In the Lives of Puppets

Absolutely wonderful up until maybe two thirds of the book, maybe one of my favorite reading experiences ever, and then it just... kinda completely falls off on the last third. Repeats the same dramatic sequence twice (and it feels ineffective on BOTH occasions) and has a really lackluster ending that feels like it completely negates all the previous worldbuilding the book had. It doesn't help that the main relationship wasn't very compelling at all to me. I felt like whatever chemistry they might've had was negated by the fact that HAP's entire purpose was to protect Vic. If his arc was about living beyond his orders and becoming his own person that idea ends up falling a bit flat by having him just do everything he was supposed to and get insanely attached to Vic the exact way he was supposed to. That isn't to say that the book doesn't have its positives; Ace representation is always welcome and I appreciate the comedy in being the only human alive and still also asexual lol (though I don't think that every single segment about Vic's sexuality was written in the best ways possible, but for the most part it was great to see); I absolutely adore the characterization of all the side characters (with Nurse Ratched being a personal favorite. Go crazy robot women! And I feel the need to shoutout Coachman as well) and I think their chemistry with each other and with Vic is great, which makes me all the sadder that all their impacts on his life just felt like they were completely cast aside on the last third to make room for the awkward stretches of Vic/Hap hurt/comfort that feel, for the most part, like they came out of plotless fanfiction. Still! There is a lot to love here, and I genuinely believe that it'd be a strong 9 for me if it didn't fall off so much on the last third. It's a great motivator as someone who also wants to write my own grand adventure about gay robots going to Wherever to do Whatever one day. To more books of the kind! It only gets better from here.