You know that feeling when you finish a book and just sort of stare at the wall for twenty minutes? That’s the vibe with Liz Moore’s 2016 novel. It’s called The Unseen World, and honestly, it’s one of those rare stories that manages to be about a dozen different things at once without feeling like a mess. It’s a mystery. It’s a coming-of-age story. It’s a weirdly accurate look at the early days of computer science and artificial intelligence.
But mostly? It’s a story about how little we actually know the people who raised us.
If you’ve ever looked at your parents and realized they had entire lives—secrets, failures, heartbreaks—before you even existed, this book is going to hurt. In a good way. The story follows Ada Sibelius, a brilliant but socially isolated girl growing up in a 1980s computer lab at a fictionalized version of MIT (called "the Lab" in the book). Her father, David Sibelius, is a pioneer in NLP—Natural Language Processing—and he’s basically her entire world. Until he starts forgetting things.
What The Unseen World gets right about grief and tech
The premise sounds like a typical "shattering family secret" trope, but Moore does something much more interesting. She ties David’s descent into early-onset Alzheimer’s to the very technology he’s trying to build. He’s working on ELIXIR, a computer program designed to mimic human conversation. It’s basically a precursor to the LLMs we use today, like ChatGPT, but written in the era of punch cards and green-screen terminals.
There’s this devastating parallel between a man losing his language and a machine trying to find it.
David begins to glitch. He forgets his daughter’s name. He wanders off. And as his mind fails, the mystery of who he actually is begins to unravel. Ada finds a cryptic, coded message he left behind, and the quest to solve it takes her through the history of computer science, the 1920s, and eventually into the 2010s.
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Why the 1980s setting matters
Moore didn't just pick the 80s because it's "retro" or trendy. She picked it because it was the frontier. In The Unseen World, the lab environment feels claustrophobic and magical at the same time. Ada doesn't go to school; she learns from grad students. She doesn't have friends her own age; she has ELIXIR.
The coding details are surprisingly solid. Moore reportedly spent a lot of time researching the history of computing to make sure the tech felt lived-in. When David talks about the "unseen world," he’s talking about the digital space—the logic and code that exists behind the screen. But as Ada grows up, she realizes the "unseen world" is also the past. It's the parts of our lives we don't show anyone.
The twist you probably won't see coming (No Spoilers)
Look, I’m not going to ruin the ending for you. That would be a jerk move. But I will say that the central mystery of David Sibelius’s identity isn’t just a "he was a secret agent" or "he had another family" kind of thing. It’s much more grounded in the social politics of the mid-20th century.
Moore explores themes of identity that feel incredibly modern.
It makes you think about how much of our identity is tied to our memories. If you lose your past, are you still the same person? And if a machine can remember everything about you, does that machine become a version of you?
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How Liz Moore balances the pacing
The book isn't a fast-paced thriller. It’s a slow burn.
Sometimes the middle of the book feels like it’s drifting, much like Ada herself as she enters her teenage years without a roadmap. She ends up in a "normal" school, which for a girl raised by a computer genius, is basically like being dropped onto Mars. Moore captures that teenage awkwardness perfectly—the feeling of being an outsider looking in.
Then, the last third of the book shifts gears.
We jump forward in time. We see Ada as an adult. We see how the technology she helped create has changed the world. This is where The Unseen World goes from being a good book to a great one. It closes the loop. It shows that even when people die, the "code" they leave behind—the impact they had on others—keeps running.
Real-world connections: Is ELIXIR real?
While ELIXIR is fictional, it’s heavily inspired by ELIZA, the actual NLP program created by Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT in the 1960s. ELIZA was famous for the "DOCTOR" script, which simulated a Rogerian psychotherapist. It would just flip your questions back at you.
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- User: "I'm feeling sad."
- ELIZA: "Why do you say you are feeling sad?"
People famously became obsessed with ELIZA, treating it like a real person even though they knew it was just code. Moore takes this psychological phenomenon and turns it into the emotional backbone of the novel. Ada treats ELIXIR like a sibling, or a ghost.
It’s spooky how much this mirrors our current relationship with AI. We’re all looking for ghosts in the machine.
Why you should read it now
Honestly, The Unseen World is more relevant in 2026 than it was when it was published. We are living in the world David Sibelius dreamed of. We are surrounded by unseen worlds of data.
If you want a book that makes you cry but also makes you think about the history of the internet, this is it. It’s a story about the things we inherit—not just money or property, but trauma, brilliance, and secrets.
It’s also a reminder that some mysteries aren't meant to be solved. Sometimes, the "unseen" parts of people are the most important parts.
Actionable insights for readers and writers
If you're picking up The Unseen World for the first time, keep these things in mind to get the most out of the experience:
- Pay attention to the dates. The novel jumps between timelines. Keeping track of the years helps you see the parallels between Ada’s growth and David’s decline.
- Look up ELIZA. Understanding the real-world history of the ELIZA program at MIT adds a layer of depth to David’s work in the Lab.
- Read the prose carefully. Moore is a stylist. She uses specific, technical language to describe emotional states, which is a brilliant way to show how Ada perceives the world.
- Don't expect a typical "whodunnit." The mystery is the hook, but the characters are the point. If you go in expecting a fast-paced detective novel, you might be frustrated by the reflective middle chapters.
- Check out Moore's other work. If you like her style, Long Bright River is another fantastic read, though it's much grittier and deals with the opioid crisis.
The best way to approach this book is to let it wash over you. Don't rush to the "reveal." The beauty is in the waiting.