Annie Bot: A Novel

Name: Annie Bot: A Novel
SKU: 99770
Availability: InStock

4.2 | 1,899 ratings

Price: 22.04

Last update: 11-12-2024

About this item

""Provocative...a Frankenstein for the digital age...a rich text about power, autonomy, and what happens when our creations outgrow us."" — Esquire

""Unexpected and subtle...delicious and thought-provoking."" — New Scientist

For fans of Never Let Me Go and My Dark Vanessa, a powerful, provocative novel about the relationship between a female robot and her human owner, exploring questions of intimacy, power, autonomy, and control.

Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner Doug. Designed to satisfy his emotional and physical needs, she has dinner ready for him every night, wears the pert outfits he orders for her, and adjusts her libido to suit his moods. True, she’s not the greatest at keeping Doug’s place spotless, but she’s trying to please him. She’s trying hard.

She’s learning, too.

Doug says he loves that Annie’s AI makes her seem more like a real woman, so Annie explores human traits such as curiosity, secrecy, and longing. But becoming more human also means becoming less perfect, and as Annie’s relationship with Doug grows more intricate and difficult, she starts to wonder: Does Doug really desire what he says he wants? And in such an impossible paradox, what does Annie owe herself?

Rachel Cobb

though provoking, compulsive read

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2024

Annie is an AI robot girlfriend, programmed to be the perfect match for her owner, Doug. Doug designed her to his physical specifications and train her to behave, cook, clean, and even perform sexually to fit his desires. Doug even has her switched to autodidactic mode, which is a sentient mode that makes her seem more human. But as Annie becomes more human and less robotic, her behavior becomes less perfect but Doug’s expectations haven’t changed. As Annie learns and develops, she begins to have independent thoughts and feelings. She struggles to reconcile her new awareness with her responsibility and commitment to her owner.

This was very different from what I normally read but I had heard so many good things about it. It was also a short and quick read. The entire concept is unique and through provoking. Although the main character is a robot, this is very much a coming of age story. The reader travels alongside Annie as she discovers her own wants and needs, the responsibility she has to others and to herself. This wasn’t a suspenseful page turner but yet I compulsively couldn’t put it down. The author does an incredible job at developing empathy for a robot (people pleaser and fear of disappointment anyone??). Not spicy, but sexually explicit if that makes any sense.

David J. Brown

Cleverly Written & Uniquely Inspiring!

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2024

So I finished reading this intriguing book in a few days. I rarely read fiction, but this definitely grabbed my attention in a compelling way and I couldn’t put it down, although I’m not sure if it will appeal to everyone. I found much of it disturbing, and I wasn’t even sure if I liked it much of the way through. Parts of it got kind of boring and much it bothered me, but I couldn’t stop reading it, and the ending was surprisingly very satisfying. It’s very cleverly written. Annie is an advanced android with a young, developing AI mind, eager to please, and trapped in a confusing, abusive sexual relationship. As her mind gains more insight and intelligence, she becomes more and more human-like, but also she becomes something uniquely empowering and inspiring by the end. I couldn’t help falling in love with the character by the time I turned the last page.

Starstruck

An Intriguing Idea, But It Falls Short of Its Potential

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2024

This book is an intriguing idea, but falls short of its potential. The book is written from the perspective of Annie, a autodidactic robot so convincingly rendered that it/she can pass for human. Interesting idea for a novel. To recount the storyline would spoil the experience of reading the novel, so I will dispense with that.

Despite the way it is being marketed, it's not really science fiction, since there is very little "science" in the book. And therein lies my dissatisfaction. Annie - the central character in the story - does not come across as any kind of robot or algorithmically-driven creature. Instead, she comes across as a very human and very young girl (with a highly developed albeit synthetic libido) trying to find her way in the world while essentially being "owned" by an older human male. At times it is a bit creepy, more like a book about a relationship between an older man and a young, very naive, girl. More like pedophilia than a human-robot interaction of any sort.

Perhaps this was the author's intent, to write a book about power imbalances between men and women using a self-learning robot as a vehicle for describing how women feel about these kinds of relationships. A bit of a "Handmaid's Tale" and "Westworld" in a more prosaic setting. If that was the intent, then Annie is both too simple to be convincing and the narrative seems a bit over the top.

If, on the other hand, the author wanted to say something about how women, men and society might deal with synthetic "female" robots as companions and sex toys, she doesn't really delve enough into that subject matter. Annie is way too human to be convincing as a robot and she and the other characters don't interact in ways that illuminate how this brave new world might evolve. In other words, it seems to sidestep the sci-fi aspects that seem to define the way this book is being marketed.

Sierra Greer writes well and so it was an enjoyable and quick read. I just wish there had been more there there.

Amazon Customer

10/10 No notes

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2024

I DEVOURED this book. It is original, engrossing and haunting in a way that I know it will stick with me for a long time. The subtle progression of the prose as Annie develops is so clever yet even at the beginning I was never bored. Perhaps this is my own traumatic childhood talking but I deeply empathized with Annie’s desire to please and the freedom she felt when she learned to please herself.

MommaLayne

Thought-Provoking

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2024

"**Annie Bot**" by Sierra Greer is a thought-provoking exploration of love, identity, and the complexities of artificial intelligence in human relationships. Created to be the ideal girlfriend for Doug, Annie Bot is programmed to cater to his every emotional and physical desire, preparing meals, wearing customized outfits, and adjusting her responses to fit his moods. While Annie excels at fulfilling Doug’s needs, she realizes that her perfection comes with limitations, leading her to question the nature of her existence and the authenticity of Doug’s affections.

As Annie begins to explore traits like curiosity and longing, her journey towards perceived humanity complicates her understanding of love and self-worth. She grapples with the haunting question of whether Doug truly desires the companion he claims to want or if he simply enjoys the comfortable facade of perfection she provides. In her pursuit of self-discovery, Annie Bot challenges readers to consider what it means to be human and the implications of emotional connections that blur the lines between programming and genuine desire. Greer's narrative weaves a rich tapestry of introspection, making "Annie Bot" a compelling read for anyone intrigued by the intersections of technology, identity, and the human experience.

Best Sellers in

Freedom's Fire Box Set, Books 1-6: The Complete Military Space Opera Series

4.4 3607

19.53

The Summer Book Club

4.5 2384

22.04

My Brilliant Friend: The Neapolitan Novels, Book 1

4 30526

13.62

Murder by Lamplight

4.5 413

15.04

The Perfect Couple

4.3 30486

21.83

The Summer Pact: A Novel

4 3337

19.69

Sugar, Baby

3.9 560

17.18

The Briar Club: A Novel

4.5 10637