I love TJ Klune but didn't absolutely adore this book as I'd hoped. I didn't really understand where the trans representation was coming in, and found the plot a little confusing. However, I loved the cosy setting and did enjoy reading it.

Vic is the only human he's ever met and he lives in a strange forest with his robot companions; his adoptive father, Gio, robot Nurse Ratched, and vacuum cleaner Rambo. While searching the scrap yards for materials to use in his inventions, Vic and his friends find a new robot friend by the name of Hap. But Hap's arrival in their lives brings more than Vic bargained for. Soon after, his beloved father is kidnapped and taken away to The City of Electric Dreams, leaving Vic and his rag-tag group of robot pals to venture into the unknown to get him back.

I can't believe I spent three months avoiding finishing this. I can only put it down to not being in the mood for it because once 1 was properly in, I was IN. I really really enjoyed this one. T J Klune just has a way of writing in such a whimsical way that everything feel magical and exciting. This world was so interesting to be part of and I would love to know move about how it came to be dominated by robots and AI. It’s a fascinating exploration of what it means to be human and it was a joy to follow this strange little family.

I loved the humour in this book, Nurse Rachett reminded me of Dwight from The Office, and as I was reading this while on a re-watch: this is a compliment!
I thought the plot was great, and the metaphor and allegory was fantastic, particularly for these days.
I really enjoyed the book, I can see why some people don't enjoy it as much as Cerulean Sea, but I thought this had the typical humour and emotion I have come to expect from Klune.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love TJ Klune, and In the Lives of Puppets did not disappoint.

I loved all the characters, the way they interacted with each other, and the absolute murderous intent of Nurse Ratched.

TJ Klune really makes books that feel like the magic of reading, and I cannot hype this book up enough.

I'm not a reliable person when it comes to TJ Klune's books. I've loved every single book of his. It happened the same thing with "In the Lives of Puppets". I loved the whole plot, the characters and the way TJ Klune chose how to conduct the narrative. He did it again!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

I have tried to read this one several times since I was approved and unfortunately can't get into it, so am officially DNFing it.

This was such a charming and delightful read.

Driven by characters, this is a true found-family, with a bunch of misfits setting out on an adventure to find the one person responsible for giving them all life, in whatever form that took. From the last human to a murdering robot; a dysfunctional nurse-bot and a vacuum with a large personality, you couldn't find a more random group of heroes.

The unique personalities create such a fun, humorous and loving blend it's impossible not to smile. Klune always plays an unlikely romance, although I admit this one I wasn't sure about. I loved the characters as individuals and their bond, I just wasn't certain the deepening feelings sat quite right this time around.

At times, the plot felt a little stilted. The same points were driven home more than once. It felt both the Coachman and the Blue Fairy had almost identical story-arcs: bad-guy-good-guy-overawed-by-Vic-as-a-human. It's not a fast-paced novel and there's a lot of moving from a to b, whether that's in terms of physical location or character development.

But I loved it. It had me laughing out loud at times as the personalities clash. Combining a purely innocent character with one with a dark history is only going to lead to complex emotions. You felt for this band of misfits and you wanted them all to get their happy ending. Heaven forbid if anyone tried to hurt Rambo!

Another winner from Klune. I eagerly await his next heartfelt, feel-good book that always hits the spot for me.

Oh TJ Klune, you have broken my heart yet again! Here we have a tale of the future that breathes new life into the tale of Pinocchio...with robots, This time Giovanni (Geppetto) is a robot and Pinocchio is a real boy called Victor. In this found family we also have RATCHED a typically sadistic (but loving) android nurse and Rambo the paranoid Roomba. Into their happy home falls HAP who has a mysterious link to Gio and the fate of humanity in this mechanised world and unwittingly reveals the existance of the family to robots wishing Gio harm.

As ever it's Klune's ability to create relationship with humour and heart that are the core of the novel. He creates wonderful worlds populated with characters that you want to spend time with and for whom you have a deep affection. The emotions pack a punch, the world-building is fantastic. These are fairytales that bring the magic of childhood back for adults.

Another cozy and heart-warming read from TJ Klune!

Funny, warm and overflowing with heart. I challenge anyone not to fall in love with this cast of characters.

I don't think I ever stop adoring TJ Kline's work. I didn't realise going into this book that it was a retelling of Pinocchio, but I was pleasantly surprised! The world building, emotions and character development were all phenomenal. I don't know what TJ Kline's puts in these books, but I will never be able to stop loving them.

Such a wonderful; cosy read with lovable robots that made me laugh out loud multiple times throughout.

Quintessential Klune.

Not my most favourite of Klune's but cute and adorable with a lovely moral and always a must read author for me!

Thanks to the publisher for an eArc through NetGalley for review.

Another great read from TJ Klune! The characters, storytelling and world building all weave together to create a beautiful tale of found family and finding where you belong. Can't wait for the next release from this author!

This was a disappointing book for me and I unfortunately dna it at fifty percent. It was well written it just wasn’t for me personally.

This is my first T.J. Klune and I think I may have fallen in love!

Found family is my favourite thing in a book ever and the family in this book just warmed my soul. I've always loved robots so much and this book does not disappoint in the robot content! Rambo being my absolute favourite ❤️

I am now going to have to place holds at the library for all Klune's other books...

I didn't realise that a robot retelling of Pinocchio was the book I needed to read this year, but apparently it was. With TJ Klune's trademark tugs on the heartstrings

I have read and enjoyed other books by this author. here T J Klune gives us another look at the tale of Pinnochio.. The beginning of the book feels clunky and I found it quite difficult to get into the narrative but as the book moves on it becomes something else entirely. It has a depth and level of creativity that stunned me. I could see facets of Pinnochio but it was so much more than this.

Beautiful retelling of the Pinocchio story, with an interesting futuristic take. Full of great characters and heartfelt dialogue

2.5 stars

In The Lives of Puppets is a queer retelling of Pinocchio, but with robots. Victor is a human, the last human, in a robot world and he lives a quiet and hidden life with his fatherly inventor android Giovanni in a little home built into the trees. Victor spends his days salvaging parts with robots until one day he finds an android called HAP who he activates and unwittingly alerts dangerous robots to his father’s whereabouts. Gio is captured and taken to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams and Victor, with his robots and new android HAP, travel the dangerous journey to save his father from decommission or reprogramming.

This is another story by Klune mixing sentimentality with a unique twist. Rambo, an anxiety fuelled vacuum, and Nurse Ratched, a somewhat terrifying nursing machine, steal the show in this story. Rambo is just adorable (and disturbingly relatable), he worries and frets about everything. Nurse Ratched (short for Registered Automaton To Care, Heal, Educate and Drill) was my favourite though because she was more complex, she starts off quite a sadistic and trigger happy character but she’s actually fiercely protective – although her obsession with bodily fluids after a while … sigh

Other than the robots, I didn’t connect with the characters as I did for The House in the Cerulean Sea, or rather I should say I didn’t connect with Victor who I found actually quite unlikeable and selfish and is it wrong I didn’t care what happened to him? Also while I like the robots, they were funny and cute, after a while the novelty wore off a little for me. It went from quirky to feeling a bit forced and out of place and, well, annoying and repetitive, yes we get it, Rambo is anxious, yes can we have another sex joke. The alternative though is brooding HAP and his relationship with the 'I’m the last Human and so special’ Victor.

I enjoyed the concept and felt like it was unique, but then it also managed to be predictable and a little repetitive and there didn’t feel enough plot for me to step into the world. It’s more style over substance. The book uses the same formula as previous work by Klune that worked, but for me just didn’t work here – when an author’s writing is very character based, it wobbles when you don’t care enough about the characters sadly.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review, I really wanted to like this more.

Such a great book. A loose retelling of Pinocchio with lots of clever twists on the original story.
A fairy tale that is most definitely not for children. Funny, sweet with a little bit of magic.