Review by Booklist Review
The antique rotary phone Casey's parents brought home struck the boy as odd even before it uttered its quavering, sickly ring--despite the ringer being turned off. And it's via this phone that Casey's mother agrees to let a friend of Casey's come over to play. Except Casey hasn't had any friends since an embarrassing incident at school. Unease mingles with curiosity and a little excitement as Casey awaits the arrival of his supposed friend, and then Tremblay gives creepiness incarnate a grand entrance. A man lugging a dusty burlap sack arrives at the house, and when he opens the twitching bundle, a boy that "looked like a living mannequin" is revealed. Thus, Morel enters Casey's life and gradually begins to take it over. Tremblay capitalizes on the off-kilter tension, gradually building it into genuine horrors. He masterfully uses his limited set and cast--the action is kept almost entirely to Casey's house and its few inhabitants--exploring Casey's mind, anxieties, and fraying sense of reality. Well regarded in the adult horror space, Tremblay confidently strides into the middle-grade arena with an offering on par with Kevin Oppel's The Nest (2015). Malicious mushrooms, the power of art, COVID-19, clinical anxiety, and personal agency all find their ways into the narrative, and readers will be horribly enthralled by it all--in the best possible way.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A withdrawn tween must stop an enigmatic newcomer from usurping his family and his life in this unnerving horror novel by Tremblay (Horror Movie, for adults), the author's children's debut. Ever since a video mocking Casey Wilson's facial tics went viral, the white-cued 12-year-old has struggled to manage stress and anxiety that prompted him to emotionally withdraw from his friends and made his tics--including hand squeezing and throat clearing--increase in frequency. Following a mysterious phone call from someone claiming to be one of Casey's friends, a strange man carrying a burlap sack arrives on the family's doorstep. From that sack emerges Morel, a boy who looks like a living mannequin with pinkish-gray skin and only the outlines of facial features. Though Casey is immediately wary, his parents, seemingly unfazed, allow Morel to stay with them while the stranger is away. As days pass, and as Morel becomes more humanlike, Casey's usually attentive parents start to favor Morel over Casey. Tremblay utilizes body and psychological horror elements to build suspense and infuse creepiness throughout this introspective exploration of a lonely, insecure boy's conflicting desires for independence and familial security. Connelly's intermittent realistic pencil illustrations enhance the novel's uncanny valley conceit. Ages 8--12. Author's agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management. (July)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5 Up--Tremblay, an award-winning expert in horrifying adults, turns to frightening younger readers with his middle grade debut. Veteran narrator de Ocampo impressively embodies Tremblay's claustrophobic setting of a single house containing a small family still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The isolation exacerbated Casey's anxiety, which manifested in uncontrollable twitches and tics--an excuse for his so-called friends to disappear. Until now. Casey doesn't know who, but apparently, a friend has called for an extended sleepover. The next day, a mysterious man delivers Morel in a burlap bag--more mannequin than boy, not quite fully formed. The man leaves with two instructions: "No food. No bed." The strangeness is just beginning. Casey's parents seem inexplicably unconcerned about the impending invasion of this body snatcher intent on becoming their son. VERDICT De Campo expertly captures Tremblay's creepfest, adroitly building momentum as Casey's alarm (and Morel's transformation) accelerates.
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Review by Horn Book Review
Ever since the "Zoom Incident" that made him a social outcast at his middle school, Casey has lived with debilitating anxiety, so when his parents announce that a friend is coming for a sleepover, he doesn't know what to think. A mysterious man shows up at the door with a sack containing a figure made of clay. The creature, named Morel, is shaped like a boy, but his facial figures are unformed (he uses his own hands to mold them into expressions). Casey begins to find solace in Morel's companionship even as he wonders why his parents don't question anything about the bizarre situation. However, as the indefinite sleepover continues and his parents begin to treat Morel more like their son than they do their own child, Casey becomes increasingly distraught. Soon he's in a race against time to prevent himself from being erased entirely and replaced. Tremblay deftly manipulates audience expectations to keep readers questioning whether Morel can be trusted until the very end. Occasional eerie black-and-white illustrations by Sam Wolfe Connelly add another layer to the creepy atmosphere. Suspenseful and unsettling, the uncanny story addresses such relatable themes as being negatively compared to peers, becoming invisible or unrecognizable to the ones we love, and losing our grasp on our sense of self; it also affirms the power of art and the importance of friendship and solidarity in the face of fear. Shenwei ChangSeptember/October 2025 p.79 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A tween befriends a mysterious changeling. Casey Wilson hasn't had many friends since the fabled sixth grade "Zoom Incident," when a bully recorded his anxious tics and posted them online. But one day, after a mysterious phone call, a new friend arrives in a burlap bag. From the beginning, it's clear this child (whose name is Morel) isn't quite human; he has a claylike body and doesn't eat or sleep. Casey's gut sounds the alarm, but since his parents are unfazed, he rolls with the child's appearance, too. The two kids start to connect over drawing, video games, and anime, but their similarities turn sinister as Morel slowly molds himself into Casey--voice and all. As Casey's memories start to feel "far away," his family begins to confuse him with Morel. Worse, they seem to prefer Morel over him. By the time Casey realizes what's happening, it may be too late to get his life back. Horror veteran Tremblay draws on personal experience as an educator in his chilling middle-grade debut set in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. The third-person perspective enhances the suspense; even readers who figure out what's going on will find it terrifying to observe Casey's growing realization of what's happening to his family. Connelly's occasional full-page black-and-white illustrations add ambience, and some will surely fuel readers' nightmares. Casey and his family present white. Casey's diagnoses include transient tic disorder, slow executive functioning, and anxiety. Delightfully disconcerting. (author's note)(Horror. 9-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
