When he goes to the junk yard and decides to restore “HAP” things begin to get a bit crazy and the group ends up on an adventure they never expected.

Oh man. TJ Klune. Do I love you, or do I really love you? This man has a way of just making me love these crazy characters and want only the best for them. He opens my heart, and fills it with all the joy. Rambo and Nurse Ratchet had me legit laughing out loud as I read this book. While both robots, Rambo was so adorable and innocent, and Nurse Ratchet had the snarkiest comments that had in stitches. The Hysterically Angry Puppet was naturally amazing as well. This one is a bit different than we have seen from Klune recently, but it still had the heart deep down that just fills your cup. This synopsis and review are not adequate to describe this book, but if you enjoyed his other works, this one will fill you with joy as well!

Victor Lawson is a human who was raised by Giovanni, an android, deep in the forest in a home built in the trees. Victor refurbished two others androids, Rambo and Nurse Ratched, and the four of them are happy. Then Victor finds another android in a scrap heap and they call him Hap. Shortly after Gio is taken and Victor and team go on a mission to save Gio and bring him home.
It took me a little bit to get into this book but once I did I flew through it. It is original and creative and a joyful found family story filled with gentle conversations and silly quips (which admittedly I found a bit tiresome after a bit). Overall a wonderful story that emphasizes what it means to be human and being true to who you are.

6 stars

This book…this book is the one I have been waiting for from Klune. It is simply outstanding! Nurse Ratched is by far my favorite character. She is a sociopath (self diagnosed) and I spent the first 20% or so of the book just giggling at everything she said (watch out squirrels!). But then the serious times came, and the fear and uncertainty. And it was wonderfully done, with showing what it means to be a human, but more importantly what it means to be a family. Without giving too much away I think the ending was perfect. A lot of writers will solve the conflict by tying a neat and tidy bow in it. But here that bow is a little frayed, and loose, and you have to keep working at it. Ugh, it’s just perfection.

Seriously people, check out this book, you’ll be happy you did ❤️

Thank you to NetGalley & Tor Publishing Group for this advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

This is going to be a difficult one for me to write without giving anything away and just letting the reader pick it up and explore their own emotions.

The story begins with 0 buildups. Perhaps that was quite intentional as the 'big bang theory'. Nothing before and bam, right into the world of robots. Or rather robots, androids, and a human. A little boy who was dropped off in the woods by fearful parents and a male android who took him in. Kind of the flip idea of Geppeto and Pinocchio.

The world of fantasy building is something that the author does well. Hidden behind each and every chapter is a nugget of information or wisdom he wanted to share with the reader...whether it's about life; gratitude; forgiveness or even just spreading more light around LGBTQ+ characters. He did it when he hooked me with his book "the house in the Cerulean Sea' and again "behind the whispering door'. I really do believe that his books are beautifully written that could be dissected by a book club with each and every reader picking up or enjoying another little piece.

That said, this wasn't my favourite of his. I enjoyed it, I was entertained, I highlighted sentences that I loved, but there was just something missing for me. I was there for the journey but the heart of the book didn't connect me in the same way as his other books have.

But

"engaging Empathy Protocol"...
Rambo: gosh how I loved Rambo. He reminded me of Olaf, the cute, funny sidekick that is there to keep it light and make you smile.
Nurse Ratched who I pictured as the robot from the Jetsons. She was equally bossy and informative; helpful and annoying. I just found myself loving her.
HAP: the hysterically angry puppet that finds out that sometimes even when we are created with evil, love always pulls ahead.
Victor: sweet, gullible, kind-hearted victor. I loved watching him grow.
Gio: I still picture him as Gepetto. The demanor and the way he was created just had my brain constantly going back to him.

*disengaging empathy protocol"....

While I understand WHY it was used, I didn't need the sexual pieces of this book. I felt like it cheapened the relationships. That could be a "me" thing but I just didn't think it was needed. It overshadowed the simplicity of love.

3.75 starts rolled into 4. Not my fav but still entertaining

TJ Klune is a master. His story telling is amazing and stories give you all the feels. This family story of robots does not disappoint. A queer retelling of Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio! What more could you want?!

I loved Under The Whispering Door and was excited to read another book by this extremely talented author. The writing is so descriptive and vivid. Unfortunately I am not very into robots /AI or I would have enjoyed this one more. It just wasn't for me. That being said, i was impressed with the creativity and wit throughout this one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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

📍 Read if you like:
• The Adventures Of Pinocchio
• Robots/Machines
• Journeys
• Incredible Characters

Am I giving another TJ Klune book five stars? Absolutely!! While I didn’t love it as much as Cerulean Sea or Whispering Door, I still really enjoyed it and it’s well deserving of a five-star.

I can’t explain how much I connected with this queer retelling of 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙤 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙞𝙙’𝙨 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙊𝙛 𝙋𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙤. The characters were a-freaking-amazing! Chauncey is still my favorite from Cerulean Sea, but I have to admit, Rambo is now my second favorite character from Klune’s stories!

I’m not a fantasy or sci-fi reader, but something about this masterpiece book took me to a different world.

Klune Klune Klune - I don’t know what it is about your stories, but I always feel so emerged in the writing style. It doesn’t even feel like I’m reading them, it feels more like a beautiful real-world story.

Giovanni, Nurse Ratched, Rambo, Victor, and HAP… all characters that had me laughing and tearing up throughout the full 400+ page book.

I would highly recommend taking this journey with these lovable characters through an adventure full of emotions AND if you have yet to read a Klune book… please do!

In The Lives Of Puppets was a Beautiful Story!

My third Klune, and unfortunately, my least favorite. Though I consider a three-star rating a good solid read, and this book deserves a 3+, when it ended, my mood was off. I started out in love with the book, and had already started recommending it to a couple people, but when I got about halfway through, I pulled back my recommendations. For me, the journey part of the story bogged down what started as a lovely, creative, "fairy tale" style book.

Yes, it's dystopian and futuristic, and you have to suspend disbelief - which I can do. However, after feeling I was crawling through the middle of the book, the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying. I did appreciate the themes of found/created families, and love-is-love.

I loved the robot banter, particularly of Nurse Ratched.

I adored this. Loved all of it, Klune has done it again. This warmed my heart. Of course I’m laughing and crying and all the feels with this one. Pinocchio is my least favourite Disney movie (ironically one of my sons favs lol) but this retelling was perfect. I loved how it was more Sci Fi, my FAVOURITE Genre 🥹. Perfectly imperfect characters, that you can’t help but admire. A charming setting, well I wouldn’t want to live anywhere near the City of Electric Dreams, sign me up for a treehouse in the middle of the forest.
All that being said, this didn’t top House in the Cerulean Sea, one of my all time favourite books e v e r

This is my second book by Klune. The writing in this latest book reminds me of the writing style of Douglas Adams and his use of humor and wit - only make it lewd. This book had a focus on tolerance, found family, and defeating the bureaucratic system.

The prologue was easy to read and peeked my interest right away, then chapter one left me feeling confused and grasping at straws. What was happening? What am I reading? What am I supposed to be seeing in my mind? After a slower start I cought up to the world Klune created and the ending had a beauty to it.

Overall this book wasn't for me.
There was a lot of robot banter.
A lot of lewd banter.

This was an absolutely delightful futuristic sci fi Pinocchio retelling full of all the charm and wit that I have come to associate with TJ Klune.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Format: ebook courtesy of Tor Publishing Group & NetGalley
Pub date: April 25, 2023

In a fantastic blend of Pinocchio, Wall-E, and The Swiss Family Robinson, TJ Klune grips our heartstrings and forces us in front of a mirror in his latest novel, In the Lives of Puppets. This book masterfully blends together subgenres: dystopian science-fiction & magical realism, humor, LGBT YA romance. The result is a story that is just... magic.

Victor Lawson lives a most peculiar existence. Physically, he is human, raised in the care of a loving and creative adopted father, with a quirky neat-freak and a sociopathic nurse for company, in their deep, lush forest homestead. Charming on its face, right? But its quickly revealed that Vic is the last survivor of an extinct species- humans- and all of his companions are androids- sentient, loyal, loving robots.

The adventure of Vic's lifetime begins when he and his friends stumble on a humanoid, showing faint signs of life but hiding a mysterious past. When the droid reanimates at last, it sets off a chain reaction of events that rip Vic's only known way of life out from under him. To put the pieces of his found family back together and breathe a new life into a peaceful future, Vic and his friends must summon their courage, journey across a dystopic landscape, and fight tooth, nail, and screw to reclaim their happiness and their beloved patriarch.

Reading the blurb for this story, I was skeptical about how much I could truly connect with a cast of characters that are largely inhuman. But TJ Klune does a magnificent job of endearing each and every character to the readers, organic and mechanical alike. This story of family ties and the love we hold for our closest friends can resonate with anyone.

When we think of love stories, most conjure an image of romantic, passionate infatuation. In the Lives of Puppets offers different takes on a love story- different, but no less strong; the love between a parent and child, and its reflection in the devotion of a child to its parent; a love between friends that demonstrates that unconditional acceptance and loyalty doesn't require a blood connection; and a romantic love that blooms slowly between two people separated by space and species, that somehow survives against all odds. In the Lives of Puppets is a story about forgiveness, and how true, unconditional love cannot exist without it- choosing to forgive those that you love, and choosing to forgive yourself.

The language in Klune's novel is simply beautiful- I highlighted countless passages in this book. I particularly enjoyed finding a few references to the real world and to prior Klune novels in this book too! In the Lives of Puppets made me laugh out loud, and brought tears to my eyes. It brings joy, reflection, grief, and hope to the reader. I will absolutely be purchasing a physical copy of this book when it is released (April 25th), and look forward to adding it to my collection and reading it again and again.

Special thanks to TJ Klune, Tor Publishing Group, and Netgalley for the digital ARC of this amazing book in exchange for my honest review

⭐️: 3.5/5

In a home built into the branches of a forest lives inventor and android Giovanni, as well as his son, human Victor, and their family, consisting of a sadistic nurse robot and a small, friendly vacuum. When one day, Victor finds an old, decommissioned android named Hap and repairs him, Giovanni is confronted with his own dark past. When other robots from Giovanni’s former life are alerted to their location, they capture him and take him back to his old life, leaving Victor and the rest of his found family no choice but the brave the outside world to try to rescue him.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by the same author was one of the most heartwarming books I read last year, even if I did have to be in a pretty specific mood to really enjoy it. TJ Klune certainly has a distinct writing style, as well as several character types he (based on my relatively small sample size of two books so far) includes in his books. He makes it easy too root for the characters, and is able to humanize all sorts of different types of characters who may or may not actually be human, drawing parallels to real life social issues that many marginalized groups face. Where I did have some issues with this book was the pacing. It felt like it took a long time to get to the meat of the story, like maybe even until about 50%, and while I was getting there, I found it hard to be excited to go back and continue to read this book. Thematically, I also don’t particularly enjoy stories about AI “coming to life” and attempting to eradicate all of humanity, just from a place of being a computer engineer and having to deal with all sorts of uneducated or uninformed people using the concept of AI as a fear mongering tactic, and to reassure non-technologically inclined family members that there’s a difference between reality and science fiction. Overall though, the message of this book was so lovely, and the resolution was wonderfully bittersweet.

Thank you to @netgalley and @torbooks for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!