3.5/5 - I’m so conflicted after finishing this. Under The Whispering Door is my all time favourite book, I’ve read it almost a dozen times, and cannot get enough of TJ Klune’s writing style with it (as well as The House In The Cerulean Sea). I loved that this story had that same fun, whimsical feel to it. I laughed out loud multiple times and really did like all of the characters.

Unfortunately, the story just never hooked me in the way I wanted it to. While enjoying the writing style and the characters made me still enjoy the book, not being able to get into the story makes me unable to rate this book higher. Especially with it being over 400 pages, towards the end I felt like I was just ready for it to wrap up.

I loved the little nod to THITCS that was mentioned in this, nothing someone who hasn’t read it would feel like they’re missing out on but a fun detail to previous TJ Klune readers.

This was probably one of the most unique stories I’ve ever read, and for that reason alone, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to others. I can see it being a story many people love and I think it will make a great audiobook as well.

Thank you to Tor Books & NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book!

TJ Klune takes a despairing dystopian setting and adds his beautiful writing and rich characters.

In his latest book, the world is controlled by machines who seek out to destroy humans and any machine that shows signs of free will.

Away from this nightmarish society, hiding in a forest built through a canopy of trees, android Giovanni Lawson raises a human boy, Victor, with the help of two other machines: a naive and anxious robot vacuum (think a Roomba) and a sociopathic robot nurse. Of course, their idyllic life cannot last, and when disaster strikes, Victor, Rambo, Nurse Ratched, and a mysterious stranger set out to rescue Giovanni.

I loved all the characters and their interactions. Rambo and Nurse Ratched might be my favorite side kicks ever. Their personalities and banter added humor and depth to an already amazing story.

Just like Klune’s previous two books, In the Lives of Puppets is another book that feels like a hug.

In The Lives Of Puppets releases April 25, 2023 and is one of my most anticipated books of next year. So, when I received an advanced reader copy thanks to @netgalley and @torbooks I was over the moon!!

Book review:
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Victor Lawson leads an abnormal, isolated, life in the woods with his father Giovanni. Along the way he has found, and saved, his two best friends: Nurse Ratched (a homicidal nursing robot) and Rambo (a robot vacuum with anxiety). Together they have built a home and created a beautiful life together.

But, as is the nature of all great stories.. their idyllic existence of inventing by day, and watching vintage movies by night cannot last. One day while on a scavenging mission they uncover something that changes the course of their lives forever.

- I could not get enough of this beautiful found family. The banter between Nurse Ratched and Rambo is life giving! And oh, Gio! 😭 His dedication to his son was so moving.

This is a stunning adventure story full of heart, humor and beauty. There are lines that left my eyes brimming with tears, and moments that had me laughing out loud.

It's been a while since I enjoyed a book so much. If you enjoyed Klune's other books, I highly suggest picking this one up when it comes out. ❤️

In the, soon to be, famous words of Nurse Ratched: "this is going to end badly, I cannot wait."

Thank you Tor Books and NetGalley for trusting me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Publishing date: April 25th, 2023

Being a fan of "The House in the Cerulean Sea" and "Under the Whispering Door", I had a lot of expectations for this book and for the most part, I was not let down. The nurse cracks me up!

So what did I take away from this book? We do not all love in the same ways or at the same intensity levels. Love can change one's life but it may take a lot of patience and a lot of time. One can start over and choose his own path. You don't have to be what others tell you to be. We aren't just labels. Friendship is one of the greatest expressions of love.

Klune is a master at pulling on heartstrings and putting together found families and he has done it again with this book. While I felt that some of his characterizations were trying a bit too hard to fit into categories (i.e. comic relief), the book was overall an enjoyable, though somewhat predictable, story.

The lesson we have learned is be nice to the robots. Tell Google assistant thank you every once in awhile to avoid being destroyed by HARP.
This book was cute and fun and strangely a little spicy with robots. I will forever be having nightmares of that one donkey scene from Pinocchio but what's a little trauma when you have butterflies.

Surprising no one, I absolutely adored this book. If you've enjoyed Klune's previous work, you will likely enjoy this story too. It had the whimsy of The House in the Cerulean Sea, the existential musings of Under the Whispering Door, and a sprinkle of the sexual humor seen in The Extraordinaries. The story and characters were full of heart and a joy to read, even in the parts that made me incredibly sad. Despite being bleak at times, a thread of hope in the form of connection weaves its way through everything that happens. I laughed. I cried. I felt awe and anxiety. The story put me through a wide range of feelings, as Klune's stories usually do.

I love the found family trope, and no one does it quite like TJ Klune. He created such an odd mix of personalities for this story, and it was heartwarming to see them form such strong bonds. Connection is a major theme in much of Klune's work, and this book utilized a combination of found family and fascinating science fiction elements to explore it in compelling ways. The plot and world-building were interesting, but the real draw was definitely the characters and their relationships. The story was largely divided into three parts: intro to the characters & world, the journey, and the final battle & its aftermath. At first, I thought it was just going to be a story about the relationship between Vic and Hap that explored the development of Hap's humanity and his integration into their eccentric family. I would have honestly been happy with that, but, of course, Klune had to bring the pain, which then sent the family on a journey to save one of their own against all odds.

I immediately fell in love with the characters. Rambo, the chronically anxious roomba, has forever changed the way I will look at my vacuum robot. He was just so incredibly wholesome and hilariously naive that I dare anyone not to fall in love with him. Nurse Ratched was a sociopathic nurse droid with a killer sense of humor, literally. She had me laughing out loud at her morbid jokes and inappropriately timed sex talks. Vic was the heart, and only human, of the group. He was incredibly special and cared deeply for others. Gio was the father figure who raised Vic, but he had a huge secret and a lot to atone for in his past. Finally, there was Hap, the newcomer they found in the scrap heap. His relationship with Vic was a highlight of this book and the backbone of the story. The connection between them helped Hap become more and more human, and seeing that growth bit by bit was so beautiful.

Klune explored so many powerful themes and fascinating questions in this book. What does it mean to be human? Is it possible to do "bad" things for good reasons and still be "good?" Can I love someone for who they are now without forgiving wrongs from the past? The story presented growth as integral to the human experience and illustrated how connection is key to growth. It also delved into many other fascinating topics, including artificial intelligence, the impact of humans on the world, how to rebuild in the aftermath of loss and trauma, and the role of memory in identity formation, among others. There was a lot of deep stuff that really made me think, and it was all wrapped in a package of delightful fluff that I ate up.

Overall, there was never any doubt in my mind that I would love this book. I know this is a standalone, but I would really love to get more stories set in this world. There was so much left to explore, and the end was quite open. So, I'll keep my fingers crossed for a sequel one day. Needless to say, this has automatically become a new favorite and gets 5 out of 5 stars.

I have mixed feelings about this book. First the positive, it has all the things a person loves from TJ Klune: a cast of quirky, loveable characters that make a beautiful found family, laugh-out-loud banter, casual use of speculative fiction, and big feelings for the characters and the plot happenings.

What I didn't love: weirdly clumsy ACE rep. That felt shoehorned in and awkward. I also struggled with the sci-fic elements in the book. They make zero sense. A wooden heart as a power source? An inter-connected robot society that can fall to a virus but needs barcodes to identify members? Very little about the sheer existential horror of being the last human ever and no interest in fixing it? The huge hanging question mark of a whole society that has forgotten everything. I know that this book was not hard sci-fic, and more allegorical than anything, but my disbelief was poorly abused.

I still enjoyed this book, but I feel like his last two were both stronger. I don't think I will be picking up any more of his books that have a sci-fic setting. I will probably read more paranormal/urban fantasy style from him that requires less... believability. An okay read if you don't think about it too hard and you don't mind a bit more of a bummer ending than his last two books.

TJ Klune is a master storyteller, bringing characters to life in ways that feel more alive than you’d expect from a robot. Klune has an amazing sense of the human experience, and it shines in every one of his characters. His humor is entertaining and witty. The world he paints is fun and whimsical.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

“What are the rules? Stick together! Run if we have to. No dallying! No drilling! And above all else, be brave!”

In this imaginative, sci-fi retelling of Pinocchio, we are taken on an epic adventure with Victor, potentially the last remaining human; a medical robot named Nurse Ratched; Rambo, an adorable vacuum who never knows when to be quiet; and Hap—short for Hysterically Angry Puppet—who was built to kill humans. Victor and the others must save Victor’s father, Giovanni, after their forest home is destroyed and Gio is kidnapped.

TJ Klune’s books have redefined what it means to be family, what it means to be alive, and now, what it means to be human. While it did not make me cry like his previous books, I greatly enjoyed this book, and I’m sure readers who loved The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door will love In the Lives of Puppets, too.

Thanks to Tor Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune.
We created AI to help us - make our lives easier. We embraced the power of AI's ability to learn and think. . The creation begins to outstrip the creator. Machines see the flaws of humanity and tries to warn us of the destruction we are bring to the world by our selfishness and greed and our inability to listen.

our selfishness, greed and our inability to listen. - sounds familiar ?

This is the story of a man and his son living alone in the woods, salvaging from the scrap yard to tinker and invent.
This is a story of creation, destruction, loneliness, friendship, forgiveness, the desire to do better, to love. The story of humanity.

And of course this is a TJ Klune book with laugh-out-loud moments and unforgettable characters. I read it in one day and will be thinking about it for quite some time to come. Highly, highly recommend.

This is definitely not a genre that I typically read, but it was enjoyable anyway. A future where robots take over the world and decimate all of humanity is not hard to believe, and this story delivers a believable future for earth. I also like how the author builds a moral code into the storyline, giving robots emotions and compassion.

I just couldn’t get into this one. It seems too unrealistic to me and I just couldn’t get into it. I still love TJ Klune as an author but this one didn’t do it for me.

Really well-done and updated retelling of the original Pinocchio story. Really excellent characterization and detailed story telling. The dialogue and interplay between the different robots/androids and people is fun. Who doesn't identify with an anxiety-riddled vacuum or a put upon "nurse" (I think my favorite was Nurse Ratched engaging and disengaging her "empathy protocol."). The juxtaposition of who Hap is, and what he was created to be is an excellent study in humanity and the choices we have (yes, yes...he's an android).

The story itself was slow to me. I was interested in the resolution, so I stuck with it. The descriptions and charactger interactions helped with that. I keep reading synopsis of this title emphasizing that it's a queer retelling (to the point of it being the first few words of the synopsis) ...and...honestly....that's not enough of the story for me to make such an emphasis on it. The author and publisher websites barely mention it, near the end. Is it apparent and an important piece of the story? Yes...but not until the last third, probably.

Overall, good book, though slow at times.

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own.

I know I am likely in the minority, but I am not a huge fan of TJ Klune, however, this is one of the most anticipated books of 2023 and I was happy to get an advance copy.

Like Klune's other books, this one is like nothing you've ever read before. It centers upon one human and a misfit trio of Robots, rebuilt & living in the forest hidden away.

Klune is a favorite of my 18 year old daughter and this story is something she will really enjoy.

It may have been just a bit much for me, but I did enjoy it more than the previous two that I have read. And I highly relate to the very anxious vacuum!!!!

If you enjoyed Klune's previous works, I'd definitely recommend reading this one. While I understand that it is not my full cup of tea, I do recognize that is just my personal taste and that this book will be amazing for others, so I definitely recommend!

“And above all else, be brave.”

“A queer reimagining of Pinocchio.” Those are the words that completely sold this novel to me and after reading this book I am not disappointed.

TJ Klune has once again done such a great job of creating lovable characters. Who would have thought I’d be obsessed with an anxious vacuum cleaner, a sociopathic nurse robot and a Hysterically Angry Puppet? I really enjoyed this adventure and how it was written with so much emotion as well as dry wit. I found myself laughing at the absurdity of it all on multiple occasions, and also cheering my heroes on. I wanted to see them succeed.

I will say that I struggled a bit with the start and getting into the flow of this book. The chapters are also quite long at times. However, I was quickly swept along on the emotional journey, which made up for the slow start.

This book really shows how people (and robots) make sacrifices for their loved ones, no matter the consequences. It’s a heartwarming read with found family, queer characters, and tons of dry humour. I’d absolutely recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley and Tor Books for letting me read an eARC of this book. In the Lives of Puppets comes out April 25th 2023.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! I just adore anything written by TJ Klune. He is one of my favorite authors. And this retelling of a Pinocchio themed story did not disappoint. I love his style of writing, his humorous characters and that I get so absorbed in his stories. Nurse Ratched had me giggling out loud throughout the story. If you enjoyed the House in The Cerulean Sea or Aubree The Whispering Door, I think you will also love this one! 5/5 stars!

It was a remarkable gift to be able to preview this incredible novel. TJ Klune must be the most beautiful human being, to be able to write such empathetic and heart warming characters. So much depth and wisdom. I laughed out loud, I cried and I could not put this book down! The cover art is gorgeous. So excited to welcome this beautiful book to bookstore shelves in 2023! A heart-warming book to hand sell and we will be featuring this in our store subscription boxes as well.

TJ Klune is a master at writing worlds I want to get lost in. The House in the Cerulean Sea is one of my all time favorite books and with his newest book, In The Lives of Puppets, he is back writing characters you can get behind and root for. Gio, Vic, HAP, Nurse Ratched, and Rambo all become a part of the readers family and the adventure they go on is so fun and makes the pages fly by. I cant wait to re-read once this book is published and recommend to all my reader friends.

4.5 stars!! What a splendidly written book

I would like to thank TJ Klune and TOR publishing for released yet again another SPECTACULAR novel, I have thus considered this my early Christmas present.

If you are someone who makes "anticipated releases" lists - ADD THIS ONE TO IT!

It was easy to read (I could not put it down, I read it in one sitting and that is never something my ADHD allows me to do) and I felt the entire spectrum of emotions while reading this book. Wall-E was one of my favorite movies when I was younger & my favorite side character was Rambo (I, too, clean with anxiety buddy don't worry).

I was not the biggest fan of The House in the Cerulean Sea. So, I had very neutral expectations for In the Lives of Puppets as the synopsis to this novel appealed to me much more than prior publications.

- Side note - The prologue really impressed me. I generally find them so vague they're almost useless. This book was not at all the case.

***Thank you NetGalley / TOR for this eARC - All opinions are my own***