In the Lives of Puppets

By: TJ Klune

Narrated by: Daniel Henning

Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Long-listed, Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year, 2023

"Narrator Daniel Henning demonstrates perfect comedic timing and impressive vocal versatility in this queer/sci-fi retelling of 'Pinocchio.' This laugh-out-loud, emotional audiobook asks listeners to question what it means to be human."—AudioFile Magazine (Earphones Award Winner)

"Narrator Daniel Henning does a phenomenal job capturing Gio’s fatherliness and Vic’s early naivete, and he positively shines as the heartless, bloodthirsty Nurse Ratched and the anxiety-ridden robot vacuum Rambo."—Library Journal

New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts.

Most Anticipated from BookPage • Goodreads • The Nerd Daily • Paste Magazine • LitReactor • OverDrive • LGBTQ Reads • Tor.com • more

“An enchanting tale of Pinocchio in the end times.”—P. Djèlí Clark

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio–a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Inspired by Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.

★ “An epic quest of rescue and discovery [with] the author’s trademark charm, heart, and bittersweetness.”—Library Journal, starred review

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

©2023 TJ Klune (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Another winner!

T.J. Klune has become not only an Auto-Buy author for me, he has also become one of my favorite authors....period. His whimsical, yet ALWAYS emotionally impactful stories, are always so unique and somehow end up pulling me in so deeply to the story that I feel like I am actually there along with the characters. His breadth of ideas....of creating so many different types of stories, just shows that his talent knows no boundaries and is ALWAYS, always consistent.

This story is another one of the "whimsical" stories that he has become known for. It introduces us to a world where only machines exist. But as usual, the group that we get to meet and follow along with are not your "normal" machines. They have created a family - a family that consists of a small vacuum cleaner, a sadistic nurse machine, an sweet and loving inventor, an android named HAP and a human boy. We get to learn exactly HOW they became a family and the lengths that they will go to to protect this family even if the risks are extremely great.

As always, there are messages in almost every section of this story. Lessons about self esteem, about friendship, about loyalty and especially about love. Daniel Henning did a wonderful job narrating a story that I'm sure wasn't easy to narrate with the various eccentricities of the characters, but he did a great job. In my mind, the whimsical books from Mr. Klune are sometimes better experienced on audio rather than reading because the various unique voices of these somewhat odd characters somehow add even more to the story (I mean, how do you decide how you are going to portray a small yet extremely talkative vacuum cleaner?)

While this was not my favorite book from Mr. Klune, I still really did enjoy it. The ending felt a little rushed to me and I think the storyline lost a little steam during the last quarter of the book. With that being said, it was still an amazing book and I am looking forward to whatever is next from Mr. Klune.

Excellent as usual

Not quite as magical as The House on the Cerulean Sea but not many books are. Absolutely loved the repeat pairing of TJ Klune's fantastic creation being brought to life by Daniel Henning's stellar narration. You won't regret this purchase, I envy that you are perhaps about to listen for the first time

Full of “Heart”

Yet another example of a TJ Klune story that leaves me lost in thought, in the best way possible.
The characters, the plot, everything was built up so well. Once again, I am amazed by Klune’s work and “heart”.

What a wonderful read!

What a wonderful story with fabulous characters. I can’t get their voices out of my head from what they sound like in the Audio book. TJ Klune is one of my favorite authors and this book did not disappoint!

Not my favorite

I loved his other books but this one i couldn’t get into. The robots voices almost made me want to completely stop

Another wonderful world

I love listening to TJ Klune’s books. Narrator Daniel Henning performance was wonderful, I was immersed into another fantastical world filled with characters so lovable. I’m always sad when I get to the end, even if I’m smiling.

Great Real World Story For All Ages.

Great Real World Story For All Ages.
Love how the story touches on many real important topics of today. Plus love all the characters but I have to admit I'm a fan of Rambo and especially Nurse Ratchet!

New Reader

This was my first TJ Klune book and I found it a delight. The narrator indeed lended to the animation of the characters but I thought the story solid and thoroughly entertaining in its own right. I enjoyed the contemplation on what it means to be human and what it means to love. I look forward to adding more Klune reads to my repertoire 😊

Rich and Satisfying

Solid narration of a full story arc and enjoyable characters, with surprising nerd references throughout. Loved it.

Romantic, torturous exploration of the human experience and I loved every second of it

A truly wonderful tale of love, grief, fear, and friendship and what it means to be alive.