Reviews with content warning for Gore - In the Lives of Puppets

This is the third TJ Klune book I’ve read and I loved it. It was definitely slower paced at the beginning, but turned into a fast-paced story with a very lovable set of characters.

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handful_of_frogs's review against another edition

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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.

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shlymiller's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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shindanker's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

The characters are very quirky, but lovable. The story moves at the good pace. It poses some interesting questions and thoughts about society.

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nwrites's review

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Too gross. Charming as always, but couldn’t deal with it. Bummer of the century, I was soooo looking forward to this 😭😭😭

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purplepenning's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I do love a science fantasy! (Monk and Robot love forever!) And I probably had oversized hopes for this particular one. It ended up being an enjoyable read that was somewhat marred by bouts of oddly ribald humor and the weight of expectations.

The humor, which was admittedly funny in the author's Extraordinaries books (and, to a lesser degree, in some previous humorous fantasies and contemporaries) felt out of place here. Not all of the humor, of course — there's plenty of Klune's other trademark brands of humor, including a very needy and lovable sentient Roomba with ADHD and a kind-hearted and terrifying caretaker robot who issues threats of pain while displaying pithy remarks. Both hilarious.

As for the unmet expectations, that's mostly on me, but I'm also not sure the story manages to communicate the big truths at its core — the ones about humanity, time, forgiveness, loyalty, hope. It felt a little flat — the characters and plot needed to be rounded out, plumped up, given a few more emotional beats and a few less repetitive gags.

Still... any day reading a robot fantasy by T.J. Klune is a good day.

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maryellen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

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