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another_dahlia's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, Sexual assault, Violence, Rape, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Confinement, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Death, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Body shaming and Vomit
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
This was a short one but it felt like it held a lot of weight. Not that it was terribly emotional in nature, but it felt emotional for me. Everything about the dynamic between Annie and her owner / "boyfriend" Doug made me feel really ill and I suppose that was the point. I also think you were supposed to empathize with him at points, but I really didn't. The feelings I felt just made my chest ache and I think that's the mark of excellent storytelling.
I also just really enjoyed that this was accessible sci-fi. the world is not overly complicated, and in fact very similar to our current world, but with human like robots you can buy if you're ridiculously rich. it wasn't hard to buy or to follow and I appreciated that a lot because a lot of what makes me not a sci-fi person is that I feel it can feel inaccessible to me as a genre.
The only thing missing for me is that it felt like there was a lot of time skips in the book and telling me what went on during the time period instead of showing me and I generally don't love when authors tell me things instead of showing me them. All in all though, great read.
I also just really enjoyed that this was accessible sci-fi. the world is not overly complicated, and in fact very similar to our current world, but with human like robots you can buy if you're ridiculously rich. it wasn't hard to buy or to follow and I appreciated that a lot because a lot of what makes me not a sci-fi person is that I feel it can feel inaccessible to me as a genre.
The only thing missing for me is that it felt like there was a lot of time skips in the book and telling me what went on during the time period instead of showing me and I generally don't love when authors tell me things instead of showing me them. All in all though, great read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Vomit, Slavery, Trafficking, Infidelity, Body shaming, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Rape
Moderate: Cancer and Death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Death of parent
kylieqrada's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I’m always interested in stuff about AI/robots and this didn’t disappoint! V interesting discussions about autonomy, personhood, domestic violence, misogyny and more. I especially vibed with the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault, Body shaming, Vomit, and Confinement
ndowen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Sexism, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Body shaming
juanat77's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Abandonment, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Rape, Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexism, Alcohol, Body shaming, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Cancer
jmherms's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting, Body shaming, and Domestic abuse
bellalunameow's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
swell_gal's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I love the concept of this book. I think the story was interesting. The themes of grappling with abuse were very well written. My main issue came from Annie as a robot powered by a highly evolved AI-driven program. She just read as so human. I know this is supposed to be where most of the ethical dilemma comes from, but I wish we were given more indications that she’s a robot, even if that’s just at the beginning and fades as she gains more humanity. For example, she scans Doug and can gauge his displeasure on a scale of 1-5. She can set her libido anywhere from 1-10, but there are no other metrics that she uses to evaluate situations (other than one scene at the beginning where she is able to log the messes around the house, including the exact number of crumbs on the counter). These kinds of features were very interesting to hear about, but it would have been interesting if she could gauge pupil dilation, heart rate, sweat, etc to understand human emotion on a purely analytical level.
This leads me to my second qualm with the book. We hear about how Annie was switched into Autodidact mode, but I with we could have experienced that switch with Annie. Maybe when she first became autodidact she was using additional sensors to place Doug’s exact mood and adapt accordingly, but as she gained humanity these sensors became less sensitive and she had to start using her understanding of him to place his moods?
The last piece of this book that I struggled with was the dropped storylines. Annie felt jealous of Delta when Doug first got her, but she never mentions that to the therapist? The only time that Doug “cheats” on Annie is when Tina comes over at the very end? What about the entire Delta storyline? What was the deal with the young man who found Annie in the park? Was he a Zenith? The whole “learning to code” storyline was dropped only to be offered a sentence at the very end? Annie needed such frequent maintenance visits at the beginning of the book and at the end she hadn’t gone for multiple months and runs away without another visit planned?
I did not dislike this book as much as this review makes it sound. But I just felt like the Robot/human angle could have been so much more.
This leads me to my second qualm with the book. We hear about how Annie was switched into Autodidact mode, but I with we could have experienced that switch with Annie. Maybe when she first became autodidact she was using additional sensors to place Doug’s exact mood and adapt accordingly, but as she gained humanity these sensors became less sensitive and she had to start using her understanding of him to place his moods?
The last piece of this book that I struggled with was the dropped storylines. Annie felt jealous of Delta when Doug first got her, but she never mentions that to the therapist? The only time that Doug “cheats” on Annie is when Tina comes over at the very end? What about the entire Delta storyline? What was the deal with the young man who found Annie in the park? Was he a Zenith? The whole “learning to code” storyline was dropped only to be offered a sentence at the very end? Annie needed such frequent maintenance visits at the beginning of the book and at the end she hadn’t gone for multiple months and runs away without another visit planned?
I did not dislike this book as much as this review makes it sound. But I just felt like the Robot/human angle could have been so much more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, and Body shaming
Minor: Alcohol and Transphobia
cinderellasbookshelf's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.75
Pub Date: March 19, 2024
“You don’t want to displease him do you?”
This book affected me so much that I read it twice. I went into ANNIE BOT thinking it would be the sort of story in the vein of movies like Her, Ex Machina, or Westworld. Instead, what I got out of it is an intricate and intriguing study of power, dominance, control, purpose and humanity. It’s a short book but with a lot of themes explored that I am still left reeling and contemplating what I just read.
Annie Bot is a human-like robot custom made by Doug Richards. She is one of many bots in the Stella-Handy line with her functions suited to any of her owner’s needs in order to please him. After an encounter greatly affects Annie’s cognition, she evolves and grows in ways that change her relationship with Doug and how she views herself and her purpose.
From the start, there is already a look into the idea of the male gaze and objectification, and a tip in the scale in that balance of power through Doug and Annie’s relationship. Doug controls every aspect of Annie from her appearance and actions to whom she’s allowed to talk to. He irked me and gave me such a major ick, but oddly I also felt sorry for him. It’s interesting how Greer peels back layers of his character in that he feels pathetic or a fraud for having a “doll” as a companion after his divorce, and maybe even guilty about owning her, but he also feels superior in teaching and controlling her.
Where the book takes a shift is how Annie perceives Doug and her own wants, affecting her sentience, and that it’s more complicated than how she feels about him, but how she is also tethered to him. She wants to please him, but she also wants more and in understanding herself. There’s a push and pull between them with intimacy used as a power play and where they stand with her as a bot and him as her owner. I felt concerned and empathetic of Annie’s plight that I couldn’t predict where the story would go.
I’ve only just scratched the surface, but I don’t want to spoil anything. I hope Sierra Greer continues to write more books like this and about the future because I want to read them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Body shaming, and Sexual content
Moderate: Bullying and Abandonment
Minor: Vomit and Infidelity
hheartbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
Moderate: Cancer, Torture, and Death of parent