Publishers Weekly
11/27/2023
This edgy, high-tech bedroom comedy from Greer (the Birthmarked trilogy, written as Caragh M. O’Brien) follows a glitchy sexbot and her wealthy owner, Doug. Custom-designed from eye color to cup size, Annie is programmed to please, even ramping up her body temperature from a battery-saving 75 degrees to a cozy 98.6 whenever she senses Doug getting in the mood, which is about every other page. But Annie is an “autodidactic” model, and her ability to self-teach has her dabbling in computer programming and experimenting with free will, including a tryst with Doug’s best friend. When Doug finds out, their relationship turns (even more) toxic, and Annie flees to Lake Champlain to find Jacobson, the technician who programmed her, hoping he can help. But Jacobson has other plans—he wants to implant Annie’s uniquely advanced Central Intelligence Unit into a facsimile of his son who was killed in war. The robot science is scant (there’s more about Annie’s skimpy outfits than her wiring) and the plot is slow to boil, but Greer’s take on human-AI relationships captivates (some of the best scenes are of Annie and Doug in couples therapy) while avoiding the overdone trope of androids longing for consciousness. Annie knows who she is; it’s the human who turns out to be the “fraud.” There’s lots to chew on. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
"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
"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
"Fun [and] unsettling." — People
"Provocative...a Frankenstein for the digital age...a rich text about power, autonomy, and what happens when our creations outgrow us." — Esquire
"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
"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
Library Journal
10/01/2023
DEBUT Annie is an android, designed to meet her owner's specifications and programmed to please him in every way. Doug wants a replacement for his ex-wife and encourages Annie to learn and develop her artificial intelligence to be a perfect girlfriend for him. He changes Annie's settings to allow her to be autodidactic and to learn and develop human traits of curiosity, desire, and secrecy. Then a chance visit from a friend introduces new concepts to Doug and Annie's seemingly idyllic relationship: jealousy, suspicion, and anxiety. As Annie learns and becomes more human, she begins to question her own existence. How does she feel about being owned? What is the true nature of love? Does she have a right to freedom? The next generation in a long line of retellings of Ovid's Pygmalion myth, Greer's novel presents an intricate, intimate look at the fundamentals of human relationships. Easily accessible for general readers and science fiction aficionados alike, the book reflects the transformation of Annie into a complex emotional being. VERDICT Unflinching in its examination of humanity, Greer's debut novel is a must-buy for libraries.—Lydia Fletcher
MARCH 2024 - AudioFile
At a moment when stories across genres are interrogating how AI and humanity will coexist, Jennifer Jill Araya's performance in this robot-led tale is a standout. Annie is a Cuddle Bunny, a sentient AI in a near-perfect human body designed to meet her owner Doug's every need. But as she reads, learns, and experiences new things, she becomes increasingly aware of her potential for agency, especially in relation to Doug's controlling, abusive behavior. Annie questions how autonomy functions within such a dynamic--and whether autonomy belongs to her at all. Araya's enthralling portrayal of Annie and gruff portrayal of Doug make listeners empathize with the robot and fear the boyfriend. Araya provides a powerful performance about gender dynamics, power, and what it means to be human. A.A.H. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
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.
