In the Lives of Puppets
- 432
- Pages
- about 8 h
- Reading time
- NYT bestseller · 1 week on the list
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About the book
From New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, In the Lives of Puppets is a queer retelling of the Pinocchio tale, inviting you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts. *A New York Times, Sunday Times and Indie Bestseller* *Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction* In a small home, built into the branches of a tree, live a human named Victor and three robots. These are a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, a small vacuum desperate for love and attention, and a fatherly inventor-android named Giovanni Lawson. Together they’re a family, hidden and safe. Then Vic salvages an unfamiliar android labelled ‘HAP’. He learns that Hap and Gio share a dark past, where they hunted humans. And Hap unwittingly gives away Gio’s location. Before they know it, robots from Gio’s former life arrive – to capture and return the android to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. The rest of the unconventional family must travel across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommissioning. Or worse, reprogramming. Along the way, Vic must decide if he can handle his feelings for Hap – even if they come with strings attached. Inspired by Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful standalone fantasy adventure from the author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.8 across 316 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 68% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Science fiction average of 7.8. That is how 7.9 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 6.9 | 7 | 2% |
| Hardcover | 7.8 | 309 | 98% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“My least favorite of Klune's books. This one seemed to be tied a little too closely to Pinocchio. It took a long time to get into and the action seemed a bit forced.”
Frequently asked
How long is In the Lives of Puppets?
It has 432 pages — shorter than 69% of the ranked books in Science fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Science fiction — with scores between 7.8 and 8.0, closest to this book.
