True Life in Uncanny Valley by Deb Caletti
Published by Labyrinth Road on March 18, 2025
ISBN: 059370861X
Pages: 401
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Young Adult
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads

Sixteen-year-old Eleanor and her older sister Ros were raised by a single mom. Their father, billionaire tech genius Hugo Harrison, lives in the same city but a world apart, and they have no contact with him. Despite this, or maybe because of it, Eleanor finds herself drawn to his glittery, famous, wealthy world. Accidentally (sort of) she bumps into Aurora, the young, gorgeous social media influencer stepmother she’s never met – and finds herself being offered the position of live-in nanny for her two-year-old half-brother. Eleanor provides a false last name and finds herself catapulted into a summer of secrets: not telling her mother or sister who she’s really working for, and not telling her father’s family who she really is.

As the weeks progress, one thing becomes clear: nothing in this family is as it seems from outside. The idyllic life portrayed on social media and followed by millions isn’t real. As Eleanor digs deeper into the secret of what Hugo Harrison is developing – his next huge, world changing tech reveal – she is horrified to discover both what it is, and how her young half-brother has been being used in the development of it. The titular “Uncanny Valley” is a reference to the instinctual revulsion that humans feel when faced with lifelike AI beings that are undefinably “off” – and ultimately it’s that confrontation that that will define Eleanor’s summer, by challenging the very idea of how humans connect to one another, and what the role of family – most especially parents – really is.

This is a great novel on many levels; Eleanor is a realistic and sympathetic character trying to find her place in a confusing world as a teenager, navigating family drama, a budding romance, and a (one sided) experience of trying to connect with father’s family. It is also a searing look at tech, social media, and AI – both the good, and the bad. Caletti looks hard at tech: both the way new advances are touted publicly, but also the impact on a personal level, and she does this in a highly readable, hard-to-put-down way. Secondary characters are thought out and three dimensional, adding substance and grounded reality to the story.

Highly recommend! Widespread appeal given multiple themes of tech, family dynamics, teenage coming-of-age themes and light romance.

5 stars/cream

Reviewed by Jenny Martinez Nocito, Maine State Library, Augusta