Actual rating: 4.5 ⭐

TJ Klune doesn't disappoint. He's an auto-buy and auto-read author for a reason. This one was a bit different from other books I read by him. It was a bit slow, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. In typical Klune fashion it was whimsical, heart warming, and magical. Klune knows how to write found family which is one of the things I love about his books. I will forever recommend TJ Klune! One of my favorite authors hands down!

I had a hard time getting into this storyline, in comparison to the other Klune books I've read. The story had merit but tended to drag a bit with pacing. Overall a fun concept just clunky execution.

In the Lives of Puppets is a whimsical and heartfelt sci-fi tale set in a post-apocalyptic world where androids and machines rule, and humans are nearly extinct. At its center is Victor Lawson, a human raised by androids in the forest, who uncovers secrets about the world and himself when he revives a mysterious robot named Hap. Together with his quirky, loveable mechanical family (including the sassily brilliant Nurse Ratched and kind-hearted Rambo), Victor sets off on a journey filled with danger, love, and existential reflection.

TJ Klune once again blends warmth, humor, and heartache into a story that feels both deeply original and comfortingly familiar. In the Lives of Puppets is imaginative, tender, and at times laugh-out-loud funny, thanks largely to its cast of robot companions who somehow manage to be more human than most fictional people. While the pacing dragged a bit in places, the emotional payoff and themes of identity, love, and chosen family made it well worth the read. Klune has a special talent for building worlds that feel both fantastical and intimately real, and this one is no exception. A solid 4 stars from me!

TJ Klune is an auto-buy author for a reason. The way he's carved such a specific niche for his enchanting work makes me proud of the publishing industry. Every one of his books feels special and precious. I'm always going to recommend his work to readers - even though his popularity has thankfully gone past it!

I really enjoyed this one! It was a slow start but gave me all the warm fuzzy feelings that I always expect from TJ Klune. Nurse Ratched was hilarious, and I somehow loved these robots with all of my heart by the end of the book?? TJ Klune is a master of creating found family out of the most eclectic groups of characters

Another great book from one of my auto buy authors!

If the Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles had a baby with the Terminator, the outcome would be In the Lives of Puppets… and I DUCKING LOVED IT!!!

I can’t say I’ve read many Pinocchio Retellings and it’s not my favorite story. It’s always been really dark for a fairy tale, but what true fairy tale isn’t impressively dark? This had TJ Klune’s stamp of imperfect queer love mixed with real world messages of acceptance and finding happiness in unexpected places all wrapped up in a warm hug. Of course, a dystopian America as the setting was something I wasn’t expecting when I opened In the Lives of Puppets and I was so excited.

Victor lives amongst the rubble and ruins of a trash dump in the forest. His only company are his father, Gio, a nurse-bot named Ratchet, and a vacuum robot named Rambo. In this version of the story, we have a complete 180 on the characterizations, because Vic is the ONLY human out of all of them. He may very well be the last human on Earth.

When exploring a part of the dump that they haven’t been to before, Vic and his two friends come across a pile of androids that they search for useful parts… and come across a singular one that still has life left in him. His designation is HAP from what they can tell and they take him to try and help him regain consciousness.

But whether it’s a twist of fate or their destiny, his family would be broken apart soon after. Thus beginning his epic journey to piece it all back together.

I love that TJ Klune has adopted the Found Family trope as his own. I can always expect a happy experience and full heart from his books and that makes him an auto-buy author for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — Whimsical, heartfelt, and deeply human (even when no one is technically human)

TJ Klune has done it again. In the Lives of Puppets is a gorgeously strange, wildly imaginative, and emotionally rich story that somehow blends Pinocchio, Wall-E, and Klune’s signature brand of hopepunk magic into something totally original.

This book made me laugh, ache, and tear up more than once. The characters—both human and machine—are full of heart and surprising depth. Victor is such a soft, brave soul, and the found family he creates (especially Nurse Ratched and Rambo!) absolutely stole my heart. I don’t know how Klune makes a vacuum cleaner one of the most lovable characters I’ve ever read, but he does. And he does it perfectly.

At its core, this is a story about identity, love, memory, and what it means to choose kindness in a world built on control and fear. It’s both a joyful adventure and a thoughtful meditation on humanity—and it hits all the right emotional notes without ever feeling heavy-handed.

If you loved The House in the Cerulean Sea or Under the Whispering Door, you’ll find that same warmth and quiet brilliance here, with a bit more sci-fi flair. Utterly charming and sneakily profound.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for the advanced copy. This was a true gift—I’ll be thinking about these characters (and that final chapter 😭) for a long time.

I love TJ Klunes writing and it gets better with each book he writes. Great Book and ich would recommend it.

This was such an interesting book, and in some ways, not what I expected going into it, mostly because the title is much more metaphorical than literal - this is not Toy Story, there are no actual puppets, and thus the Pinocchio references, if any, were lost on me.

It feels much more desolate, but no less lovely, than the other recent TJ Klune books. The found family aspect (very Wall-E style) was beautiful and whimsical. The peeling back of the world was expertly done. I was absolutely hanging onto every step of the adventure, deeply invested in the rescue of Gio.

Very enjoyable!

TJ Klune's In the Lives of Puppets is a whimsical, heartfelt sci-fi adventure that blends humor, emotion, and a touch of darkness into a story that feels like a robot fairytale for grown-ups. Fans of Klune's earlier work (The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door) will recognize his signature style: quirky characters, warm themes, and a deep love for found family.

The story follows Victor Lawson, a human living in the woods with a group of endearing, self-aware robots. Their peaceful life is disrupted when Victor discovers an old android that sparks a chain of events leading them on a dangerous and emotional journey. It’s part Pinocchio, part Wall-E, and part Frankenstein—but wholly original in tone and message.

Klune masterfully mixes light and dark: the humor is sharp (one robot in particular has a delightfully twisted personality), but there are also haunting undertones about humanity, identity, and what it means to be alive. The pacing starts off slow and cozy, then shifts into a more action-driven, bittersweet tale in the second half.

If you're looking for something tender, weird, and thought-provoking—with a cast of robots you'll genuinely care about—In the Lives of Puppets is a beautifully strange ride worth taking

What a joy this was! I am forever and always a TJ Klune fan, but this was another fun one that I couldn't put down. I loved the fantasy aspect with the puppets, and although I felt it was a little less grounded than his previous novels, I still enjoyed it. I recommend this to anyone who is a Klune lover, or generally likes fantasy/fantasy-adjacent queerish novels. IF that's not your thing, maybe skip this one.

As much as I love Klune, this book wasn’t for me. It was way too sci-fi for me, personally. Still one of my favorite authors, the characters are loveable and well-written. This one just didn’t hit like his other books.

I loved this book as much as if I had lived it. The characters all came alive, jumping off the page and into my memory as if they were old friends. Because they were so potent. I could feel the loss of their memories in a deep and tragic way. The pages of this book are littered with highlights - words so beautiful I didn’t want them to pass from my memory either.

These characters were so annoying. The robots were so two dimensional, the jokes fell so flat and the conversations were way too on the nose. I much prefer commentary to naturally flow through the story, but it tried so hard to be inclusive that it was brought up in conversation when it didn't make sense, taking you out of the story.

A lot of these characters were just copy/paste to Cerulean Sea, but with Cerulean Sea, you really cared about the characters. Their trauma made you care about them. I never cared about these robots.

No one writes such lovable characters quite like TJ Klune and "In the Lives of Puppets" just reaffirms this. Although I had a feeling how this book would go, I still enjoyed the ride and the deeper meaning. Klune has created a future world, setting the scene slowly. You get emotionally attached to the characters, their lives, and their home before conflict occurs.

"In the Lives of Puppets" showcases what it means to be human, to be loved, to be in a family, to survive, and to dream. It's a well-rounded book with enjoyable characters, humor, emotion, and adventure.

In the Lives of Puppets takes several literary references and adds humor, heart, and queerness to the mix. You might recognize the network of treehouses that make our characters' home from the likes of Swiss Family Robinson. It's just as isolated as a tropical island, in the center of a forest with only a giant and growing scrap heap nearby to signal the existence of other people living their lives anywhere. Giovanni Lawson, an android with a clockwork heart, is the father and chief tinkerer of the family. In a reverse from the Pinocchio source material, Giovanni raised his "real boy" (read: human) adoptive son, Victor, from infancy. Victor's birth parents were literally running from an unnamed enemy when they handed off their son to Giovanni, never to be seen again. The other family members rounding out this merry band are Rambo (a misread Roomba), who loves to vacuum and be helpful but has anxiety attacks and existential crises in equal number, and Nurse Ratched (haha), who revels in her own sociopathic violent tendencies and wishes her offered medical services gave her more opportunities to drill something.

At the start of the book, we see Victor live up to his Frankensteinian namesake by bringing an android from the scrap heap back to life (Rambo exclaims, "It's alive!" at the appropriate moment lest anyone miss the allusion). Hap's missing limbs have been lovingly replaced with wooden substitutes by our aspiring mad scientist, and his new clockwork heart is powered in part by Victor's blood. I think we're all welcome to see some Tin Man references in Hap's story, as well, so I hope you're not finished hunting for literary references.

On the representation front, the queer romance is sweet and has some strong moments even amid the action. Holding hands and other little efforts for one to ground the other especially stand out. Victor has long considered himself asexual. And for all her needling and lack of empathy, it was Nurse Ratched who assured him at a key moment in his teen years that it was a natural and unremarkable way to be. That didn't stop her from then casually bringing it up in conversation in a way that embarrassed young Victor, but it was a nice moment while it lasted with a medical professional. I think that dual experience sums up my mixed feelings on the representation on this front, where I have the most authority to speak. In some ways, I see so much respect here, especially when it comes to Victor's boundaries in a romance. In other ways, the humor inherent to the book's tone intersects with Victor's identity in a way that's hard to parse. A sojourn to a brothel where Victor's uncomfortability is seen as not being appropriately sex-positive stands out. He's labeled a prude, and there's no further interrogation of that characterization. I believe readers are meant to take something away from the fact that Victor's aceness irks robots... who are often used as ready comparisons for aceness. But that's a mix of things to have going on at once, and I left this scene and others feeling a bit uncertain if I felt seen and validated or limited and misrepresented. The whole story walks that fine line.

The broader message about forgiveness and who can give it or who should be asked to also left me uncertain. When there are real-life corollaries to speculative fiction, I try to be careful in considering how that message might be applied to real situations. In this case, the open-endedness contributed to my mixed feelings but also the combination of deep darkness with hopefulness. I think all that can be juggled masterfully in a book, but I'm not sure that happened here, especially when the topic is genocide.

The author starting shit (or trying to finish it? I don't know.) in his acknowledgments is... a sour note to end things on. I ended up spending more time thinking about the subtext of those comments than the book, which had been an overall pleasant experience despite the qualms mentioned above. And I guess that went to show that a) the story maybe wasn't that earth-shattering if I could be so easily diverted in my affection and b) even if we can never know the full story about who said and did what and who was and wasn't justified, it's messy. And the author's history and tone play into the equation where blind trust might otherwise take root. All of this left me in a jumble, and I honestly can't say if I recommend this one or not. Potential readers can interpret my comments to see if this book lines up with their preferences or might leave them stuck like me. Thanks to Tor for my copy to read and review!

In the Lives of Puppets completely won me over with its whimsical charm, heartfelt characters, and beautifully told story of love, identity, and found family. Though I’m not usually a fan of Pinocchio retellings, this one—with its quirky robots, tender moments, and thoughtful asexual representation—felt both fresh and emotionally resonant. Some parts dragged and leaned heavily on humor to sidestep deeper themes, but the warmth, creativity, and message of acceptance made it a truly memorable read. I especially adored Nurse Ratched’s hilarious commentary and the touching bond between Victor and his companions.

I've never liked Pinocchio too much, but this book stole my heart. A asexual representation was wonderfully handled and perfect for a romantic book. I'd love to visit these characters again.

In the Lives of Puppets is a heartfelt, whimsical, and imaginative tale that blends science fiction with fairy-tale charm. TJ Klune brings his signature warmth and found-family themes to a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by quirky robots and a lonely human boy on a quest to save his father. The characters—especially Nurse Ratched with her darkly hilarious commentary—shine with personality and wit, and the story pulses with emotional depth and compassion.

That said, while the novel's themes of love, identity, and acceptance are moving, the pacing at times felt uneven, Still, Klune’s writing is undeniably tender and hopeful. A must read.

In the Lives of Puppets is a beautifully heartfelt and whimsical story that only TJ Klune could write. Set in a world of quirky robots, mysterious pasts, and found family, this book is both a love letter to classic sci-fi and a deeply human tale about connection, identity, and what it means to be truly alive.

Klune’s signature blend of humor, heart, and hope shines through every page. The characters—especially the wildly lovable Nurse Ratched and the sweetly awkward Rambo—add so much charm, while the emotional core of the story is both touching and thought-provoking. It’s a book that made me laugh, tear up, and reflect—all in the best way.

If you’re looking for a story that’s imaginative, tender, and full of heart, In the Lives of Puppets is a must-read.