Reviews tagging 'War'

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

14 reviews

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Dementia, Death, Self harm, Blood, Sexual content, and War

Minor: Sexual harassment, Excrement, Outing, and Gore

zas9's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: War and Violence

handful_of_frogs's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

A huge disappointment, Klune seems to be regressing as a writer- this is coming from someone who loved Under the Whispering Door and The House in the Cerulean Sea. If he wants to write an asexual character accurately maybe he should find a premise for them that doesn't involve being attracted to androids. This entire book is a mix of material stolen from Spielberg's AI film, Pinocchio (of course), and a bland d&d campaign. The most interesting character is an anxious Roomba but even a quipping vacuum can't make this novel worth the time it took to read it.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Police brutality, War, Violence, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

starsnstitchin's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This book was different than his other books, and had more (for lack of ability to think of a more clear word choice) "adult content," talking about genitals, pooping, and sex more than expected (and more than necessary or comfortable). The world building didn't make sense in some parts, which made it hard to get immersed in the story. It's painfully clear that the ace character was written from the perspective of a non-ace author. It's not the worst rep I've read, but it didn't feel like an actually ace character. The whole book was a bit of a let down, and the ending feels a bit loose and lacks a lot of desired closure, with some story elements that had been built up left hanging and anticlimatically unaddressed. It felt like the story was building up around something, but the something never arrived or got explained. The acknowledgements at the end by the author sounded very bitter, but made me wonder if the slightly out of tune feel to the book as well as the loose ending was because there's supposed to be something more to the book than we're given. Not his best work, but it did make me laugh at times, and it was enjoyable in parts.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Confinement, Genocide, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment

Moderate: Self harm, Animal death, Death, Excrement, Police brutality, Cursing, Bullying, Terminal illness, and War

throwback682's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Confinement, Blood, Abandonment, Xenophobia, War, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Medical content, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Excrement, Sexual content, Dementia, and Animal death

Proceed with caution if you have experience with loved ones with dementia. This book also has a “sociopathic” character and I personally think handles cluster B disorders insensitively.

aloevera's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Such a good concept and executed so well. I love everything Klune writes and this was no exception! Coming of age story with a lot of strong themes around learning to rely on the people who love you and also accept their faults. Also the world building never feels too drawn out but by the end it all feels familiar which is really impressive.  There’s also asexual representation that’s done in quite a good way which I appreciated. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, War, and Violence

keya_caivalur's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Dementia, and Murder

Moderate: War, Slavery, Abandonment, and Animal death

Minor: Police brutality, Cancer, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Death, Genocide, Chronic illness, Confinement, Torture, Excrement, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

exlibrisabigaillee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Blood and War

kaitlinwarwick's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, War, and Sexual content

Minor: Gun violence and Homophobia

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Reading vlogs:
Part 1 -
Part 2 -

Thank you to Black Crow PR and Tor for a physical early copy. All opinions remain my own.

This was a fantastic reimagining of Pinnoccio (I liked the inital turning the concept on its head that Victor was already a 'real boy', but boy, was it more than that). I think it taking the more science fiction, dystopian route enabled the story to develop into a much wider discussion of humanity, 'playing god' with AI and the very real potential for what we're so desperate to create (and surpass every other nation in the science for) usurping us and running things...better? ...Maybe. (you can talk amongst yourselves on that one.. )

The romance was very, very slow burn and I loved it. It wasn't the main thread of narration but it somehow felt integral to the plot and was meaningful and impactful too.

The family relationships were absolutely beautiful. The love that this miss-match of loveable characters had for each other was so heartfelt and powerful and I adored reading about the lengths that each and every one of them would go to, in order to keep the others safe. I couldn't help but think that this is what family should aspire to be, and I think this thought is made even more poignant when the reader takes a step back and recalls that the majority of the cast are robot's, machines and AI of some description. If they can do it so profoundly, it makes you really wonder about humanity.

There is so much I could say about all the characters but I'll just stick to Victor. Being the potentially last of his kind, he was even more of a unique individual. His devotion to his loved ones was admirable and his determination to overcome his internal battles was just as inspiring. He made for a complex, challenging and a (learning to be) emotionally aware protagonist that I loved to read about.

I'm sure I've expressed more feeling here and there within my (multitude of) reading vlog(s) already so do feel free to check those out, if you'd like. For now, I will leave this review with this: I loved this book!

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Self harm, Outing, Violence, War, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Blood