2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune.

Pages: 432 pages

Length: 1 month (August)

Participants: SarahKat, Dominique, Elali

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Started! And through chapter 4

(view spoiler)[I love the two robots, especially Rambo the vacuum with anxiety. They just found the android in the scrap heap. I know this is supposed to be a retelling of Pinocchio... Is Victor the Pinocchio character in this?

Has anyone read the graphic novel series Descender? The robots remind me of the robots in that. (hide spoiler)]

Perfect timing! I have had this book on hold all summer. It finally came in last week, but I couldn't start it right away. So, now I have to binge read it this weekend.

So far, it has been a lot of fun. This is the third book I have read by T.J. Klune, and he has not disappointed me yet. His books may not be for everyone (no author's books are), but I appreciate how he handles challenging subject matter with so much heart and humor.

I highly recommend the audio version of this book. The narrator, Daniel Henning, does an amazing job voicing the various characters. The pairing of Klune's writing and Henning's narration make it easy for me to visualize the setting, characters, and action in the book. (view spoiler)[I particularly like how well Henning handles HAP's stutter. In addition, Nurse Ratched and Rambo have made me laugh out loud multiple times.
And, of course, wondering what will happen to Victor, HAP, and Gio, has kept my interest. (hide spoiler)]

Welcome Shelley!

This is my second book by Klune. I read The House in the Cerulean Sea last year and really liked it!

I had a friend tell me specifically NOT to listen to the audio on this one! Haha. Everyone has their own taste. I am reading a physical copy. I usually prefer reading fantasy type things with my eyes anyway.

I just finished Part I: (view spoiler)[I am seeing more parallels to Pinocchio now than I was in my last update. I kept thinking, how is Victor the Pinocchio? He wasn't created by Gio. Turns out he was! Whaaaat??

I like how Hap is evolving, but my favorites are still Rambo and Nurse Ratched. Some of this is a little too sappy for my taste, but it is sweet. And when it gets too sweet, one of the robots says something to completely take all the sappiness out of the moment. (hide spoiler)]

SarahKat wrote: "Welcome Shelley!

....I had a friend tell me specifically NOT to listen to the audio on this one!..."

Just goes to show we all have different preferences! I am not a big sci-fi/fantasy person, so a good narrator helps get me past the 'Wait . . . what?" moments and forces me to use my imagination in order to keep up.

Honestly, (view spoiler)[when I got to the part with the Coachman, the audio version had me picturing Crowley from Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch while hearing Aziraphale. It was a bit distracting, but still fun. (hide spoiler)]

So . . . I did not enjoy this book as much as The House in the Cerulean Sea, but overall I did enjoy it. Unfortunately, the whole "robots taking over the world" genre is not my thing.

The characters were fun and interesting. (view spoiler)[Nurse Ratched and Rambo were not particularly well developed, but that reinforced the fact that they were robots. In addition to the humorous relief they provided, they also played surprisingly important roles at times. I was glad that both the Blue Fairy and Gio specifically stated that they were not God. At times, I wondered what exactly the author was trying to say on that matter. (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[I also had a problem with Heaven being a brothel. It seems to me that Heaven is not a place to go to avoid boredom and pain through pleasure and fantasy, but a place where there is no boredom and pain, thus negating the need for self-indulgent escape. (hide spoiler)] Otherwise, I found the book thought provoking regarding issues such as love, forgiveness, and what it means to be human.

Through Part II: (view spoiler)[A lot has happened but I don't have a lot to say about it oddly. I like how Vic is allowing his friends to support him and that they do so even though they don't have hearts. The Coachman is interesting too. I wonder what his purpose was before. It seems like he is maybe going to help them but I'm still a bit wary. (hide spoiler)]

I finished! I liked The House in the Cerulean Sea better too but I still really liked this one.

Klune overdoes the sweetness factor for me I think. It's just TOO sweet and my hardened cynical heart recoils in disgust a little bit, but the soft mushy part of me also kind of likes it.

Shelley, I see what you mean about (view spoiler)[the God and Heaven stuff. I think it speaks to the fact that they are robots, probably without an idea of a higher power. Perhaps self-indulgence IS their religion. (hide spoiler)]

On the ending.. (view spoiler)[I wish they had found more embryos or another small group of surviving humans or something just to have a little more hope for humanity as a whole. I liked that it ended with some hope for all the main characters. Starting over but with those deeper feelings and stuff. But when Vic dies of old age or whatever the whole world will just be robots again. (hide spoiler)]

SarahKat wrote: "Started! And through chapter 4

I love the two robots, especially Rambo the vacuum with anxiety. They just found the android in the scrap heap. I know this is supposed to be a retelling of Pinocchi..."

(view spoiler)[ Nurse Ratchet.. at least thecrobot is way better than the one in the movie. Would love to have a Rambo at h9m! (hide spoiler)]

Finished. A good 3.5 stars

(view spoiler)[ It was an interesting story. I agree that I expected near the end that some humans were hiding out somewhere. What was surprising was that he lied about Victor's ''parents'' and that humans have not existed for that long. I like the family aspects of the story, the reason why humans didn't exist and robots took over is something that we hear about.

The audiobook was great, I like the characters but sometimes Rambo was a bit too annoying.

But overall an loveable book (hide spoiler)]

Hi! If you liked House on the Cerulean Sea I would definitely recommend Under the Whispering Door. I read In the Lives of Puppets recently because of how much I loved House on the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door but was very disappointed.

I'm joining in late, but joining this anyway. I am reading this or a buddy read elsewhere, so will jump in.

About 60% in and I think I am the only one in the world who I think prefers this to Cerulean Sea! I liked Cerulean Sea but for me it was a bit slow. I definitely prefer books with more action which is why I think I'm enjoying this more!

@ SarahKat & Dominique - I agree with you about the ending. (view spoiler)[I was also hoping they would find more humans, but maybe that would undermine the relationship between Vic and HAL. It did not occur to me as I finished the book, but maybe this leaves the author open to writing a sequel or related story in this world. (hide spoiler)]

Katie wrote: "I would definitely recommend Under the Whispering Door ..."

The House in the Cerulean Sea is still my favorite, but I did like Under the Whispering Door. It is "heavier" than House or Puppets, so maybe just the thing for SarahKat's hardened cynical heart.

Didn't read Under the Whispering Door but did read The House in the Cerulean Sea and enjoyed it a lot.

Shelley wrote: "Katie wrote: "It is "heavier" than House or Puppets, so maybe just the thing for SarahKat's hardened cynical heart."

Oh good!

I thought about the possibility of a sequel for this one too, but I thought the same thing about House and it doesn't look like that's happening any time soon either.

Just butting in since I read this book in July. I was wondering what the hell was happening in the very beginning. I thought Klune did a good job of dumping the reader right into this world.

Several things impressed me about this book:

(view spoiler)[The characters' names were brilliant, weren't they? I kept laughing and laughing at "Nurse Rathed" (Nurse Ratchet) and Rambo as a vacuum robot! LOL

The way some characters/robots could simply change their genital pieces-parts! Wow! That kinda blew my mind. But I admit it also blew my mind that "robots"/nonsentient beings would engage in sexual relations. Or did I misunderstand/misread that part?

I thought Gio was extremely brave to engage HAP as he did. That encounter could have turned out quite differently!

So many interesting issues to consider and ponder:
1) Is it possible for nonsentient beings to become sentient?
2) Are human beings really all that great? Could the world be better off with rational/logical machines running things? (While I do believe we humans are beyond "arrogant" and self-absorbed, I believe we do add a certain something to this world that would be otherwise missing. However, would machines have ruined their environment/world as we have? I don't know...)
3) Interesting that even robots had certain minority groups that defied the ruling political group in power. (hide spoiler)]

I have enjoyed The House in the Cerulean Sea as well as Under the Whispering Door. I think THitCS is still my favorite, but it is, IMO, a much simpler story arc overall. This book and UtWD were both much more philosophical, IMO. I own a copy of The Extraordinaries and hope to read it before the end of the year.