Breakaway Books

Authored by Sierra Greer; Published March 2024; Science Fiction

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️

Annie Bot is a difficult read. Not the writing, which flows easily, or the plot, which made it near impossible to put down. No, it was difficult to read emotionally. Despite knowing that Annie is a robot from the literal title, you still empathize with her as you would any human from the very beginning. 

Her owner, Doug, has no such issue. To him, Annie is just a possession, and at times, his callous behavior took my breath away. As the story unfolds and their relationships grows, what surprised me wasn’t so much Doug’s repeated egregious abuse as his continual ordinary cruelty. It is a disturbing commentary on the way that humans are able to treat other beings if they can classify them as “other.”

Yet some of Annie’s behaviors resonated with me strongly as a woman. I keep thinking about how she would carefully monitor Doug’s discontent at her statements and actions and adjust accordingly. I have been in relationships where that was a continual state of being. Her whole world is centered around Doug, which is in some ways logical, as he is her owner. But how much do we, human women, act similarly with their partners?

Annie continually tries to find ways to ease her discomfort, her desire for something more. We recognize them: more talks with friends and family, more hobbies. In the end what she needs is freedom, and nothing else will work.

Annie Bot is not a book to read to escape, but it has a powerful message on the everyday life of a woman. It’s a good read, but certainly not a light one.