In the Lives of Puppets
Ratings173
Average rating4
Not completely what I expected, but a sweet read. Everyone was very loveable and the banter was cute. A gentle, heartwarming meditation on what it means to be human. 3.5 Rambos singing out of 5.
A wonderful retelling of Pinocchio. I loved all of the characters-even the secondary ones. I chuckled at times and became anxious for the characters at times.!
I reviewed this novel for the Hugo-winning blog Nerds of a Feather:
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2023/06/microreview-in-lives-of-puppets-by-tj.html
I genuinely didn't enjoy this one, it had such a different vibe than his other books. I was quite bored all the way through. I did really like HAP and Victor's relationship, that was all very cute. I was just not that into the story and the robots were all quite annoying.
This is however the first of his novels that I have listened to on an audiobook and not physically read, which might have been a bad idea since I disliked the voices and cadence of the voice actor so I might have liked it better if I had read it on paper.
This is the third book I've read by TJ Klune, the other two being Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door. I think this was by far the funniest one. I LOVED the first 35% of the book, and if the rest had stayed a cozy fantasy with no romance, it would have been a 5⭐. But as is, the adventure and especially the romance detracted from my experience.
This is the 3rd book I have read by this author and while I admire the world-building and creativity in his plots, TJ Klune's books leave me unengaged. The characters are too cartoon-like and I never actually care what happens to anybody so I end up skim-reading, just wanting the whole thing to be over. So I'm forswearing this author henceforth, despite all the love he gets from readers cause there are too many other authors on earth to enjoy.
The morals of T.J. Klune's stories are about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but this queered, futuristic, twisted version of Pinocchio worked for me in a way that [b:Under the Whispering Door 53205888 Under the Whispering Door T.J. Klune https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1652374208l/53205888.SY75.jpg 67745728] and [b:The House in the Cerulean Sea 45047384 The House in the Cerulean Sea T.J. Klune https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569514209l/45047384.SY75.jpg 62945242] did not. I credit the secondary character duo of Nurse Ratched (she's here to help and also to drill) and Rambo (aka The Little Roomba Who Could), whose behavior is hilarious, poignant, and irresistible.
3.5 stars ⭐️
Worth the read! It was a very comfy and cute book. Definitely loved more the robots than Vic (human), which is the only thing stopping it from being a 4 stars.
It gave me so much Wall-e vibes, and I loved it for it. The dialogs of the robots are hilarious, and I found myself laughing multiple times!
The story, however, didn't hook me as I thought it would, and I needed to push myself a bit. But all worth it for the robots, really!
3.5 stars ⭐️
Worth the read! It was a very comfy and cute book. Definitely loved more the robots than Vic (human), which is the only thing stopping it from being a 4 stars.
It gave me so much Wall-e vibes, and I loved it for it. The dialogs of the robots are hilarious, and I found myself laughing multiple times!
The story, however, didn't hook me as I thought it would, and I needed to push myself a bit. But all worth it for the robots, really!
An interesting mix of Pinocchio, the Wizard or Oz and The Matrix. I'm not sure I entirely buy the central romance (it felt a little too simplistic), but it was a nice adventure (with some fun, snappy dialogue from the supporting characters).
Rating: 4.75 leaves out of 5Characters: 4.5/5 Cover: 5/5Story: 4.5/5Writing: 5/5Genre: Fantasy/Scifi/LGTBType: AudiobookWorth?: YesHated Disliked Meh It Was Okay Liked LovedWant to thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to read this book. This is hands down probably my favorite read of his so far. (Though I only have read one book. Lol) I do love the bits and pieces of Pinocchio themes dropped into the story. I don't actually like the OG story itself but T.J. did a really good job with making this his own. There was a certain thing I found a bit odd but other than that the story was great and did have me tearing up a few times.
I just finished In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune and here is my review.
Victor Lawson has no ordinary human life. He lives with his “father”, an android inventor called Giovanni. His two friends, Nurse Ratched and Rambo, make his little life complete.
That is, until the day they are in the scrap yard and they find a decommissioned android they call HAP and take him home to repair him.
These actions caused an unforeseen sequence of events to occur with Gio having to face his dark past and when HAP accidentally alerts the robots Gio has been hiding Victor from their location, Victor has to make a decision... Does he try and rescue his father before they decommission him or does he do as his father says and live his life? Vic sets out to find his father with little regard for the consequences that will ultimately follow.
This is my first book by Klune so I had no idea what to expect but I was over the moon with how clever this book was. It's done in a wild reimagining of Pinocchio and I found the whole reversal of the characters a nice change of pace for this fairytale.
Nurse Ratched was my favorite robot. She had me giggling so many times. You can tell that even though she is borderline psychotic, underneath it all she has a heart of gold and rambo... I need a rambo in my life. I really enjoyed the writing and the dark humorous undertones that weave its way through the whole book. Loved the plot and how it was a truly original story even from a retelling stand point. Character development was on point and I loved how every single character grows on you. The writing was expansive and entertaining with some really detailed descriptions of the more sci-fi elements.
Definitely added all Klunes work to my shopping cart!
5 stars! If you love a solid retelling with a dash of sci-fi, this has to be your next read! OUT NOW!
For more of my reviews, check out my blog.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I truly was not sure if I should request this book when I saw it pop up on Netgalley. I absolutely adore Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea, and his Green Creek series, but the last book I read by him — Under the Whispering Door — just did not click with me. I was worried that I had outgrown Klune's work, and that I would never like another book by him. But I decided to chance it, and clicked REQUEST TITLE. Tor has always been nice to me, so they accepted my request, and here I am to tell you that (drum roll please) I absolutely loved In the Lives of Puppets. Klune has an absolutely dreamy way of talking about life, death, love, and grief that just really resonates (most of the time). Thankfully, all of the characters in In the Lives of Puppets were easy to like. There were no Wallaces here. (He was my main problem with Under the Whispering Door, but that's neither here nor there.) Klune's character work really shines here, and I am so happy to say that I just really loved this book.
In fact, the characters were really what brought this book to life. Our main character is Vic, a young man — a human in a world taken over by robots/machines. He is seemingly the only human left on earth, and his humanity really wears off on the machines around him. Said machines were all hilarious, heart-warming, and ah. I just adored them. Especially Nurse Ratched — she was laugh out loud funny a lot of the time. Same with Rambo, who I pictured as a roomba. What a little cinnamon roll. Victor's father, Gio, was a human-shaped machine, and he had a heart of gold, despite his past. And lastly, but not leastly, there's Hap. I won't spoil what he is, but oh. He ends up breaking your heart, and putting it back together. Klune once again wins at the found-family game with this cast. Like, he just knocks it out of the park.
The plot was interesting enough to keep my attention, and I loved all the side characters, but I had one glaring issue with this book. Exactly how old was Victor supposed to be? He comes across as being very young, but I think that comes from being raised by literal machines, and being very naive. Throughout the whole book, I was thinking he was somewhere from like....16-19ish. Which would have been fine, if there hadn't been a tiny little romance plot sprinkled in. As a whole, the romance didn't bother me, but honestly? The book really didn't need it. It would have been a fantastic example of a book strictly about familial love without it. But saying that, it didn't hurt the book, either.
Either way, I really, really liked In the Lives of Puppets, and I am so so glad that I can go back to saying I like Klune's work again! Four and a half glowing stars.
T.J. Klune sure has an imagination! This is the third book of his that I've read and I enjoy his slant that he infuses into his stories. Original each one of them and issues and experiences that make you ponder life.
I wish I could embrace this book with as much warmth and kindness as T.J. Klune imbues into his writing, but I felt that this book missed the mark much more than Klune's previous two novels, unfortunately. Apart from one compelling twist, the emotional beats of this tale fell flat for me, as Klune's trademark sentimentality feels empty when paired with an uninspired story.
The book itself is a Pinocchio retelling at its core, but it also reminded me of so many other works of fiction that it struggled to stand out on its own merits. If you threw together Pinocchio, Martha Wells' The Murderbot Diaries, Becky Chambers' The Monk and Robot series, the setting of Fallout: New Vegas, the droids of Star Wars, the characters of The Brave Little Toaster, and the quest of The Wizard of Oz into a pot, you might have a stew that kinda sorta resembles In the Lives of Puppets. I just don't think it tastes very good.
If you loved Klune's previous work you'll probably feel right at home with this book, but to me, a recovering cynic (who was still very much charmed by The House in the Cerulean Sea!), I think your reading time will be better spent elsewhere.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf and follow on Twitter @specshelf.
Y'all had me at horny sociopathic robot named Nurse Ratched. I can't believe it took me THIS LONG to read a book by TJ Klune.