Wall-E meets The Adventures of Pinnochio with a touch of Swiss Family Robinson in this story about the last human on earth and his makeshift family consisting of a sadistic nurse macine, a neurotic vacuum, a robot father, and a new mysterious android labeled HAP. Victor Lawson is the last human on earth, he is the son of Gio Lawson, a robot who has raised him. Victor loves repairing things and when he discovers and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “ HAP” he soon discovers what his father has been hiding from him this entire time: that Gio was tasked with creating machines... and that Hap was one of them... and he was programmed to hunt and kill humans. Yet Hap has no memories of his past and now he is something new When Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams and Victor must stay hidden or else the other robots will kill him. Victor now must go on a journey with his family and new android in order to save Gio while discovering what it means to love and if he can love someone who could betray him. This was the most adorable, sweet, and fun story ever. I adored Nurse Ratched (nurse machine) and Rambo (vacuum) so much, they were such a fun pair to read about. The story itself was sweet and such a gorgeous read. The romance was light and the story also really focused in on the love we have for our family. it honestly was such a touching read and I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a fun read with a funny and quirky cast of characters who go on an adventure!

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group, Tor Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC!

I absolutely love this author! I have never read a retelling of Pinocchio and I was pleasantly surprised at how well done and well thought out it was. Pinocchio but make it a dystopian sci-fi? I'm in! The characters were great, their banter was witty and made me laugh out loud. This book filled me with pure joy!

4.5 Stars!

I couldn’t start off 2023 with any other book than this one! I received an early copy of this through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I couldn’t thank Net Galley and Tor Publishing enough for starting my reading year off with one of my all-time favorite authors. I will read everything this author puts out just so I can smile at the Easter Eggs he leaves in all of this book! I get a sense of “home” when I’m in one of T.J. Klune’s stories.

I want to begin by saying although this book 100% worked for me, it might not work out for everyone who would be picking up this book because of how much they loved some of Klune’s previous books. This book is much heavier in the Sci-Fi and dystopian feeling. The humor is a bit darker and cynical, and the overall story in the middle of the book is a bit slow. There were times I had to re-read some of the paragraphs and slow down my reading speed just to absorb some of the world building that was taking place. It reminded me of the world of Wall-E, with the story line of The Wizard of Oz, or the Matrix, or any other book/movie where someone is meeting the “Oracle”, “Chosen One,” or “the Robot God.” For someone who reads a lot of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, I loved this book. However, I’m not sure I would suggest this book to others as the first TJ Klune book for them to pick up.

The book follows Vic, who is the last human on Earth. He was raised by Giovanni Lawon (Gio) an android inventor, and two other robots Nurse Ratched and Rambo. Nurse Ratched is a robot from the past that helped with medical emergencies, and Rambo is a robot vacuum. The two of them kept me laughing throughout the entire book. Let’s be completely real, the thing Klune can do so well is write great banter with his characters. Don’t get me wrong, the children from House in the Cerulean Sea will always hold the top spot in my heart for best characters ever written, but after finishing this book, I must admit that Nurse Ratched and Rambo are tied with first place when it comes to their banter Nurse Ratched’s sense of humor. My gosh…they were adorable. Honestly, I’m not sure this book would be nearly as good without the humor from the side characters.

You can tell from the beginning of the book that it has a “found family” feel that will have you wishing you could be a part of their family. Vic and his robot family come across an old robot from a scrap yard named HAP, who is an old model of robot that was designed to end humanity. However, HAP doesn’t remember his programing. HAP has learned that he can choose his own path. He ends up living with Vic, Gio, Nurse Ratched, and Rambo and starts to learn and adjust to their way of life. They spend months together listening to jazz music, tinkering with scraps, and enjoying each other company, until one day they are found by the Authority. Gio is taken to the City of Electric Dreams, and a rescue mission follows where rest the book really picks up in speed.

The book hits on some heavy topics like friendship, love, bravery, choosing your own path, and forgiveness. But my biggest takeaway was the end of the book. The way Klune writes about loneliness and what makes humanity so incredibly important had my eyes watering. How Klune can have me tearing up over robots tells me that his writing style woks for me.

I feel like TJ Klune was trying something different with this book, and I personally loved it and am in awe of how genius his writing is. However, I’m not sure this will be the book I recommend to others if I’m recommending a TJ Klune book. I will wait forever until I can read his next book!!!!

Loved, loved, LOVED this book!!! Loved the characters! Loved everything about it!!! My heart is so full and filled with joy and happiness after reading this modernized retelling of Pinocchio. TJ Klune is an absolute GENIUS! I love and admire his fearlessness in discussing topics that are generally frowned upon or ignored by the uptight, narrow-minded people in this world. His sexual references, nuances and humor are simply brilliant and refreshing. I laughed as much as I cried. It took me 4 days to read this book; not because it was slow, but because every word was worth being savored. I loved the characters...I'm sure I said that already!! Who wouldn't love a little, anxious vacuum robot that is neurotic and has OCD? Or a nurse robot whose crass, sick sense of humor and no filter will have you rolling on the floor? I just couldn't get enough of this story and I am so sad that it is over. I highly recommend that everyone read this book. I'm pretty confident in stating that you will more than likely love it just as much as I did. Preorder it now!!

Thank you to the author, Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for allowing me to preview this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion!!

In the Lives of Puppets by T. J. Klune is a dystopian sci-fi retelling of Pinocchio with a dash of Wall-e sprinkled in, and a hint of Frankenstein too.

I love Klune's writing and the quirky characters he creates. This book has a wonderful assembly of characters who have created their own family--Giovanni (Gio) Lawson, an inventor and android father figure; Nurse Ratched, an exasperated and blunt medical robot; Rambo, a tiny vacuum robot who is as filled with exuberance as he is with anxiety. And then Victor, who isn't a robot at all, but a real, human boy who is part of this found family. Literally found, as you'll see when you read the book.

HAP enters their lives when Victor finds him in the scrap heap and everything in their quiet, pastoral forest life changes from that moment on. HAP has a backstory that only Gio knows and understands. The chaos that ensues results in Victor and his companions going on a quest that puts them in great danger but also shows how deep the bonds of their love and devotion extend.

At it's core this is a story about love--the many versions of it. Familial love, platonic love, romantic love. It's all here. A story about love, devotion, trust, and faith in the people you love. That was exquisitely shown and developed.

Some of the sci-fi world building and back story were al little confusing for me but they didn't detract from the story telling.

The book ended on a hopeful and tender note, with warmth and love and found family being the central focus.

I liked the slowly progressing romance. I do think it was great to have ace representation with Victor but I did feel this was something that we were told more than we were seeing. I think I would have liked that developed more, as it was often brought up in the narrative but didn't have as much weight to it as part of who he is.

I enjoyed the characters, the found family component--which Klune does so well--and the overall arc of the story.

I wanted a bit more from parts of it but it still left me with a warm and cozy feeling at the end. I will probably reread this in a few months when it's released and revisit my thoughts on it.

Another great book from Klune. Cerulean Sea still holds the top spot in my heart, but this books gives me much to think about, now that I've finished. it.

This book - mind blowing up emoji.

I love everything TJ Klune has written and this was no exception. A cross between Pinocchio and Wall-e but all it’s own. Each character was beautiful and funny and flawed but aren’t we all?

Yes it ended kind of melancholy but to be honest I kind of expected that. Really beautiful and so glad I got to read it.

Thank you to TOR publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this amazing novel.

In true Klune fashion, this novel is wonderful and heartbreaking and amazing and I could go on and on with it.

Vic is human and his family is all robots. How did one live in a world where you are the only one? You work to create others that ate unique as well.

Klune has written a dystopian book that has heart like all of their books. Finding your place and finding your people is the core of this novel.

Highly enjoyable read!

I'm hanging by a thread, very close from exploding into uncontrollable sobs. This was perfection. I have no words. The story was superbly crafted. The Collodi's Pinocchio's references were great without being overwhelming. The characters were the best of the best. The humour was incredible without it being over the top that can end up being annoying, eclipsing the whole book. I'm in a limbo of feelings, and my heart is a mess. Hearts, HEARTS, they're so important in this book. An additional character even. What can make a puppet "a real boy"? A heart. A heart makes you feel, and if you feel you aren't a machine. You can choose, you can change your fate, change your purpose. You can evolve.
Every single part of this book was well thought, and pages flew unnoticed. I got to the last page, with glassy eyes, not wanting to close my kindle because that meant it was truly over. I wasn't ready to let go.

Victor must be forever protected. I'm now his bodyguard. The sweetest human ever who deserves all the hugs. Group hugs would be great!
Rambo might need a shake once or a thousand times but his excitable small vacuum body brought sunshine to the story.
Nurse Ratched, my queen, never change. You can roll on me, then heal me anytime you want.
Hap, aka Hysterical Angry Puppet, my "little" killing machine, too big to be a toaster, you are my angel, your little smiles melt my heart.

Head empty, depleted. In love. So in love.

How can someone write something so profound that makes you feel miserable of the relationship between a machine and a boy? Yes that someone is Travis John Klune who is known for writing The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door. Only he can write about a group of machines that can talk and make you feel endless of emotions.

The book is divided into 4 parts:
THE FOREST
The beginning of the story when inventor Android Giovanni Lawson found a place and built a home together with his human son Victor Lawson, sadistic sociopath nurse machine Ratched and small vacuum Rambo. This part tells how they started and describe about their lives and then Victor meet a dismantled machine Hap. He saved him and took home with a little knowledge what even will unfold next.

THE JOURNEY
Gio is kidnapped to the city of electric dreams. Victor, Hap, Ratched and Rambo must save him after all he is their father. Their journey towards city is filled with funny bickering, a sadistic statement from Ratched, innocent cute Rambo always on guard from beast, and protective Hap who will do anything to be near Victor.

THE CITY
Victor must face any secrets that's coming to him, a deadly confession and a truth he must digest despite his unavoidable feelings towards Hap. A machine and a human boy. The endless possibilities of life beyond them. A seemless future yet a tragic past. Will past determine their future?

YOU START AGAIN FROM THE BEGINNING
Victor must do everything to save his father and Hap even if they may never remember him but he should try. He must try. One never know unless you give a try, right? The ending, it's always the ending which break me and then heal me. It's funny I know but once again only T. J. Klune can write a gripping story about love, forgiveness, attachment, family based on a machine and a human boy. I will do everything to write even a percent of what he write.

Let me start by stating that the artwork for his novels is absolutely amazing and it perfectly captures what I had pictured in my head. I didn't pay too much attention when I started but I was describing it to a friend and showed her the cover and had the biggest WOW moment.

I couldn't put it down just like his previous novels. I still have to hold out that the House in the Cerulean Sea is still my #1 but this one is so close. I loved everyone. Rambo and Nurse Ratched really made this book. Their witty comments throughout the book had me laughing so hard. Nurse Ratched's ability to switch from wanting to care for you to threatening to maim or murder you was a highlight as well.

I enjoyed the storyline of Vic and Hap but it was the family aspect that makes me love this book. Every family is unique and I want to be in this one. It is based on Pinocchio but I was definitely picking up some Wizard of Oz vibes as well. With Disney and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio recently being released this one is blowing the others out of the water because the movie that played in my head was just as beautiful and vibrant as the cover. If you want a book that makes you feel insanely happy read In the Lives of Puppets.


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 labeled "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 decommissioning, or worse, reprogramming.

IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS fits perfectly into this year of many, many Pinocchio retellings, but I'm happy to report it feels fresh nevertheless! In true TJ Klune style, it's a sweet and emotional tale brimming with wit, imagination, and heartache (good and bad.) I was also thrilled to see a canonically ace protagonist!!

I won't spoil by over-explaining, but if you're a fan of Klune's earlier work (or even if you aren't) then you're certain to love PUPPETS. The cast is hilarious and loveable, and the loose retelling led to some interesting twists. It's pacey and escapist in the best possible way -- and Klune is probably the only author who could make me cry over a roomba.

Another TJ Klune book to love! If there is anything this author does, it's make loveable and flawed characters. Thoroughly enjoyed this latest novel, interesting world, fun cast of characters. Dystopian wizard of Oz vibes with lovely ace rep. Overall a really enjoyable read!

Arguably silliest (when compared to Cerulean Sea and Whispering Door) at times, In the Lives of Puppets is filled with Klune’s signature warmth and heart and, at its center, asks what it means to be human. While I fluctuated on the rating, I gave it a five for posterity and for the peace and hope it left me with.

Yes, I did read this ( and Whispering Door when I got approved for it last year ) in a single day. TJ Klune does something to me.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
Rating (3/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Publishing Date - April 25th 2023
Thank you Netgalley and Tor Books publishing. Overall I enjoyed this book , not sure if I would reread it again though. I loved both House in Cerculean Sea and Under the Whispering Door ; but this one was not one of my favorites. Story of human child Vic living with his fatherly inventor Giovanni and a few other robots. This one echos similarities to Disney’s Pinocchio! I still recommend this one ; especially if you are a fan of TJ Klune’s writings.

RATING: 5/5 STARS

This book is such a treasure. TJ Klune knocked it out of the park with IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS! The perfect blend of fantasy, comedy, romance, and sci-fi. The story was heartwarming and engaging. And the characters were spectacular - Klune excels at creating the most adorable personalities. I was so attached to Vic and his found family. What a lovely book. Highly recommend.

Victor Lawson lives in the woods with his adoptive robot father, Giovanni Lawson, and their two robot friends, Nurse Ratched and Rambo. They have a happy life, until Victor uncovers an unknown robot from the salvage yard, Hap. Victor decides to take it home and fix it, because every robot is worth fixing. Everyone deserves a second chance.

When Hap accidentally alerts other robots to Giovanni’s location, he gets taken away. So, Victor and his little group of robots decide to go on a quest to save him. But their journey will reveal a dark connection between Hap and Giovanni. It leads to the question: can Victor really trust Hap?

Thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of In the Lives of Puppets to review! Of course, it’s TJ Klune, so I knew I had to read it. At first, I was a little skeptical at the fact that this is a Pinnocchio retelling, but I should have trusted Klune to make a story you’re bound to care about.

Like any TJ Klune book, you will be immediately sucked in by the characters. The little robot found family that Victor has is adorable, and yes, you will form an emotional connection to these robots. Nurse Ratched is hilarious, and Rambo the little vacuum robot has an anxiety disorder. What isn’t to love about them? The way they question some of Victor’s human things is endearing, funny, and will just make you love them even more.

While there are moments of humor, this book will also probably make you cry. The way Victor’s journey to save his adoptive father is woven into the world building of the book is a little bit genius, honestly. You get the story as Victor is getting the story, which means it doesn’t feel like you get bogged down by too many details. It also allows you to feel all the emotions and truly appreciate the cast of characters we have.

All in all, I think fans of House in the Cerulean Sea will definitely enjoy this one. It has some of the same quirkiness, and all of the great characterization that we love to see. Definitely pick it up when it comes out in April!

I will preface this review by saying that before reading anything by TJ Klune I was mostly a Psychological/ Thriller reader . However , TJ Klune has a special unique gift in which he can add true depth to his characters which leads readers that are not necessarily fantasy/romance fans , inevitably pulled in to the worlds he creates in all his books. House of the Cerulean Sea is one of my favorite books , I read it precisely a year ago today and still think about it . That being said, The Lives of Puppets did not draw me in as quickly as The House on the Cerulean Sea did. Unfortunately, despite the levity of humor and the likeness of the characters just about the midpoint of the book I still felt as if I was laboring to finish. Shortly after the midpoint is where I was truly captivated with the story and it’s characters.

In the Lives of Puppets is a fantasy/science fiction story about a boy named Victor his robot father Gio and his three robot friends, Nurse Ratched ( who self identifies as a sociopath), Rambo ( a loving , anxiety driven vacuum) and HAP ( a Robot who was made to kill humanity, whom believes he is devoid of love ).

Victor is the last human living in a world that has been taken over by robots. These Robots have ultimately destroyed almost all of humanity but there are a few of the robots that have gone rogue. It’s a story that depicts how powerful love and compassion can be to truly bring about changes in our world. Throughout the book there were many deeply layered philosophical elements that added life to the story.

Overall it was beautiful story of creating your owns path and the power of love and acceptance.

Thank you to NetGalley and TOR books for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Victor is human, but he lives in the woods with three robots. When they uncover a decommissioned robot and bring him back, their lives are forever changed.

You wouldn’t think such a thing as lovable and well developed robot characters could exist, but they were some of the most robust characters I read. You’ll be laughing from the very beginning at their antics. There’s a lot of sentiment to the story, as well as adventure and suspense. The ending didn’t completely make sense to me but it did bring the emotions.

“They were his best friends in all the world. He didn’t know what that said about him. Probably nothing good.”

In the Lives of Puppets comes out 4/25.

A retelling of Pinocchio (and maybe Frankenstein, Swiss Family Robinson, and Wall-e?) with a queer love story, androids, a snarky nurse robot and a roomba named Rambo, all with a sci-fi feel. Victor, a human with an android father, needs to rescue his Dad, Gio, from the androids who have taken him. He has help from Nurse Ratched, Rambo, and a new android he has created named HAP. Lovers of TJ Klune's other books will be very excited to read this new fantasy/scifi from him!

In the Lives of Puppets is another queer emotional rollercoaster from author TJ Klune.

This story actually took me a bit to get invested in, but once I was I loved all the relationships and the humor inside. The philosophical and moral implications of this storyline were heavy but the characters were brave enough to face them.

Some of the fairytale influences seemed heavy handed, but overall I really enjoyed this book, and the ending was suitably handled.