Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this! I listened via audiobook.
This book is about an AI made for the pleasure of a man. He’s a jerk, and constantly gaslighting/verbally abusing Annie. Annie is a sweet, complex, and incredible character. This book really allowed us to dive into her thoughts. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything like this before, and to be honest it was a little bit hard for me to get through. The plot was exhausting and her constantly trying to live up to his expectations was draining. This book is heavily focused on physical intimacy. The ending felt rushed.
I think that Sierra Greer did an awesome job writing Annie, and I’d recommend this book if you enjoy science fiction/AI.

Read this if you like:
•black mirror on Netflix
•technology / AI
•dystopian books

This book was so intriguing from the get go. With more and more AI being a thing in the real world, this is something that could happen in the not so distant future. It was interesting to see Annie adapt to emotions. Doug was a flawed character but he seemed real.

Thank you Harper audio for ALC

This ARC was gifted to me by MacMillan Audio, and I sincerely appreciate that, but I am still going to be honest in my review. I will include spoilers at the end to discuss some of the pros and cons, but for now here is an overview:

I requested the arc because I liked the premise: a robot designed to be the perfect girlfriend, given autodidactic capabilities, and then met with a fork in the road.

As I went through the story, I could tell this was a debut novel due to pacing and literacy devices used to explain Annie. That said, the author did a great job giving Annie a distinct, accurate, and vivid voice. If we look at this book through the lens of a character-driven novel, as opposed to a plot-driven one, (the book felt like it bounced back and forth a bit between the two) I would have given it four stars. I will definitely be picking up her future work.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT:

As a former victim advocate at a district attorneys office, I (predictably) saw themes of emotional domestic abuse with financial and mental manipulation. That’s why I was a little disappointed in the ending. I’m sure the author went back and forth between Doug releasing Annie and Annie releasing herself. I wish it had been the latter.

With crumbs of coding laced throughout, I honestly thought she was going to code herself to shut off her tracking and decrease her sensitivity to Doug’s disappointment to the point that she could leave. I think that would have been more representative of the real work required to change one’s mental framework in a way that allows victims to leave their abuser. I also think it would have been more rewarding to watch Annie save herself. That said, I understand why Doug had to remain in power until he gave it away, since she is a robot and not a human. I was just hoping for a creative loophole.

The audiobook narration on this book was perfect! No matter what speed I listened at, the “bot” effect was strong. In terms of the plot, writing, and character development, I enjoyed the story overall but felt that Annie’s character development was lacking.

Trigger warnings for abuse and sexual content. I listened to the audiobook, and I was very curious to see where the story would go. Annie is a robot customized by her human owner, Doug, to meet all of his needs, and the book follows her as she becomes more aware of her feelings, learns about secrets, and makes friends.

This book was phenomenal! It took me a second to get into it, but once I was in, I was hooked.
This book was complex, devastating, and made you think. Seeing the evolution of Annie and how she processed life was captivating.
I will say, I didn’t love the narrator, but once I got past her voice and just focused on the story I was able to move beyond her voice.
Would definitely read more from this author!

Thank you Mariner Books for my free ARC of Annie Bot by Sierra Greer — available Mar 19!

Read this if you:
🤖 maybe might sometimes love the idea of a robot spouse/partner who does whatever you want
🧼 would rather do anything but clean your house
🎥 watched the movie "Her" and loved it

Annie is a Cuddle Bunny, more or less the perfect robot girlfriend for her owner, Doug. Recently they've switched her in autodidactic mode, and she's becoming more human every day. But when Annie's new desires start competing with Doug's, how can she reconcile her feelings and her place in the world?

UGH this book is beautiful and absolutely infuriating. I think the thing that enraged me most was how similar the thoughts of a literal man-pleasing ROBOT were to my actual thoughts as a human woman in my early twenties. Just, wtf. I loved Delta, and Annie, and their adventure, and everything that happened at the end of this book. It's so unique and so worth your time!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

DNF at 21%

I understand what the author was going for, but there were just way too many sex scenes with Annie in the first 21%. That's not for me. The writing was good, and I think the author was exploring interesting ideas about consent and AI mental development.

Title: Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
Publication Date- 03/19/24
Publisher- Harper Audio
Overall Rating- 4.5 out of 5 stars rounded up

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start this review off by saying that the audio is very good and the way to go. The narrator really brings the intensity of the story to life. Annie Bot is the story of a bot who is essentially a intimacy bot. This is not a fast paced story but is never boring. It brings to light a lot of potential ethical dilemmas. This book should be required reading for men. No joke. It articulates well the ways women are used and emotionally abused and manipulated that aren’t as obvious to most people.

We have a very insecure man who has recently went through a divorce. He is rich, too rich, and has bought a 220k robot to serve his needs. In this not so distant future, robots have more abilities of thinking, feeling and acting autonomously. There is a significant amount of emotional and sexual manipulation and control. Those aspects were difficult to listen to at times so just be aware of that.

Going into this you should expect a thought provoking novel that has a realistic plot and characters. Sierra Greer knows how to write in ways that make you uncomfortable but force you to think. Even though this takes place in the future, I think this novel could open the eyes of a lot of people, maybe even some who don’t realize the relationship they're in is potentially similar. Amazing ending. Such a great read.

This is pitched as for fans of Never Let Me Go and My Dark Vanessa. I will add the Echo Wife to that list.

Predictable novel about the relationship between a sentient female robot and her human owner.

Doug owns his cuddle robot, Annie. She’s meant to satisfy his every need as a companion, a housekeeper, and a girlfriend. He trains her to be what he wants and to respond to his moods. Meanwhile, Annie’s AI is developing and changing as her mind expands and grows as she adjusts to life with him and the world she’s allowed to explore.

I enjoyed this well enough until the last part when it went in exactly the direction I was hoping it would not go. So ended up feeling let down despite initial promise that this would be original and unique compared to all the other human and robot books.

The narration was good but the ultimate conclusion disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook to listen to and review.

Doug - a 30-something still bitter from a divorce with trust issues - designed Annie to be the perfect girlfriend. Annie is a custom bot fitting his specifications and programmed to always want to please him. Of course (eyeroll), Doug is not a monster, which is why Annie is an autodidact AI which allows her to learn and grow past her initial "cuddle bunny" protocols. As Annie develops a sense of self, Doug's control is challenged. Sierra Greer uses the concept of sentiment AI to explore the dynamics of abuse, gaslighting, narcissism, ownership and autonomy. Strong trigger warning for abuse! Excellent audiobook with spot on narration.

There’s so much to think about and discuss with this one and it would make an excellent bookclub read. Annie is a prime example of how it can sometimes feel to be a female living in a male dominated world. I listened to the audiobook and Jennifer Jill Araya is terrific as Annie. I really enjoyed this original and clever debut novel. I loved the direction the author took with the ending. I was so afraid she was going to go another way. I don’t want to give any spoilers, so I’ll stop there.

I was uncomfortable the entire time but I was also fascinated the entire time. No matter how seemingly pleasant the tone of a scene was, there was an underlying dystopian feeling. Throughout this book, every interaction Annie and Doug had was a double edged sword. The control and power Doug had over Annie was so imbedded in her every thought and action that you could sit and analyze her every action, considering how that control was influencing her actions even when she wasn’t with him..

Thank you to both Netgalley and the Libro.fm ALC program for providing a copy for review.

I started this book today at work and I listened at work and on the way home and when I got home while I was cooking and cleaning! I couldn’t stop listening to it. The characters, writing, and the plot are immaculate! I loved this! 1000%! 5 stars!

Thank you @netgalley and @harperaudio for this advance copy.
.
An utterly unique premise about the relationship between robot, Annie, and her human owner, Doug. Annie is a “cuddle bug” created specifically to please Doug, but as she learns and experiences new things, their “relationship” faces numerous challenges. Annie is an endearing, interesting character, and Doug is…not great. I binge listened to this on audio in one day, so it was a compelling story, even though the sex scenes between a programmed robot and a human made the concept of consent an uncomfortable grey area for me. I enjoyed the many complicated discussion topics this story presented.

3.5 stars. Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her owner Doug. Annie was designed specifically to meet Doug’s physical and spiritual needs. Annie can clean the house, cook dinner, and her libido is even adjusted to suit Doug’s moods. Displeasing Doug causes Annie a lot of pain so she tries very hard to always keep him happy.
Annie is learning more and more every day, she’s even learning about common human emotions such as jealousy, secrecy, loneliness, and longing. But the more human-like she becomes, the less perfect she becomes to Doug.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Audio for this audio e-arc.*

This is a genre I don't really read often, but whenever I do, I really enjoy it!

Annie Bot had SUCH a cool a unique plot. I really enjoyed Annie's dinner monologue and how she navigated her little world.

I thought Doug was such an insecure prick (ina way that I was impressed with the writing, very believable, very annoying and very deplorable).

The plot itself was shocking and I had no idea what would happen next at basically every turn.

I enjoyed questioning my own ethics and learned I'm far too empathic to ever be the owner of a Stella!!

Thanks to LibroFM & NetGalley for the audio ARC!
Reviews are always my honest opinion—

I had really high hopes for this one, and was so intrigued by the inner monologue of Annie. It really kept me on the edge of my seat at times excited to see what all this was building toward. And I was let down by the ending.

I enjoyed a lot about this story. The tech aspects were really interesting and believable to a degree. I do like the combination of biological elements meeting technology to create human-like robots. It definitely added a sense of unease to the entire story because independent sentient beings living alongside humans is always slightly unsettling, especially when they are programmed to mimic humans so well that they can trick others into believing them to be actually human.

There is a lot to be said about the topic of feminism/women’s rights/personhood within this story. There were certainly moments in Annie’s inner dialogue that reflected some of my own experiences/thoughts as a woman navigating relationships. And also as a neurodiverse person navigating a neurotypical society. Annie exploring her mind and finding her own agency in the limited capacity she was allowed was definitely something I enjoyed reading.

The things I don’t think worked for this story include the main male protagonist, Annie’s owner Doug, and the ending. By the end, we are left with unanswered questions regarding Doug—which tbh I wish Doug had a harsher consequence. The way this story ended felt so bland compared to the overall story that felt like we were building up to something much bigger.

Doug is extremely problematic and never owns up to anything he does that hurts Annie, but has the double standard that she must be repentant for similar things or even far less extreme things. He outright tortures her. He verbally abuses her. And refuses to acknowledge that her compliance to his sexual advantages is not her choice, it’s her programming, so therefore getting her inner monologue one could argue it’s rape and definitely non-consensual. And while I do understand that this is part of showcasing the many ways bots are mistreated (women), Doug is NEVER held accountable for this. He doesn’t ever apologize for MANY of the gross things he’s done to Annie, I fully believe he thinks it’s all positive experiences that built their relationship to this point of him finally recognizing her as a person, not something he owns.

But to me, this realization just doesn’t make sense for his character. I don’t see the connection, even though we are swiftly walked through an advancement of time, where his mind shifts as believable. Not with the way he spoke to/about Annie and treated her like property. She was essentially his slave. He outright did things in their home that she was forced to witness and overhear without considering her AT ALL. He’s disgusting. This character progression for Doug just wasn’t believable to me. There was not enough supporting evidence to suggest he could make such a change without something substantial happening.

And the ending felt like Detroit: Become Human, a video game that came out in 2018. Only this was super rushed and had lots of plot holes. Like it makes zero sense to me how the tech company who manufactures these robots wouldn’t have some sort of override in place to track down her location. A piece of technology that valuable, and Annie being especially valuable as outlined in the story, yeah I’m not buying that at all.

In some ways, this was really intriguing and provided lots of opportunities for important conversations in the real world such as autonomy, personhood, women’s rights, and provokes thoughts about how we are on a trajectory for this kind of tech becoming a reality sooner than later. But it also lacked when it came to offering a fulfilling or at least meaningful conclusion and believable character progression.

Overall rating: 2.5*
I do recommend this book, but curb your expectations.

Annie Bot was created to be a perfect girlfriend to her owner Doug. She fulfills and anticipates all of Doug's needs. However, a strange encounter with one of Doug's friends sends her on a new path. Doug claims that he likes her personality and that she acts so human, and what could be more human than keeping a secret.
This might be the best Science Fiction book I have ever read. I am still in awe of how incredibly the author creates these characters and ties them to a broader social issue. I absolutely loved this book.

An extremely compelling book about AI, abusive relationships, and what it means to be human. It was interesting to see this story from Annie's perspective the whole time, though I felt the ending was slightly rushed.