Reviews tagging 'War'

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

14 reviews

asipofcozy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

Such a beautiful and heartwarming story. It really delves deep into what is the meaning of humanity. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to have so many complex feelings and thoughts?  It also touches home on modern day issues that we are facing, the path that we are continuing down with destruction and chaos and yet showing glimpses of the wonders that humanity could do. Powerful, beautiful, found-family, heart felt romance - it was liking coming home in those first few pages.

Once again another hit with TJ Klune. I cannot wait for the next book he writes. 
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maaikereadsbooks_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and TJ Klune for the advanced copy of In the Lives of Puppets via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel. 

This was my first TJ Klune book, and it certainly will not be my last. I adored this book! 

Having never been a big fan of the original Pinocchio story (not sure why, it just never really interested me), the story woven by Klune in this book made my enjoyment two-fold: a great tale AND a version of Pinocchio I actually could get into! 

I thoroughly enjoyed the way new bits and pieces of information and revelations were dropped into the story as you moved along. Rather than a grand reveal at the end (although it does build up to a climax, don’t worry), you get nuggets of gold occasionally dropped on you out of nowhere which enrich the narrative, nudge the direction it was going in, or sometimes, completely blow it apart. Brilliant storywriting. 

The fact that this was written as a fully queer story was the icing on the cake. But it’s not just your standard gay or sapphic love story. It’s more, it’s deeper, it’s queerer. 

Highly recommend this – it’s high up on my list of 2023 favourites. 

Tropes: fairy tale retelling, grumpy/sunshine, LGBTQ+, peril, redemption/dark past 

Spice: 1.5/5 

Trigger warnings: Blood/Gore, Confinement, Death, Death of a parent, Genocide, Guns/weapons, Kidnapping, Mental Illness, Murder, PTSD, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, War 

Rating 5/5 

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mo345's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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the_bees_books's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

A really sweet, if slightly tonally and message confused, book about what it is to be human, what it is to forgive, and what makes a family. 
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