Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

102 reviews

kfrawrylion's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Confinement, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Physical abuse

mandi_lea's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Infidelity, Fatphobia, Cancer, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Body shaming, Confinement, and Death of parent

baguettekelly's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

3.75

Ex Machina vibes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

frances_frances's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It was with some reluctance that I started this book. The premise felt overdone and I was wary of another story where the relationship between an infantilized dependent and a more powerful person goes unexamined and normalizes/romanticizes such power imbalances (think the movies Splash and Overboard). Refreshingly, Annie Bot wasn't like that at all. The entire book is interrogating power dynamics, autonomy, and personhood. Annie isn't childlike. It's true that she isn't familiar with human culture, but she isn't depicted as naive or helpless, just learning. There were many difficult scenes that were often understated or subtly creepy/tense. It felt realistic and conveyed the insidious nature of intimate abuse. A great book club pick

My favorite passage from page 229:
She has to laugh at herself. She does not know the most basic guidelines for a life. Despite Doug's constant guiding and correcting, she knows nothing of value. He taught her to yawn and stretch. He trained her to clean right. He locked her in the closet with her libido jacked up to ten. He loved her enough to want to raise a family with her. He expected her to lie about herself forever. 

And then he set her free so she could love him?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Body shaming

Minor: Eating disorder and Vomit

evelikesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Torture

thebookmarkedmama's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Fantastic ending!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment

karenleagermain's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Annie Bot is a force. The story is simplistic in plot, but nuanced and rich in character development. Annie is a "cuddle bunny"- a sex/companion robot that was purchased by Doug. In many ways, Annie resembles Doug's ex-girlfriend, a relationship that he still feels bitterness towards.

Annie has been programed to fulfill Doug's wishes, but she is also an experimental robot. With Doug's knowledge, her manufacturers are testing out giving Annie a bit of freedom to develop her own thoughts. She will potentially be a prototype for other robots. This means that Annie does not always make the choices that Doug wants her too and it complicates their relationship.

Annie Bot was such a compelling story. It's also really hard. Greer makes it clear that the reader should have a connection with Annie and view her as more than a machine. Annie is a very empathetic character and it is very difficult to read the scenes where Doug is abusing her. Doug is very cruel and abusive. This story is about control and domestic abuse.

Annie is a machine that Doug has purchases and as such, he dresses her, can manipulate her weight, tell her how to wear make-up, how to act...he even controls the level of her libido. However, even as a machine, Annie has enough awareness to suffer. She is cognizant enough to push-back against her programming, but her programming is still a powerful force to make her want to always please Doug. I hurt for Annie.

Annie Bot is a powerful story that has stayed with me for weeks. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Very strong scenes of verbal and physical domestic abuse. The abuse is from a human to a human-like robot, but the reader will likely feel so connected to the robot character that it is impossible to think of her as a machine.

hgullegrogan's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed the story. Annie's voice is illuminating, and the ideas woven into this story are interesting to ponder. I have mixed feelings about the ending, which is why I didn't rate it higher.

I like that Annie earned her freedom, but I feel that Doug and Cody's characters did a complete 180 without the supporting proof of their character growth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault and Domestic abuse

theoceanrose's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse

amina_writes_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I wish the author had studied up on AI and how the field of general intelligence is progressing to better inform her on slight behaviors that make little Sense. Feminist cues way too on the nose. Some other philosophical and societal commentary that was also too obviously made. Some really interesting insights nonetheless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Classism, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Slavery, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder