Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Themes
Synopsis
For fans of Kevin Wilson and Andrew Sean Greer, a helper robot and his 35-year-old ward embark on a mad-cap adventure to save the fate of the family company in this whimsically speculative ode to Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster. Cy wants nothing more than to be useful, raise his utility score, and receive the next update for his operating system. But that’s easier said than done when he's tasked with helping his owner’s 35-year-old son “get out of his funk.” Grayson is nothing like his go-getter, CEO sister Charlotte. He didn’t inherit the family robotics company when their dad passed last year, he doesn’t have a master’s degree, and he just can’t seem to figure out the San Francisco dating scene. He’d rather eat synthesized mozzarella sticks and make pottery at his studio, Kilning Time. When Grayson learns of Charlotte’s plan to sell the company to a tech conglomerate, he panics. It’s not just the family business at stake, it’s all the technology—like Cy—their dad invented over the years. So he does what anyone would do: he steals the flash drive with his father’s most important work stored on it and plans a corporate takeover. If only he knew what that meant. To make matters worse, a fellow VALET deserts his owner and asks Cy to help him hightail it out of town, Grayson’s first real date—and her dog—keeping showing up at inopportune times, and the behemoth tech company wants this deal closed yesterday. Grayson, Cy, and their trusty golden retriever, Sasha III, must go on the lam until they figure out exactly what to do, and whom to trust. A hilarious, mad-cap adventure that is as tender as it is insightful, Valet asks not just what it means to be human, but what it means to be family.
Tags
Is Valet appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 13 and up.
A gentle, humorous sci-fi comedy about a helper robot and his aimless owner going on the run to save their family's robotics company. Contains mild comedic situations, references to dating, and themes of parental death, but no violence, sex, or strong language.
What to know going in
This book has no graphic violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death of parent and anxiety.
Publisher ages reflect reading level; our rating reflects content maturity — they can differ.
Who'll love this
Teens will enjoy the quirky buddy-comedy dynamic between Cy the earnest robot and his underachieving human owner as they fumble through a corporate heist.