In the Lives of Puppets

Hidden deep in the woods is a house, and in this house lives a family: Gio an inventor android, a sadistic nurse, a vacuum, and Victor a human. When Victor finds an android discarded and damaged, with the designation Hap, everything changes. When Hap accidentally summons robots from their past, Gio is taken and the family is broken. What’s left of the family soon set out to rescue him at any cost and Victor must sort through his feelings for Hap, whatever they are and if he’s willing to accept love no matter the strings attached.

This is a love story; family love and romantic love. The romance was plain and if it was removed from the story it wouldn’t change much. The themes are interesting, delving into what it means to be human and what sexuality is, and that comes with some bodily humor, mostly in the beginning and a little later on. It’s not inappropriate for an adult novel, but not the type of humor I enjoy. The robots read as if they are robots, and yet they feel very alive, my favorite being Nurse Ratched. They are clearly not human, but they have personality and emotions.