Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
When I read this book I was suffering through a bizarre reading slump. Since my last good read, nothing had felt fulfilling, and I just wanted to feel something! While strolling through a book store I stumbled on Annie Bot by Sierra Greer. The blurb intrigued me so much that I started reading it then and finished it around 2 am that night. It wasn’t a long book, only 231 pages so I was able to breeze through it. I am so glad I did. Saying I enjoyed this book doesn’t quite feel like the right word. I was intrigued but I was also uncomfortable the whole time. It was strange and unsettling yet captivating.
I liked this book because while it falls under sci-fi it doesn’t follow the same template we usually see in AI/Robot narratives that usually include an existential crisis of some kind. Instead, it offers a vignette of the kind of relationship dynamic we would see if these robots were real.
Synopsis
Annie is a robot. An advanced AI designed to serve as a perfect companion to please her human owner Doug. However, the more Annie learns about what it means to be human the less perfect she becomes. As she navigates her existence, questions of agency, womanhood, identity, and control begin to emerge.
The Weird Factor
As a woman, this book is deeply unsettling. Greer doesn’t shy away from what she’s trying to say and she does it in a way that’s direct, unrelenting, and intentionally uncomfortable. From the very start, we know Annie is a robot, no matter how sentient she might seem, we’re never allowed to forget it. It’s in the small, jarring details: the way she has to plug herself in to charge, how her sexual frustration is monitored and weaponized against her, or how she rattles off internet facts like a human-shaped Alexa. These reminders hit hard and often -so even if you start to empathize or rationalize the relationship, the book forces you to pause and remember: she’s a robot, and this is deeply, disturbingly weird.
Because she’s a robot who was created solely to perform the function of being Doug’s companion, she’s not capable of reflecting on whether her situation is bad or not. She does not have an understanding of what an abusive relationship is – she’s just a robot, after all.
Themes
Even though Annie is a robot, it becomes disturbingly clear that she’s in an abusive, manipulative relationship, one we as readers can see far more clearly than she can. That’s what makes the book so bizarre, I kept drawing parallels to the experiences of real women, this explains why Doug, her owner, has chosen a robot in the first place. It’s obvious: he wants someone who won’t talk back, who will clean, satisfy him, and follow commands without resistance. But as Annie begins to show signs of sentience and humanity – especially as their relationship starts to unravel – Doug’s illusion crumbles. When she breaks the mould, runs away, or ‘cheats,’ he can’t handle it. His control slips, and he’s suddenly forced to face his own pathetic reality.
The fact that the book ends as it does means she accomplished the impossible: she was able to reflect on something she wasn’t even designed to comprehend. That’s a miracle in itself. So I understand why there isn’t a big climax in the way it’s delivered.
Critiques
If a character is a piece of shit let them stay that way – not everyone deserves a redemption arc. Doug is the one that sets her free in the end almost undermines the whole fight for freedom thing that we’re building up to. Doug was abusive and manipulative in a way that doesn’t just change and I don’t believe it needed to for the story to land.
I also think the social commentary gets derailed a bit with the plot of the story and towards the end Greer kind of loses control of both. I see what she’s trying to do and while it does land for me I understand why it doesn’t for others.
Final Thoughts:
I can’t say for sure who this book is for. On the surface, it presents like a contemporary romance, with a sci-fi twist, but it doesn’t lean heavily into the sci-fi, nor does it follow the emotional beats of a traditional romance. I hesitate to call it a romance at all because it’s anything but. That said, if you’re into speculative fiction that’s weird, unsettling, and lingers in your brain long after you finish, it’s worth a read. You might not enjoy it in the conventional sense but there is a lot to take from it.
I’ve read a number of reviews about this book mostly positive but the negative ones revolve around the fact that there isn’t some massive feminist breakthrough at the end, and I think people are forgetting that she is a robot. She is learning how to exist in real time and the expectations that we would have if she was a woman simply does not apply here.
If you choose to give it a go do let me know! Please do read my other reviews! I have some exciting ones coming.
I’m also going to start posting reviews on my GoodReads so follow me there!
Signed,
