• In the Lives of Puppets

  • By: TJ Klune
  • Narrated by: Daniel Henning
  • Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (645 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
In the Lives of Puppets  By  cover art

In the Lives of Puppets

By: TJ Klune
Narrated by: Daniel Henning
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.74

Buy for $24.74

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

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
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: LGBTQ+

Interview: TJ Klune's Futuristic Take on Pinocchio is the Found-Family Story We Needed

'Books are uniquely portable magic that allows us to escape and see the world a little bit differently...''
-0.00
  • In the Lives of Puppets
  • 'Books are uniquely portable magic that allows us to escape and see the world a little bit differently...''

What listeners say about In the Lives of Puppets

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    393
  • 4 Stars
    160
  • 3 Stars
    60
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    11
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    461
  • 4 Stars
    81
  • 3 Stars
    23
  • 2 Stars
    15
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    341
  • 4 Stars
    150
  • 3 Stars
    61
  • 2 Stars
    23
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Above all else, be brave

This is a dystopian story where the robots humanity created are now in control. It’s about the found family of android Giovanni Lawson, his human son Victor Lawson, and their companions Nurse RATCHED and Rambo and the newest addition of android HAP, expanding horizons, and being brave.

As usual, TJ Klune has crafted a masterful, heart wrenching tale about beating the odds and finding love in the unexpected. It’s also full of little Easter eggs for his dedicated readers to find. Daniel Henning’s narration is spot on, as expected.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

The story, the message, and the narration … all brilliant. TJ Klune has an incredible ability to make readers love all the characters he creates.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this…

I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea, and was hoping this would be similar. I was pretty disappointed.

1. Practically every conversation was someone telling the MC how special they are, or the MC having some sort of emotional trauma, or something similar. It was like every single moment was spun into some profound turning point, and this wasn’t helped by the narrator dramatically leaning into this with his acting. When everything is profound, then nothing feels profound.

2. Maybe they mentioned the age, but I initially thought the MC was a kid. He also sort of acts like one, and has very little agency of his own (despite everyone constantly telling him how incredible he is). However once it became convenient to sexualize him, they start to refer to him ambiguously as “grown” and eventually “an adult”. But the dynamic of him being someone who needs to be watched over remains. This was confusing.

3. The author lies to you at the beginning of the book. There is a scene that the reader sees happen. Then they later say “Actually, that didn’t happen. It was a lie.”. Lying to the reader doesn’t make for satisfying twists. It’s just confusing.

4. The only two flamboyant characters in the book are both pseudo-villains. This was an odd decision for an LGBTQ+ book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

I will read anything by TJ Klune and will always choose to listen when Daniel Henning is narrating. The two combined is magic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible story

Amazing story and amazing narration I can’t wait to listen again and again! Klune will ALWAYS be an autobuy author

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

I loved the story but I loved the narration even more! It was such a fun book to listen to. I recommend it highly.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hysterically happy listener!

What a lovely story, sad and poignant with HOPE as it's common thread. Klune has become a go to author for me, but I only do audiobooks versions. This narrator elevates the words, I feel the story as much as I listen to it. Vic & Hap are a love story for the ages. So be sure to tune in and feel the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must read!

This book is going on my list of top ten favorite books ever. It actually had me laughing and crying at the same time in some parts. The narrator’s character voices are amazing and add so much life to the characters. I can’t wait to listen to it again!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Trite dialog and ham-fisted mention of sexuality.

I’ve listened to over 100 books on Audible, including a lot of good and not-so-good leaps of faith based on the recommendation engine, and this will be the first I abandon. I never want to be negative, but I’m surprised this one has such strong reviews. The dialog between the child who is the main character of the story and his “plucky” robot companions was excruciating, particularly when they talk about wanting to have genitalia or repeatedly teasing the child (the only human in the third of the book I’ve heard) for being asexual, complete with incredibly cringeworthy and incongruous exposition about the definition of the term. The reader’s commitment to the voices he selected was absolute. Unfortunately they came across to me as silly and grating, and do little to endear the wretched dialog.

I have no idea who the author was imagining would be reading this. Maybe it’s one of those things where you’ll enjoy it if you like the author’s other work? General consensus in the reviews is positive, after all, so maybe I’m just not the audience. But consider skipping this one in favor of a different one from this author if you, like me, might be turned off by things like a sadistic nurse robot friend with a grating voice teasing a human child about his sexuality at length for no apparent reason that pertains to the story for (at least) the first third of the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A beautifully, funny, profound masterpiece wrapped in a tale of love, choice and family

Phew. I need to give this book more than 5 stars. It deserves all the stars. Just when I think TJ Klune cannot create a book that is better than his last masterpiece, he proves me wrong. This book. Is. Everything. Expect to feel all the things - to laugh, to swoon, to bite your nails, to roll your eyes, to grit your teeth, to be verklempt, to gasp, and to cry. This is a story of an adventure, a quest by a human and his uniquely cobbled together family but at its heart it really a story about the power of choice. This book is a life and love affirming masterpiece encompassed in a beautiful, heart warming, heart wrenching story of messy life, love, family, and finding your path. The book is about Vic, a human inventor, who lives in the middle of the forest with Gio, his android father, Rambo, an overly anxious hyperactive vacuum, Nurse Ratched, a sociopathic medical machine, and a recent addition, Hap, an former killing android. When Gio is taken by the Authority to the City of Electric Dreams, Vic and his cobbled together family embark on their quest to get Gio back. Much like Pinocchio they learn so much on the journey after they leave home. It is on their quest and the beings that they meet, the things they see, and they things they do that solidify for the truth inside each of them that “I am choosing,…I am making my own choice. I don’t have strings.” TJ Klune is a master storyteller who has perfected the art of writing stories whose meaning and emotions stay with you long after you read the last word and whose main characters include beautiful three dimensional, imperfect, non-hetero, neurodiverse characters who have such depth and so much heart that you want them to be your best friends. I feel like now I will always be searching for a version of Rambo, Nurse Ratched, Hap, Vic, and Gio to add to my family. I hope they find me.

This may be the best narration I have ever heard. Daniel Henning did a phenomenal job narrating the story and characters into life with enough change of inflection, tone and cadence to voice multiple characters perfectly. Rambo’s anxious high pitched voice, Nurse Ratched’s mechanical dead pan, Hap’s growly stutter, Gino’s kindly paternal voice, and Vic’s innocent kindness were done so distinctly, you would swear there were multiple narrators for this book instead of just one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful