This is only my second book by TJ Klune and it will most definitely not be my last! Klune is phenomenal at world building and creates these fictional, fantastical worlds that just suck you in, with stories that take you on the most amazing adventures. In the Lives of Puppets is lifted up as a Pinnochio meets Swiss Family Robinson kind of story, but those comparisons don’t do this book justice.

I absolutely adored all the quirky, unique, and wonderful characters in this story. Victor Lawson is the anxious, asexual human in the story. He’s an inventor like his android father, Giovanni. Gio also has a heart, and he loves music and creating. But above all else, he loves his son. Vic often explores the scrap yards near their treehouse home, and since there are no other humans or robots around, he makes friends of his own. First we have Nurse Ratched, the sociopathic medial nurse robot who adds a lot of twisted humor to the story and had me laughing constantly! Then there’s Rambo, who is probably my favorite. He’s a wonderfully weird, anxious robot vacuum who loves his friends, and absolutely does not want to die. And then there’s Hap - the Hysterically Angry Puppet - who somehow, despite his designation becomes the final member of this quirky, love-filled family. This story reminds us that the best part of this messy, complicated thing called life is getting to share it with the ones we love, the ones who become our home.

This book is also a masterful story about humanity. Don’t let the fact that only one of the MC’s is actually human fool you. It’s a story about what it means to have a heart. The power of our emotional capacity as humans. Our ability to change. The importance of having the power to make our own decisions, to forge our own paths, to create our own destiny. This story is a reminder that humanity will be the cause of our own destruction. But we also have what we need to save us. All it takes is a heart. A little bravery. And a willingness to start over.