Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner, Doug. Designed to satisfy his emotional and physical needs, she has dinner ready for him every night, wears the cute outfits he orders for her, and adjusts her libido to suit his moods. This book was very intriguing and unique given the new world of AI we currently live in. Annie alike many humans wants to find her own voice and understand what makes her "her". The novel was interesting and kept me hooked on what Annie's next steps would be as she embarked on a journey of self-discovery. The book made me question AI and all that can happen in the future. Definitely a great book if you're interested in AI and the new technology of the 21st century.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I found this book to be intriguing, unique and futuristic. I’m not sure what I expected from this book, but it left me a bit unsettled. Unsettled at the possibility of technology like this existing one day and at the thought of the commodification of women’s bodies. Greer wrote this book well, and left me asking more questions about the unrelenting strength of the patriarchy in our society.

I am a SUCKER for books about robots achieving sentience and going on a journey of self discovery, and this one did not disappoint. The evolution of Annie’s consciousness and emotions was a powerful thing to witness. This felt like a more intense version of Klara and the Sun.

A tale of what it means to be human and the power of a woman scorned.

This book was strange, but fascinating, and I couldn’t put it down. I was very intrigued by the premise and it did not disappoint. It would make an excellent choice for a book club, as there is plenty to discuss about the characters, humanity, romance, and relationships. I would definitely read more from this author.

I got to be honest, I am really picky when it comes to stories about AI and robots, sentience, and whether they should be treated with the same respect as a human. But Annie Bot changed my brain chemistry a little bit because I found myself caring a lot for an inanimate object.

It's hard to figure out where this story is going from the beginning. At first you think this is the story of a lonely dude and his relationship with his sex bot, but with the book coming from Annie's perspective, you can see that for Annie there's a lot more going on below the surface. I feel like this book was in some way a metaphor for the kinds of experiences people have throughout a relationship. While Doug and Annie's relationship wasn't the most traditional, there were some of those insecurities, doubts, and worries that I know I've felt in relationships before. How can I improve myself to better suit him? If I don't do this, he won't love me anymore.

And what you see is the consequence of that behavior. Suddenly, Annie goes from being self-conscious about her every move to finding herself and learning to live without her owner. There's the knowledge that there's more in the world than the four walls of her small apartment and the only man that she's ever known. She has the capacity to be mean, to lie, to be sexy and as the story progresses, you see this exponential growth in Annie that ultimately leads to her decision to leave.

What's interesting are the parallels this story has to human experience. If Annie was a real human, we would be screaming at the book to dump him and leave. If she wasn't owned by Doug, we would be hoping that she would just step outside the front door and never come back. But if anything, this book showcases how some possessive relationships can go wrong; the want to leave tied to the desire to stay. It's that complexity of human emotions (especially when dealing with a narcissist) that makes this story so interesting. Luckily, this story is a hopeful one and while not everyone gets a happy ending in these sort of relationships, you see Annie gets the kind of ending she deserves.

Overall, this was unexpectedly an interesting interplay on relationships and the usage of a robot over a woman brings a perspective level that kept me intrigued throughout.

4.75 rounded up but wow I cannot wait to discuss this one. It trapped me, also basis because my name is Annie

This started out with such promise & I was really invested. Gave me serious Black Mirror vibes... & then just got super weird.

Is this the future of A.I.? Annie is a human-like cuddle bunny bot owned by Doug, who has complete control. Annie is programmed to please Doug under all circumstances. When Annie sees a technician for routine maintainence, Doug even controls how much weight they can put on or take off, the shape of Annie's body and whether to give her tattoos. Eventually, Doug purchases another bot named Delta who can cook and clean better than Annie but is still programmed to do whatever Doug says. As Annie begins to develop more human traits and think on her own, she makes a mistake that changes things for all the characters, both human and bot.
Ick! I felt like I was living in the world of a narcissistic teenage boy’s fantasyland as I read this book. I get that the author was "growing" Annie’s personality so she would eventually be able to stand up to Doug but his abuse of Annie (whether human or not) was just so difficult to read. Doug was really an unlikable jerk and it was difficult to imagine that Annie just had to suffer his abuse. But the book is definitely thought-provoking. I just can't say that I really enjoyed it.

this was a really interesting and thought provoking one - following an AI sex robot throughout life with her owner. Greer does some interesting twists and turns, i wasn’t sure how this story would flesh out into a full novel at first but there’s actually a lot of meat here.

First of all, this was such a fresh idea and stood out among all my latest reads and for that I only have the highest praise. I really enjoyed this book. I think the slow but sure learning on Anniebot's end juxtaposed with the careless and flippant behavior coming from MMC was really well done. The message of even perfect not being perfect enough comes out strong and though I wanted a little bit more to tie everything in a little more cohesively I think that this was a very good book.

I listened to the audiobook and it was perfect! I thought this story was unique, cutting-edge, and gave a new perspective to relationships and AI. I recommend this book to all libraries.

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
.
Annie is a robotic companion who is owned by a man named Doug. She has recently been swicthed to an artificial intelligence and she is learning lots.
.
This book was rather unique, I’m not sure I have ever read a book that is entirely from the viewpoint of a sentient robot.

I hesitate to say I *liked* this story. It was addicting, engrossing, also a little gross, and extremely unsettling. There were entire pages where the face I was making while reading made people concerned for me.

Also, how many stories have you read or watched where you can say you were rooting for a robot the whole time?

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you like books that are way different and slightly unhinged then I can definitely recommend this book for you. This is the type of book that will stick with me forever and people will just mention Annie Bot and I will remember everything about this story.

Sierra Greer may be a robot? The way she picked up on the Robot POV and voice was creepy but also alluring and impressive. I loved the story line and the character development. I also liked the ways the concepts of loneliness was addressed throughout the entire novel.

this is a creepy sci-fi book and also an intense allegory for emotionally abusive relationships and also a damning exploration of misogyny all in one.

this is a book about a dystopian future in which men see women as only good for sex, homemaking, or parenting. in other words, our present day reality.

reading this unrelentingly icked me out and made me feel grateful for my sentience and freedom, like when you have a cold and your nose is stuffed and you're like "i'll never forget to appreciate clear nasal passageways ever again."

i enjoyed the fact that this book did not pander or condescend to its audience in its themes, and granted the reader the ability to pick up on what was going on most of the time on their own. (although i did not enjoy the moments when it had our protagonist provide a neat summary of something that had been going on for hundreds of pages. or understand why there was a moment when a random woman was outed (?) as trans.)

it pulled its punches sometimes and felt overzealous at others, but overall this book was cool and impressive and skin crawly. in a good way.

While I found the book thought provoking, I also found it disturbing. The book wasn't bad but it was a little two dimensional.

I feel like this book could have sooooooo easily been a thriller! It was a good book. I loved the intricacies of Annie's character as a robot with human feelings. I also like how therapy not only seems to help Annie's owner but it also seems to help Annie. I kind of wish there was a different ending but that's just my twisted mind enjoying the book too much.

Thought provoking and claustrophobic, Annie Bot is a fantastic read with a lot of food for thought behind its premise. Realistic Sci-Fi is always so interesting. Well worth a read for anyone interested in the future of our society in AI and how much empathy is required to be considered alive.

Read Annie Bot if you like a book that:
- is unputdownable (is that a word?)
- is under 250 pages
- will challenge your idea of what it means to be human
- will make your blood boil (fucking Doug!)

I got an arc of this from @marinerbooks because I was so intrigued but then never actually started it until @mackinstyle was like - Jess watch this review from @tellthebeees on TT and then read this book. And it was the best choice. This book was WILD, horrifying, at times really disturbing, and riveting. I blew through it because I needed to know what happens to Annie.

Annie is a robot made to give sexual pleasure to her owner. There are different kinds of bots (for cleaning, for caregiving, and for sex) and Annie was created for and is owned by Doug (🗑️🗑️🗑️🗑️). But then Annie becomes autodidactic, meaning she starts learning and and teaching herself, she has her own thoughts, and her ideas of the world, who she is, and what her purpose is start to become more intricate and complex. It asks the question “what does it mean to be human?”

What I loved about this book is how it made me think. Throughout this book Annie is dehumanized, because in the eyes of many of the characters Annie is a robot, she’s not human. But for me as a reader, she is 100% human. She has humanity. So everything done to her can be excused in the book because she’s a “machine”. But when you think of her as human??? Everything done to her is violent, horrifying, disgusting. Reducing someone or a group of people to “animals” or “less than human” means we as a society are better able to dismiss or disregard horrible atrocities done to them (think Chain-Gang All Stars). When reading this book you will be forced to think about what humanity means to you. And even if Annie is just a “machine”, does it make it any less horrible what is done to her?

There is also some interesting pieces about race and gender that I need more time to think about, and know, I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

This is definitely a book that I'd recommend for a book club. Lots of meat for discussion. Thought provoking and relevant to today's AI-resurgence. Worth getting for the discussion alone.

In some other reviews, I've seen this book referred to as a character study and I think that's the perfect description. It's not quite science fiction and definitely not a romance, but the portrayal of Annie and her efforts to understand herself and her role in the world are really quite engaging. I love books that focus on the concepts of identity and purpose, and framing those issues in the narrative of a sex robot was a unique way to dissect the idea of self.