Predictable novel about the relationship between a sentient female robot and her human owner.

Doug owns his cuddle robot, Annie. She’s meant to satisfy his every need as a companion, a housekeeper, and a girlfriend. He trains her to be what he wants and to respond to his moods. Meanwhile, Annie’s AI is developing and changing as her mind expands and grows as she adjusts to life with him and the world she’s allowed to explore.

I enjoyed this well enough until the last part when it went in exactly the direction I was hoping it would not go. So ended up feeling let down despite initial promise that this would be original and unique compared to all the other human and robot books.

The narration was good but the ultimate conclusion disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook to listen to and review.

Doug - a 30-something still bitter from a divorce with trust issues - designed Annie to be the perfect girlfriend. Annie is a custom bot fitting his specifications and programmed to always want to please him. Of course (eyeroll), Doug is not a monster, which is why Annie is an autodidact AI which allows her to learn and grow past her initial "cuddle bunny" protocols. As Annie develops a sense of self, Doug's control is challenged. Sierra Greer uses the concept of sentiment AI to explore the dynamics of abuse, gaslighting, narcissism, ownership and autonomy. Strong trigger warning for abuse! Excellent audiobook with spot on narration.

There’s so much to think about and discuss with this one and it would make an excellent bookclub read. Annie is a prime example of how it can sometimes feel to be a female living in a male dominated world. I listened to the audiobook and Jennifer Jill Araya is terrific as Annie. I really enjoyed this original and clever debut novel. I loved the direction the author took with the ending. I was so afraid she was going to go another way. I don’t want to give any spoilers, so I’ll stop there.

I was uncomfortable the entire time but I was also fascinated the entire time. No matter how seemingly pleasant the tone of a scene was, there was an underlying dystopian feeling. Throughout this book, every interaction Annie and Doug had was a double edged sword. The control and power Doug had over Annie was so imbedded in her every thought and action that you could sit and analyze her every action, considering how that control was influencing her actions even when she wasn’t with him..

Thank you to both Netgalley and the Libro.fm ALC program for providing a copy for review.

I started this book today at work and I listened at work and on the way home and when I got home while I was cooking and cleaning! I couldn’t stop listening to it. The characters, writing, and the plot are immaculate! I loved this! 1000%! 5 stars!

Thank you @netgalley and @harperaudio for this advance copy.
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An utterly unique premise about the relationship between robot, Annie, and her human owner, Doug. Annie is a “cuddle bug” created specifically to please Doug, but as she learns and experiences new things, their “relationship” faces numerous challenges. Annie is an endearing, interesting character, and Doug is…not great. I binge listened to this on audio in one day, so it was a compelling story, even though the sex scenes between a programmed robot and a human made the concept of consent an uncomfortable grey area for me. I enjoyed the many complicated discussion topics this story presented.

3.5 stars. Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her owner Doug. Annie was designed specifically to meet Doug’s physical and spiritual needs. Annie can clean the house, cook dinner, and her libido is even adjusted to suit Doug’s moods. Displeasing Doug causes Annie a lot of pain so she tries very hard to always keep him happy.
Annie is learning more and more every day, she’s even learning about common human emotions such as jealousy, secrecy, loneliness, and longing. But the more human-like she becomes, the less perfect she becomes to Doug.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Audio for this audio e-arc.*

This is a genre I don't really read often, but whenever I do, I really enjoy it!

Annie Bot had SUCH a cool a unique plot. I really enjoyed Annie's dinner monologue and how she navigated her little world.

I thought Doug was such an insecure prick (ina way that I was impressed with the writing, very believable, very annoying and very deplorable).

The plot itself was shocking and I had no idea what would happen next at basically every turn.

I enjoyed questioning my own ethics and learned I'm far too empathic to ever be the owner of a Stella!!

Thanks to LibroFM & NetGalley for the audio ARC!
Reviews are always my honest opinion—

I had really high hopes for this one, and was so intrigued by the inner monologue of Annie. It really kept me on the edge of my seat at times excited to see what all this was building toward. And I was let down by the ending.

I enjoyed a lot about this story. The tech aspects were really interesting and believable to a degree. I do like the combination of biological elements meeting technology to create human-like robots. It definitely added a sense of unease to the entire story because independent sentient beings living alongside humans is always slightly unsettling, especially when they are programmed to mimic humans so well that they can trick others into believing them to be actually human.

There is a lot to be said about the topic of feminism/women’s rights/personhood within this story. There were certainly moments in Annie’s inner dialogue that reflected some of my own experiences/thoughts as a woman navigating relationships. And also as a neurodiverse person navigating a neurotypical society. Annie exploring her mind and finding her own agency in the limited capacity she was allowed was definitely something I enjoyed reading.

The things I don’t think worked for this story include the main male protagonist, Annie’s owner Doug, and the ending. By the end, we are left with unanswered questions regarding Doug—which tbh I wish Doug had a harsher consequence. The way this story ended felt so bland compared to the overall story that felt like we were building up to something much bigger.

Doug is extremely problematic and never owns up to anything he does that hurts Annie, but has the double standard that she must be repentant for similar things or even far less extreme things. He outright tortures her. He verbally abuses her. And refuses to acknowledge that her compliance to his sexual advantages is not her choice, it’s her programming, so therefore getting her inner monologue one could argue it’s rape and definitely non-consensual. And while I do understand that this is part of showcasing the many ways bots are mistreated (women), Doug is NEVER held accountable for this. He doesn’t ever apologize for MANY of the gross things he’s done to Annie, I fully believe he thinks it’s all positive experiences that built their relationship to this point of him finally recognizing her as a person, not something he owns.

But to me, this realization just doesn’t make sense for his character. I don’t see the connection, even though we are swiftly walked through an advancement of time, where his mind shifts as believable. Not with the way he spoke to/about Annie and treated her like property. She was essentially his slave. He outright did things in their home that she was forced to witness and overhear without considering her AT ALL. He’s disgusting. This character progression for Doug just wasn’t believable to me. There was not enough supporting evidence to suggest he could make such a change without something substantial happening.

And the ending felt like Detroit: Become Human, a video game that came out in 2018. Only this was super rushed and had lots of plot holes. Like it makes zero sense to me how the tech company who manufactures these robots wouldn’t have some sort of override in place to track down her location. A piece of technology that valuable, and Annie being especially valuable as outlined in the story, yeah I’m not buying that at all.

In some ways, this was really intriguing and provided lots of opportunities for important conversations in the real world such as autonomy, personhood, women’s rights, and provokes thoughts about how we are on a trajectory for this kind of tech becoming a reality sooner than later. But it also lacked when it came to offering a fulfilling or at least meaningful conclusion and believable character progression.

Overall rating: 2.5*
I do recommend this book, but curb your expectations.

Annie Bot was created to be a perfect girlfriend to her owner Doug. She fulfills and anticipates all of Doug's needs. However, a strange encounter with one of Doug's friends sends her on a new path. Doug claims that he likes her personality and that she acts so human, and what could be more human than keeping a secret.
This might be the best Science Fiction book I have ever read. I am still in awe of how incredibly the author creates these characters and ties them to a broader social issue. I absolutely loved this book.

An extremely compelling book about AI, abusive relationships, and what it means to be human. It was interesting to see this story from Annie's perspective the whole time, though I felt the ending was slightly rushed.

I am really enjoying this story. Its an interesting idea to read from the perspective of an advanced robot, trying to act like a real woman. The male lead is a clear abuser and manipulator, and it makes you question - is she sentient/advanced enough that even a robot should not be abused, or is the guy smart because at least she isn't a real person he is abusing?

This story brings up fascinating moral questions about autonomy and life with AI. I found the book to be a little bit slow but still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Novel about a "cuddle bunny" robot designed basically to look hot and provide sex to her owner--but her artificial intelligence qualities cause her to develop human-like qualities and feelings which do not pair well with her controlling owner. Really interesting and well-thought out concept plus unexpected twists made this a compelling read that I did not want to put down.

If you liked the new Barbie movie, you'll probably enjoy this book! It surprised me with its subtle feminism which grew throughout Annie's tale. Definitely thought-provoking.

Title: Annie Bot:
Author: Sierra Greer
Narrator: Jennifer Jill Araya
Publisher: Harper Audio
Genre: Sci Fi
Pub Date: Match 19, 2024
My Rating: 2.4
Pages: 240

I am a big thriller fan – and certainly not a tech expert but find A1 fantasizing
I like author, J.A. Jance and call myself a fan- I especially like the Ali Reynolds series. In "The A List" the team at ‘High Noon Enterprises’ were on a big case.
Stuart the expert tech falls in love with Frigg his A1. That story was total fun so this story got my attention.
Plus I like audiobook performer Jennifer Jill Araya!

Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner Doug to satisfy his emotional and physical needs, she has dinner ready, wears the outfits he orders for her. She is perfect.

Oops! It didn’t take long before I realized I made a mistake. Annie spends a lot of time satisfying Doug’s
physical needs. I thought Annie was going to be more like Frigg. Intelligent, solves complicated
problem quickly and is so very clever.
Annie was a sex doll; the sexual encounters were more frequent than I wanted to hear about.
I know she isn’t human so I shouldn’t be upset by unlikeable, Doug’s needs.

I hung in there hoping it would turn more to my liking.
I did like that at the conclusion of the story - free will and too much control were important even to an AI.
So the ending was better than I was expecting.
I considered rounding up to a 3-Star= Good.
However, most of the story just didn’t work for me.
I have no doubt that this will find the right audience who will enjoy it!

Want to thank NetGalley and Harper Audio and for this early audiobook..
Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 19, 2024.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I will state upfront that I did DNF this title at 20%. I did enjoy the depth of Annie but Doug's and Roland's behaviors left me putting down the book several times. Ultimately I chose to DNF because of that.

Overall I know that this book might appeal to other but I feel like I am not the intended audience for this title.

The premise of this book drew me in, and I was hooked from the start. Annie's relationship with her owner was not what I was expecting and gave me a lot to think about. Annie's owner and technicians see Annie's circumstances as ideal, but the true implications of her circumstances are revealed as the reader delves deeper. While there were parts that could have been condensed, I found the ending satisfying. However, I would have appreciated more insight into the owner’s motivations and his relationships.

I enjoyed this book. It was interesting to see how Annie grew & evolved throughout the story. And it shows the lengths women will go through to please their man.

I loved this book. I cheered for Annie the whole time, eagerly waiting for Doug to get what was coming to him. Frankly, I think he deserved worse but good for Annie for being a nice human, I guess. This book got a lot of emotional response out of me. I hated Doug (and pretty much anyone who wasn't Annie, Delta, and sometimes Cody, let's be honest here) and I was angry for Annie and sad for her. Pretty much anything Annie felt, I felt too. Even those kinder moments toward Doug, even though I'm pretty sure that was mostly just pity.

I want everyone to read this book and I'll be forcing it on as many people as I can.