4.5 stars
Klune's writing is so full of nuance, yet also compulsively readable. And the narrator for this audiobook is AMAZING. I adore found family stories and this one is touching and totally believable--a family consisting of an inventor robot, a human, a sadistic nurse robot, a Roomba, and a new addition of HAP (Hysterically Angry Puppet).

This is a story that defies genre. I found shades of Pinocchio, The Wizard of Oz, Swiss Family Robinson, and a touch of the movie Robots. Klune is a master of queer representation in stories. Rather than feeling like a tacked on element, it's organic and an essential element of the overall tale.

I don't want to rehash the plot because I think this is a story best discovered as it unfolds. It's the story of a journey, of invention and discovery, of finding who you are and what you are made of. The fact that most of these characters are robots seemed quite intentional and gives the reader the ability to see that there are so many characteristics that can be nurtured and developed in each of us, regardless of background or situation.

I again want to call out the phenomenal narrator Daniel Henning (who also narrated The House in the Cerulean Sea). His voices for each of the characters truly bring them to life in ways that both entertained and enthralled. I believe that the audiobook is the best way to experience this tale, because it is so immersive.

Even though this is fantasy/sci-fi, it is a very approachable book so don't let the genre scare you away. If you're looking for a heartwarming found family story with diverse characters, action, and a huge amount of heart (in many ways both literal and figurative), then do not hesitate to pick this one up.

HAPPY PUB DAY!!!!!

I want to be inside TJ Klune's head as he comes up with the stories he writes. His imagination is vast and remarkable. This quality is demonstrated in his previous books, but this retelling of queer Pinocchio is a sci-fi adventure, coupled with a dash of dystopia, and LOTS of robots! Steeped in the same biting humor as "The House in the Cerulean Sea" and "Under the Whispering Door," "In the Lives of Puppets" had me laughing out loud! Side kick characters Rambo (a scaredy-cat of a vacuum) and Nurse Ratched (a sassy robot nurse that has the most scathing come back lines) assuage the heavy messages Klune entwines within the story (acceptance, forgiveness, betrayal, trust). Victor Lawson, HUMAN son of inventor (robot) Gio, creates a robot, named, HAP (Hysterical Angry Puppet) who is a reformed killing machine with a new heart and lease on life (that includes Vic). Life begins to unravel when the authorities are unknowingly notified that a human is in their midst and the race to survive outside the bubble Gio and Vic have created is in jeopardy.

This is my third TJ Klune book and like the others, I loved getting lost in the emotion, humor and world he created. As with the past Klune books, I listened to the audiobook version, which was narrated by the BRILLIANT Daniel Henning. He provides a whimsical, hysterically funny, pull at your heart-strings narration of this magical story.

Thanks to Tor Books, NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and author TJ Klune for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. It's release date is April 25, 2023.

I absolutely loved this book. I am so glad that Daniel Henning was the narrator on this audiobook. I loved his narration of a previous TJ Klune book I have read. This book was wonderful and just brought even more joy to me. I always find that I read TJ Klune's books when I am either going through something rough or just trying to escape from the world. This story is just another warm hug from him.

Happy publication day to this masterpiece! I have loved every one of this author's books and I simply devoured this one. It is a queer retelling of the Adventures of Pinocchio with quirky characters that will steal your heart, break it and then put it back together again.

The characterization in this book is what really made it for me. I loved all of the characters and their love and loyalty for one another. One of my favorite characters was Nurse Ratched. Her witty humor and jabs at Rambo were downright hilarious at times. I loved her mothering instinct toward Victor.

Even if your genre is not normally sci-fi, I urge you to try this one. You will be pleasantly surprised at how much you will enjoy the lovely adventure between the pages of this book. You will laugh, possibly cry and then feel so much love an contentment at the end. Simply beautiful!

Special thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to netgalley for a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

TJ Klune writes quirky charming reads. I loved his book, The House in the Cerulean Sea, and was super excited to read this one. I was intrigued by the premise, Pinocchio, meets, Wall-E, meets Swiss Family Robinson. The characters were loveable and I liked the Asexual representation of the main character. Vic and Hap's relationship was very sweet and I liked Nurse Ratchet. I did not have as deep a connection with this story as I did The House in the Cerulean Sea but I still really liked it and would recommend.

What are the rules?
- Stick together,
- Run if we have to,
- No dallying,
- No drilling,
- and above all else, be brave.

How do I even write a review for this sweet, hilarious, whimsical story? I’m going to try, but sorry if this review is all over the place. Frankly, being all over the place matches the vibe of this book.

First, I’d say DO NOT read the summary. It gives way too much away! I went in blind and was enamored with this story.

This story starts off with a bang. We are immediately thrust into this eccentric tale by meeting the gang and seeing their interactions.

The gang consists of:

Victor: a human child who was left in the care of a robot when his parents had to flee in danger, he is an inventor.

Gio: a robot inventor, and the father of Victor, who taught Victor everything he knows.

Nurse Ratched: A machine from human hospitals who’s primary function is to “provide medical care”, I put that in quotes because she largely just says sexual innuendos and threatens everyone, but she is a delight.

Rambo: he’s a roomba and has such a pure robot soul 🥹

Hap: Hysterically Angry Puppet, that’s all you need to know… for now. He comes in later in the story.

These characters all live in the forest and end up going on a mission to find Gio after he is captured. I’ll leave the summary at that.

I LOVED these characters. I think what made me love them more is that the narrator, Daniel Henning, absolutely brought them to life. This audiobook was such an enjoyable adventure that made me laugh until I saw tears.

I was initially confused by this story and the way it just jumped into the characters interacting with each other, but once I got to know everyone I was hooked. I did feel that this book was largely humorous dialogue, and sometimes I felt like there was too much and he was trying too hard to fit in as much humor/innuendos that he could, but that’s a small criticism.

There is some romance in this book, and if you’ve read any books by this author before I think you can detect it pretty early on. 🥰 the way he writes romance is so wholesome and always makes my heart beat a little faster.

This story is the kind that will stay with you. It will make you feel like a little kid reading a bedtime story (but more mature) and it will make you swoon, make you laugh, and will make you cry. The word I keep circling back to is sweet, because it was, and the adventure this unlikely group of friends go on was written so uniquely and vividly. T.J. Klune IS magic.

I’m giving this a 4 ⭐️ rating overall only because the plot did start a bit too abruptly, the story was very long with a huge amount of dialogue, and the ending (although appropriate) didn’t satisfy me as much as I had hoped it would. I wanted a happier ending and more closure. I really would have liked to have seen an epilogue.

This book publishes tomorrow, April 25, 2023, and I STRONGLY suggest getting both the text and audiobook. The narration is truly something special to experience, and the writing is stunning.

Thank you so much NetGalley, T.J. Klune, Tor books, and Macmillan Audio for this amazing ARC/ALC in exchange for my honest opinion. 🫶🏻

Everything I wanted and more!

If you loved, House On The Cerulean Sea and Under The Whispering Door, you will love this as well. But the themes and concepts are more adult in this book.

This is a whimsical and adult take on the Pinocchio story and I’m all here for it. A young man and his 3 robots. His dad Gio. And a future love.

GIO/General Innovation Operative /Giovanni Lawson - father/dad/Android looking for absolution.
Vic/Victor - the human boy
Nurse Ratched - Drill & Kill, kind & killer,
Rambo - a funny talkative roomba vacuum cleaner
HAP - Hilariously Angry Puppet was a human killer (a HARP) in a previous life. He’s found & loved by Vic.

All of the characters had such amazing personalities and I loved all of them. But my favorite by far was Rambo.

This book is not like the others by this author. It is like a sci-fi adventure book. The cozy element of his other books isn’t there in the same way. If you’re expecting a fantasy romance you won’t get that. There is a romantic aspect but it is very different from what is already out there. This book is less fantasy and more sci-fi.

The LGBTQIA+ inclusion is authentic and I loved this queer retelling of a beloved childhood story.

I fell in love with a roomba that has extreme anxiety and I’m not ashamed with that. I will be buying this book for my shelves and to give as gifts.

Thank you, Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for this e-arc.

Dear In the Lives of Puppets,
You were a whimsical and charming twist on the Pinocchio story. The dystopian world was interesting to me, but I did struggle with some of the logistics behind the whole concept. I loved all of your little throwbacks to the original fairy tale and the characters were a lot of fun. Nurse Rached and Rambo were 100% the highlight of the book for me. I would often find myself laughing out loud at their antics and verbal sparring. You had a lot of heart, but not a lot of depth for me, and I found myself wanting more from Victor and Gio. There are definite limits to having 4/5s of the characters being robots and lack of depth to the characters is definitely one of those. You brought the cute and the fun for sure!

This is my favorite TJ Klune book!

Did you like Under the Whispering Door? The House in the Cerulean Sea? This is more of that. More adult. Funny & heartbreaking.

BOOK OF THE YEAR!

Found family. Quest. Pinocchio for adults. Wall-E in it’s quirkiness. There’s adult concepts & thoughts. LGBTQ rep.

I just loved this story of a boy and his 3 robots on a Quest to reunite with his father & his future love.

GIO/General Innovation Operative /Giovanni Lawson - father/dad/Android looking for absolution.
Vic/Victor - the human boy
Nurse Ratched - Drill & Kill, kind & killer,
Rambo - a funny talkative roomba vacuum cleaner
HAP - Hilariously Angry Puppet was a human killer (a HARP) in a previous life. He’s found & loved by Vic.

They are funny & sweet & I’m certain there’s more meaning than the obvious.

Jonah & the Whale-ish.

This book will be published on 4/25/2023. Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley, this was a truly amazing book.

I received a copy of this book for review from NetGalley.
Though not as soft as HITCS, In the Lives of Puppets is still a loving look at what it means to be human, even if you are a robot. As the only human in his family, Victor has still always felt loved. He has his father and his two best friends, Nurse Ratchet and Rambo, and has never needed more. However, finding and fixing a new android friend from the scrap yard sets off a chain reaction that leads them on an epic quest.
This story is full of love, adventure, danger, and is laugh out loud funny. The characters are amazing, and the dialogue is witty. This hybrid of Pinocchio meets Wall-E manages to take my very least favorite story (Pinocchio) and make it better. With themes of forgiveness and choice, it is poignant and sweet enough to make me cry a little, while also giving me the compulsion to hug a vacuum.
This may not quite be a warm hug, but it is a loving fist bump, and it deserves a chance. You can choose it.
On the audio side, Daniel Henning is perfect. There are a variety of voices and he maintains character and inflection for each one consistently. There were no errors or glitches that I noticed, and I will definitely be listening to it again.

This book is my new favorite. It was hilarious and poignant and lovely.

Creator robot, Gio, is lonely and becomes the father of Victor- the last human on Earth. With his robot friends, Rambo and Nurse RACHID, Victor finds and fixes a robot that was created by Gio to destroy humankind. In the process, he sets off a string of events that explores what creates humanity, community, and family.

The audiobook is phenomenal -- the reader brings to life each character and comedically delivers each line with the gravitas designed in the writing.

#arc
#netgalley
#inthelivesofpuppets

A story of artificial life, of free will, and of found family. Vic leads a happy, if sheltered, life with his father Gio, a nursebot, and an excitable vacuum. But his discovery of an unfamiliar android leads to the collapse of their safe little world. Gio is kidnapped, and Vic and the robots must set out on a quest to rescue him.

The story was a mixture of allegory and straightforward discussions of gender and related issues. The shades of PINOCCHIO were easy to see here, but it was also reminiscent of THE WIZARD OF OZ and A.I., with hints of I, ROBOT. I enjoyed TJ Klune's previous book, UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR, and I went into this expecting something in the same vein. IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS feels lighter and is colored by a sometimes distracting level of whimsy. Klune hints at a future world that has become a caricature of our own, driven by the slow death of free will. I found myself wishing for more encounters, more worldbuilding, and fewer pauses for explanations when the characters' actions were enough.

Rather than just reading this with tone changes as appropriate, narrator Daniel Henning put in a full, multi-faceted performance.

I was given the opportunity to review IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS through NetGalley and Macmillan Audio. This review has also been manually posted to Goodreads.

This is by far the funniest dystopian book I've ever read! It also has sad, horrifying moments of seeing our human failings and the future they could create, but TJ Klune's sense of humour and his heartwarming characters really shine through and make this story a wonderful experience.

Victor Lawson lives in a home that was built in the branches of a grove of trees, deep in the forest with several robots, including his adoptive father. They salvage parts to build up and repair themselves until one day they accidentally alert the authorities of their whereabouts, learn some horrifying things about their pasts, and get into a dangerous predicament. It's said to be inspired by Pinnochio, but reminded me more of Wall-E, because I could not imagine any robots being so sweet, odd, funny and even human. TJ Klune is such a master of building relatable and lovable characters and found families, this was the best part of the story for me.

The audiobook narration by Daniel Henning was just as entertaining than the story itself. He had different voices and personalities for each character and I kept having to remind myself that this wasn't TJ Klune himself speaking, because he really got every subtlety of the characters, their quirks and his sense of humour.

Listen if you like:
🗺️ Dystopian Plots
🤖 Wall-e
🌳 Puppets/ Pinocchio
💋 Innuendo
❤️ Found Family

This one was so amazing on audio! The narrator absolutely knocked it out of the park! I always knew exactly what character was speaking and when because the narration was that good! The voices were so distinct and truly fit each of the characters and brought them to life.

This story was funny, heartfelt, somber, uplifting, and filled with hope in all the sadness that comes with a dystopian plot where robots have taken over.

I loved the bit of romance that came through and the distinct characters and personalities that were portrayed.

This one definitely won’t be for everyone, but it was quite enjoyable for me, especially on audio. My one note, if you also listen to this one, make sure you really pay attention in the beginning as it jumps right in.

Thank you so so so much to the publisher for my ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Many thanks to my friends at @torbooks and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copies of this book.

Fantastical. Thought-provoking.

When inanimate objects teach the most poignant lessons on humanity, you know their creator boasts talent. Oh! To have the sharp-edged imagination of TJ Klune.

In an old and lonely forest… that’s where we meet this most unlikely yet devoted little family. Tinkering, exploring, creating. Gio and Victor lived a contented life alongside their robots, Rambo and Nurse Rached. But when a new android is brought into the fold, danger lurks close behind ready to challenge everything they’ve known about connection and love.

Written as an homage to Collodi’s Pinocchio, this new adventure of a creation breaking free has notes of nostalgia while also being something wholly original. I actually found nods to one of my favorite childhood reads, A Wrinkle In Time, stronger than that of Pinocchio.

As I’ve come to expect from Klune, his latest foray boasts vivid storytelling and distinct characters. But it’s always the warmth with which he writes that endears me and ultimately breaks my heart a bit. Thankfully, the abundant sarcasm and dark humor didn’t leave me dejected for long.

While I enjoyed the overall execution, there were times the story lagged, which felt antithetical to adventure. And I have to admit that the ending left me wanting. The quick wrap-up (after such a lengthy investment in the characters) didn’t fulfill. I would’ve greatly appreciated an epilogue that entrusted me with a bit of their future.

🎧 Hands-down… the *very* best format for ingesting this book… the audiobook. Narrator @danielhenningla is a one man “full cast” experience. His execution radiates the quirkiness of each personality in a way that made me start to believe the actual robots were in my phone. I won’t be surprised if this isn’t an Audie Award winner for him.

At first this book took a while to get into, it took a few tries for me to actually want to continue it. I think the setting and just overall type of characters, is what made me a little hesitant. Im not used to reading about robots. However, once i did get into the book i consumed it so quickly! i really started to connect with the characters and enjoyed all their banter. I think i am the wrong audience for this specific book although i have loved TJ Klunes other books.

I could not finish the book. I have read others but this book the sexual content seems too strong for me and seems to get worse as it progresses. Unfortunately this book is not for me but I hope that others find a good fit with it and enjoy their reading experience.

This was such a delightful and fresh retelling of Pinocchio! I loved every minute of this book, and I am now deeply emotionally attached to Nurse Ratched and Rambo. They genuinely had me cackling in delight at times.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Tor Publishing for my complimentary arc and to MacMillan Audio for my complimentary audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Daniel Henning does an absolutely stunning job of voicing all the characters. His narration was the icing on the cake. I enjoyed this book so much more because of his different voices.

What a masterful and heartwarming retelling of Pinocchio. With his trademark imagination and heartfelt writing, TJ Klune has gifted us a wonderful fantasy adventure story set in Ory Gone and (I’m guessing) Las Vegas.

While not as heart wrenching as his previous novels, for me personally, this one is full of wicked sarcasm and dry humor. My favorite character hands down is Rambo. The banter between him and Nurse Ratched had me laughing out loud numerous times. The love between all the members of this unconventional family is
apparent from the first page.

“Self worth isn’t measured by what others think, but what you think about yourself”


I am a little unsettled with the ending. It seems like there could have been more. I have so many unanswered questions.

Found family
Being Brave
Retellings
LGBTQ+

This was a hard one for me. I ultimately gave it a 3.75/5 stars. As a huge TJ Klune book my
Expectations for this one were sky high and sadly it didn’t live up to that. First off the amount of “sexual humour” in this book really tampered with my enjoyment of the book. When every chapter has at least one “dick” joke in it it really starts to feel like a book targeted to 12 year old boys and not an adult title. Also I did love the asexual rep in the book but as someone who is asexual why would you add in so many sexual jokes in the book? It really changed my enjoyment of the book sadly. However I did enjoy other aspects. No one can write found families such as TJ.