It did take me a little bit to get into the story, so don't be discouraged if you don't find it riveting right off the bat. Laced with the touch of so many beautiful quotes - quotes galore that I would have highlighted so much more than I wanted, because it resonated so very much with me. I loved this book- Gio, Vic, Nurse Natched, Rambo, and Hap; such a colorful cast of characters that were easy to fall in love with even though only one was human! Thank you to Tor Publishing Group, Tor Books, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Being queer himself, TJ believes it's important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive, queer representation in stories.

Anyway, so normally the books I read remind me of a few other things (like a song or a movie), and I know this is a loose retelling of Pinocchio, but I was reminded me of about a million other stories! They may be robots, but they are a family who want to stay together, they care and show their humanity. It's the story of a journey, of invention and discovery, of finding who you are and what you are made of. One day, Vic, Nurse Ratched and Rambo visit a graveyard/scrapyard of robots and find a decommissioned android that seems awake. In The Lives of Puppets is glorious, a thoroughly entertaining and deeply stirring journey through a world of extraordinary robots.But not only is the journey about rescuing Gio – Victor must also learn to love and forgive, even when there are strings attached. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Rambo said cheerfully as his sensors blinked blue and green. His voices for each of the characters truly bring them to life in ways that both entertained and enthralled. I mean, there’s a reason why C-3PO and R2-D2 suddenly disappear every time Darth Vader shows up; it’s a signal so the audience instinctively knows that now is the time to take things seriously.

I found the characters endearing and funny at first, if not a bit OTT, but at some point their conversations started to feel repetitive and the story started dragging. Sadly, as entertaining (and at times, funny) as it was, it just didn’t quite have the depth of his other books. Until one day, Victor repairs an android named Hap, and Gio is captured and taken to the City of Electric Dreams, forcing Victor and the robots to embark on a dangerous journey to save Gio.

I'm tearing up writing it - because it's not cheesy, it's not corny - it's love - and if I'm anything, it's I'm a romantic at heart. He squealed, pincers opening and closing, his circular body shaking as his all-terrain tires rolled over pieces of metal that had fallen from the scrap heap. Glorious, a thoroughly entertaining and deeply stirring journey through a world of extraordinary robots. 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. The shriek he’d let out at the bone protruding wetly from his arm had been louder than any sound he’d made before.