Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

16 reviews

ksilvio's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

cathy61r's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Slavery

danie_joye_breit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

For anyone particularly tired of "Men Writing Women," Annie Bot is a unique and refreshingly solid take on the complicated relationships between romantic partners and with oneself. I feel like I learned about my own metacognition from this book, and given how painfully relatable the content was, I laude the author for keeping the story brief (<250 pages). It packs a punch, but every adult should read Annie Bot.

bsbgurl89's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Rape, and Toxic relationship

bandysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I had heard good things about this book from some friends who have similar tastes in books, so I went in with high expectations. Somehow, this still far exceeded said expectations.

Annie Bot is a brilliant novel that follows an AI who is auto-didactic and programmed to be a personal companion. As she experiences more and more, her consciousness begins to grow and shift to the point that people no longer can tell that she’s not human. What follows is a musing on sentience and bodily autonomy. 

Ugh. Some of these scenes in this book were hard to read. Some heartbreaking things happen to Annie and the author does not shy away from depicting them. As a woman reading this, there were certain aspects that made me cringe and have to take pauses while reading.

Midway through the book the tone of things start to change and I had an “oh shit. This author is going to ruin this book with some cliche ending” I’m glad I stayed with it though because the twist at the very end was a gut-punch. It was such a fresh and satisfying ending for a book that really digs into some uncomfortable places.

Consider me a new fan of Sierra Greer’s writing. This absolutely won’t be the last of her books that I pick up. And if you are interested in themes of power dynamics, sexism, bodily autonomy, sentience, and artificial intelligence, this is a must read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was very different than what I’d expected. Every time I thought I got a bead on where it was going next, I found myself pleased to be wrong. It’s a science fiction Handmaid’s Tale (a nod included after concluding so). It’s clever, and even the characters I thought I would hate ended up invoking my empathy. The sad thing is, I actually can imagine a future just like this, especially if the current patriarchy continues to dominate the world.

I would love to teach this book at a college level. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

melissaslibraryy's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book was so good and, everything I expected and more. The complexity of AI bots intermingling in society and how they are not that far off from humanity as one might’ve thought, is a scary feeling to realize especially with how far AI is progressing in real life.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content

thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

It’s hard to describe how I feel about this novel. It was truly fascinating reading from the POV of a sentient, humanoid robot. It was absolutely maddening to read about said robot’s human owner, Doug, a trashcan of a man, but totally someone you know irl. Which is what made it so infuriating!! How men like Doug reduce women to serving their needs and desires. How women are all but taught (programmed, as it were) to please their male counterparts. It certainly sparked a lot of great contemplation, however theoretical, about ownership in the age of AI and increasing technological advances. I guess the point can be made that this book exists to possibly skew the path that the future holds for certain AI developments, but it may also exist to show how inevitable the future will be as it is in the book.

Was this story original? Yes. Was it empowering, hopeful feminist literature? Not really. While the ending did offer some payoff, a lot of the book frustrated me. Which, again, is maybe the point! So many thoughts about this book. Sierra Greer definitely debuted with an interesting one, that’s for sure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Physical abuse and Grief

ravenousrose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A raw, unapologetic reflection on the many facets of humanity. It left me feeling contemplative - turned inside out with conflicting emotions.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely.

Would I myself dive in again? Only if I were prepared to once more disassemble my perspective on humanity and myself.

Good luck to us all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cancer and Death of parent

it’s important to note that one of the human characters does not think of the main AI character as “alive” or “real” and therefore doesn’t treat her with the kind of decency often afforded to a human. This can be quite upsetting but if you can power through it’s worth the read.

angiediane's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Infidelity, and Misogyny