"Slyly profound... a brilliant pas de deux." — New York Times Book Review

"All the best stories about artificial intelligence hinge on identity: Do our memories define us? Do our bodies represent who we are? Annie Bot, astonishingly, finds new ways to ask these well-worn questions. I kept reading Annie Bot way after bedtime, partly to see if Annie could escape from her prison, but also because every few pages there was an observation that made me think about both A.I. and human relationships anew." — Washington Post

"Fun [and] unsettling." — People

"Fascinating… I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Annie Bot and the mirror it shines on the way women are treated in our society since I tore through it a few months ago." — Glamour

"Searing...dazzling...a coming-of-age thriller, a sexbot bildungsroman page-turner, a book that I excitedly described to anyone who would listen while I was reading it." — Scientific American

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

"I don’t think I’ve ever read a book as unique as Annie Bot... So eye-opening, it sparks conversation. It’s the perfect book club pick." — New York Post

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

“Haunting and achingly luminous, Annie Bot is a powerful manifesto for the radical discomfort and necessity of pleasing and living for yourself. Greer brilliantly shows us the futility of relationships when one person is deemed inferior, examines the ways men and women socialize one another, and raises questions about whether the contours of love and womanhood are actually captivity. I fell in love with Annie Bot, one of the realest women I have ever encountered.” — Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty

"A brilliant and enraging exploration of ownership and love, and the way our creations have of growing far beyond us. Sierra Greer raises questions as current and pressing as our present-day anxieties about AI, and as ageless and enormous as the territory of Mary Shelley, about what constitutes humanity and what we owe to each other. Annie is a glorious creation— and self-creation— and I will never forget her, or this sharp and astonishing book." — Clare Beams, author of The Illness Lesson

"Darkly clever." — Harper's Bazaar

"Come for the sex doll. Stay for the heartbreak of what it means to be human. Sexy, scary, and humane — Annie Bot is the authentic girlfriend experience." — Ivy Pochoda, author of Sing Her Down

"Barbie for girls who like Aphex Twin." — Sheena Patel, author of I'm a Fan

"Riveting, shocking, can’t-look-away sci-fi on steroids. I was absolutely mesmerized with my heart in my throat!" — Frances Cha, author of If I Had Your Face

"What is love without autonomy? Honesty when one partner's sole desire is to please? Sierra Greer's riveting debut sketches an intimate and unsettling portrait of relationship power dynamics in a near-future when humans own conscious AI companions. A timely and provocative exploration of power and romantic relationships that will stay with you long after you finish the last page, Annie Bot probes the depths of identity and intimacy and asks what it means to recognize the humanity in others and in ourselves. Sierra Greer is a fierce new voice in speculative fiction." — Lauren Nossett, award-winning author of The Resemblance

"This nuanced novel provides a fascinating look into a future we may never wish for." — Booklist (starred review)

"Provocative and powerful." — Kirkus Reviews

"An intricate, intimate look at the fundamentals of human relationships...unflinching in its examination of humanity." — Library Journal

“Greer’s take on human-AI relationships captivates.” — Publishers Weekly

“A book to hold close to your heart when the walls start closing in.” — Washington Post

Underneath this high-tech premise is a sharp and smart exploration of misogyny, toxic masculinity, selfhood, and self-determination. A brilliant pas de deux, grappling with ideas of freedom and identity while depicting a perverse relationship in painful detail.”

2024-01-20
A robot’s sentience chafes against her programming’s restraints.

Using shells grown from abandoned human embryos and proprietary central intelligence units (CIUs), the Stella-Handy company manufactures male and female bots (Handys and Stellas) that can be programmed to provide their owners with housekeeping services, child care, and intimacy. As a Stella set to “Cuddle Bunny,” Annie should exist solely to satisfy her wealthy owner, Doug; that clarity of purpose is complicated, however, by the fact that, a year and a half ago, Doug placed Annie in autodidactic mode. Though Annie’s self-guided quest for knowledge and growth does make her seem more human, it occasionally conflicts with her prime directive—a situation evidenced when Doug’s best friend, Roland, pays a surprise visit. After Doug falls asleep, Roland convinces Annie to have sex with him and not tell Doug: “A secret will make you real,” he says. Doug has a history of doling out vindictive punishments when Annie upsets him, so when he discovers her infidelity, she flees, terrified he’ll erase her CIU or turn her off. But even if she finds someone willing and able to deactivate her tracking feature, the question remains: Can Annie survive in this world without Doug? Greer’s tale unfolds courtesy of a close third-person-present narrative that beautifully captures the way Annie experiences life, at once as a computer and as an emotionally intelligent being. The nuanced plot titillates while sensitively exploring issues of consent, self-empowerment, and domestic abuse.

Provocative and powerful.