Book Review: Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

Annie Bot (Sierra Greer, Harper Collins, 2024) is what would happen if the Barbie movie was written by Mary Shelley.

Annie is, frankly, a robot sex doll. She was purchased and “trained” by painfully single Doug to be his perfect girlfriend. He sends her into the shop for tune-ups (an inch off her waist here, a quick download of his favorite sloppy Joe recipe there), enjoys dressing her in cute outfits, and of course gets his money’s worth in the bedroom. And Annie, as her program demands, tries her best to do as he wishes.

She feels intense joy whenever she makes Doug happy and gripping pain whenever she disappoints him, and so is determined to clean, cook, and do whatever else he asks of her perfectly. Things begin to change when Doug’s friend convinces Annie that she would make Doug even happier if she were more like a real girl. The best way to be more like a real girl, he claims, is to have a secret. A secret like an affair—with him.

The idea of a robot “coming to life” and even falling in love is nothing new. Even the idea of a sex bot bristling against its confines is well-trod territory—yet, Greer’s Annie Bot takes the concept to a deeper, more cerebral place. This is more than a sci-fi dive into a sex-fuelled dystopia, and it’s also more than a feminist metaphor for an abusive relationship (though it is both of those things).

Annie Bot goes beyond, deep into Annie’s mind as she struggles with her own desires and against her own body. It explores questions even we non-bots must wrestle with, like whether our choices are our own or have been “programmed” into us by others, and how much self-sacrifice we owe to those we love. In these first clumsy years of real-world artificial intelligence, Annie Bot paints a cautious potential picture of the future. It warns us that unless we can strengthen our empathy and proceed with inhuman caution, we are doomed to repeat our past mistakes. 

Greer excels in character work and especially shows great restraint with Doug, a character who could have easily strayed into pure villain territory. While the narrative voice is extremely strong, the pacing can admittedly be slow and the plot can meander, resulting in less of a structured adventure and more of a wander through Annie’s development. It is also, despite the premise, a far cry from erotic, so anyone seeking something action-packed or tantalizing is best off with a different robot-themed adventure. 

Overall, a well written and memorable take on the genre with a modern, intellectual twist. 

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