A wonderfully touching story of family and loyalty and love. Familiar enough to be reassuring and comforting and different enough to be engaging and exciting. The characters are relatable and positive (mainly) and often very funny. A cross between Pinochio and Terminator, and an absolute delight.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune 🤖 🌈

A heart-warming sci-fi / light fantasy retelling of Pinocchio. Victor is the human ‘son’ of a decommissioned inventor robot, Gio, living up high in a tree top workshop - scavenging parts and repairing scraped robots. Humankind has been overrun and extinguished by sentient robots. Victor and his father have lived peacefully deep in the woods until one day, Victor salvages an android, HAP, that had been programmed to kill humans. Unfortunately, HAP inadvertently alerts the robot overlords to Gio and Victor’s existence and puts them both in danger.

Ultimately, a story of love and what it means to be human - experiencing love, paternal & fraternal as well as romantic love, value of memory and free will. ‘Humanity’ is not the preserve of humans - but can be found in a hybrid family of rejects, spare parts and left overs. As with Klune’s earlier work, the beautiful, The House in the Cerulean Sea, it is centred on a slow burn romance of the MMCs, but the humour and sense of fun really comes from the diverse cast of supporting characters including a sociopathic robot medic Nurse Ratchet and a romantic vacuum-bot called Rambo.

A truly joyful read.

TJ Klune has a brilliant talent for writing heart warming fantasy. And this is no exception! It's a sweet story, full of tender moments between characters.

I would say it's weaker then his some of his previous books but it is still extremely enjoyable.

A retelling of Pinocchio but with robots instead of puppets. Victor lives in the forest with his father, Giovanni, and his robot friends Rambo and Nurse Ratched. One day while searching the nearest scrap heap for anything useful Victor and his friends find a robot that was supposed to be decommissioned, they bring the robot home and reboot him, but he doesn’t remember who he is or what his original function was. Giovanni does know the new robot, and this robot has ties to Giovanni’s previous life, and soon that life comes looking for Giovanni and they take him back to the City of Electric Dreams. Victor and his friends set out to rescue his father and bring him home, along the way they will find out about themselves and Giovanni’s previous life.
I loved this, and I will confess that when I got the email from NetGalley approving me for an arc I did squeal with excitement.

For a book that's almost.entirely inhabited by machines this is probably the most human book I've read. TJ Klune always makes you FEEL all the emotions and this one was no different. This was such an interesting read, I can't wait to see what he brings out next.

Another absolute beauty! Not that I’m surprised

TJ Klune strikes again with another incredible collection of characters. Rambo and Nurse Ratched are truly two of my favourite characters ever written, I laughed so much at all of their interaction.
I loved the plot but the characters were the biggest draw for me in this one.

When I started reading this one I wasn’t sure, but then the story got going and wow, T.J. Klune has done it again! This is a story about being able to choose who we want to be, love, family and hope, and what a masterpiece it is!

Well, T. J. Klune does it again! I defy anyone to read this book and not be massively emotionally invested by the end.

At the core of the story is a wonderful found family – specifically with two sentient robots, the last living human, and a bearded android. I never thought I would be prepared to fight someone to protect a talking roomba, but here we are!

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book that has had me in such a grip. I could not put it down, I was so desperate to find out what happens next! The story has so many twists and turns, and each one is filled with emotional impact.

While this book was a big hit for me from the emotion perspective, there were a few things that didn’t quite work for me. Both the exposition and the resolution of the story felt a little clunky, and the Pinocchio aspect took over the story a bit too much for me at some points. This is a tricky book to land – a whimsical tale of found family set after the robot revolution isn’t the most obvious combination – and it was almost there. There were just a couple of stumbling blocks at the book ends of the story.

Despite the structural aspects that I didn’t like so much, this story still has a strong emotional element to it that is full of heart. That’s what I was expecting (and what most readers will expect) when I picked up this book, and I’m so happy that it’s what I got!

I received a free copy for review. All opinions are my own.

This book reads like a child’s fairytale easy to read and well written
It’s quirky with likeable characters
Sci-fi fantasy that was a real page turner
Enjoyable

I have adored all of the TJ Klune books that I have read and this new story - based around the classic Pinocchio - is another smash hit!

So I have adored every book I've read by TJ Klune and I cannot express how excited I was when I got approved to read his latest book, In the Lives of Puppets ..
This sci-fi, fantasy retelling of Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio did not disappoint! Full of insanely loveable characters, you are transported into their world and taken on an adventure with some quirky robots that have a lot of heart and will make you laugh, cry and want to hug every hoover you meet!

This is the first TJ Klune book that I have picked up and I now need to read the others. This book made me laugh, smile, cry and fear. To be clear - there are no puppets in the book, but I think this refers to the way that the Authority controls. My idea. Anyway we have Giovanni who is a creator/inventor and an android who lives in the forest with his human son, Victor. Like his father, Victor is also an inventor and from the scrap heaps, he has rescued and rebuilt Rambo, a vacuum and Nurse Ratched, an android designed to heal. These three then discover on the same scrap heaps a decommissioned and broken android that they name Hap. they take him home to rebuild him but keep him a secret from Giovanni. However, this decision leads to a series of events that has Victor, Hap, Rambo and Nurse Ratched setting out on a perilous journey. In this story AI has taken over, there is no room for humans - we are in a dystopian landscape where to be human was to be hunted. That said, life for androids does not seem to be exactly sweet as the Authority rule with an iron fist and any machine stepping out of line is decommissioned and thrown on the scrap heaps. There are nods to the story of Pinocchio here and also, in my opinion, a nod to the Wizard of Oz as the journey undertaken by Victor and the three machines reminded me of the journey of Dorothy and the three friends. However, Victor's journey was filled with a lot more danger and tension than Dorothy's - at times i was holding my breath. I loved the characterisations. Nurse Ratched is blunt, funny and dangerous with her desire to drill while Rambo is the annoying little kid who can't keep quiet. The relationship between Hap and Victor is sweetly told. This is a story about friendship, loyalty and love. Such a wonderful read.

4.5* Stars

In the Lives of Puppets is so weird and yet so incredibly T.J. Klune.

It's based on Pinnochio (something I've actually never seen or read) but actually also reminded me in parts of The Wizard of Oz.

It was a really cosy read, packed full of interesting and compelling characters. Victor is the main character - he's a human who lives as the last of his kind in a dystopian future ruled by robots and machines. This is my main reason for describing it as weird - at times, it was amazingly bizarre, even for Klune. I really enjoyed that side of it, though sometimes I did struggle to envision some of the things being described to me.

The side-characters were as fabulous as you'd expect - Nurse Ratched was consistently hilarious - sharp-tongued, slightly aggressive, but caring as well. Rambo is an anxiety filled Roomba Vacuum - yes, really. He's just adorable. He's fun, hyperactive, and almost fills the gap as the child of the story.

The story itself is very action driven and at times quite tense. A lot happens, especially when the characters set out on their adventure. It's definitely full of Klune's normal humour, and will leave you smiling from ear to ear at times. Other parts are heart-wrenching. It's a rollercoaster, and one I didn't want to get off as I approached the end!

It's important to note that this is not a romance, there's basically no steam at all - this suits the story really well, though, as Victor is asexual - it's nice this is getting some coverage.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this, it's a great and entertaining read.

This is a wonderful sci-fi fantasy with it's origins in the Pinocchio story, not the Disney version, it is much, much darker than that. Full of fantastic, quirky characters, as is always the case with T.J. Klune stories, and absolutely amazing storytelling. Another winner.

‘Above all else, be brave’

This book ruined me. The writing is so beautiful and full of wonder; I cried so much and my heart is impossibly full. In The Lives Of Puppets is categorically a masterpiece and a masterclass at showing what a retelling can be. Every character is wonderful, especially the main four: Vic, Hap, Rambo, and Nurse Ratched. I am truly endeared by all of them and their perfect little found family.

The writing style is reminiscent of a fairytale and begins very cosily, however the sci-fi elements are masterfully incorporated and established without the type of techno-babble that can make the genre feel alienating. The romance, the plot, the pacing - all combined with new favourite comfort characters makes for an unforgettable read. There is humour is threaded through as well, mostly in the form of Nurse Ratched, who is full of wit and dry pessimism that doesn’t ever get tiring. I want to buy a physical copy purely so I can highlight such choice remarks as ‘As of now, he is merely decorative. If we are unable to find a new battery, perhaps we can use him to hold potted plants’.

Representation-wise, I am happy that the asexual character isn’t one of the androids, since that trope is very much over-done, and that he wasn’t “””fixed””” upon falling in love, since it is not a flaw. Other than that, there are explorations of gender and gendered presentation, a character who uses they/them pronouns, and apparently Vic is meant to be written as autistic. I only know this because this book was on a recommendation list of books with autistic rep, however after knowing that I started to notice general signifiers like sensory overload. I recommend seeking out own-voices reviews about each of those things for a more comprehensive review of the quality of representation, though just generally I didn’t find any overt issues.

Quite literally my only issue was the multiple uses of ‘minutes that felt like hours’ and ‘hours that felt like minutes’. I could excuse the cliche once, but coming up on five or six times made me take notice of it.

All in all, this was a wonderful, emotional rollercoaster of a book that ends in happy and hopeful tears. I’ve read almost 2,000 books in my life and this has instantly broken into my top five favourites of all time. I am much more motivated to read my physical copies of Wolfsong (I know it’s completely different vibes, but I’m willing to be convinced to be into werewolves) and the other whisper(?) something (I never remember the title) TJ Klune book that I’ve owned for over a year and have been putting off since being disappointed by The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Another great story from one of my favourite authors. Wonderful characters, a great plot and so well written. I can't think of another author who writes emotions and feelings quite so well. And I spotted loads of movie references in this one. Not sure if that was deliberate but it added to my enjoyment. Nurse Ratched and Rambo were a great double act. With thank to the author, the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced copy to read and review.

This book is like a cross between Pinocchio, The Wizard of Oz and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. I must admit it is a long book and I found the middle section started to lose me however it does pick up and turns into a very thought provoking book that looks at humanity and machines. With the current rise in AI and the worried about this this book is very topical.
This is certainly a book that will stay with you long after you have read it and will make you ask questions about humanity and machines. A must read from one of my favourite authors.

Thank you to @netgalley and @blackcrowpr for my advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of TJ Klune’s previous books, The House In The Curelean Sea and Under The Whispering Door, and was so excited to get an arc of this one.

I loved it just as much as the others soon as I started reading, the characters coming to life almost instantly through the writing. My favourite was Rambo, so sweet and nervous to begin, he developed so much throughout the story. Nurse Ratched is hilarious, so sarcastic and humorous - just brilliant.

It’s a long story with many new characters being introduced along the way, another favourite was The Coachman. However, I felt a bit let down at the end. It just seemed to peter out and didn’t end the way I was envisioning. There seemed to be lots of build up then done, no big finale like you normally get, no tears. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t measure my ratings of his books on whether there are tears or not, but you do kind of expect happy tears at least.

Still a great story from an amazing writer, just a little behind the others in my favourites.

Giovanni has built a home for himself and son Victor in the Forest. Nurse Ratched and Rambo live with them too.
They live an isolated existence, until Victor meddles, and the ripples of events that this causes will change things considerably.

I wanted to read this book for a few reasons. One being that I have heard so many good things written about the authors previous books, the other is that this is a different genre of book for me, sci-fi fantasy fiction, so I wanted to try it out.
The first couple of pages I was slightly uncertain of my choice of this book, but then it absolutely clicked with me.
I found myself racing through the pages, completely hooked, wanting to know what happened next, and reading well into the wee small hours.
I found the book funny, sad, and a whole host of feelings and emotions were there.
A great book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for an advanced e-book copy. Opinions about the book are entirely my own.

What to say....It took me a few chapters to settle in to the book. Its certainly unique just like all his others. Its not my favourite book by TJ, i just couldn't connect to the characters and it felt a bit flat, not quite the emotional punch he usually has. Also it felt quite rushed towards the end and questions unanswered.

He does have some beautiful ideas and its certainly a different retelling of 'Pinicchio" I adored Rambo and aptly named Nurse Ratched

Thank you netgalley and publishers for the arc.