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

Rambo and Nurse Ratched were my fav characters—(some of) their dialogue and NR’s screen as secondary dialogue/context were fun.

The book dragged after Part I though, and I had to force myself to keep reading. It easily could’ve been 150-200 pages shorter and gotten the same point across. The constant sexual innuendo also got old, fast.

I did really like the epilogue. The House in Cerulean Sea is a better book by the same author.

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miriam_franziska's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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

4.5

TJ Klune always creates these wonderful, lovable and authentic characters, and I don‘t know how he does it, especially when the characters are not even human.
This book explores humanity in a setting in wich most of the characters are machines and really made me think about the Concept of humanity and what even defines us as human.
At first I was not so much taken in by the idea of the story because it seemed somewhat lame, but as I got closer to the characters and their bonds and the complexity of it all, it really got to me, as much as „Under the wispering door“ did.

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pastelmeganes's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

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kathleencoughlin's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

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lonelylooper's review against another edition

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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

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nynaeve2k's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I loved this book so much. I’ve never read anything like it. It’s so original. It takes you on an emotional rollercoaster and is so heartwarming.

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yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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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!

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nmwolfe's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

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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