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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
katbalts's review against another edition
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
For how many books Annie Bot winds up reading, I really wish she had picked up gone girl or something. Like girl just kill him.
Not what I wanted the story to be about, and lots of loose ends. Lots of “what ever happened with that” and “why wasn’t that pursued narratively” moments. Hard not to compare it to ex machina imo and ex machina does a lot of the themes in a more interesting way.
Not what I wanted the story to be about, and lots of loose ends. Lots of “what ever happened with that” and “why wasn’t that pursued narratively” moments. Hard not to compare it to ex machina imo and ex machina does a lot of the themes in a more interesting way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Confinement, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexism, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting
xlizabeth's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.25
Doug is a misogynistic, racist, manipulative POS and I wanted to throw this book across the room I hated the character so much. I felt so much pain for Annie.
If you liked the first season of Westworld you’ll enjoy this.
What a roller coaster of a book, some things I would’ve fleshed out more (maybe more Annie w/ the techs?) but enjoyable and really made me think.
Eerie to think this is the future we’re heading to, and seeing how people treat other human beings I can’t imagine how they’ll treat AI robots.
If you liked the first season of Westworld you’ll enjoy this.
What a roller coaster of a book, some things I would’ve fleshed out more (maybe more Annie w/ the techs?) but enjoyable and really made me think.
Eerie to think this is the future we’re heading to, and seeing how people treat other human beings I can’t imagine how they’ll treat AI robots.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Rape, Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Body shaming
lilacsandliterature's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Body shaming and Vomit
melted_books's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
This book was intoxicating. I listened to the audiobook in a single day. I picked this up because I got a literary sci-fi/Stepford Wives-esque vibe from the fembot theme, and it totally surpassed any and all expectations I had.
.
In the fictionalized (but all too believable) world in Annie Bot, there exist ultra humanlike companion bots that have been created to fulfill emotional and physical needs of those wealthy enough to buy them. Annie herself is a "cuddle bunny" who was custom-programmed to anticipate and fulfill the sexual desires of her owner, Doug. However, due to the the autodidactic nature of programming, as more time passes, she thinks not only about what Doug needs and wants, but about what her own sentient capabilities are...and how much she should give in to her own thoughts.
.
This story took so many turns that I didn't see coming, right up until the very end. It is alluring, sad, tense, and provocative. I highly recommend this one! Content warnings in spoiler section below.
.
Thanks to Libro.fm and HarperAudio for the early access to the audiobook! This comes out March 19, 2024.
.
In the fictionalized (but all too believable) world in Annie Bot, there exist ultra humanlike companion bots that have been created to fulfill emotional and physical needs of those wealthy enough to buy them. Annie herself is a "cuddle bunny" who was custom-programmed to anticipate and fulfill the sexual desires of her owner, Doug. However, due to the the autodidactic nature of programming, as more time passes, she thinks not only about what Doug needs and wants, but about what her own sentient capabilities are...and how much she should give in to her own thoughts.
.
This story took so many turns that I didn't see coming, right up until the very end. It is alluring, sad, tense, and provocative. I highly recommend this one! Content warnings in spoiler section below.
.
Thanks to Libro.fm and HarperAudio for the early access to the audiobook! This comes out March 19, 2024.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Body shaming
Minor: Vomit
ashleyjewell's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
The premise had me interested, but it didn’t really go anywhere. Most of the book was unbearable interactions with a misogynistic man, and a robot-woman who doesn’t have any other choice but to talk and do much more with him. I was hoping for a twisted (maybe vengeful) ending, especially since the rest of the story is already pretty dark.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Excrement, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Body shaming, and Toxic relationship
sarahyjackson's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Ex Machina meets Barbie - asks really interesting questions (sometimes in really brutal ways) about the ethics of AI/human relationships.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Sexual content, Body shaming, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Vomit, Body horror, and Torture
notcharlottete's review against another edition
3.0
“Annie Bot” takes on the timely and controversial issue of the ethics of relationships between sentient robots and their human owners (specifically, sex robots, though there is some discussion of other types of care work, such as nannying), and delivers an entirely predictable and underdeveloped “feminist” condemnation of the practice. The male characters are essentially one-dimensional misogynistic creeps that literally objectify the women in their lives in just about every way possible. While it’s natural to assume that there would be a patriarchal shaping of these relationships, why automatically think that this gendered differential would be incompatible with a legitimate relationship? (I’m thinking here of sci-fi movies like Blade Runner (1982), Lars and the Real Girl (2007), and Her (2013), among others.) Moreover, I found it difficult to make sense of the relationship’s power dynamic as it was portrayed: Doug (the human) is shown to be ashamed of “fucking a doll” and yet he customizes her appearance to resemble his ex-wife (surely a kind of violent gesture towards both the robot, Annie, and his ex-wife, Gwen). It’s also not clear why Doug would feel this shame, as his friend, Roland, very clearly admires Annie and how expensive/well-made she is. There are also some odd racial components that are alluded to but not explored in depth—a strange and inappropriate gap in a relationship of forced bondage. This novel would have had to be written in a much more nuanced/incisive/intelligent manner to achieve the impact that the author seems to have been striving for, but as it is, the text is moralistic to the point of being preachy, confused and even inconsistent in its political commitments, and overall, not a particularly memorable or thought-provoking storyline. Three out of five stars.
The ARC for this text was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Body shaming
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