Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Themes
Synopsis
Lee knows she's the best. A professor favorite and fellowship winner, there's no doubt she'll land one of the coveted jobs at a Big Five corporation. So when, upon graduating, Lee is instead assigned to an unknown company in the dead city of New York, her life goals are completely upended. In this new role, Lee's task is to gather enough research to train an AI named Vicky on how to be a friend. She begins online and by studying the social circle of her clueless, outgoing roommate Veronika. But when the company reveals it's part of a classified government mission to solve loneliness-an emotion erased from society's lexicon decades ago-Lee's determination to prove herself kicks into overdrive, and she begins chasing bolder and more dangerous experiences to provide Vicky the data it needs. How far will Lee go to teach the algorithm? As the mysterious affliction spreads, Lee must decide what she's willing to give up for success and, along the way, learn what it means to be a true friend. Loneliness & Company is an enchanting, gorgeously written novel about finding meaning and connection in a world beset by isolation
Is Loneliness & Company appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
A thoughtful dystopian novel exploring loneliness and AI ethics with minimal content concerns. The protagonist takes 'dangerous experiences' to gather data, but the synopsis suggests psychological risk rather than graphic content.
What to know going in
This book has no graphic violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include mental illness, anxiety, and isolation.
Who'll love this
Readers will be drawn to Lee's struggle to prove herself in a strange new world and her journey to understand what friendship really means.