From the Bookshelf of SpecFic Buddy Reads…

In the Lives of Puppets

T.J. Klune

Start date: May 1, 2023

Finish date: May 31, 2023

Discussion leader: Rebecca

Why we're reading this: Group Reads - SF - May 2023
[close] Group Reads - SF - May 2023

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What Members Thought

Apr 30, 2023 Trish rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is my 4th book by T.J. Klune. When I think of the author, I think of witty contemporary fluff with great social commentary that isn't too heavy-handed. And that's what I got with this standalone novel.

We're in a strange futuristic world. In a grove, to be precise. There, Vic lives with his dad and two robots. Well, actually, he lives there with three robots because his dad is also one. An android. Vic, however, is human. Vic's dad, Giovanni, is an inventor, one robot is a vacuum with anxiet ...more

42 likes · Like · see review

Apr 30, 2023 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi, 2023-shelf

This book puts me through some things. I mean, the things aren't too serious. I was both amused and annoyed at how many 12-year-old jokes about genitals and evacuation of bowls there were in the early parts of the novel -- It being both weird and funny that it all came from robots/puppets --but it really set the tone for a post-humanity quirky robot culture.

So what happened to alter that for me?

Well, for one thing, I was constantly being reminded of the movie AI, and from that, Pinocchio, and th ...more

23 likes · Like · see review

Jan 04, 2024 Cathy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2024

Pinocchio gets a reverse AI makeover, with a touch of Victor Frankenstein and the Wizard of Oz.

14 minutes into the audio I was already laughing my head off. The two robots, Rambo and Nurse Ratched, are a hoot. During the course of the book they also annoyed me with their silliness. The other main characters were nice, sweet, sad and hopeful.

Plenty of pop culture references. Many I knew, some I had to look up and I am sure I also missed some of them.

The characters our little family group encounte ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Apr 30, 2023 Helen rated it really liked it

Deep in the forest lives a boy with his father Gio, Nurse Ratched and Rambo… Rambo is a robot bursting with positivity and insecurity. Nurse Ratched is a sadistic healing robot who at her core is a caring mother figure. These two and Victor spend their time scouring the junk yard for useful stuff until they find Hap when their lives change dramatically.

When I read Klune, I expect a tale involving family, hope, love, loyalty - something that pulls my heartstrings and shows us that being ‘differe ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 05, 2023 Suzanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, audio

The audio version was excellent - it sure made me love Rambo.

2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 21, 2023 Alexis rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-dystopia

In some ways, I think this wasn't as good as House on the Cerulean Sea or Under the Whispering Door. In other, very different ways, it was better.

Important note: 'Not as good,' in this case, is still highly enjoyable. We're talking about a really high bar.

It's slow to get going, but that's apparently the theme with Klune books. Every one I've picked up I've spent the first third plodding and wondering if I should DNF it, only to adore the last half. Klune can stick a landing.

I had more immediate ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 19, 2024 Cobwebs-Iced-Across-SpaceTime rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2024_pride, 2024_virtual, library_marathon, a1-netgalley, 2024_sf, a1-i-own-books, 2024_reads, 2024_mount_tbr_ha, 2024_fantasy, 2024_net-galley

A touchingly heartwarming tale of robots and humans--and never the twain shall meet--unless in Found Family. When I wasn't nearly constantly chortling over Nurse Ratched, I pondered my decades-old memory of I, Robot; for in the long-ago backstory of this novel, Robots turned Asimov's "First Law of Robotics" straight on its head. Never fear: there is Hope and there will be Happy, and Humans haven't been fully eradicated... yet.
...more

1 like · Like · see review