Loneliness & Company

De: Charlee Dyroff

Narrado por: Annalyse McCoy

Bloomsbury presents Loneliness & Company by Charlee Dyroff, read by Annalyse McCoy.

“An inventive and perceptive story about human connection and being alive.” –Emily Austin, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead

“Sharply etched and strangely propulsive” –Leslie Jamison, New York Times bestselling author of The Empathy Exams and Splinters

A warm hearted, beautifully written debut novel set in near future New York about a young woman who finds herself tangled in a secret Government project combating loneliness.

Lee’s future is set—a top student and professor-favorite, she’s destined to land a job at a prestigious Big Five corporation. So when, upon graduating, she’s assigned to an unknown company in the dead city of New York instead, her life is completely upended.

In this new role, Lee’s task is to gather enough research to train an AI 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 data for the AI.

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.©2024 Charlee Dyroff (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

wonderful observations of humanity

Loved this book so much. Lee is such an interesting character, full of relatable flaws and engaging in struggles that echo ones a lot of people are having today. The observations of how people interact with one another and the world are still sitting with me. Cannot believe this is a debut novel - really beautiful work.

Hang in there a bit if you're tempted to DNF

I was on the fence the first half, though I never lost interest in the story--that alone is a feat. At the halfway point it got better and better.

What I liked:
1. Excellent world building of a future NY, almost all in-scene
2. A female main character who is clueless beyond belief and the author managed NOT to send the "she's autistic" vibes. Yes, let's please be done with requisite MC with autism.
3. So clearly, this is very well written

What I wasn't as fond of:
1. The MC was so in the dark about what it means to be a human being, to have feelings and emotions, to have friends and lovers, to eat food and enjoy it, and on and on, even if I suspended disbelief for the first half, I could not relate to her.

But the storyline kept me reading and Lee grows as a human being throughout the book.