Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.
4/5 stars
Gio, the General Innovation Operative, is a humanoid android living in the middle of the forest in an expansive treehouse that he's self-built. He has a human son, Victor, whose existence has a mythical quality, he was apparently left with Gio by a couple in trouble. Then there are the robots that Victor has found in the Scrap Yards: Rambo, an anxious and excitable robot vacuum who is obsessed with vintage movie Top Hat; and Nurse Ratched, a medical robot with sociopathic tendencies and a fondness for drilling.
Life is good but then one day they discover another humanoid android in the Scrap Yards. It has residual power in its battery and they decide to take it home to repair and save. They succeed in awakening the robot and christen him Hap for Hysterically Angry Puppet. It soon transpires that Hap's original designation was something drastically different and his discovery is about to change everything and send them on a treacherous journey...
Once again TJ Klune shows us that he is the master of found family stories. Everyone is so well defined and quirky and fit together perfectly. I love Rambo and he had so many great moments! Victor was lovely in his worry for everyone and it's always nice to see asexual representation. He also gave me a lot of autistic vibes reading him and if he was I'm surprised that Nurse Ratched didn't have the necessary diagnostic capabilities.
I did feel that I had to knock off a star for world building and the ending. I just wanted more of both. The ending felt very abrupt and I wanted to know more about how it all became machines and what happened to the humans.
Stef Out x
