This didn't end up being the kind of story I thought it might be - think a sci-fi adventure quest inspired by Pinocchio, not cozy fantasy romance. There are definitely some loveable characters (Rambo was my fav) & a romantic element, but I think if you're expecting cozy, this may not give you what you want. For the most part, I was entertained & swept through the story, but it did feel way too long and I thought the themes, while interesting, were too on the nose for my tastes

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. TJ Klune has such a unique way of storytelling and this is definitely on brand for those who loved House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door. When I read the description I didn't get it, tbh. But I was still going in with high hopes because of the author's previous work. I also saw on Goodreads that TJK said in it was a queer retelling of Pinocchio and that short statement definitely peeked my interest more than what I read of the other official description.

But now that I've read it, saying a queer retelling of Pinocchio isn't the way I'd go about it. I would describe it as Becky Chamberlain's: A Psalm for the Wild-Built meets Douglas Adams meets The 1985 movie, Return to Oz (with a splash of Queer Pinocchio). And it was friggin DELIGHTFUL.

It was a warm hug for most of the way, but when we get a better glimpse of HAP's past...that was some difficult imagery to try to shake off. Especially as a parent of young ones. So, Trigger Warning right there for you.

I had a hard time putting this book down. Especially once I reached the 40% mark when the story take a huge turn. I definitely chose to read rather than sleep for two nights. Which is saying a LOT as a mom of a 3 & 5 year old. But I regret NOTHING!

Oh and I need to say a special shout-out to the character Nurse Ratched. She had me legitimately giggling at my e-reader. Rambo was the absolute perfect creation. Ugh, T.J. you did it again. *Cue confetti on Nurse Ratched's screen*

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Books for this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am drawn to TJ Klune’s recent books by the quirky covers. Though I am not usually a fan of books about robots, or futuristic topics, I found myself drawn into his most recent novel, In the Lives of Puppets. Klune somehow manages to take robots and infuse them with human qualities, like caring and love. He weaves this into a story that is fast-paced and intrigues the reader, keeping them turning pages to see what he'll come up with next. Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary e-ARC. All opinions provided are my own.

TJ Klune’s latest releases have not only satisfied the giant part of me that loves love stories and companionship, they’ve also made me get a little philosophical in ways I appreciate.

Under the Whispering Door had me reconsidering what happens after death & Klune’s upcoming release In the Lives of Puppets made me think more about humanity & choice & forgiveness & courage. It’s really a special book.

For the sake of simplicity I’m going to use the words “human” & “robot” as I would have used them at the beginning of reading the book.

Lead Victor Lawson is a human with three family members who are robots. His father, an android named Giovanni, raised him after Victor was left in the forest by his biological parents.

Then one day Victor discovers another android, named Hap, & soon after Giovanni is taken & Victor’s world is burned down & his mettle & love & forgiveness are tested.

This book doesn’t just prompt philosophical musings—it’s also really funny. The interactions between robots Nurse Ratched & Rambo are hilarious & screwball & any time they are on the page it seemed like I was having some notable emotion.

The asexual rep, the growing relationship between Victor & Hap, the fantastical Pinocchio and Wizard of Oz-esque plot elements are all things that had me celebrating.

If you want your whimsy with loving relationships of many kinds & you want to walk away thinking “what do I really think about x & why do I think it,” I really recommend this one!

5⭐️. Out 04/25.

CWs: Father taken away. Murder of humans. Murder of androids. Violence.

[ID: Jess, a white woman wearing an orange floral dress, holds the ebook while sitting in a greenhouse.]

In The Lives Of Puppets by T.J. Klune

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

* Thank you to @netgalley and @tor for providing a digital copy of In The Lives Of Puppets in exchange of a honest review.

TJ Klune did it again! I only read Under The Whispering Door from the author and it is one of my favorite book of all time. I enjoy In The Lives Of Puppets but not as much as the previous one. My favorite aspect is the amazing friends relationships. What comforting and heart-warming story.

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TJ Klune’s books are truly a treasure. His books transport readers to another world where they are invited to experience the full spectrum of human emotion: loss, pain, sadness, hope, joy, and most importantly love. As readers, we often move from one book to the next, and occasionally, we come across a book that touches our hearts and leaves imprints. In the Lives of Puppets is one of those books. It delves into what it means to be human. TJ Klune shows us that despite the hurt, pain, and sadness that life can carry, experiencing such emotions and feeling is what it means to be alive. Klune wonderfully highlights that despite this heaviness, we are also able to experience joy, hope, and love. The book reminds us that through the dark times, moments of joy will appear, and these wonderful moments outweigh the pain. This is such a beautiful reminder that I will certainly carry with me. This book also delves into what it means to love. Through Vic and his relationship with Gio and Hap, we are able to see how love can be messy and difficult at times; that truly loving someone means loving the whole person despite their capability for destruction or hurt. We see that its core, love is one of the greatest gifts of living. It is the most precious gift we can find in life. For some, the beginning of the book may be a bit slow. Please don’t let that discourage you from continuing to read the novel, I promise everything comes together wonderfully. I can’t praise this book and TJ Klune enough! Bravo on another smash hit! Thank you for the arc and NetGalley

This was an excellent read. The story moved at a great pace, and it was refreshing to see ace representation. I feel like even though this book had it’s gory moments, I wouldn’t hesitate to place it in a school library or recommend to students for either personal reading or extra curricular activities.

If you are looking for a funny, off-beat, action-packed story, with quirky, likable characters, I’d highly recommend In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune. Klune is a best-selling author known for fantasy and romantic fiction featuring LGBTQ+ characters. His books are humorous and heart-warming, and In the Lives of Puppets is no exception!

In this book, Klune draws inspiration from The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, and the WALL-E in this epic adventure where a young man journeys to save his father.

Victor Lawson was left with Gio by people running from the machines that have taken over and destroyed most of mankind. GIO, General Innovation Operative, vows to keep Vic safe and they live a comfortable but solitary existence in the woods.

Vic spends his days scavenging in the scrap heaps with his “friends” Nurse RATCHED, a hilariously sociopathic automaton, and Rambo, a friendly vacuum robot. Their rules are simple: Stick together! Run if we have to. No dallying. No drilling. And above all else, be brave!

Their rules, especially their bravery are tested when they find a combative android buried in a pile of new scrap and take him home, where they fix him and call him Hap. Although his programming was deleted, Hap was originally designed to eliminate all of humanity.

When Gio is captured by the Authority and taken to the City of Electric Dreams, Vic and his friends must be brave and embark on an epic journey to find Gio and bring him home.

Ultimately, In the Lives of Puppets is a story about love, hope, and redemption.

What a charming story about finding family and humanity. Victor, a human, lives with his android father Gio, a nurse machine, and a robot vacuum. One day Victor uncovers another machine in the scrap yards, Hap, and nothing is the same afterwards.

These characters were so well fleshed out, their dynamic was both comical and magical at the same time. I absolutely loved my time with them and the adventure I got to feel a part of.

I didn't finish Under the Whispering Door, so I was happy when I got sucked right into In the Lives of Puppets. Klune has cemented himself as both a fantasy and science fiction writer. It was darkly funny, sad, hopeful and at times, scary.
I love that the story took me to unexpected places, like a "human museum" and future Vegas!
Another excellent tale of Found (Robotic) families.

It felt a bit rushed and also a little bit twee - I enjoyed the murderous robot, but I think that this is pitched at a younger crowd then what I prefer.

Thank you to NetGalley, TOR and TJ himself for providing me with a eARC of this technological retelling of Pinocchio.

This book is great. These characters deliver. And they deliver in a way that feel so naturally robotic for a robot that is written by a human. I commend Klune for the fine balance here. These robots have robotic personalities based in human stereotypes but never once losing or forgetting that they are robots.

However these are some classic Klune characters so if you haven't taken to some of his other characters in pieces like House in the Cerulean Sea or The Extraordinaries then it might not hit as heavy as you would like.

I loved our MC, Victor, and the way he was able to be his own beautiful character but be the glue holding some big personalities together. Plus his cuddles at the end basically made me cry.

I would also like to add that this book does have some weird pacing. This is again something you see in Klune's work where not a lot occurs over the course of a lot of pages. I am thinking here about how at one point we basically get an entire chapter for the characters to travel a single, pretty uneventful, mile and then later on a single paragraph explaining that the characters had travelled across a huge hostile environment without hiccup.

Again, I believe that this is a writing style of Klune's and at this point I just have faith that the book will deliver and it does.

Will post to socials closer to the release date.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. I’ve always enjoyed TJ Klune’s books but this one was hard for me to get into. This was a dystopian/sci-fi take on Pinocchio. I do like that Victor and his robot friends keep on pushing themselves and don’t give up, despite the danger they’re in.

this book was so charming and whimsical. with klune’s wit and storytelling skills, reading this was an absolute pleasure. this story is a queer retelling of pinocchio, with elements of wall-e and the wizard of oz. if the premise doesn’t immediately draw you in, please give it a chance!! the characters (especially rambo, a roomba, whose name and personality i just loved) make you root for them, and i was entertained the whole time. the themes of found family, forgiveness, and love conquering hate are present and woven in perfectly. just as cozy as the house in the cerulean sea. 100% preorder worthy!

thank you very much to tor publishing for my advanced reader copy!

I love a good retelling, and TJ Klune's books have been among my favorites, but a slow start really dragged this one down for me. Robots take the place of puppets in this Pinocchio retelling where a human named Vic is raised by an android named Gio. But the truth about society and their seclusion threatens everything they've ever known when Vic brings a damaged robot from the scrap yards back to life. I wish I'd loved this one as much as I did The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door but despite the interesting premise and some cool characters, it just wasn't a hit for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

📚25/135
In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
Format: 📱

Klune’s 2 other NA novels are my GO TO recommendations for people. So I maybe had my hopes too high? While it still had some of the whimsy, it greatly lacked a lot of the charm. Rambo the Roomba was the best part- the most like the characters I’d come to love. as the story is a loose retelling of Pinocchio, I feel that the original “twist” was a little too obvious. Great LGBTQ+ rep, some fun humor, but the overall story was missing some unnameable trait that the other novels of his have.

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Giovanni is a creator of the highest degree. When he one day comes to care for a baby, Vic, his life changes instantly. He’s spent much time and energy protecting them both- from what, Vic isn’t entirely sure.

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While it wasn’t a five star like my other Klune reads, it did the thing all of my favorite novels do - make me Feel Things About Being Human - and oh, did it ever. A clever twist on a Pinocchio retelling, but I promise you don’t have to have much Pinocchio context or knowledge (I don’t - I either never watched the movie, or blocked it out from childhood 🤣) to enjoy it. A story of truly what it means to be a human, for better or for worse, all told against the backdrop a post-apocalyptic robot world. This one is sci-fi through and through, but totally accessible and really beautiful. Prepare to fall in love with a robot vacuum and (slightly sociopathic?) nurse android and just let this story take you where it’s going to go. TJ Klune knows what he’s doing!

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read an early copy.

Every time I finish a T.J. Klune book I think that he can't possibly write another as good as the one I just read. But not only does he keep doing so, but he manages to write books with worlds and character very different than those of his other book!

"In the Lives of Puppets" was amazing beyond belief! Through amazing world building and wonderful, diverse characters TJK wrote a book I had trouble putting down. The story was gripping and beautiful and at times kept me on the edge of my seat.

Klassic Klune!! How does this guy deliver moving tale after moving tale? Crafting characters and moments that pull you in and lead you along? Put questions, problems, and life take-aways in front of readers that tug at your emotions and grapple with dilemmas and question what you think along the way. Another unique setting and world reality-- that works! and that stretches your view of the world-- where the 'people' are central to everything. It is amazing how his different takes on life come together and provide believable fodder for the growth and development of the stories... and of the worlds of those reading along. Great adventure. Only drawback is that I'll be awaiting another new Klune Klassic now...

In the Lives of Puppets was delightfully bittersweet with loads of food for thought.

In the Lives of Puppets is a Pinocchio meets Swiss Family Robinson retelling. It was fresh and new and creative and a very entertaining read.
There was so much humor, and so much heart and just so much of everything.
It’s one of my favorites TJ Klune has written in… maybe ever? Definitely top three worthy.

There were so many references to current events. Things that while present in our current political and sociological environment, were also very relevant to the plot.
Meaning: never once did this book feel preachy. It was a fine line that Klune rode, and he did it masterfully.

SO MANY EASTER EGGS. I loved the Easter eggs! Epic and Awesome and Cerulean blues and “Don’t you wish you were here?”. It was a TJ Klune fan’s wet dream.

I loved the genuine connections made between characters.
I loved the idea that family is made not inherited.
I loved that Vic didn’t give up on anybody and his family never gave up on him.

I loved, loved, loved the ending.
It was oh so melancholic.
I adored it.

Per usual: one does an “oh” moment like Klune does.
If you’re a fan, then you know exactly what I mean.

Every character mentioned had layers upon layers of backstory and personality.
I thought this was such a clever twist on Pinnochio and on current events and on different types of love and what family looks like.

Just great

Super fantastic