You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Several of us are planning on read In the Lives of Puppets for the September challenge. Please indicate your interest and when you think we should start.

I might join. I need to finish my current book and read Black Cake for the group read first because I'm the moderator for that read. So, it'll depend on when you all decide to read it and when I can get the book from the library.

I just borrowed the audio and have it until the 13th

I have the book on hand and am free anytime. No real preference but I would like to start either Puppets or Black Cake this weekend.

I'm going to be gone Sep 9, 10, & 11th. That doesn't give Jenn or Kristie enough time. We could stagger our reads like we do in the group themed reads and people start when we can. Would that work?

I am just finishing It’s One of Us, and I have Black Cake from the library due on the 15th, but The Lives of Puppets is on audio so I can practice walking while I listen so it should be easy to fit in wherever 😁

Where are you off to Janice? Quilt retreat? I am living precariously through you guys lol I have left my house twice since coming home from the hospital on July 28 🤦‍♀️

I'm going to visit my family in Central Alberta. Speaking of quilts. I need to sew the binding on a quilt I'm making for my sister so that I can give it to her when I go down.

Janice, not sure if you planned to start it right away, but if the three of you are all ready and wanted to start it next feel free to go ahead. You don't need to wait for me.

I am planning on reading this too. I own the audio so am available whenever. Will be fun to buddy read this.

Kristie wrote: "Janice, not sure if you planned to start it right away, but if the three of you are all ready and wanted to start it next feel free to go ahead. You don't need to wait for me."

I own the audiobook so I can start at any time.

I think I'm the only one that doesn't have it readily available and has something else to read first, so the four of you go ahead.

Janice I like the idea of staggering the read like we do in the monthly selection. Then we can get to it as we are able but still get to share the book.

Let's do that, and then Kristie can still join in later. I will start when I'm finished my current audiobook, probably Monday.

I would like to join in the read. I have it on Audible as well.

Sounds like a good plan. I will start sometime this weekend.

I'll be starting the book later today, I hope. It's almost noon, and I'm still lollygagging. I have to bind a quilt before I start this, so it is possible (knowing myself), that I might not get to it. LOL! We shall see,

I listened to the opening chapter. The narrator does a good job of distinguishing voices and I’m excited to get into this book.

Probably tomorrow.

I've been getting distracted easily this weekend too.

I've read 3 chapters so far. (view spoiler)[ absolutely love Rambo. He is adorable. Taking this threatening, strange android home seems a bad idea given our encounter with it.

I'm certainly intrigued about the world. The old mindless machines in the scrap yard. And where are all the people? You would think there would be lots of people squatting around a scrap yard. What was chasing Victor's parents? (hide spoiler)]

There I think I have psyched myself up to read a bunch more.

I have finished chapter 5

(view spoiler)[I am rather upset that Victor is considering using the heart he has saved for his father on this unknown android. And why is he keeping this secret from Giovani. Still, I'm curious to see how this plays out (hide spoiler)]

I have finished listening to the first two chapters, but I have been traveling and visiting with family so I am not that far along.

(view spoiler)[ So far, I am delighted with the characters and the voice given to them by the author. There may be something wrong with me, but I love Nurse Ratchett! I am intrigued with the world so far but do wonder what was chasing Victor’s parents. Hopefully, we will find out! (hide spoiler)]

I finished to the end of Chapter 2, including the prologue. So far, it's enjoyable and I'm hoping it continues that way. (view spoiler)[I'm getting a strong Pinocchio feel. I love the names and mannerisms of the robot - Nurse Ratchet, and Rambo for the vacuum cleaner. Nurse Ratchet is hilarious and appropriately named. Rambo has the characteristics of a dog, and it's quite funny that he's so anxious. It sort of emulates the noise a vacuum makes.

I wonder if we'll ever find out about Vic's parents and why they left him. (hide spoiler)]

Sharon, you and I are on the same wavelength.

I’m at 15% chapter 4

I fall asleep listening to audiobooks and typically my husband falls asleep too quickly to comment. Well chapter 4 made him ask “ what the heck are you listening to?” I can’t stop laughing but heads up if you are listening with other people around. NSFW lol

Marnie wrote: "I’m at 15% chapter 4

I fall asleep listening to audiobooks and typically my husband falls asleep too quickly to comment. Well chapter 4 made him ask “ what the heck are you listening to?” I can’t ..."


Hahaha yeah I can believe that. (view spoiler)[that nurse is blunt ha! (hide spoiler)]

I've finished to the end of chapter 4. (view spoiler)[Nurse Ratchet must have had some priority programming related to all things sexual. And robots have no filters. How embarrassing for poor Vic.

I wonder how the android is going to affect the story. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 8

(view spoiler)[ I'm certainly not liking the new guy, Hap, yet. It seemed he was going to be a romantic interest for Victor but maybe not. Maybe he will continue asexual. I like that as I don't think I've read a book with that representation before

That last sentence of chapter 8 is suspenseful. I wonder what Gio knows... something about the world beyond? Hap's android type? Or something about Victor's blood in these hearts. Hmm (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 8

I’m having a harder time getting into this book than I did with The House in the Cerulean Sea which was a 5 star read for me. The characters are cute but I’m missing the whimsy.

(view spoiler)[ still trying to figure out Hap’s roll in the story. Very Pinocchio / Frankenstein ish. (hide spoiler)]

That's disappointing Marnie. I think the whimsy is the best part. Did you read Under the Whispering Door? I liked that one as well, though probably not quite as much as Cerulean Sea, which was my first.

I love that he has similar style covers for these three most recent book. At least, I think they're his most recent; I may have missed one. They all have wonky houses on them too.

I did notice that this one has a slightly lower GR rating than his others (though still over 4 stars). Maybe other people are missing that aspect of his writing too.

I agree with Marnie. I am having a hard time. The writing is well done as I expect from T.J. Klune. I really liked both of his other books. I have finished through Chapter 9.
(view spoiler)[It may just be me and being housebound with this ankle, but…I am impatient with the long introduction of Hap and what seems to be redundant and “cutesy” dialogue with Nurse Ratchett and Rambo. I really haven’t seen any whimsy yet. I am sure that this is all build up to what is going to happen, but I have to get there soon. In truth, the premise of the book didn’t sound like my type of read, but the author sold me. I do really like Gio and I admire his wisdom. I also like the other characters, but feel like we might need to get “on with it”. Then again, it could be me… (hide spoiler)]

I haven’t yet read Under the Whispering Door but it is on my list.

I have started Part 2 ( chapter 13)

(view spoiler)[
Now we are going on a journey. Looking forward to some adventure. (hide spoiler)]

I finished to the end of Chapter 9.

I haven't read the other spoilers yet, but (view spoiler)[ I think the whimsy could get a little overdone. We'll see if it's alleviated a bit when more story is developed.

This new android Hab, may have had a violent directive. Thankfully he doesn't remember. It also appears that the heart that Victor gave him that had drops of his blood on it, has some kind of profound effect, and makes him more human in his emotions. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I have finished through Chapter 16. A lot has happened. (view spoiler)[ I must say I really, really don’t like The Coachman. He is so smarmy and creepy. I do see the connections to Pinocchio though. I suspect he knows that Vic is human. It will be interesting to see how our quartet gets out of this.

I was so saddened about Gio. Although, I will say that the scent of Victor’s blood was an altogether gruesome, if realistic, factor in the Old Ones finding them. (When reading about the sound the “whale ships” were making, I kept hearing the horns of the walking alien ships in War of the Worlds. My husband just watched that movie this week and it sure added to the overall creepiness of the whole event.) Gio knew that all of this was a possibility since he developed the hiding place. I was a bit surprised to find out that Victor was created by Gio and not born of human parents. Not quite sure how I feel about this… (hide spoiler)]

Well, who knew? I have finished through Chapter 18. (view spoiler)[ I really didn’t like the Coachman. I thought he was as despicable as he seemed. After the machines come looking for Vic and the Coachman fools them, we start to see the wisdom of the Coachman. The whole conversation between Vic and Coachman about humanity and hope was beautiful. I especially liked the bit about what makes us human is our mortality, hope, forgiveness and emotions. (hide spoiler)]

I finished through the end of Chapter 16

End of Part 1 - (view spoiler)[ So Victor was made by his father. Is he human, or android? They all insist he's human, but he sounded like an android when he was in shock. (hide spoiler)]

To end of Chapter 16. (view spoiler)[ They had been captured and were to be shown as carnival-like exhibits. I hope HAP deals with their captor (already forgot his name). Nurse Ratchet was funny.
I enjoy her blunt descriptions of sex. Rambo is a bit too loose with his tongue. He's going to give it all up in his eagerness. (hide spoiler)]

Sharon wrote: "Well, who knew? I have finished through Chapter 18. [spoilers removed]"


I just read this part and agree. Profound.

I am falling behind. I just finished chapter 11
(view spoiler)[ I'm not impressed that everything regarding Victor's parentage was a lie. I kind of hope this new thing is the lie. It sounds like humanity may have been extinct for some time already. Their home is destroyed so we will have to venture forth. This conflict seems much too large for 1 person with three robot friends (hide spoiler)]

I have finished the book. (view spoiler)[ Most of this part of the book takes place in The Electric City of Dreams. Somehow, I think Las Vegas is the perfect setting for this. As our group makes it in to see the Blue Fairy, I felt quite the aversion to the Blue Fairy. They seemed to be tricksters, oily and out for their own good. Then they find Gio. Of course, he doesn’t remember anything. I thought that Hap’s sacrifice showed Hap’s need for atonement and love for Victor especially, and his whole new family of Gio, Nurse Ratchet, Rambo and Victor. (Speaking of Rambo…it was not lost on me that you take such an overt “he-man” like the character of Rambo in film and make him a rather effeminate character in the book. That juxtaposition was not lost on me. I do believe that the robot Rambo demonstrated great bravery when he offered to sacrifice himself as well as the many times he stuck up for Victor. Isn’t real bravery about acting even though you are afraid? And he didn’t have to be a great “he-man to do it.

The ending was a good one with things not quite restored but well on the way. I found it to be about a 2.5 stars book ⭐️⭐️.5) book. I think that the sexual innuendo jokes did not always further along the story. They got old and seemed to be used just for effect. I am not a huge fan of science fiction and I realize that this had an MPG of science fiction. I am a bit fan of Klune’s other books, but this one did not hit me the same way. I’m glad I read it, but I wouldn’t reread it. (hide spoiler)]

I've finished chapter 16 and caught up reading spoilers.

(view spoiler)[That inspection was pretty intense! I don't think the coachman knows Victor is human yet. I think his cry "for humanity" is because he is a human sympathizer and will attack HAP.

I'm liking that it's become more of a retelling now. It seemed there were just a lot of nods to Pinocchio before but now we are on the crazy adventure. Does anyone else think (view spoiler)[ that Victor will get injured and become part android Darth Vader style instead of having to turn into a 'real boy' since it's kinda backwards. (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I guess I am not loving this book that much because if I was I would have finished already. I love Nurse Ratchet and Rambo but I find our other two MCs a bit boring.

I just finished chapter 21 (view spoiler)[ The blue fairy just revealed themself. I'm not super impressed but I think those wings sound awesome! We also just learned HAP's past which was not super revelatory but I did like that he came back to himself so quickly. (hide spoiler)]

I have about 100 pages left and I'm hoping to buckle down and finish tonight. But I've been saying that all week.

I finished it and gave it 3 ⭐maybe more like 2.5

I really liked all the nods to Pinnochio as I watched the live-action version with Tom Hanks fairly recently so that was all very fresh.

I probably would have dnf'd without Nurse Ratchet and Rambo to lighten the mood. (view spoiler)[ I find all that talk about humanity rather boring. Also everyone wants to protect Victor since he's the last human but umm what's he gonna do about it?? I also didn't really feel the romance between Vic and Hap. It was fine and I did really like the ending but it wasn't very compelling like this genre usually is for me.

I gave The House in the Cerulean Sea a 3.5⭐ as I thought it was so predictable so I am not sure if I will read any others by this author. Under the Whispering Door has such an awesome cover though so maybe just one more. (hide spoiler)]

Eek... it doesn't seem like there is much love for this one. I may read it eventually, but I'm reading a shorter one for the challenge. I'm not really up for struggling through something right now.

Kristie wrote: "Eek... it doesn't seem like there is much love for this one. I may read it eventually, but I'm reading a shorter one for the challenge. I'm not really up for struggling through something right now."

Yeah it took me way longer to read than I thought. But I find this author a bit repetitive. I liked the side characters the best.

I think I'll wait until I can get the audio of this one. I'm still interested, just not in a hurry.

I finished to the end of Chapter 21. I was away for a week and didn't listen to it until today, so that was a long break.

(view spoiler)[I have to admit that I am not really enjoying this book. I liked it well enough at the beginning, but once they started on their journey, it was all downhill.

I thought the blue fairy was benevolent, but seemed to be decidedly malevolent. It made me think about the fairy gods/goddesses in Celtic lore. They were often more adversarial and would try to trick people to their determent.

I'm glad that Hap reverted to Hap when the blue fairy uncovered his programming and he temporarily became Harp. I wonder if the author is stressing that people can change. (hide spoiler)]

Sharon wrote: "Well, who knew? I have finished through Chapter 18. [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[ I agree about the Coachman. He seemed to be so smarmy at the beginning and then did a turn around and became an ally. (hide spoiler)]

Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to mention (view spoiler)[... I was confused about all the machines with the come-on-sex talk. Androids perhaps, but robots? (hide spoiler)]

I finally finished this book. Because I didn't listen to anything for about 10 days, I got woefully behind.

(view spoiler)[ Overall, I didn't really like this book. My favourite book of TJ Klune's was The House in the Cerulean Sea. I liked the themes well enough, but I tired of the robots/androids. Nurse Ratchet and Rambo were my favourite characters. (hide spoiler)]

Janice wrote: "Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to mention [spoilers removed]"

Yeah I remember thinking (view spoiler)[that the robots/androids were written just like people and could have been interchangeable. They just replaced humans abd didn't seem to change much (hide spoiler)]