Review: IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS (4/25/23)

IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS by TJ Klune
9781250217448
4/25/23
Tor Books

Set in a distant future where robots rule the world, IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS follows 21-year-old Victor Lawson, a human who lives in a secluded, idyllic forest with his father, android and inventor Giovanni Lawson; Rambo, a talkative, anxiety-ridden roomba; and sarcastic, slightly sociopathic Nurse Ratched (aka Nurse Registered Automaton to Care, Heal, Educate, and Drill). While their dynamic is eccentric and a bit dysfunctional, they are a family. Victor spends his days building, inventing, and salvaging materials from a nearby scrapyard. When Victor, Rambo, and Nurse Ratched stumble across a damaged, decommissioned robot named H.A.P (which they dub Hysterically Angry Puppet), Victor repairs him, a well-intentioned decision that reveals the dark past Gio and H.A.P share—a past spent hunting humans. Victor’s restoration of H.A.P unwittingly alerts The Authority to their location and results in the capture of Gio as he is taken back to his old laboratory in The City of Electric Dreams. Determined to rescue his father, Victor and his friends must leave the safety of their forest and journey through an otherworldly country to get Gio back. Along the way, Vic must face the mistakes of his father, confront his growing affection for an android created to destroy him, and reckon with the legacy and burden of being the last human alive.

IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS is full of immersive world building, loveable, humorous characters, and familial and romantic relationships that will pull on your heartstrings. While the book’s cast is made up of mostly robots, their humanity cannot be denied, and the relatable traits and flaws of Vic and his ragtag band of robots made me wholeheartedly root for them along their perilous journey. The book calls out humanity by painting a cautionary scenario of what our future could look like if we let hatred and greed guide us. But, Klune also offers hope by pointing out that despite our imperfections, there is an innate goodness in humanity and that it’s not too late for us to turn things around. Fans of THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA and UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR will love this latest addition to the canon of TJ Klune.

Happy reading!
<3 Amanda A.

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“Readers who loved Klune’s previous works will find plenty of the author’s trademark charm, heart, and bittersweetness, while those looking for more hopeful robot stories, like A PSALM FOR THE WILD-BUILT by Becky Chambers, will find this interpretation of a robot-future different but just as compelling.” —Library Journal, starred review