[Review] Puppet by Pauline C. Harris

ABOUT

Title: Puppet

Author: Pauline C. Harris

Series: N/A

Publisher: Patchwork Press

Release Date: October 24th 2014

Get it Here: Amazon

Goodreads Page

Source: e-ARC via Netgalley

Synopsis:

Penelope lives in a world of advanced technology but many claim society has yet to catch up. Marionettes have advanced in the form of robots; lifelike creations remote controlled to perform super human tasks.

When Penelope makes a deal with Jed, a marionette-obsessed scientist, she doesn’t fully realize what she’s getting herself into. In order for Jed to take her away from the orphanage she lives in, she must first agree to undergo his experiments and tests, ultimately creating something no one ever dreamed possible; the first living marionette.

As Jed shows off his scientific creation to the world, concerns arise surrounding Penelope’s abilities and what she’s capable of doing. Ordered to somehow lessen her abilities, Jed makes a desperate attempt to change Penelope to make her more human, more vulnerable. After Penelope lies to the officials about her past, Jed makes sure it’s the last one she’ll ever utter. The truth is now the only thing she is capable of telling.

As Penelope struggles with her past, her disturbingly new present, and her uncertain future, she is thrust into a magically twisted world of mayhem in search of the one thing she wants, but knows she can never have. The chance to be just a girl again. To be normal. To be real.

I received an e-ARC from Patchwork Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This fact in no shape or form affects my review. Except for the existence of the review itself. I received no compensation for this review in any way.This is my honest opinion of the work.

There were definitely unique aspects to this one, especially since this is the first Pinocchio retelling I've ever read. Penelope is an orphan who's done some bad things and in order to get away from them, she agrees to undergo Jed's experiments. He turns her into a living marionette and takes away her ability to tell the truth. Because she's deemed as dangerous, the "administrators" want to lock her up so that she's no longer a danger to society.

I really wish this were longer. By a significant amount. Everything felt really rushed and squished together. I wish it were drawn out longer and things were less compacted, because I feel as though there wasn't enough world building done. I don't know much about this society/world other than that there are marionettes in it that are humanoid robots who are essentially "puppets". Everything happened so quickly that I didn't get to enjoy the build up. Things just happened one right after another.

God did Pen irritate the crap out of me. She's so incredibly impulsive that she doesn't think before she acts. She got into some potentially dangerous situations because of this and James, her sidekick and the rational one, is always telling her not to do these things. And of course she does them anyways. She does keep seem to end up drawing the short end of the stick though. She keeps falling into a bigger and bigger hole of trouble. I definitely enjoyed that bit though because then I could see what Pen was made of.

I really liked the parallels between her being a living marionette and her becoming a puppet, figuratively. It was almost like the reverse of Pinocchio as she's going from being a real person to becoming a puppet.

Anyways, this was an entertaining and action packed read that you can flip through in no time. I just really wish it were longer.

Happy Reading