Hello Blogging World!

Jonny

I’m nobody’s puppet, but I sure am freaked out by them. Why they gotta look at me like that?

Iseult

I’m a creepy puppet from a hell dimension here to wreak havoc and have fun! Muhahaha!!!

This buddy read and rant is for I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls by Ben Farthing.

Blurb:

Can you tell me how to get… out alive?

★★★★★ – ” I can’t remember the last time a book scared me and made me this nervous .” Andrew Van Wey, author of Head Like a Hole

Johnny awakes. A puppet looms over his bed.

He recognizes the furry Grandpa was its puppeteer on the children’s television show R-City Street . But Grandpa went missing a year ago. He disappeared from this very apartment building, which was converted from the old R-City Street studio.

Desperate to see Grandpa again, Johnny follows the puppet inside the building’s walls, ever deeper into a puppet-infested labyrinth…

I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls is a horror tale from the “darkly inventive” purveyor of uncanny places and wondrous evils, Ben Farthing.

GoodReads

Amazon

***Brief disclosure***

Jonny is an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post. It’s a great way to help him keep things running on his blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase. 

Buddy Read Book Rant:

Jonny

Hey bestie, thanks so much for giving this book a try with me. Okay, so this is the third puppet/doll-themed creepy read for me for Halloween and I gotta say this was the most disappointing. I wasn’t scared one bit throughout this thing and this just didn’t wow me at all. How did you feel about this book?

Iseult

You’re welcome, Bestie. I love our buddy reads. I love that serendipity when book themes align. I was really looking forward to this book. I thought it would be full of puppets, carnage and fun. It turned out very different than I expected. Did you have expectations about this book too?

Jonny

I was definitely expecting some carnage despite the blurb mentioning something akin to Sesame Street as the backdrop for these puppets, but man, this one was really lacking in all things horror.

I think the beginning is where things started going wrong for me. We meet the big bad way too early, and it’s done in a way that was more perplexing than thrilling or scary. It just killed any chance to build up the story before we got invested.

Iseult

I agree. The first chapter certainly destroyed my hope for murder puppets and anything creepy. I was willing to give the R-City Street storyline a chance, but the puppets had no personality. A book about horror puppets, I want them talking, and I thought it was a shame the puppet creatures never spoke.

I also found the human characters very disappointing. The main character, Johnny (great name!) didn’t work for me. I get that he loved his grandfather, but he seemed to have no personality beyond that.

What did you think of the characters?

Jonny

Right! The puppets were certainly odd, but they were scary and they felt underdeveloped to me. The explanation for the way they could be pacified forced us to suspend disbelief too much for my liking. It would’ve been so cool for them to have talked and had personality to them.

Yep, the humans were very much like the puppets. Not enough personality. Hahaha, Johnny is a great name (obviously I’m biased), but I think this would’ve worked better if they were teens. Johnny’s obsession with his grandpa as a full fledged adult didn’t make sense to me, especially given how long he’d been gone. His longing for his childhood days also feels like something a teen would want. Brittany seemed really immature as well in her actions.

What did you think about the strange labyrinth in this story?

Iseult

I agree, the puppets and people were both underdeveloped. You’re right, Johnny and Brittany would have made a lot more sense if they were teens.

I love weird tunnels and strange labyrinths, but the one in this book didn’t inspire me. I couldn’t understand why Johnny and Brittany kept going deeper. Maybe if the show had been developed to be more interesting or enticing, or their relationship with their grandfather was described better, or there had been more to the story.

What did you think of the plot? It kept going in unexpected directions, but I found each new development disappointing and not very interesting.

Jonny

Yeah, or with the level of creepiness this could have even been adapted into a middle grade audience book. I just definitely did not get an adult vibe in any way, shape, or form. Basically it needs a lot more horror lol.

I didn’t think much of the exploration of the tunnels, though I did like a certain point where there was this Russian Doll effect, but it was never really explored so it was just something shiny to show readers without any rhyme or reason. Yeah, what about Johnny and Brittany’s lives as they are in the present? I would’ve liked to learn more about them before going down this rabbit hole.

To me, the plot just felt random. It just seemed kind of aimless and when it was needed Johnny would re-remember how much he wanted to save his grandpa as a justification for continuing to go forward. It just wasn’t enough. It needed more to it.

I hate to say it, but this is probably one of my least favorite books for the year. I don’t feel like the hype people are giving this story is justified.

Iseult

I’ve read much creepier middle grade books! But I agree with you. Not enough horror.

I think it had potential and the idea you mention could have been interesting, but everything seemed undercooked. The characters, the puppets, the world building, the plot. I think the author struggled with pulling this together. The nightmare he described in the afterword, about puppets coming out at night and surrounding his house, sounds much more interesting, and I wish he’d written that.

I hope this book hasn’t put you off reading more puppet books in the future!

Jonny

Lol totally true! I won’t lie, I felt a little bitter that the blurb referenced terror and horror. It felt like false advertising.

Oh, that nightmare would have been much better than this.

Undercooked is the perfect word for this. It needs some more time in the oven.

Im definitely not put off of puppet or doll scary books, but I would need some convincing to try something by this author again. Probably a preview if one is available.

Iseult

I’m with you! There were no puppets living in the walls, no terror or horror. Definitely false advertising!

I’m glad scary puppets and dolls haven’t been ruined for you. I think reading a preview in the future is a good idea.

It’s a shame this book didn’t work for us, but I’m sure we will pick a winner for our next buddy read.

Jonny

Yeah, this felt more fantasy than anything to me.

Oh, after How to Sell a Haunted House and Night of the Living Dummy earlier this month I know there’s some gems out there. It just wasn’t this one. Womp womp!

We shall keep trying to find a really good one! I usually celebrate scary season until at least Thanksgiving, so we’ve got time for another one soon. 🙂

Iseult

Oh good! I’m glad your other books were gems and I hope we get a chance to read a scary book before spooky season ends!

It was great fun reading and ranting with you, as always.

Jonny

Yes, all of Halloween is not lost! I’m crossing my fingers for some extra book time soon.

Until next time, friend!

That’s A Wrap!

Thanks for joining us on our buddy read and rant of I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls! We had a lot of fun, and hope you did too! We will definitely be doing some more buddy reads in the future, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, why not check out Iseult and Jonny’s other fun buddy reads?

Buddy Read & Rant: The Worm and His Kings

Buddy Read & Rant: The Forgotten Island

Buddy Read & Rant: Stolen Tongues

Buddy Read & Rant: Parachute

Buddy Read & Rant: A Door Into Evermoor

Buddy Read & Rant: The Haunting of Trinity House

Buddy Read & Rant: Dark Waters

Buddy Read & Rant: The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Buddy Read & Rant: Until Summer Comes Around

Buddy Read & Rant: The Upheaval

Buddy Read & Rant: Thornhill

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