Reviews with content warning for Animal death - In the Lives of Puppets

I did not expect to like this book as much as I did because I felt like this author’s other books were good, but nothing to write home about. But this one. I loved it. So many feelings. Wonderful

Content Warnings

nelli_lakatos's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

“𝒮𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓈, 𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓂𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉 𝒾𝓉."

A unique and inspiring tale of family, self-discovery, love and adventure.

In the Lives of Puppets was the most heartwarming and meaningful story that I’ve read in a while. I have grown so attached to the characters I wished them the best because they deserve everything.

I highly recommend this masterpiece of a book to everyone!

Content Warnings

lonelylooper's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.75

Finished reading: January 14th 2024

"Sometimes, it's the smallest things that can change everything when you least expect it."

This book was one of my most anticipated releases last year, because there is something about the way T.J. Klune writes his stories that makes it SO easy to fall in love with both the characters and the writing. I admit that I was a bit worried that some people didn't seem to enjoy In The Lives Of Puppets as much as some of his previous releases... But thankfully I didn't end up being one of them. I knew that I was going to end up giving this story a high rating almost as soon as I started reading it. There is just something about the writing style that just works for me, and the author always does such a fantastic job creating the most wonderful, flawed and quirky characters... The cast in In The Lives Of Puppets is no different, and I loved spending more time with them. Rambo and Nurse Ratched are absolutely hilarious with their banter! It's true that there isn't really much happening in especially the first half, and I was expecting to have more worldbuilding with this strange world the story is set in. This is without a doubt a character-driven story, but somehow I didn't really mind the slightly weaker plot and lack of details. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I was completely charmed by both the writing and characters, and I was more than happy to just soak everything up and treasure every moment spent in their company. I could have done without the sexual innuendos and references, but as a whole I liked what the connection between Vic and Hap added to the plot. This story is pretty obviously a retelling of both Pinoccio and other classics, and I personally enjoyed spotting the different references. All in all, while In The Lives Of Puppets isn't my absolute favorite T.J. Klune book, I still had a fantastic time reading this story. These characters will stay with me for a long time!

Content Warnings

handful_of_frogs's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

lawmixitup's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

starsnstitchin's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

gemmapz's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

TJ Klune continues to handle the vicissitudes of human existence in creative, magical, and complex ways. I loved it. This book is even more beautiful and tightly woven then his previous two hits.

Content Warnings

More...