True Life in Uncanny Valley

By: Deb Caletti

Narrated by: Brittany Pressley

From the acclaimed author of A Heart in a Body in the World comes the gripping story of a girl living a lie in order to find the truth about her family and herself.

Eleanor, like so many others, is used to watching her famous father from afar. To the world, Hugo Harrison is the brilliant and charismatic tech genius whose AI inventions seem to create a new, better reality. But to Eleanor, whose mother had an affair with Hugo years ago, he is something even more intriguing, and dangerous—a secret.

When Eleanor’s spying leads her to a posting for a live-in summer nanny job for Hugo's young son—her half-brother—she knows she has to apply. This is finally her chance to learn about her father, his family, and the life that could have been hers. She only has to do one thing: become someone else. With just a few well-placed lies, Eleanor is catapulted into an unfamiliar, intoxicating whirlwind of money and ego, and into a new romance with a cute boy who works for Hugo. But in a place where image is everything and reality can be rewritten, is anything real—even the Harrisons themselves?

Caught between her own secrets and the ones she’s uncovering about her father and his latest invention, Eleanor faces a question that technology can't answer: what is your true self, and how do you know when you find her?

Critic reviews

★ "Caletti combines a coming-of-age narrative with a buoyant summer romance and a technological mystery to craft an intriguing novel about figuring out one’s place in the world." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Caletti compellingly explores big questions about class, the ethics of AI, and the price people pay for depicting perfect lives online....An at times heartbreaking but ultimately hopeful story about chosen family." —Kirkus Reviews

"This story asks timely and important questions about the origin and nature of AI, woven into evergreen themes of family dynamics, sense of self, and coming of age." —Booklist

"A fast, complex read that feels both classic and topical....and comes of age in a thoroughly enjoyable summer read." —The Bulletin

Flawed but good

Elinor goes undercover as the nanny for the child of the father she never knew. What could possibly go wrong?

I really enjoyed TRUE LIFE IN UNCANNY VALLEY, but aspects of the book prevented me from giving a higher score.

The first chunk of the book started off as Elinor’s stream of consciousness thoughts about sexism, racism, homophobia and how those isms apply to her life. Although I agree with all of her position, preachy books, even if I agree with the issues preached, annoy me. I don’t know any teenagers who are constantly talking about their white privilege with peers or thinking about it as often as Elinor. If Deb Caletti had lightened up on that aspect, I would have rated higher.

The stream of consciousness manner of introducing characters didn’t hold my interest because nothing happened except a lot of thinking. Once Elinor got the nanny job, TRUE LIFE IN UNCANNY VALLEY took off as did my enjoyment.

Elinor seemed to have too much knowledge about child development and their needs for someone with a resume of one babysitting job from which she was fired.

Stepmom Aurora was my favorite character.

Though flawed, I recommend TRUE LIFE IN UNCANNY VALLEY.