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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
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
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
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!
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
kelseyr713's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Beautiful in many ways, a little grating in a few others. Overall an enjoyable adventure, although Nurse Ratchet and Rambo are definitely an acquired taste. I would be curious to read the original vision TJ Klune had for the book that he alludes to in the acknowledgements.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Bullying, Death, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Child death, and Confinement
Minor: Self harm, Blood, and Animal death
thaliareads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
5.0
Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for the ARC!
Boy meets robot in this simultaneously heartwarming and heart-wrenching novel by TJ Klune. While in some ways this novel is a reimagining of the Adventures of Pinocchio, and you can see the mirroring of themes and even motifs from the original novel, the science fiction setting sets it apart as a tale of its own.
When Victor finds an android hanging on to life in the salvage yard he knows he has to help, but little does he know the chain of events that this will set off. Before he knows it, Victor is forced to trek across a land completely unfamiliar to him in order to bring his family back together. Luckily, he has his rag-tag group of robot friends to protect him from and guide him through a world that wants humans gone. Will he be able to reunite with his captured family? What will be the cost, and will things ever go back to how they were before?
Need I say WOW! This was another huge hit for me from TJ Klune. The amount of wit and humor spread throughout the otherwise high-stakes story helps to balance the tone and make this a book I would have read in one sitting if I had the time. In a way, this is a coming-of-age story because Victor has been living in seclusion since childhood and has a lot to learn about the world if he’s going to succeed in navigating it. He also has a lot to learn about love and romance, and how that looks for him knowing he identifies as asexual. Overall, this book has an engaging cast of characters and an interesting and dynamic world and lore. While I didn’t see the ending coming, I think it was very fitting to the lessons learned by the characters throughout their journey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Cursing, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Torture, Kidnapping, Death, Sexual content, and Confinement
Minor: Animal death, Self harm, and Genocide
I put "blood" in graphic because blood and bleeding are frequent topics as they would alert everyone to Victor's existence. Victor does prick his finger which could be seen as self harm since it is intentional, however, it is not due to depression or suicidal ideologies. Victor does have to hunt for food, but it is not described in detail. One of his family members also frequently curses or does the equivalent of cursing and profanity. However, it typically is done to ease tension and add comedy rather than in a way that feels trashy or rude. It does come up that robots have basically commited a mass genocide of the human population, however it is not described in a lot of detail. There are a few scenes with very specific and clearly defined violence, but it is all in support of revealing important information about our main characters. There is a brief period where the main character feels confined and is experiencing massive guilt about not being able to help his family. His family member is kidnapped and torture is implied. Death is interesting in this book, because for androids what is defined as death? Either way, they do contemplate Victor's mortality multiple times throughout the book.
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