Lovely photo by @rebireads!
Hey fairy friends!
Welcome to our fifth and final day of the In The Lives of Puppets readalong! Grab a snack (or a few!) and let’s dive in and see how Vic and the gang handle things today!
Today we’re reading from Chapter 22 to the end of the book.
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for In The Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune, from chapter 22 to the end of the book. Please only read on if you’ve finished In The Lives of Puppets!
-!SPOILERS!-
It’s all starting to make sense. The Blue Fairy took Gio in when he started to develop a conscience. They gave Gio a human egg, a chance, and Gio took it.
The Blue Fairy offers their help, but they want help in return. The authority intends to eradicate free will, and they seem to think Vic and his friends can help stop them.
Once they have time alone, Vic realises Hap isn’t ok. He remembers now, and the guilt of his past self is hitting him hard. He wants to leave, he wants Vic to let him go, but I don’t think he will.
“You’re not a puppet. Not anymore. Your strings have been cut. You’re free, Hap.”
Suddenly, Hap remembers that Vic kissed him, and it’s not long before Hap is asking him to do it again. They’ve chosen each other.
To enter the Benevolent Tower, Hap acts like his old self. He’s transporting them as prisoners.
It’s all unraveling! They’re caught, the real HARP knows Vic is human, knows Hap is not a HARP but a traitor, and after taking him out our Hap seems to be having a panic attack.
They’ve found Gio, Vic doesn’t have a heart to give him anymore but surely some part of Gio will remember his life? Failing that, he grew a conscience before, maybe it can happen again!
He doesn’t seem to remember Vic, but there’s a sense of familiarity there, a sense of déjà vu. One by one, our rag tag team tells Gio all the things they told him. They play him music.
They have resorted to inserting a virus into the Authority’s system. It was Nurse Ratched job, The Blue Fairy even downloaded her consciousness so that she would lose no memories, no part of herself, but she’s fallen. Now, it falls on Hap, only they made no back up plans for him. He tells Victor his strings have been cut, because of him.
I’m fine. Totally perfectly, absolutely fine. Honestly. Not sobbing at all. Nope.
Vic takes them home, but Gio doesn’t remember. They move on and create a new home. Gio and Vic building a friendship.
Rambo, clever little roomba that he is, kept all of the pieces of Gio’s heart and Hap’s too, just in case. Over time, Vic puts them back together.
I’m sobbing all over again when Vic hugs Gio and Gio’s response is that he liked that a lot and asks to do it again.
Gio is glitching… but he’s back. He remembers. Will Hap be the same?
Hap doesn’t remember. He has words and whispers in his head. He seems to have some familiarity with the group, but he doesn’t remember. He dreams though, he says Vic is a ghost in his head. There’s hope for him yet I think.
We leave Vic, Hap, Gio, Rambo and Nurse Ratched exactly where they should be, together. At the very last moment of the book, Hap recites to Vic what Nurse Ratched told him about the butterflies… and then Hap kisses him.
Did the story end how you expected it to?
Who was your favourite character in the end?
What did you think of the story overall?
I’m such an emotional wreck right now! I sobbed so much in that final section. ?
Thank you so much for joining us for another FairyLoot readalong, and we will see you soon for the next one!
And remember: stick together, run if we have to, no dallying, no drilling and above all else, be brave!
Love,
Shannon
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Ohhh I am totally sobbing? i am glad they are all together at last, but omg the last few chapters were really emotional!
I’m an emotional wreck Rebi! ?
I was a little surprised by the ending. I am super glad it went with Gio having to once again learn his family and break away from his “programming” but to me it was a far better option than “surprise he’s is fixed and remembers everything instantly! The slow reconstruction ending was perfect to me.
I loved Nurse Ratched and really hoped that she would have been the one to make the ultimate sacrifice but I had a feeling Hap would be the one instead because I think it would impact Vic more somehow due to blossoming romance between him and Hap. Also curious what happened to all those robots in the City and if the Blue Fairy succeeded in helping maintain their end of the bargain.
I really enjoyed this book. The found family vibes were perfect, and the comedic relief in Ratched and Rambo added so much personality to me.
I think it ended pretty much as I expected it to. I wasn’t sure if they would successfully rescue Gio but I love that it has a happy ending!
My favourite character ended up being Hap but I still love Nurse Ratched and her sense of humour!
I’m still not a fan of books about robots but this book is definitely the exception – I loved it! I liked that it had references to Pinocchio like the puppet, inventors, Blue Fairy and the whale but they were quite subtle most of the time so it still felt like its own story!
It didn’t end /exactly/ how I expected, but it’s more or less what I expected for Victor, if that makes sense?
Still a tough call between Nurse and Rambo, though Hap definitely worked his way up that list as the story went.
I really enjoyed it! Glad I pushed through it, since it didn’t grip me at first. My first Pinocchio “retelling”, though!
I love that it’s not a happy happy ending but such a human ending – as in we have much work to do to be really happy again but there’s so much hope and heart and love.
I did not fully understand the concept of the Blue Fairy though, if someone wants to explain.
Overall I loved it. TJ Klune did it again. A book of found family that will live rent free in my head for such a long time
1. Did the story end how you expected it to?
A little bit. I’d expected there to be a sort of sacrifice and then trying to rebuild the lives they had.
2. Who was your favourite character in the end?
I liked Hap the most, although Rambo comes a close second
3. What did you think of the story overall?
It was nice. Overall, I enjoyed and liked it, but I didn’t love it. It was a nice way to tell the story and the asexual rep was really well done and in a believable way. I also like the futuristic take this book had on how technology will continue to grow and develop and might take over
Did the story end how you expected it to? I expected a bit of wholesomeness so yeah I’d say it did.
Who was your favourite character in the end? Nurse Ratched still my favourite!
What did you think of the story overall? I really enjoyed it and is definitely something I would recommend to others and read again!
In a way it ended how I expected. I like that it wasn’t an instant happy ending, that it took time and that Gio didn’t recover at 100%. I loved that him and Hap are slowly remembering their time with Vic, the Nurse and Rambo. I loved Hap but Nurse Ratched comes a close second, her character was so funny and caring. I really enjoyed the book, I loved the found family, the characters and the story in general. I’m really going to recommend this book!!
Those last few chapters were so emotional! I’m glad it was drawn out and we saw the developments happen over time. If it was rushed because the book was ending, I wouldn’t have liked it as much.
I really enjoyed this read! It’s outside of my usual genre, so it was a big step for me, but I’m glad I did it. I wish there was more exploration of the world and further explanation on a couple of the loose ends. But overall, I loved it.
Thank you for hosting this readalong!