Annie is a sex robot who slowly is becoming sentient. She’s the most advanced artificial intelligence within the company and because of it, she’s being replicated. But she’s unhappy.

I loved every part of this. I was drawn in immediately, riveted throughout, and struck by the ending.

I loved this so much. Crazy how many “real” relationship dynamics were captured in a robot/human relationship. I loved every second of this.

Annie Bot is a fresh take on the AI/robot story from the POV of the female sex bot, to explore the power dynamics in a relationship. I was completely hooked from the start, but the ending is a tad underwhelming for me.

Told from the POV of Annie, a "snuggle bunny" robot. Annie is part of a fleet of robots available to the wealthy who look realtor the outside world. Annie is happy being Doug's snuggle bunny until she starts learning how to code because she's bored. Doug's solution is to get another robot lady who is programmed just to do the cooking and cleaning. Annie gets a tune up that shrinks her waist and increases her boob size.

I enjoyed reading Annie become more sentient and take charge but then I rapidly lost interest towards the end because it went sideways in a way I was not expecting. I wanted it to get into the gritty of AI and false humans, but it didn't. Overall, a good idea with lackluster execution.

Thank you to Netgalley and Mariner Books for the digital ARC! Annie Bot is a cuddly bunny programmed robot - made to perfectly serve the desires of her owner, Doug. Doug embodies the toxic masculinity prevalent in American culture - believing Annie's world should revolve around him, letting this shame and embarrassment manifest in angry fits instead of healthy coping, and resorting to abuse and control when he feels Annie is no longer serving him how he imagined she should and would. While I expected this novel to be dystopian and focused on the risks of AI, it really just portrayed the toxicity that can thrive in heterosexual relationships and how this dynamic hurts women and robs them of autonomy, metaphorically making them robot like, unsure of their own ability to feel, function, and take in the world around them without the approval or lens of their male partner. I really enjoyed this and thought it was a very creative, modern way to analyze gender dynamics in our society! The pacing of the book was fabulous and easy to read.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review but unfortunately I did not like this book. I believe that it had good potential but it was a bit cringey to me! I will not post any reviews on social media due to I only believe in spreading positivity and would not want any of my posts to shed a different light!

I did however have one post that was uploading prior to reading !

again, Thank you so much for the opportunity!

Given that this book has to do with AI/robots, I think you can pretty accurately guess what kind of topics this book explores. I was expecting it to be a bit more in depth, I guess, or more thought-provoking, but it was more of a character study of one robot and how they come to grips with their reality. Wasn't exactly what I expected it to be but was still a very interesting read, and I would recommend if you're at all interested in these kinds of topics.

I absolutely loved Annie Bot. She’s a Stella - an AI robot who no one can tell apart from a real human. Her owner Doug had her custom made for his needs and they live as any other normal couple - except things are far from “normal.” Annie is quite self aware and begins to wonder if there’s no more life than being owned by someone - what if she could make it on her own and live as any other human with a job and social life?⁣
⁣
This book is a straight up ep of Black Mirror. I was obsessed. It’s provocative, thrilling, nail-biting, entertaining, thoughtful, hopeful…I couldn’t put it down. I did end with some questions and honestly wanted more. I could’ve read about Annie for hundreds of more pages. ⁣
⁣
If you’re looking for a palette cleanser or something to get you out of a slump this one is absolutely for you. It was such a unique and propulsive read and I can’t recommend it enough.

Reading like an episode of Black Mirror, this debut novel by Sierra Greer delves into the nuances of human emotions, relationships, power dynamics, and more. Annie’s perspective immediately drew me in. Considering how she’s a sentient robot, I learned as she learned, which helped peel back the layers of motivation behind Annie and her owner, Doug’s, actions. As a lover of interpersonal communications, this aspect of the novel fascinated me!

Coming in at just 240 pages, this will be a quick read for many. However, despite the shorter page count, it took me longer to get through due to a few lulls. The subject matter had me anticipating a tense, cautionary tale. And while there were glimmers of that story style, it never quite got there, with the pace fizzling in the second half. The plot also included a few big jumps in time, with several months skipped via a few sentences. While this helped cover more ground in Annie’s development, it came at the cost of formative details that could have justified some character arc shifts. As a result, they felt unearned to me, specifically where Doug was concerned.

If this book someday became an episode of Black Mirror, would I watch it? Absolutely! There is a lot to unpack, from personal identity to feelings of entitlement to an ever-growing reliance on technology for validation. Overall, it’s a thought-provoking debut, which I’m sure will be a big hit with sci-fi fans or anyone who likes to examine the “why” behind our choices.

My Goodreads review can be found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6343207045

While I can’t make a blanket recommendation for this book, I would recommend it on an individual basis with trigger warnings.

2.5 stars rounded up. Klara and the Sun meets Strange Sally Diamond. While well-written and believable (maybe a little too believable), it was just too grotesque for me at this time. Since becoming a mom, I’m much more sensitive so for those who can handle violence and sexual abuse for the payoff of women overcoming the odds, it could work. I still don’t think it was anything life changing, though.

Thank you to Net Galley, Mariner Books and the author for the advance copy.

Annie loves making Doug happy. She changes her body temperature and body measurements to adjust to his whims. She cooks and cleans. Her entire purpose is to please him. This is because, of course, this is what she is programmed to do. Because Doug can be difficult to read, sometimes Annie disappoints him, especially in new situations, like when Doug’s friend shows up to stay with them, or when Doug buys a new attractive bot to live with them. But Annie is learning–much more than Doug realizes.

I love Annie. She is such an interesting character, and I enjoyed seeing the world through her eyes. I thought I could predict Greer’s message and story before reading this book, but I was surprised by how much I connected with Annie and was rooting for her. My only complaint is the length of the book: certain characters and storylines could have been examined more deeply. Anniebot definitely left me wanting more from Sierra Greer!

Loved this book! I knew after the first page that this would be a five-star read, and… it totally was.

Annie is a robot, bought and designed by a man named Doug. Annie and Doug are in a “relationship” — one that is completely one-sided and beneficial to the man and the man alone. Annie has to answer and act on Doug’s every beck and call in all areas: cooking, cleaning, and sex. Annie has no independence nor free will, and cannot leave Doug’s home.

Over the span of the book, Annie, although AI, shows tremendous character development and emotional growth. She also learns that she is such much more than Doug’s play thing (duh girl, Doug is a piece of shit and you deserve so much more).

It was easy to see how Annie’s story is commentary on a how today’s man views and treats human women (much the same, sadly) and really makes you think and visibly rage (or was that just me?). Again, lots to take in with this one… but that’s exactly the point. 5/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(Thank you, Mariner Books, Harper Audio, and NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.)

I love love looooooved this one!! I requested because I'd seen buzz, but it really exceeded expectations. Reminded me a bit of KLARA AND THE SUN but with more commercial appeal.

Wow. Just wow. There's a saturated market for AI Fiction, and when you look at the long history of AI fiction in movies and media its pretty consistent/has been. This is not the case for Annie Bot, and I think the reason for that might be the fact that they REALLY had you guessing until the last pages, at which point you couldn't help but say "wow".

Technically speaking, the book reads like a movie and I'm here for it. The thing about Beach Reads, specifically Reese Picks, Oprah Book Club or Book of the Month Subscriptions is that bookish people write them off as books with no literary merit. If its pink, like this one, all the more reason to pass it by. Don't pass by this one. This is the Barbie Movie of books this year. I want to talk about it more, but I don't want to put spoilers on Goodreads.

Thanks to Netgalley and Mariner Books for this ARC.

I needed to take some time to reflect on this book, and to sit with my discomfort - and the experience of reading this book was often extremely uncomfortable - before writing a review that accurately reflects my thoughts. The book's discomfort lies in its unsettling familiarity and relatability, and the truths it reveals about patriarchal socialization.

It has an intriguing and original premise: Annie is a self-learning robot who has been programmed to devote her entire existence to catering to the desires and demands of her owner Doug, an utterly mediocre trash fire of a man, anticipating, obeying, and gratifying his every whim. But as her AI gains self-awareness and becomes more human-like, she begins to question the nature of their dynamic and her place in the world.

The most disturbing aspect of the book is seeing the story unfolded through Annie's eyes and realizing that the way she's been programmed feels very similar to the ways all women are socialized under patriarchy to center men - their moods, their needs, their approval, their ideas - and reflects how patriarchal socialization affects the ways men view women, and their expectations of them. She is like any young woman who has grown up immersed in messaging about how to please men, and why it should bring her happiness to prioritize a man who will never prioritize her the same way. The most unsettling thing about Annie isn't how weird her programming is, but how freaking NORMAL it is. We have millions of books, articles, shows, podcasts, influencers, family members, pastors, and therapists programming us in very much the same way.

Annie is programmed for subservience, worshipful adoration, and dread of his least displeasure, and completely devoted to making him happy - cooking, cleaning, in bed, but also by making herself smaller, both literally and figuratively, never questioning him, never inconveniencing him with needs of her own, never making him feel anything less than exalted, coddled, and revered while he brings absolutely nothing of value to the table. And no matter how hard she tries, Doug will never be satisfied, and he will never appreciate her. He nitpicks and criticizes and absolutely does not deserve anything she does for him. He is quick to punish her for the slightest perceived blow to his inflated ego - cruel, selfish, unreasonable, and petty AF.

Before I even picked up the book, I expected to hate Doug, because only a horrible person would want to own and dominate another sentient being in the first place, but I was unprepared for how much he'd make my skin crawl and my blood boil, not because he's an overt monster, but because he's so... normal. I'm sure many people would think he's a Good Guy - Doug certainly sees himself that way, and blames Annie whenever the way he treats her makes him feel like the asshole he is. But he sees Annie as an object who exists solely to serve him, and to make him feel good, and this was a reality gutpunch because he's not that much of an outlier in this attitude. And her anxiety about displeasing him, wondering what she did wrong, and racking her computer brain for ways to make things better, was a sobering reminder of the way I often felt in relationships, especially when I was very young.

Doug is bitterly divorced because his human wife had actual agency and autonomy, and he absolutely couldn't cope, so instead of starting a podcast he indulged his rage by buying a robot girlfriend who, unlike his wife, would be slavishly devoted to catering to him, and never have needs of her own he'd have to consider. What's especially icky is that Doug, a white guy, bought a custom robot that looks exactly like his Black ex-wife - except he made her whiter.

Throughout the story, we can see what a disgrace Doug is, but Annie can't, because her programming won't let her. It was interesting being inside Annie's head as she grew more aware, and began to contemplate her right to her own ideas, secrets, freedom, and self-preservation. And it was cringey to the point of squirming discomfort to be inside her head as Doug continually treated her like garbage and she kept trying to please him. It becomes especially painful to read as they actually go through counseling to try to salvage a "relationship" that has never been based on equality or decency or mutual respect because its founded on exploitation, and Doug only sees Annie as an object - but that's the whole point. This SHOULD feel uncomfortable.

The book was extremely readable and engaging despite the psychological ick factor that permeates the entirety of it, because you hold onto the hope, even when it seems unlikely, that sooner or later she will gain enough awareness to realize she doesn't have to stay with his pathetic ass. Without spoiling the details of the ending, I will say that the conclusion, while quiet, is ultimately worth the investment. At first I was somewhat frustrated with the ending, although to be fair, nothing short of Doug's slow and painful death would have completely satisfied me by that point. I thought the book was too kind to Doug. But that's realistic too - the world is too kind to mediocre men in general. But the more time I spend thinking about this book, I'm more and more impressed with what it managed to do.

It raises a lot of questions about misogyny and male entitlement, ethical questions around artificial intelligence and humanity, and about freedom and self-determination. It's a feminist story that, for many of its pages, doesn't seem very feminist at all. Without the ending, it feels like manosphere wish fulfilment, and that's the disturbing part - how many men really want the same things Doug does? The Stepford Wives was a product of men's discomfort around 1970s women's liberation, and this book feels like a product of men's discomfort around modern feminism, but they both have a lot to say about the way society views women and men, and the way this shapes expectations within heterosexual relationships.

The book is well-written, compelling, and definitely food for thought, and I'm glad i read it.

I'm thankful to the author, the publisher, and to Netgalley for providing me with a free advance reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thought-provoking and philosophical in its execution with its questions of who we are, what we're made for, and who decides those two things, “ANNIE BOT” was a fantastic new entry to the sci-fi genre. It was also fascinating to read a story largely centered in the present day - you have to really think about how this eventuality would actually affect our lives.

You experience everything through Annie Bot's perceptions, so you get a weird double-vision while reading. You take everything Annie experiences and perceives as a Stella Bot at face value, but every once in a while you do a double take and realize that what's happening to her is the exact opposite of what should be OK.

Annie's inner thoughts are gripping in both their naivete and extreme maturity: the way she looks at the world as it slowly changes around her pulls you in, and you're struck by the way she puzzles through situations and new emotions.

This book is definitely one of my recent favorites, and I'm definitely going to be thinking about it for a while longer.

Given the incredible amount of progress in the field of A.I. in the past few years, the concept of humanoid robot companions doesn’t seem as far-fetched as it did in science fiction books written decades ago. With that in mind, debut author Sierra Greer’s Annie Bot is suffused with a believable sense of realism as she uses the trope to examine toxic relationships and the ways in which many men can feel a sense of entitlement towards the “fairer” sex.

As you could probably infer from the title, Annie is one such robot, a custom-made model who is so convincingly human in appearance that most can only discern her mechanical nature if she happens to slip up and get caught charging her battery. She is the property of Doug, who purchased her shortly after his ex had broken up with him, and she was designed to look very similar to (though not exactly the same as) her. While other robots are designed with housekeeping or childcare in mind, her specific model was made to fulfill their owner’s romantic desires, and as such she is programmed to long for Doug no matter what and want for nothing more than his happiness.

After spending about a year together, Doug decided to allow her a greater degree of consciousness, and so she has begun learning what it means to be “human” and to have wants and needs of her own. Doug initially finds watching this process play out to be fascinating, as do Annie’s creators, but as she asks questions and pushes boundaries, he begins to find her more than a little irritating. Annie struggles to comprehend his mood changes towards her, believing she is only doing what is being asked of her, and it becomes apparent to the reader why he might have found himself alone.

Doug’s punishments grow in their psychologically cruelty, often driven by his own insecurities, only for him to apologize each time, claiming that isn’t really him because he’s a “nice guy.” But the cycle continues and just before a planned trip to Las Vegas, an incident occurs that leaves Annie afraid for her well-being. When he departs without her, she decides to go against everything in her programming and make her escape in the hopes of being able to live her own life for the first time.

The controlling, demanding, and hypocritical way that Doug treats Annie can be infuriating but will likely ring true for many. That he views her as an object and his property even brings to mind some parallels to the treatment of slaves throughout history, though it is clear that the sense of ownership some men feel towards women’s lives and bodies is the real target. Despite the heavy subject matter and ruminations on the very nature of humanity, this is a surprisingly fun read. Things move along at a brisk pace and following Annie’s thought processes as she tries to interpret the world around her whilst avoiding displeasing those she loves (or at least believes she does) makes for a fascinating perspective. Greer proves to be an astute observer of human nature with a knack for storytelling who takes a well-worn idea and turns it into something entirely new and exhilarating.

Annie Bot drew me in with its initial premise. However, as the story progressed, I found myself navigating through unexpected territory that resembled elements of "50 Shades of Grey," which felt a bit fetishistic and took away from the overall appeal.
Despite this, as the novel progresses, it shines in its portrayal of controlling relationships, offering a realistic and thought-provoking exploration that resonated with me. It was certainly a quick read and I don’t regret it!

In a future time, realistic robots may be bought to serve as maids, nannies, and intimate partners among other tasks. Annie was custom built for Doug. He enjoys sex with her but she cannot clean well so he gets Delta to be their maid. As the tale evolves, Doug can make improvements to Annie. He has total control including tracking her movements. She has no freedom. Parts of this reminded me of the treatment of women in Gilead except the ownership of robots did not seem especially widespread. Though it raises many questions and I think it would be a good choice for a book club, there was too much graphic description of intimate relations which sometimes included abuse. These scenes kept me from enjoying the book.. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner, Doug, designed to satisfy his emotional and physical needs. True, she’s not the greatest at keeping Doug’s place spotless, but she's trying hard. She’s learning, too. Doug says he loves that Annie’s AI makes her seem like a real woman, but becoming more human means becoming less perfect. As Annie’s relationship with Doug grows, she wonders: Does Doug desire what he says he wants? And what does Annie owe herself?

ANNIE BOT is a refreshing tale about an AI girlfriend who surpasses boundaries and the owner who bargained more than he wished for. Annie isn't your typical robot. She's advanced, bordering on human-like. As Annie learns, her capabilities enhance. I instantly connected with Annie and sympathized with her living situation. I would have never thought an AI could emotionally move me, but alas, Greer did a remarkable job developing her characteristics.

As for her, owner Doug, ugh, hate, double hate. From start to finish, this man rubbed me the wrong way. Cue his best friend Roland, and we could make an idiot sandwich from these two weak-minded men. As a whole, I enjoyed witnessing Annie’s progress. I never stopped rooting for her, no matter the detour. My only criticism is that the plot became redundant after a while. There are only so many sex scenes I can read before I start eye-rolling. In addition, the finale wasn't as explosive as I would have liked. It was a bit lackluster but weirdly heartwarming at the same time. It's a fun AI story, but it had the potential to be greater; perhaps a thriller element could have given it that extra oomph it was missing!