Book Review: In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

• Title: In the Lives of Puppets
• Author: TJ Klune
• Year: 2023

Last year I read The House in the Cerulean Sea rapidly followed by Under the Whispering Door, both by Klune, and loved them. When I noticed that he was releasing a new book this year, I bought it almost as soon as it came out. I didn’t even look at the synopsis or know what it was about, I just clicked ‘buy’ on ebooks.com.

My faith that Klune would continue to deliver a beautiful story was well-placed. Within the first few pages of Puppets, all of the main characters had already entranced me. I cared about them, smiled at their quirks, laughed at their jokes, and just generally wanted to spend a lot more time with them. Even the supporting characters in the book were well-developed and felt authentic somehow. Klune does “found family in a difficult world” thing really well.

The entire work is completely charming, in the most magical sense of the word. I loved it so much.