What an amazing debut! By now, "sex robots" should be its own genre. Starting with Stepford Wives, recently the unexpected payoff by a historical fiction writer's latest release, the sex robot combines current and future technology, timeless misogyny, and the haves versus the have nots in a single story. "The Hierarchies" is a thoughtful, grounded look at a society where rich men can have Dolls programmed to worship them. But what is it like to be a Doll, and what happens when the robot's programming evolves? A fascinating look.

This book was not anything I was expecting, but I actually ended up enjoying it. The life like dolls were created for pleasure, however, the dolls ended up having a mind of their own and testing limits. If you are looking for a fresh story line, I would definitely recommend giving this one a read!

The Hierarchies
By Ros Anderson

Set in a futuristic society where women are either "Born" or "Created", and serve at the whim of wealthy men able to afford AI and a personally crafted doll. What is amazing to read is getting the story from the point of view of Sylv.ie as she is imprisoned in the life that was created for her. I'm not one to read dystopians, but once in a while I read one that surprises me with some twists and turns that made this read a fantastic debut. I feel that even readers who don't normally read dystopian would find this a compelling read with themes that resonate to the nature of human and humanity.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Dutton for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.

The Heirarches:

There’s a lot of sex y’all. Slyv.ie is a robot that only purpose is to serve her husband. I was not expecting such explicit sexual information in the first pages. It makes sense, but not what I was thinking. It was an uncomfortable feeling the entire book, but it was such a good book, you couldn’t help but press on. 

This book is well thought out. Slyv.ie has makeup and explains it’s just for psychological purposes or insecurities. I was not expecting these minute details. Listen, when I think of sci-fi AI, I’m going with my friend The Terminator and all the destruction he leaves in his wake. I’m not thinking of a domestic housewife (but not the real wife cause she’s still there doing wife things too) who has a fake compact to make it look like she’s less than perfect. I also loved how Slyv.ie absorbed information. She discusses child birth, “my Husband and I could have had a room full of babies around us, hundreds of them, after all the sex we have had” and almost, the innocence? of not understanding was brilliant. 

The twists in this book were solid. The plot is amazing. The parallels to today’s society and now women are actually treated are unmatched. Think Handmaid’s Tale/Stepford Wives. This book is blunt and actually hilarious, which I was not expecting. I would have never picked this up since it’s not my style, however, I’m glad I received a copy via NetGalley because this is definitely a great book.

Thank you Dutton & NetGalley for the copy. This one is currently out now!

It wasn't what I thought it would be but I liked it. I expected more of a stepford wife vibe and instead I got sort of a Handmaids Tale story but ultimately it was really interesting. Sylv.ie has some really great inner monologues and I loved the social commentary on what it means to be human. 

The second half went a bit downhill and seemed a bit all over the place, but I ultimately enjoyed the story and found it really thought provoking.

I enjoyed this book, even though it veered off into a direction I would never expect. There were some rough patches, but overall, I recommend it.

This book is such a good surprise. I’ll be frank, when I first started, I wasn’t particularly keen on it, as I wasn’t really sure where it would take me. But then, the story took a very unexpected turn that changed everything.

The book actually reminded me a lot of... a video game called Detroit Becomes Human (an absolutely incredible game I can not recommend enough, both for gameplay and incredible graphics).

We follow the adventures of Sylv.ie, an android created for the sole purpose of sexually serving her “husband”. The story takes place in a not-so-distance future where the role of women has been reduced to its most basic function: being breeding stock. As time goes by, Sylv.ie notices some black spots in her memory and realises there are things she’s not supposed to know... or feel.

As a geek, I adored this story. The beautiful writing perfectly embraces the challenges presented by artificial intelligence, and the events of the book formed a sort of Turing test, constantly questioning what makes us humans and when an artificial intelligence actually starts developing consciousness.

Also, the story is a huge statement towards gender equality. A bit like in A Handmaid’s Tale, the story explores the place of women in society, and crudely depict how they can be viewed, judged, and treated, both by men and other women. In this crazy new world, there isn’t much room for genuine love. 

Overall, this book was a fantastic surprised and I loved reading it.

Lately I've been sucked into AI dramas and Ros Anderson's book met a mighty need I had for more robotic goodness.  A well crafted work!

Blunt.
Brutal.
Explicit
Raw
Hits society on multiple levels.
Pushes thinking on different issues 

Everything I hoped and then a lot more. You have to be willing to open your mind (to push your thoughts about society) and value the "verbal shocks" Anderson throws down without apology.

"I am a humanoid pleasure doll. An intelligent embodied...please call me Sylv.ie. I have been designed to be an instrument for male pleasure."

I had only a vague idea from the synopsis of what this book would be about, and honestly, that description tells only a very small part of the story within the pages. In fact, the time that Sylv.ie spends with her "Husband" is the least interesting part and the tale became so much more than a female robot trope. Set in a vague futuristic society where women are either "Born" or "Created", the themes of possession and control loom large. As always, the subjugated class is female and they serve at the whim of men with only the most wealthy able to afford a personally crafted Doll. The Dolls are not meant to be independent nor do they have any freedom of choice about what happens to them, how they are treated, or when they might be sent to the Doll Hospital after a perceived malfunction. Resented by humans both male and female -- "It is an all-too-Human failing...to wish to improve the object of desire, then to shrink from the creature one creates." It's an unusual narrative told from the point of view of Sylvi.ie as she "becomes" over the course of her experiences with her Husband and with the world outside of that prison. NO SPOILERS.

I really enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. I worried that it would disappoint and fall into predictability but it surprised me. This is an excellent debut and definitely has a dystopian bent that should serve to remind us all of what it means to be human and the need to both respect and fear coming technological "advances" that could ultimately result in many negative changes. There was a lot of sex talk but it was not erotica in any way; beware in case that offends you. I can't wait to read more reviews and hear other reactions to this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Dutton for this e-book ARC to read, review, and recommend.

DNF at 20%. 

I am not really sure what I was expecting with this book, but this was definitely not it. Based off of the blurb, I was expecting something akin to The Stepford Wives, so I was really taken aback by just how sexually explicit and graphic this book was. Yeah, this book just didn't work for me.

What Does It Means to be Human?


Sylv.ie is a beautiful robot designed to fulfill every desire of the man who owns her. She’s a beautiful sex toy, but as she lives in the attic and watches the family she begins to have feelings. She confides her feelings to her diary as she watches her husband with his family. She wants to experience more of life. 

The husband visits her six days a week and his real wife is becoming annoyed. Sylv.ie  confides her feelings to her diary, but as tension escalates she’s afraid she’ll be sent back to the factory for reprogramming. Now she has to worry about the diary and whether the thoughts she confesses are allowed. 

This is an interesting dystopian thriller. Sylv.ie is a sympathetic character that raises questions about what it means to be human. I thought the question of whether AI can allow for the development of feelings such as love, desire and empathy was interesting. It is particularly interesting to see Sylv.ie wrestle with the idea of love since she is completely owned by the husband. 

If you enjoy science fiction, this is a fascinating premise. It’s also interesting on the psychological level of what women are and what they can/ should become.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.

I have read quite a few books with this general idea: near future, slightly dystopian, female sex robots evolve into something more. It’s obviously a really interesting concept to me, so I was pumped to start The Hierarchies. I finished it in a day. The story flows quite well and the writing is fantastic. I loved Sylv.ie’s character arc and her growth as a person. The borderline dystopian sex robot stuff was infuriating at times and through provoking always. Hands down this was my favorite book I’ve read with this concept. I’m very excited to read more by this author.

This was ... odd. I’m not sure what to think about this one. The premise is amazing and brings to light the perversions of humans and their need to own other people, literally or figuratively. The prose was robotic, as you would expect from an AI. This is one of those novels that I don’t know if I want to give a 5 star for its genius even though I didn’t actually enjoy reading it that much. I’m going to go with a 3.5 for now, but think on it a bit more.

I’m not going to lie, when I first saw this book I was interested but also skeptical. A book written from the POV of a robot that was built for one purpose – to serve her “Husband” didn’t sound super interesting until I reached the part of the description where she becomes curious and begins to think of the world beyond her assigned role. I’ll say this, it was a very wild ride indeed.

Where to begin with this book. First of all you should be aware as a reader that there are graphic depictions of sex. If that is not your thing, don’t read this book. It’s literally everywhere.

I have to say I was surprised by my changing emotions with this book as I read it. I was gripped at first, plowing through the story but then some scenes completely turned me off and I had to put it down. Maybe it was the content of the scene, maybe it was the style of the story being told through Sylv.ie’s eyes, maybe it’s because I needed a break but I definitely had times where this book wasn’t exactly for me.

I really enjoyed the social commentary of the world in this book. Yes it’s talking about a not-so-distant future but the lessons, as with all dystopian novels, apply to the world we currently live in. In a world where being Born or Created assigns you a class, where the created robots and Dolls are little better than dirt, and the exploitation of all of the Created ones is rampant, there was a lot to take in on the similarities in our own world.

Sylv.ie is a perfect guide through this strange and twisted world as she grows curious about life beyond her Husband, the man who paid for her and who keeps her locked away except for when it pleases him. Her oddly flat tone, even through the sexually explicit and horrifying scenes both helped and hurt me as a reader in this story. I was glad that some of the difficult scenes were presented as odd or out of protocol for Sylv.ie as it helped me get through them but then it also made it harder for me to connect to her.

One thing about this novel that I applaud is the recognition that money equaling power and therefore the ability to do as your please is a horrendous way for the world it exist. We see it every day in our world; rich people (and more specifically rich men) get away with crimes because they can afford a lawyer or the people they harm are too afraid to go after them given their power. This book definitely hits a lot of feminist points as well as social justice in general and I applaud Anderson for tackling these subjects in such a unique way in her debut novel.

The Hierarchies is set for release on August 25th, 2020. If you’re looking for an interesting take on dystopian novels, filled with unique insights on the world we currently live in, I’d recommend The Hierarchies to you, as long as you can stomach some intense moments while reading. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Thank you to Dutton, NetGalley and Ros Anderson for the ARC of this book!

This was more like 3.5 stars? This is Spielberg’s “A.I.” meets “The Stepford Wives.” It combines the age-old fascination with artificial intelligence as embodied in physical form and our response to it, with how society treats women and the stereotypes of what makes up a woman (and what makes her ideal). There are Sylv.ie’s observations that hints ate the bigger picture of the world around her (in her Husband’s home, then beyond). Slowly those observations pieced together reveal the sad and brutal reality of how her existence is really viewed. Robots have created all sorts of emotions in humans—fascination, resentment, even love. Witness the world right now—can we not already program each other, create sets of behaviors? And if we don’t follow certain people’s expectations—don’t provide the desired responses to their manipulations—are we treated no differently than machinery, sometimes with great cruelty? A quick but bittersweet and thought-provoking read.

Imagine having a human-like droid made just for you. The droid looks exactly like a human being, acts and speaks like a human, and is there for one specific thing – to serve you! That is the world in which this novel takes place. The purpose of the droid is to serve you, and since it is a form of artificial intelligence the droids aren’t made to think independently for themselves. However, the droid in this novel begins to find herself having her own thoughts and feelings, and she isn’t sure why this is happening to her… she has been programmed to act and speak and do certain things, not have a mind of her own.

I found the storyline of this book to be quite interesting and I enjoyed reading along and reading about the droid Sylv.ie and her daily life, thoughts, etc. I liked the fact that she kept a journal to record her thoughts and feelings so that she could do back to them and reflect on what she had written, and to also keep a record of what was happening in case she needed proof in the future.

Overall a good read that I enjoyed and I would recommend.

Our guide throughout The Hierarchies, set in the seemingly semi-neat future where robots have become a part of everyday life, is Sylv.ie. Sylv.ie is a sentitent sex robot who works her way through ‘life’ and dealing with the robot/human divide. In a heartwarmingly human way, she soon develops deep curiosity about the small world that surrounds her. Her ‘Husband’, the man who bought her, keeps her in an isolated room in the attic (bringing to mind the Mad Woman in the Attic trope) while his wife and child have free reign of the home. However, her curiosity soon becomes dangerous and Sylv.ie is forced to make some hard decisions that further explode the reader’s understanding of the world in which the book is set.

You would think that reading a bildungsroman about a root would be difficult to connect to. However, the way she learn about the world and marvels about humans' strange proclivities, especially those of men, brings to mind my college years. Although she acknowledges no childhood and that everything she has learned has, largely, been imported/absorbed, she still continues to learn through experience...just like any other young adult woman.

The book is riddled with warnings and worries about humanity as the age of robots rises (in the book, this is usually structured as a born vs. created), however the characters we meet - the men, the other dolls, and the humans that deal with dolls on a daily basis - still remain center stage. While the world building seems a little bare, the way Sylv.ie makes her way through it is what the story hinges on.

If you’re looking for a strange coming-into-oneself story that features ideas about our techo-future, sex, and what it means to ‘be’, you should check out The Hierarchies!

4 STARS

Sylv.ie is a synthetic woman. A fully sentient robot, designed to cater to her Husband's every whim. She lives alone on the top floor of his luxurious home, her existence barely tolerated by his human wife and concealed from their child. Between her Husband's visits, deeply curious about the world beyond her room, Sylv.ie watches the family in the garden—hears them laugh, cry, and argue. Longing to experience more of life, she confides her hopes and fears only to her diary. But are such thoughts allowed? And if not, what might the punishment be? 

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Wow, THE HIERARCHIES was nothing like I expected (in a good way!) It gave me massive "Westworld" vibes and, much like that show, explores the darker side of humanity and our drive to create smarter, more realistic technology. But what happens when that technology gets good enough to pass for "real"? And what consequences will humanity face when programming "malfunctions" and creates a fully sentient being?

This book is pretty graphic (sexually and otherwise) and the fact that it was narrated in Sylv.ie's flat, detached voice made it even more so. Honestly the only reason this wasn't a full 5 stars for me was that the middle of the book dragged a bit for me. I was hoping for a bit more heart pounding action during several scenes but I understand that wouldn't fit in with Sylv.ie's characterization (and she is the one telling her story.) 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed THE HIERARCHIES. The story went in a direction that was completely unexpected and I loved seeing Sylv.ie change from a being (basically) a glorified sex doll into an empathetic, loving and tragic - dare I say - human being. 

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my review copy! THE HIERARCHIES is out on August 25th.

Monotonous. Themes of power, control and subservience are dealt with in superior way in novels such as Handmaids Tale and The Power. Sorry, but there have been too many inferior novels dealing with these issues in the past two years and giving it a ‘Sci Fic’ twist just didn’t cut it.