TJ Klune's stories have so much heart mixed in with just the right amount of humor. They manage to be both light and profound which is hard balance to get right. The characters are always strange and unique which I find to be helpful because it makes it easier to relate to them in different ways and to see yourself in each of them.

This story of a group of eccentric 'family members' to rescue the person who 'created' them. This is a story about redemption, about found family, about humanity and cruelty, but at its heart, it's a story about love.

with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS by TJ Klume, Publish Date April 25, 2023
Audiobook narrated by Daniel Henning

I have received an advance copy of this audiobook with courtesy of Macmillan Audio and NetGalley. Thank you. My opinion herein is my own.

This is my third TJ Klune book, after the House of Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door. I absolutely adored the House of Cerulean Sea, along with so many other booklovers. It was one of my favorite books published in 2020. Then I was underwhelmed by the Whispering Door unfortunately. With that, I was slightly concerned about this book when I started to listen to it.

And oh, this audiobook! No regrets, I ended up really enjoying this book based on Collodi's Pinocchio (I haven't read this book and now it's on my TBR). Klune is an expert in creating found families and and loveable characters. In this book, the scenario is switched and the father Giovanni is an engineering android, who was entrusted with a human baby Victor. They are joined by a nurse robot with sociopathic tendencies and a naive and neurotic vacuum cleaner. I especially adored the nurse, and laughed out aloud several times while I was listening to this audiobook. The narration by Henning is AMAZING. He has a very wide range, and brings all the character to life.

The audiobook is over 15 hours long which felt a bit long for me - especially the last chapter is can be edited down and still have the same effect I felt. I also felt that some of the topics in this book can be edited out (trying not to be too specific to avoid spoilers, even though I feel it can be obvious). Other than that, I felt the book was highly imaginative and enjoyable. 4.3 stars out of 5. Thank you so much!!

🌳 In The Lives of Puppets - TJ Klune

4 ⭐️- Pinocchio meets The Wizard of Oz meets Westworld. This book was such a fun, exciting ride. TJ Klune truly knows how to write a magical story with lovable, spunky characters. If you’ve read Klune’s other books, I definitely recommend this one.

In a strange home built in the branches, there lives 3 robots - Giovanni Lawson, a fatherly inventor, a sadistic nursing robot, and a small vacuum searching for love an attention. Victor Lawson, a human lives there too. When Victor salvages an old android, he finds out about a dark past between “Hap” and Gio. When Hap alerts robots from Gio’s past about his, and his family’s, whereabouts, they are no longer safe. When Gio is taken back to where he originated, Vic and his friends set out on a journey to find and save him.

This is such a sweet story. It reminds me of Pinocchio with its inventor/inventions and hiding from the bad guys. It reminds me of The Wizard of Oz because of the fun filled journey Victor and his friends take. It reminds me of Westworld because of its robots and their desire to take over. (does AI scare anyone else right now?) This is a story of unlikely friendship turned family, growth, adventure, and finding what’s important in life. I love the way TJ Klune tells a magical adventure story and I love all of his quirky fun characters. I definitely recommend this, The House in the Cerulean Sea, and Under the Whispering Door if you haven’t read them. HIGHLY recommend all of these on audio!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the early listener audio!

🤖 A L C • R E V I E W 🤖
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Title: In The Lives Of Puppets
Author: TJ Klune
Rating: 2.5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️✨(Rounded up to 3 stars on goodreads/netgalley)
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Ugh, I wanted so hard to love this one just like I love House In The Cerulean Sea, but this just did not do it for me and ended up being just okay for me.
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Alright first let me start off by saying, in the beginning of this I was hooked to the story. It really was a cool little Pinocchio retelling and I was vining with it. Then the story started to drag and I found myself hating the commentary and just wishing it would be over. It was very much at that point a Wizard of Oz retelling, which makes me sad, because it was just not that good, and I love that movie. The ending was pretty good, but I thought it could be better.
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I could see a lot of similarities in the characters in this one and House In The Cerulean Sea - Vic/Linus, Nurse Ratched/Talia, HAP/Lucy, Rambo/Sal. Not necessarily a bad thing, I literally loved Nurse Ratched - she was the best; and as a nurse I really appreciated that dark humor. HAP was pretty cool, I liked his character, he cracked me up. But Rambo, oh my he annoyed the ever living hell out of me, sorry not sorry. I even feel like the storyline was similar in the sense of accepting oneself, accepting others and how far you’d go for the ones you love. Great concepts, I just dont want to read the same book with different characters or setting if you catch my drift.
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I listened to this via audio - Daniel Henning was incredible, he gave each character a distinguished voice which made this one really come to life. Maybe it was the voice he gave Rambo that made the character drive me nuts. I’m happy to have had the audio because otherwise I think I would have had to DNF this one, but I highly recommend the audio if your planning to read this one.
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Overall, concept was cool - last human loving among a bunch of machines that want to end all humans?! Execution however was not my favorite. Huge thank you to @netgalley and @macmill for the ALC in exchange for my honest review. In The Lives of Puppets was just released on Tuesday!
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#netgalley #netgalleyreview #twoandahalfstarreview #macmillinaudio #netgalleyalc #advancedlistenerscopy #pinocchioretelling #wizardofozretelling #similarcharacters #sameconceptdifferentbook #notmyfavorite #annoyingcharacter #nurseratched #hap #hystericallyangrypuppet #rambo #vic #harp #pinocchioretrlling #wizardofozelements #similartohouseintheceruleansea #notmyfavorite #nursehumor #inthelivesofpuppets #tjklune

My best descriptors are if Pinocchio and The Wild Robot had a queer, social justice, sexuality curious, humanitarian love child. That would be this book. It’s really thoughtful and touches on so much while keeping humor and kindness and love on the forefront. I really enjoyed this read.

TJ Klune is one of my favorite authors and when I saw that he would be releasing a new book this year I was very excited. I applied for an ARC without expecting to get it and was over the moon when I got approved.

I went into this book with high expectations, but found a story quite a bit different than I was expecting. The only way that I can adequately describe the difference is to say that Cerulean Sea and Whispering Door were more sweet and feel good, where as Puppets is more snarky, edgy, and didn’t really have the warm fuzzy effect of the previous books.

I did really like the main character Vic. He was relatable and I loved how curious he was. I also appreciated his creativity in how he restored HAP and his reasoning behind learning to build a heart.

I also enjoyed Gio and thought his backstory was one of the most compelling parts of the book. I thought the concept of how he grew and learned was cool.

That said, I didn’t love most of the supporting characters. Both Nurse Ratched and Rambo were misses for me. I found them very repetitive, which I get, they’re robots, but it just didn’t work for me. Some of the more minor characters that showed up in the story also were kind of lackluster.

One thing that was significantly different was the type of humor in this book. There were a lot of poop, sex, and dick jokes which were amusing once or twice, but started to get really repetitive.

I will say that I really appreciated that the main character was asexual. I haven’t seen a lot of good asexual representation, so I really appreciated this.

All in all, this story was underwhelming for me. I really wanted to love it and I’m sure a lot of readers still will, but it just didn’t have the magic that some of his other books had for me.

I did also receive an Audio-ARC copy and found the audiobook to be well done. The narrator does a fantastic job of interpreting the various characters and bringing the story to life.

*I did receive an ARC & AudioARC of this book from Netgalley. This in no way affects the objectivity of my review.

What an absolutely fabulous story packed with beautiful themes around family, love, and choosing to be the best you that you want to be. I fell in love with this entire cast of characters that were brilliantly brought to life through Daniel Henning’s fantastic narration.

T.J. Klune, you’ve done it again!! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

A hearty thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advanced audio copy of In the Lives of Puppets that was published 25-Apr-2023. If you haven’t read a T.J. Klune story, do yourself a favor and grab one. You won’t be disappointed

I think that anyone who loved House in the Cerulean Sea would adore this book. This book is so quirky and fun.

While I didn't enjoy this as much as Klune's two previous novels, this one still has his fun writing style. Found friends through and through, this post-apocalyptic story has all the machinations of the Pinocchio retelling that it is. The characters were fun and entertaining & the sheer acceptance they had in each other was really beautiful. I found the build up and overall main conflict resolution a little lackluster.

The narrator for the audio did a good job doing the different voices of all the robots!

I needed to sit before writing this review. I LOVED Cerulean Sea; it was my top book of last year. I made everyone in my family and friend circle read it. So, when I was seeing reviews that PUPPETS was just as good, I was pumped! However, I didn't find this one to be as good. I did enjoy it. There are some really funny moments, and some moments where I couldn't help but smile. Rambo was cute, Nurse Ratched was funny, but I didn't connect with this story as much as Cerulean Sea. I loved the found family aspect, and I think this one is best done on audio to keep all the characters straight.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you, Tor Books, for the gifted copy of In the Lives of Puppets {partner}

Genre: Fantasy
Format: 🎧
Audiobook Narration: ☆☆☆☆☆
Pub Date: 4.25.2023
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

“There must be no greater feeling in the world than to know that this isn’t forever.”

In The Lives of Puppets, I fell in love with a hilariously inappropriate robot named Nurse Ratchet and a scared yet protective vacuum called Rambo. How does TJ Klune develop these characters and bring them to light in such unique stories?

I listened to In the Lives of Puppets instead of reading it because I loved Daniel Henning’s narration of The House in the Cerulean Sea. Henning may be one of the most gifted audiobook narrators I have encountered; he gave every character their own voice, including any voice eccentricities they might’ve had. It helped to bring the story to life and be fully immersed in the reading experience.

For this book to be in the ‘fantasy’ genre, it took on some very real and important topics. I don’t want to give anything away, but the underlying themes took my breath away.

🫶🏼 Found family
🤖 Unique characters
🎧 Audiobook is a MUST
🏳️‍🌈 Queer representation
📖 Pinocchio retelling with a little bit of Wizard of Oz

I encourage you to read In the Lives of Puppets if you read and enjoyed any of TJ Klune’s other books.

Victor is happy in his life with his father and friends, even if they aren't human like he is. When they find and repair a new android they've called "HAP" a new mystery is revealed and Victor must trek through the world he's been sheltered from to find his family.

As a Becky Chambers fan, cozy sci-fi is something I've found myself really loving and Klune's new book fits right into that. Following Victor and his friends as he finds his family, and maybe his new-found feelings, was a joy. Parts funny, parts super emotional, it ran the gamut like Klune is known for. Klune has been and will continue to be an auto-buy author for me. Loved this thoroughly.

Do I even need to tell you to run out and get the newest TJ Klune book at this point?? If so let me just say that I spent so much time laughing/cackling OUT LOUD because of this book both in a dark room alone and in the presence of other humans and that has NEVER happened. It was funny, stupid, and stupid funny all at the same time wrapped around Klune's signature heart and comfort. The audiobook? Narrator Daniel Henning? Phenomenal-Exceptional-Sensational. He returns to narrator for Klune again after The House in the Cerulean Sea and it could not be more perfect. The way he chose to narrator our android characters was nothing short of masterful.
Be it ebook, audiobook, physical book, buying, or borrowing PLEASE give this title a chance to steal your heart.

Firstly, I want to say a huge thank you to Tor and Netgally for giving me an audio arc of this book! Being a secondary English teacher, I am a huge fan of audio books as I think they can really help to engage my students and add a lot to the characters and the story. With that being said, I listen/read books for two main reasons: to find content for my students that is relevant and current, and to read things on my own as a personal treat!

TJ Klune’s In the Lives of Puppets follows our protagonist Vic, who seems to be the only human left on earth. Surrounding by his machine-bodied friends, you can really see the personhood that develops in the robots as a result of their time with Vic. This story has it ALL: adventure, grief, found family, and the lengths we will go to for the ones we love. While listening to the audio version of the novel, the only gripe that I would have it that our protagonist seems to be very young (which is heavily influenced by the narration).. While this is not necessarily harmful to the story, I did find some of Nurse Ratched’s interactions a bit crass with this in mind. This could be just an interpretation that I had while listening, but it was something that would make me weary about adapting it for the classroom.

As for personal enjoyment, make sure that you’re ready for a good cry!!! If you liked House of the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door, then Klune’s whimsy and heartfelt writing will not come as a surprise to you. I imagine this novel will be one that I will return to on a chilly fall day, with a cup of tea and a warm blanket. Thank you again to Tor for the arc!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group, and Macmillan Audio for the privilege to escape into the newest TJ Klune world by gifting me both a digital and audio ARC. The audiobook was amazingly narrated by Daniel Henning - 5 stars!

Gio leaves the City of Electric Dreams and finds a house in the woods where he starts his new life. Gio becomes dad to Victor, the last human on the planet, as well as his companions Nurse Ratched and Rambo. They find a robot in the junk yard, Hap, that Victor brings back alive. When Gio is taken, the group go off to rescue him.

This book is reminiscent of PInocchio and I loved this book and these characters - plus the narration is just wonderful so you will feel like you know them (especially Rambo). Everything has a touch of magic and humor, but at the heart of all TJ Klune's books is the sense of inclusion, acceptance, friendship, loyalty, and love. This is an absolute must read (and listen to!) if you are a fan of TJ Klune!

3.5 stars

This was my first book by T.J Klune. I’ve had two of his other novels on my TBR list for months, as I have seen rave reviews about them. I got excited to listen to the ARC for his latest book. I received the Audiobook, narrated by Daniel Henning.

This novel is the epitome of love and courage. It sent me brought me to a world where anything is possible with a little love, support and hope.

The story follows Victor and his robot companions Hap, Nurse Rachet and little vacuum Rambo as they try to get their inventor/father Giovanni Lawson back, after the Harps (enforcement robots) have come to kill Victor. Humans no longer exist and robot kind have started following in the humans footsteps, though they wouldn’t admit it.

I truly enjoyed the Rambo’s sense of wonder and amazement as he travelled outside his world to the City of Electric dreams. He brought a continuous brightness to the story, along with Nurse Rachet’s sarcasm. I could not stop laughing throughout the reading.

I feel the audiobook was the better option for me because as I got into the story and understood more of what was going on, I realized I most likely would have lost interest in the physical book. While a very great story and I absolutely love the premise of it, I just could not help but find myself losing interest at times.

Special thanks to Netgallery and Tor Publishing for sharing this advanced copy audiobook to listeners like me in exchange for an honest review.

TJ Klune's gift for world-building is truly impressive. In this novel, he creates a stunning visual landscape that captures the imagination and brings the story to life. I found myself invested in the characters and their journey, which is a beautiful retelling of Pinocchio with a touch of Wizard of Oz. While I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as The House in the Cerulean Sea, there were still many aspects that I loved - particularly the anxiety-riddled vaccum cleaner, which tugged at my heartstrings and made me wish I had on of my own. Overall, this is a captivating read that is well worth your time.

DNF. Written well and great narration, but it wasn’t my kind of story. Not sure how to give star rating because I’m sure others will love it.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
I LOVED TJ Klune's, The House in the Cerulean Sea, so I jumped at the chance to review this book. In the Lived of Puppets used the same narrator, and he did an amazing job again. Klune continued the general theme of misfits and found families. His writing was strong, but this one just wasn't for me, too much unneccessary sexuality. It is adult ficition though, so to each their own.

A queer retelling of Pinocchio, In The Lives of Puppets is hands down one of the most imaginative audiobooks I have ever experienced. The narration by Daniel Henning is FANTASTIC. I lost track of the amount of times I had to put my hand over my mouth to try to stifle my incessant giggling.

I love spending time with any character that T.J. Kline creates and the cast of In The Lives of Puppets is no exception. Nurse Ratched and Rambo absolutely stole the show, and sweet Victor was the perfect “heart” of the story (#IYKYK).

Zany, funny, and completely heartfelt- I recommend this audiobook to all my SciFI/Fantasy loving readers. And truthfully- even this non SciFi/Fantasy loving reader enjoyed every moment. In The Lives of Puppets published yesterday so readers can grab a copy today!