Welcome to Litsy!

Just a fantastic story populated with wonderful characters (Nurse Ratched!…although not THAT Nurse Ratched) set in what feels like a not too distant future where machines run the world and humans don‘t.
A story about the meaning of family and the love that binds us all.
My first book by TJ Klune…but definitely not my last!

Honestly this was a bit strange. I was very disappointed. I loved the characters but the sexual / asexual aspects of this book did not mesh with the storyline. It was confusing, disorganized and completely took me away from enjoying the characters' journey.
Not my favorite from TJ Klune 😕

But........ I am SOOO excited for the follow-up book to House in the Cerulean Sea to come out... already know it will be a 4/5 star read!!!

The audiobook for this title is amazing. It really brings the characters to life. I laughed so much. And it is simply a great story.

⭐️⭐️This was disappointing. Klune had good ideas, however he tends to get stuck with alot of unnecessary dialogue which doesn‘t advance the story and leaves the reader time to get bored. This book took me a month to get through. Although imaginative the writing needs to improve.

@MatchlessMarie I LOVE this #jolabokaflodswap, thank you soooo much!

I stupidly forgot to bring this during holiday travels and just got back today so I will be celebrating Jolabokaflod today! I couldn‘t be happier.

As always, thank you @MaleficentBookDragon for organizing!

Its a good futuristic telling of Pinocchio, but it‘s very long and very repetitive at times. About 70% in and it finally got exciting

Not sure how a bunch of robots made me so emotional, but they did. This is my second book by TK Klune and I need to read as many of their works as possible I think. Definitely becoming a new favourite author for me.

Deeply reliant on, and evocative of Pinocchio and at times, The Wizard of Oz, Kline‘s latest stand alone is, IMHO, not his best work. When he breaks free from the earlier author‘s tropes there are flashes of his usual brilliance, and I genuinely enjoyed his characters. Victor, the last of his kind, sets out on a quest to find his stolen creator/father/robot accompanied by sentient and charming machines seeking wisdom, courage and a heart.

This was my first TJ Klune book & i thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me a little of A Psalm for the Wild Built but this is much more plot driven. Gio, an inventor robot, isolates himself deep in the forest to bring up his adopted son, Victor, who is human. Together they create a family from discarded robots. But there is danger afoot that threatens this little family. Nurse Ratched and Rambo really made this book hum for me 🥰

This is such a powerful and beautiful story. My daughters bought it for me, thinking it would be a light-hearted distraction read. It was much darker than I expected, but the characters are so very endearing. Nurse Ratched is hilarious. I didn't love it as much as House in the Cerulean Sea, but it was definitely worth the read.

Moving tagged book up since it‘s probably in the running.

📸Goodreads IG

Thank goodness for audio books. The plague has hit my house and I am so sick that even lifting a book is too much effort. Listening to the tagged book in-between times that I am not knocked out sleeping. Lol, I think I have started the same chapter over at least 3 times as I fell asleep 🤒🤧🤢 Audio book, Jello(the only thing I can swallow) and strong meds are getting me through.

In a world populated by robots, Victor is the last human alive. Raised by his father, android Giovanni Lawson, in the woods far from other robots, Victor didn‘t fully understand how much danger he was in until Gio is taken and their home is destroyed.
Vic, along with an anxious roomba, a psychopathic nurse robot, and a memory-wiped human-killing android set off to rescue Gio.
Think a reverse Pinocchio meets Wall-E.

This was probably my least favorite tj klune book, but he‘s fabulous so that‘s not saying it is a bad book. Just that it is hard to live up to the Cerulean Sea. When I read up on the original Pinocchio story, it was incredible seeing how he included the characters and elements but in this futuristic world. Great narration. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love this opening passage in “In the Lives of Puppets.“ Very excited to dive right into this book!

I wasn‘t expecting sci-fi! This is a seriously thought provoking tale of a future when the machines have taken over. It‘s quirky, and some parts really dramatic. But it‘s good and Rambo the vacuum robot is just adorable.

My friend Ken is an ICU nurse so I had to tell him about the amazing sociopathic robot nurse in this book, who I knew he would love. That was a few months ago. Then we had this little text exchange this week. 😂

4.5 ⭐You know, how some books just stay with you for a while. This is one of those books. It is a cross between Pinocchio and Steven Spielberg‘s AI, but with a happy ending and a ton of heart. Hap is the last living boy. The world has been taken over by robots. He survives out in the woods with his father Gio, with no knowledge that he is fully unique. Upon accidently alerting the AI overlords that he is alive, dangerous adventure begins to

I rather enjoyed this ridiculous book. It's a fun, imaginative sci-fi that rifs on Pinocchio as we follow a human and his robot found-family on a quest to rescue his father and uncover hard truths about their world along the way. I also always enjoy finding ace mcs and neurodiverse mcs. Highly recommend giving the audiobook a listen as well. The narrator does an excellent job. #Robots #LGBTQIA

A so-so reading week. I‘ve looked into Puppets more and have thought about it a great deal, and have decided that Vic still codes as sexually immature to me; also, the placement of an ace, autistic person in an all-robot world needed something more to make it work. Apparently the book was heavily edited, but the fact that Klune who self-identifies as ace did some of the things he did to this character still feels very odd to me. #bookreport

Yall. I‘m into the plot of this and its riffs on Pinocchio but I‘m finding other parts to be a little cringe. Klune‘s projection of sociopsychosis onto Nurse is odd, for one. I‘m also put off by the rather cutesie & repetitive allusion to genitals, and this plays into how “asexual” seems to be used in place of “sexually immature.” Is anyone else feeling that Klune seems to imply that one is only ace until one finds their “true” sexuality? Ick.

This was so fun - a kind of weird futuristic mashup of Pinocchio and Frankenstein… the audio was fun (my teen boys even laughed a bit in the car when they were paying attention). Some scenes seemed overly long… and it‘s not quite Cerulean Sea… but I enjoyed it far more than any novel I‘ve ever read involving robots.

How many of you read more than one book at the same time. These are the books Im currently reading

Read during #Rushathon

Nothing will surpass my love for The House in the Cerulean Sea, followed by Under the Whispering Door but I still really loved this book. Klune is able to make me laugh & then hit me in the gut & make me cry in the most wonderful way. I had fun with these characters especially Nurse Ratched & Rambo). I was reading the library e-book but ended up with a coupon & other discounts so I bought the Barnes & Noble edition for ⬇️

I don't know how it happened, but I went into this book because of the quirkiest review I saw on here and ended with tears glassing up my eyes and a lump in my throat....over robots!!!! How did T.J. even do that? This book is everything @Leniverse said it would be. That mash up is amazing, hilarious, and exactly on point.

I love to #audiopuzzle & this seems like the perfect booknerd puzzle.

The Book Exchange, 1000 pieces by New York Puzzle Co. (one of my favorite puzzle brands)

So glad to get out of the house today for #nationalbookfestival and to hear so many incredible authors discuss their process and be so open and vulnerable, sharing stories from their lives

Coupla books that I DNF. they weren‘t necessarily bad, but both felt kinda young and maybe a bit silly for my mood at the time. Kate in Waiting is your “typical” high school romance and In the Lives of Puppets is exactly what you‘d expect from these past TJ Klune books (but worse), a slow burn romance/self discovery journey with kinda childish characters. I probably won‘t return to either 🤷🏽‍♀️

My second square done. This one was an easy read “not a debut” is a fairly easy book to grab #bookspin #doublespinbingo #bookspinbingo this was such an interesting book!

I'm surprised and sad that I bailed on this one, but it really wasn't clicking for me. I think part of the problem is the audio. I found the companions, who were supposed (I think) to be charming, mostly irritating. Maybe I'd like the companions better if I narrated them myself? I've put the text on hold at the library, right now the wait is 6 weeks so we'll see how round two goes in a month or so.

#unpopularopinion I enjoyed the other two Klune books I've read, but this one just isn't doing it for me. I find it too cute. Maybe going audio on this one was a mistake, I found the voices, especially Rambo, very annoying. I'll let the next person waiting for it on Libby have it. Maybe I'll try again later in print.

This book was promoted as a Pinocchio retelling, but it's actually a humorous yet thoughtful Frankenstein/Pinocchio/Terminator mashup with a Carebears core. If this book was a movie it would be made by Pixar. But rated PG12 or thereabouts due to bawdy jokes and discussions about bodily functions, sexuality, murder, and genocide.
Somehow I really enjoyed it.

A struggle to balance a lot of plot and a lot of thought. I love Klune's endearing character work, with relatable rep, especially asexuality. Loved the themes examining free will, creativity, memory, guilt: role of love, (the heart) in each, and the interplay of robots and humans as mirrors for each other. Not quite what I wanted, and based on the Acknowledgements, maybe not quite the book the author wanted? 🤷🏼‍♂️

I have pushed this back twice on my Libby holds, because I was listening to something else when it became available. Finally, I am starting it today. I'm excited but also a little nervous, worried that it won't be as good as the other two books (Cerulean Sea & Whispering Door) I've read by the author. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. 🤞🤞

Delightful!!

Klune is simply the master of cozy fantasy. I fell in love with his writing with "The House in the Cerulean Sea", quickly tore through all his books, and was equally enamored with this retelling of Pinocchio. This found family will welcome the reader with open arms. I loved every character, but my heart truly belongs to Rambo, and I think other readers will gravitate to him as well. You'll want to run away with them as well!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!
I went into this book with high expectations. I was ready for my heart to burst with love & warmth. Unfortunately, that isn't what happened. Klune can write a vivid story, but in this case, it was just not for me. The constant mention of sex & human anatomy was too over the top for me and turned me off to the story pretty early on.

DNF at 68%

Not as amazing as the other books by this author that I read but still a 5 star read. This author is easily an automatic read for me. So heartwarming and I can feel the emotions of these non human characters. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think this is another soft pick. This just wasn‘t as much of a favorite as his other 2 cozy books, and I can‘t really figure out why. I do think the pacing was all over the place, and I wasn‘t really into the romance in this one. Maybe I‘m just not into sentimentality right now, which this book was full of. Or maybe I‘m reading too much about robots and AI and humanity right now and need a break. I‘d still recommend this one, though. 3.5/5⭐️

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/uOHGXal-Ytc

Enjoy!

What do you do when you so desperately want to enjoy and finish a book, but you are struggling to make it happen? I LOVED Cerulean and Whispering Door.
I'm over half way through this (chapter 17) and I'm simply not enjoying it. There are so many stellar reviews... is there something coming up that will turn this around for me or is it better to just move on?

This was truly painful to sit through. Pinocchio (meets Frankenstein meets Wizard of Oz?) with a weird sex club bend toward the end and cringey humor throughout. There‘s also very little conflict. It‘s more of an emotional journey but personally, it was exceptionally boring (or embarrassing).

Charming, hopeful, cozy fantasy. Just what you would expect from this author. Loved it. He says in the acknowledgments that this was not the book he wanted it to be. That the book he wanted to write the world was not ready for. I would love to read that book also. 4 🌟 #52bookclub23 # startswithI @LauraReads @KarenUK @britt_brooke @CarolynM @Smarkies @LeeRHarry @Clwojick @BookBelle84 @jennifer80 @Librarybelle @triplem80 @Read4life @Bluebird @

Bk5 of my recent #BookMail is this gorgeous edition of T.J.Klune‘s latest novel. Isn‘t it stunning? I love Waterstones editions of his books, I have 4 so far with 3 more on preorder. This is a retelling of Pinocchio with robots. Human Vic Lawson lives very happily in a treehouse in the woods with fatherly inventor robot Giovanni,a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine & a small vacuum desperate for love & attention. Until Gio salvages the wrong robot.

It should come as no surprise that I loved this book. TJ Klune just has a knack for writing interesting tales with some serious heart. This adorably queer Pinocchio retelling with bits of other sprinkled in pop culture references had me hooked right away and I adored Klune's lovely characters. The snarky wit in his prose is incredibly humorous and his plot moved so incredibly well. I could not put this book down.

EXCELLENT book from start to finish. If you loved House in the Cerulean Sea, this was comparably good (same author). A unique (loose) retelling of Pinocchio with AI thrown in. The banter between the robots was so well written. This author just wins my heart every time.

Rambo and Nurse Ratched! 😂😂😂 Loved the audio for this one. It really brought all the characters to life. Looking forward to Klune‘s next one.

#audiolisten

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved Klune‘s previous “The House in the Cerulean Sea” and “Under the Whispering Door”, and “In the Lives of Puppets” is no exception. I absolutely adored Rambo and Nurse Ratched, and the found-family trope was incredibly heartwarming. I loved the characters and witty humor as always!

Looking forward to more 🥹🥹🥺🥺 emotions, if you know what I mean.