Thank you for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. TJ Klune is one of my favourite authors, and this book didn't disappoint. Amazing

What a beautiful different story that really got me hooked from the first chapter. This author has a way of writing and it's beautiful and lyrical. Can't wait for more from this author.

Another gorgeous story from TJ Klune! I couldn't put this one down, it was so magical and gripping. Would definitely recommend!

Another great book from Klune. I loved Under the Whisper Door and House in the Cerreluen Sea and In The Lives of Puppets is different enough to experience the unexpected but still has the comfort and whimsy of the first two books!

I really enjoyed this and would recommend it!

This is definitely not my kind of read. It was out of my comfort zone but in spite of it all I liked it so much. I wanted to stop reading but couldn't. I kept coming to it, drawn like bees to honey

My thanks to NetGalley and Tor publishing for the opportunity to review this novel.
Although I love the author and his writing style I really struggled with this book and it sent me into a reading slump.
I just proves that science fiction even with a dash of fantasy is not for me.
This is a personal opinion and I'm sure many will love it.

Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and TJ Klune for the advanced copy of In the Lives of Puppets via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel.

This was my first TJ Klune book, and it certainly will not be my last. I adored this book!
Having never been a big fan of the original Pinocchio story (not sure why, it just never really interested me), the story woven by Klune in this book made my enjoyment two-fold: a great tale AND a version of Pinocchio I actually could get into!

I thoroughly enjoyed the way new bits and pieces of information and revelations were dropped into the story as you moved along. Rather than a grand reveal at the end (although it does build up to a climax, don’t worry), you get nuggets of gold occasionally dropped on you out of nowhere which enrich the narrative, nudge the direction it was going in, or sometimes, completely blow it apart. Brilliant storywriting.

The fact that this was written as a fully queer story was the icing on the cake. But it’s not just your standard gay or sapphic love story. It’s more, it’s deeper, it’s queerer.

Highly recommend this – it’s high up on my list of 2023 favourites.

Moods: adventurous, challenging, dark, emotional, hopeful, sad, tense
Tropes: fairy tale retelling, grumpy/sunshine, LGBTQ+, peril, redemption/dark past
Pace: medium-fast
Character development: strong
Plot or character driven: 50/50
Diversity: high
Spice: 1.5/5
Trigger warnings: Blood/Gore, Confinement, Death, Death of a parent, Genocide, Guns/weapons, Kidnapping, Mental Illness, Murder, PTSD, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, War

Rating 5/5

Amazon Summary
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 labelled ‘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 decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: can he accept love with strings attached?

My Review
I wasnt sure what to expect with this book but i love The House by the Cerulean Sea so much i thought i would give this a go. This is a sci fi take on a Pinnochio retelling and it didnt disapoint. TJ Klune's Imajination is amazing and the worldbuilding is so creative. The novel is a beautiful story of Love family and humanity, i fell in love with the characture and would recomend this to anyone who is a TJ Klune fan

I always love T J Klune's books, so I was interested in this one, even though the premise didn't make it sound like my sort of book.

It didn't hook me like all his other books, it was entertaining, but that was about it. I'm still glad I read it though!

This was very different to TJ Klune’s other novels though it still has the cosy, fantasy feel.

It is very much a Pinocchio retelling but a focus on AI and humanity. It is full of guilt, grief, loneliness, as well as love of course.

‘The truth was often broken, shards of glass embedded into skin. There they would remain until the wounds scarred over, leaving lumps that, while they never truly go away, would become less noticeable with time.’

The ending was beautiful and very fitting to the story.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, I LOVED the characters in this and I adored how it started! The innuendos had me laughing so loud I was getting looks. Unfortunately the dynamic didn't change as much as I'd have liked it to and I started to just nod at each innuendo that came after, it felt a little forced.

I enjoyed the premise and I liked how the plot played out, but the characters progression wasn't where they are for every other Klune book I've read. I felt they needed that extra somethin' somethin' and for the hearts they may have had (or not had) they deserved the building ontop of the solid foundation that was layed down at the start of the book.

Although a bit bit of slow burner, it is well worth sticking with this book. Beautifully written and truly a masterpiece.

An interesting read given the current ongoing debate around the proliferation of AI in our everyday lives and the threat that it may have on the future of the human race. In this retelling of the Pinocchio story we find a world where this has already happened. However, some have survived as we find Vic living in the forest with his “father” Gio and a couple of robots cobbled together from scrap. Vic loves roaming the nearby scrap heaps looking for old tech he can find to repair. Little does he know what catastrophe and adventures await when he stumbles across HAP a damaged android.
I’ve not read any of TJ Klune’s other novels but I did enjoy this one.

For me, this lacked some of the TJ Klune sparkle I found in his other work, but otherwise a beautiful retelling of Pinocchio and Klune’s take on humanity and forgiveness makes it a captivating read. Unfortunately none of the characters I really fell in love with, to be honest, I did enjoy the thought out ending though.

I loved Cerulean Sea. Whispering Door was decent. Wolfsong was a crime against humanity and this one bored me to tears.
Long story short - this, very probably, will be my last Klune.

I knew this book was going to make my heart *feel* within minutes of starting it. There are a couple of authors whose books have a similar effect- T. Kingfisher, Becky Chambers-who just have a really lovely way of creating relationships with heart- and Klune can join the gang. I loved, loved, loved all the character- Rambo and Nurse Ratched particularly- as well as Gio and Hap. A wonderful merging of Pinocchio and the Wizard of Oz: a hybrid fairy tale for the modern age. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

This beautiful sci-fi, dystopian story is all about family, love, and what it means to be human. My second Klune book has been an absolute joy to read.

I want to start off by saying I’ve just recently been dipping my toes in Sci-fi and although I would say this is quite soft Sci-fi, I still loved all the science, AI, robot elements. It was an interesting take on a fantasised future if robots were to take over.

The cast of characters were unique, loveable and I couldn’t fault any of them. There was a place in the story for each of them and it was such a moving story.

One of the most important things I’m taking away from this book was the amount of times I absolutely CACKLED at Nurse Ratched. She was hilarious and just my type of humour. I’ve said this before but I very rarely find books funny, the lack of tone throws me off and jokes just don’t land with me but this was something else! Her and Rambo’s friendship and back and forths were brilliant and loving and so contrasting, full of sarcasm and innocence.

Thank you so much NetGalley, the publisher and author for a review copy. I’ll be getting myself a physical copy soon!

A retelling of Pinocchio in Klune cosy fantasy style - what’s not to love!

This was quite an emotional book, that certainly took me a while to get through. The story was great and I did care what was happening to the characters, which is what a good book should do.

Overall, I liked this book. Thank you to NetGalley for the arc.

T.J. Klune just manages to make my favourite trope work every time! I fell in love with all the characters we were introduced to and enjoyed reading about their interactions the most. While I don't think this was better than House in the Cerulean Sea, I do think it was an absolutely amazing book and I did not hesitate at all giving this five stars. I've never read the original Pinocchio story, I've only watched the Disney adaptation, but I could see some of the references that they've used in the movie as well. Highly recommend if you love a queer (there was some asexual rep that I had no idea of, but it made my ace heart sing) found family story!

In the Lives of Puppets is a fantasy following the perilous journey of Victor, a human, and his three companions; a vacuum, robot nurse and a human killing machine. Think Pinocchio meets Frankenstein meets The Wizard of Oz and you’re getting close!

The setting description, story telling and, most of all, character building is what sets TJ Klune firmly in place as one of my favourite authors. He is a master at creating characters that you instantly fall in love with, and in my case keeping you entirely too invested in the welfare of a Roomba!

Having attended a book event for the release of In the Lives of Puppets I witnessed TJ Klune respectfully push back on the presumption that In the Lives of Puppets is another cosy fantasy with some comparing it to Cerulean Sea. However, I would say not to be deterred if you are looking for something that still loosely fits the cosy fantasy vibe as it does not stray too harshly. The overall plot and themes of the story are dark and heart wrenching, however between the overexcitable Roomba and morbidly hilarious nurse, In the Lives of Puppets remains a light enough read that had me laughing out loud from start to finish. Having said that, I also held my breath throughout the last section of the book anticipating the typical heart break I have come to expect from Klune!

Overall, I rated In the Lives of Puppets 4.5/5 stars as, for me, it just didn’t hit the the same way as Under the Whispering Door and House in the Cerulean Sea but is still an excellent read.

As a TJ Klune fan, I look forward to his future works.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.