Moderation

A Novel

By: Elaine Castillo

Narrated by: Elaine Castillo

Longlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize in Fiction and named a Top Ten Book of 2025 by The Atlantic and Slate, and a Best Book of 2025 by The New Yorker, TIME, Kirkus Reviews and more.

“A love story for those who love Severance (both Ling Ma’s book and the unaffiliated Apple TV+ series). . . ambitious, challenging, and brilliant.” —Elle

“Castillo’s flinty satire of the tech industry [transforms] into a sultry romance novel.” —The Atlantic

A bold and inventive novel about real romance in the virtual workplace—​bringing Castillo's trademark wit and sharp cultural criticism to an irresistible story about the possible future of love.

Girlie Delmundo is the greatest content moderator in the world, and despite the setbacks of financial crises, climate catastrophe, and a global pandemic, she’s going places: she’s getting a promotion. Now thanks to her parent company Paragon’s purchase of Fairground—the world’s preeminent virtual reality content provider—she’s on the way to becoming an elite VR moderator, playing in the big leagues and, if her enthusiastic bosses are to be believed, moderating the next stage of human interaction.

Despite the isolation that virtual reality requires from colleagues, friends, and family, the unbelievable perks of her new job mean she can solve a lot of her family's problems with money and mobility. She doesn't have to think about the childhood home they lost back in the Bay Area, or history at all—she can just pay any debts that come due. But when she meets William Cheung, Playground’s wry, reticent co-founder (now Chief Product Officer) and slowly unearths some of his secrets, and finds herself somehow falling in love, she’ll learn that history might be impossible to moderate and the future utterly impossible to control.

Absolutely brilliant

Elaine Castillo does it again, this time exploring the world of tech, and along with it, questions about reality, time, and existence from the perspective of a Filipinx millennial who tries to escape the tethers of race, colonialism, class, and gender—all with her finely nuanced hallmark wit, cultural critique, and sardonic eloquence, with a delicious romance marbled in. And what a treat for the author to read her work!

Really great all the way through

I found this book to be entertaining and well narrated throughout the entire thing. I’m going to recommend that all my friends read it.

Good BUT

I liked so much about this at first. The characters and ideas and I was hopeful BUT then it's just a boring but kind of sexy romance.

Moderated to the Point of Boring

I kept waiting for this book to come together, and it never quite did. The premise hints at intrigue, technology, and complicated relationships, but everything stays so muted and understated that it becomes flat. Plot threads are introduced and then quietly fade, and the emotional beats never really land.

The writing is thoughtful and clearly intentional, but it’s moderated to the point of dullness. I understand the themes around labor, tech, and emotional restraint, yet the execution relies too heavily on subtlety and implication without enough momentum or payoff to keep me engaged.

This might work for listeners who enjoy very quiet, conceptual novels. For me, it felt slow, distant, and ultimately not worth the listening time.

Don't waste your time or a credit.

This must have been written by a millennial. It was full of useless details (I truly didn't care about the stupid purses or much of anything else in this vapid tale), and there was truly no plot at all. The description blurb made it sound like it would be suspenseful, but the only suspense was whether or not I would survive this excrement. Truly awful.