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booksarethenewblack 's review for:
In the Lives of Puppets
by TJ Klune
You can see all my reviews here: <a href="https://booksarethenewblackblog.wordpress.com">Books Are The New Black</a>
Before I jump into this review, I just want to say- I adore TJ Klune. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I did buddy read this one and I’m glad. Similar feelings were discussed and that makes me feel like I’m not on an island completely alone.
One of my favorite things about Klune’s writing is his fabulous characters and the way he can have huge emotional hits. This does have some aspects of those two things but not like I’m used to. The characters were ones that I fell in love with fast. What’s not to love about a found family of robots and humans? There are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments from these characters. Nurse Ratched was fantastic. Unfortunately, about 60% of the way, I was struggling with one of them. It just got to be too much and it was unnecessary. The rest of the characters were brilliant and I really enjoyed the relationships between them. Again, found family is Klune’s bread and butter and he thrives at writing amazing families.
The storyline is what I struggled with the most. There are some things that I still don’t think were cleared up. The dystopian aspect didn’t quite make sense and the wrap-up of it was lacking. I was expecting this huge moment to come and it never did. It was such an unsatisfactory ending. The pacing of the book was off too. I have to be honest and say that I was bored at times. I was about 60% of the way through and nothing happened with the plot. I’m still not sure there was a ton of plot, to begin with. There’s nothing wrong with a character-driven book but when you have this huge world come into play, I expected more.
The romance in the book had me a bit puzzled too. I didn’t quite understand the relationship and sometimes thought it was a little creepy. The fact that HAP just watches and follows Vic around all the time. I get it, he doesn’t understand and know things but it was hard to fall for them. I think this would have been much better if the romance was left out and HAP just found a family to blend into.
Overall, I was disappointed in this one. I had such high expectations because I give all of his books 4.5-5 star ratings! He’s still one of my favorites and I can’t wait for the next one. Sadly, this one just wasn’t for me. I’m sure many will love it and that’s great! I was just left unsatisfied and missing the magic most of his books offer.
Many thanks to Tor Books and Netgalley for an e-arc to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!
Before I jump into this review, I just want to say- I adore TJ Klune. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I did buddy read this one and I’m glad. Similar feelings were discussed and that makes me feel like I’m not on an island completely alone.
One of my favorite things about Klune’s writing is his fabulous characters and the way he can have huge emotional hits. This does have some aspects of those two things but not like I’m used to. The characters were ones that I fell in love with fast. What’s not to love about a found family of robots and humans? There are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments from these characters. Nurse Ratched was fantastic. Unfortunately, about 60% of the way, I was struggling with one of them. It just got to be too much and it was unnecessary. The rest of the characters were brilliant and I really enjoyed the relationships between them. Again, found family is Klune’s bread and butter and he thrives at writing amazing families.
The storyline is what I struggled with the most. There are some things that I still don’t think were cleared up. The dystopian aspect didn’t quite make sense and the wrap-up of it was lacking. I was expecting this huge moment to come and it never did. It was such an unsatisfactory ending. The pacing of the book was off too. I have to be honest and say that I was bored at times. I was about 60% of the way through and nothing happened with the plot. I’m still not sure there was a ton of plot, to begin with. There’s nothing wrong with a character-driven book but when you have this huge world come into play, I expected more.
The romance in the book had me a bit puzzled too. I didn’t quite understand the relationship and sometimes thought it was a little creepy. The fact that HAP just watches and follows Vic around all the time. I get it, he doesn’t understand and know things but it was hard to fall for them. I think this would have been much better if the romance was left out and HAP just found a family to blend into.
Overall, I was disappointed in this one. I had such high expectations because I give all of his books 4.5-5 star ratings! He’s still one of my favorites and I can’t wait for the next one. Sadly, this one just wasn’t for me. I’m sure many will love it and that’s great! I was just left unsatisfied and missing the magic most of his books offer.
Many thanks to Tor Books and Netgalley for an e-arc to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!