In the Lives of Puppets by T. J. Klune is a smart futuristic retelling of Pinocchio. The book is filled with a lot of heart both literally and figuratively. The story is an emotional one with lots of twists and turns. The story is Pinocchio with a combination of Wall-E meets Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The characters are very memorable which makes this story work so well. Rambo is a little robot that I need in my life and was my favorite character by far. This story is a retelling of the classic story Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi but told for a new age with robots. I’m a sucker for a retelling but I need it to be clever as it makes odes to the original, actually being a retelling does not use one element of the story and throw everything else out and call it a retelling, and make changes that honor the original story’s theme. In the Lives of Puppets nails all three of these elements. It has clever odes to the original with what it does to the whale, the Coachman, and the Blue Fairy. It is a true retelling of Pinocchio with a lot of changes but all while honoring the original. T. J. Klune is a member of the LGBTQIA+ and has said that every story he writes will have an LGTBQIA+ relationship. This story has one of the first asexual characters that stay asexual that I have read. The characters can’t have sex since one is a robot so the intimacy is in touch, cuddling, and hugging. It works well and is more powerful than sex and suits the story. The pace of the book is pretty fast, there was one moment where the characters stay at one location a bit too long, but it changed locations soon after I could feel the moment. This is the third T.J. Klune book that I have read. My favorite is still The House in the Cerulean Sea, but In the Lives of Puppets is my second favorite, Under the Whispering Door is my least favorite, but still recommend it. I got a free copy to read In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune from Tor Books and Netgalley. In the Lives of Puppets was published on April 25, 2023.

Plot Summary: Victor Lawson is born and raised by robots. The story goes his parents ran into Gio as they were running from something or someone in the woods, they handed baby Victor to them as they ran away never to see Victor again. Victor is an inventor like his adopted father and has revived two robots Nurse Ratched, a nursing bot that is slightly sadistic, and Rambo, a people-pleasing vacuum droid. Victor is the only human he knows and is okay with that he spends most of his time at the scrap metal junkyard looking for parts or other robots. He finds Hap a combat droid that fights with Victor and wants to kill him, but Haps circuits die before he can. Victor who sees the good in robots wants to fix Hap. Hap is all torn up and has to use wood to fix him. Hap is turned on and is different Victor made him a heart that is made of his blood and wood. Hap can’t remember what he is or his purpose. When Gio finds out what he has done he’s furious and it is revealed that Gio before he went to the forest created Hap and a whole fleet of soldiers whose job was to kill humans. Victor’s blood has a power that is slowly changing his coding and will protect him. We find out the reason he wanted to kill Victor in the first place was that Victor cut himself as he found Hap and he was reacting to the blood. Now a whole fleet is sent out to look for Victor. Gio has a plan but involves him sacrificing his humanity as he meets the robots and removes the heart Victor made for him. Victor must search for his father and try to restore the robot he grew up knowing.

What I Liked: The humor in this book is so good I laughed out loud a couple of times and shared quotes with my wife. Rambo is the biggest source of humor and steals so many scenes. There’s a scene where his talking is going to get the group busted and they tell him to pretend he has no voice modulator and therefore can not speak. at which he starts doing sign language nonstop which is even more distracting. I liked what they did with the coachman in the original Pinocchio he has the traveling puppet show in this version he is a robot and has a traveling human exhibit. I also liked that the whale was a gigantic starship. I liked all the twists and how emotional they turned out to be. Victor and Gio’s story will break your heart. The Victor and Hap love story works well because it is so subtle. The climax worked and was a great conclusion to the rising action.

What I Disliked: The first 40% of the book is almost at one location, and I was starting to get bored by it at the 35% percent mark. It was just a little too long at that location and was slowing down the pace of the book. I will say once the characters leave that location they do not come back. The book talks about sex a little here and the conversations are meant to be mortifying. I think there is a thin line between embarrassment and shame, and I feel sometimes it went into sex being shameful which didn’t fit right with me knowing the main audience of this book it is just a couple of tiny scenes but it threw me out of it.

Recommendation and Ratings: In the Lives of Puppets is a great book with so much heart. It is a clever retelling of Pinocchio that I did not know I needed in my life. The story is magical and I recommend everyone check it out. TJ Klune has made me emotional in two books now In the Lives of Puppets and The House in the Cerulean Sea. I rated In the Lives of Puppets by T. J. Klune 5 out of 5 stars.