In the Lives of Puppets

I just finished In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune and here is my review.

Victor Lawson has no ordinary human life. He lives with his “father”, an android inventor called Giovanni. His two friends, Nurse Ratched and Rambo, make his little life complete.

That is, until the day they are in the scrap yard and they find a decommissioned android they call HAP and take him home to repair him.

These actions caused an unforeseen sequence of events to occur with Gio having to face his dark past and when HAP accidentally alerts the robots Gio has been hiding Victor from their location, Victor has to make a decision... Does he try and rescue his father before they decommission him or does he do as his father says and live his life? Vic sets out to find his father with little regard for the consequences that will ultimately follow.

This is my first book by Klune so I had no idea what to expect but I was over the moon with how clever this book was. It's done in a wild reimagining of Pinocchio and I found the whole reversal of the characters a nice change of pace for this fairytale.

Nurse Ratched was my favorite robot. She had me giggling so many times. You can tell that even though she is borderline psychotic, underneath it all she has a heart of gold and rambo... I need a rambo in my life. I really enjoyed the writing and the dark humorous undertones that weave its way through the whole book. Loved the plot and how it was a truly original story even from a retelling stand point. Character development was on point and I loved how every single character grows on you. The writing was expansive and entertaining with some really detailed descriptions of the more sci-fi elements.

Definitely added all Klunes work to my shopping cart!

5 stars! If you love a solid retelling with a dash of sci-fi, this has to be your next read! OUT NOW!

This was a very sweet book with great friendships/family, mixed with some dumb/crass/lewd humor, and I just adored it. I highly recommend the audiobook. For fans of his Lightening-Struck Heart (re: dumb/crass/lewd humor) I think you'll like this one too. It does have the same level of heart that House in the Cerulean Sea (I loved this book) or Under the Whispering Door (I did not like) have.