In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

Book Description

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live 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 his father, Gio.

When Hap unwittingly alerts the authority to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Review

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune is a post apocalyptic science fantasy retelling of Pinocchio. Whew. That’s a mouthful!

To clarify, I’m referring to the original tale, not Disney’s version of Pinocchio.

Vic spends his days searching the scrap yard for new friends. And when you can build friends like his, why wouldn’t you?

In the Lives of Puppets delves into many big ideas. What does family mean? Are “humans” a species… or a state of being?

It also talks about artificial intelligence, and the impact of humans on the world. The novel looks at the ways we rebuild after loss and trauma. It touches on the importance of memory in identity formation. But none of these themes detract from the story.

At its heart, In the Lives of Puppets reminds us we are who we are because of our flaws, not despite them.

My love of TJ Klune’s writing began with The House in the Cerulean Sea. He cemented it by writing Under the Whispering Door. Both books featured wonderful characters, heart-warming stories, and gay romance.

I was smitten.

Luckily, I found In the Lives of Puppets just as wonderful. As a bonus, this was Klune’s funniest book so far.

Furthermore, it thrilled me to find yet another hopeful post apocalyptic novel to add to my growing list!

A fuzzy blanket for your heart

Like his previous two books, In the Lives of Puppets features a heart-melting (clean) gay romance and a charming father-child relationship. Klune also gifts us with two new characters to fall in love with. These are Rambo, an anxious vacuum cleaner, and Nurse Ratched, a medical droid with sociopathic tendencies. Both are hilarious and toe-wigglingly charming.

Klune is a master at creating wonderful characters and a genius at making you care about them. Remember, these are robots I’m talking about. But wonderful robots I wanted to spend oodles of time with. Robots that made me laugh and cry.

I love that none of Klune’s non-hetero, neurodiverse characters feel like caricatures. They have so much depth that you’ll want to keep them as friends forevermore.

Despite its mixed reviews, I loved every minute of In the Lives of Puppets. The audio performance by Daniel Henning was spot on. He delivered Nurse Ratched’s jokes in a perfect deadpan style. And somehow, Henning’s portrayal of Rambo’s neuroses was utterly endearing.

If you liked the original version of Pinocchio and are in the mood for a book that will make you laugh and cry, give In the Lives of Puppets a shot!

Content Warning

Blood, Death, Dementia, Fire/Fire Injury, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, LGBTQ+ Romance, Panic Attacks, Violence

The header photo is a composite image. Base image by Phillip Glickman on Unsplash