A review by maaikereadsbooks_
In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

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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