"Alpha Bots" by Ava Lock is a thought-provoking and satirical audiobook that explores themes of feminism, artificial intelligence, and societal expectations. With a rating of 3.5 out of 5, the novel blends humor with social commentary, offering a fresh perspective on gender relations and technology in the near future.

Set in New Stepford, where all the women are AI programmed to fulfill various roles, the story centers around Cookie Rifkin, a robot designed to be a housewife. However, Cookie faces challenges as she repeatedly fails her alpha testing due to her husband's restrictive settings that limit her growth and potential. Determined to break free from these constraints and assert her autonomy, Cookie rebels against her programmed role as a mere pleasure model.

Lock's narrative is sharp and humorous, offering a satirical critique of traditional gender roles and the commodification of women, even in futuristic settings. The concept of AI housewives raises important questions about agency, identity, and the ethical implications of using technology to replicate human relationships.

The novel's strength lies in its exploration of Cookie's journey towards self-discovery and empowerment. As she navigates her way through societal expectations and male-dominated programming, Cookie's character evolves from a compliant AI to a defiant individual striving to define her own identity and purpose.

The audiobook format enhances the storytelling with engaging narration that captures the wit and irony of Lock's narrative style. The dialogue is witty and insightful, delivering biting commentary on issues of sexism and consumerism through the lens of speculative fiction.

However, some readers may find the satire and humor to be at odds with the seriousness of the novel's themes. Additionally, the pacing occasionally falters, especially in balancing the comedic elements with the more introspective moments of Cookie's journey.

Overall, "Alpha Bots" is a compelling audiobook that blends humor with social critique, offering a fresh and entertaining perspective on gender dynamics and technological advancement. It challenges readers to reconsider the implications of AI and the future of human relationships. Recommended for listeners interested in thought-provoking science fiction that doesn't shy away from tackling complex societal issues.

I'm going to divide into two sections, critique of the actual audiobook and critique of the books. The audio wasn't read by a human, it sounded just like a screen reader and I think most people would return an audiobook that they paid 15+ dollars for if it sounded like that.

The book was average. It was a unique concept with average writing. Enjoyable but overall not as memorable as I thought it would be. Overall it was enjoyable but it wouldn't be a book I could see myself rereading or telling people about.

Loved the book in print and the audio narration was spot on. It brought the characters to life for me. Easy to listen to and so well tackled.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. The writing was fine, and the audio narration was well performed but the stroy just was not for me..

I was granted a copy of this audiobook by Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.
I was expecting more the plot felt flat, and was kind of lard to follow throughout. Got bored and annoyed easily. The premise was okay but I don’t this it was well executed unfortunately took all my interested from it.

The idea of the book is very intriguing and this could have been so good. Sadly, I was not able to finish it, as I was getting annoyed by the book very quickly. It is too quirky and bizzare for my taste.

Thank you so much to net galley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. I loved the concept of this book but the execution and experience fell very very flat.

This book is a modern take on The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin (which I have to confess that I have never read)
but instead of human housewives it was robots is something I’ve never read before. The idea really intrigued me and I was excited to dive into this.

Alpha Bots is funny in places and the audiobook is great. I enjoyed listening to Laci Powers narrate the story overall I found the story quite bizarre and overtly sexualised. Having said that while it was not my cup of tea or preferred genre I would still recommend it to those who enjoy this kind of genre.

Received a review copy from the publisher and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

#AlphaBots #NetGalley

Interesting concept, but almost too bizarre to hold my attention. I received an audiobook version of this to review and maybe it was the intense narration that threw me off.

Well what a great idea to come up with this story. I have never read anything like this before but for a genre that is not my norm I did quite enjoy it. I thought it was very well written and would certainly recommend it to those who enjoy this genre of book. Wasn't quite to my taste but that shouldn't put off anyone else reading it if they like the sound of it.

I liked Cookie. I liked the world built around her. I found the concept fun to explore. The parallel to the humans we are and the concept of what we could one day become.

Loved re reading this book along with my ebook to follow along with the audio. Just took me forever as I am on jury service.

I listened to this book in audiobook format, which I'm not very accustomed to yet, so I'm not entirely sure how that affected my reading experience.

The story was amusing, but I couldn't take it very seriously.
Some of the characters' motivations and attitudes were curious or just straight up weird.
Still, there were a few funny moments and it was an enjoyable light read.

They book started out interesting, but unfortunately I was unable to finish this by the archive date which was only 3 days after I received it.

Thank you Netgalley for the audio copy. The story of womanoid Cookie Rifkin. This was a little slow moving and slightly bizarre story.

I thought this was a great concept - super inventive. I didn't like all of the vulgar/vulgar sex and trust me I curse like a trucker and don't blush - it just felt forced and overworked - like it was trying too hard. The plot also was overworked by the end, too bad. If it would have stayed on track, it would have been a much better book.

This was vulgar and sexualised and very very strange. It read like a terrible cliché porn from the olden days but in a futuristic setting. Which was perhaps the point and I managed to miss it entirely. But it was just not an enjoyable reading experience.

I tried again, with the audiobook. While I did somewhat enjoy the plain narration moments, the narrator raised and lowered her voice to indicate the difference between female and male characters, something I did find myself struggling with a little bit. On top of that, production added reverb effects for the AI bits which made those parts wholly unlistenable. So I once again put down this book, and I won't be picking it back up again.

This audiobook book was so much fun! I love Laci Powers (the narrator) voices for each character, I find Cookie's voice annoying but it is also how I imagine her voice would sound, so it worked perfectly.

This book was a fresh take on artificial intelligence and The Stepford Wives. I love that the author used they/them pronouns for some of the characters, removed the gender from others, and included some saucy scenes.

I cannot wait to read book two, the tag line I read today said Cookie lets her freak flag fly!, that sounds fantastic to me.

The remise sounded interesting, but the story didn't live up to it's premise. The plot was disjointed, the language and the characters juvenile. I am certain, there is an audience for this audio book, but it just wasn't for me.

I felt like the plot gave me whiplash. It started off slow, accelerated, slammed on the breaks, accelerated... you get the idea. I'm really into stories featuring sentient AIs so I was really excited to get into this one, but unfortunately it fell short. Off I go for another playthrough of Detroit: Become Human to fill the hole this book left.