Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

21 reviews

anandaclairity's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

mfrisk'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? It's complicated

4.0

This book is one I can tell I’ll think about long after I’ve read it.

Annie is an incredibly dynamic and complex character from the very beginning of this book. She is an AI robot owned by Doug who more and more you learn is an abusive asshole. This book gives us a unique glimpse at domestic abuse but told in a different way given that Annie is AI and is not quite human but has a capacity to heal, to learn, and shows immense growth as time goes on. The underlying discussion here that despite the abuse Annie is going through she is still seeking to make things work with Doug and jump through increasing hoops each day to try to make him happy and to attempt not to anger him. 

The pacing of this book is a bit off for me and I wish we got to know more about Doug’s prior relationship but otherwise I feel like this book had a lot to say about mismatched power dynamics, abusive relationships, feminism, and gender based expectations. Highly recommend the read if you’re in the right headspace to tackle the more intense content listed in the trigger warnings. This is not an easy read but is a worthwhile one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

zombiezami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

To me, Annie seemed like an autistic-coded character and I really related a lot. Specifically, her constant difficulty navigating the contradictory things that people say and trying to come up with a response that makes sense and is appropriate. There are lots of instances where people laugh or get angry at something she says when she was not at all trying to be funny or combative. 

The abuse in the book seemed pretty realistic up until the end.

Mans goes to three couple's counseling sessions, turns off Annie's GPS, and expects her not to leave? That stretches credulity for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Vomit, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Physical abuse, Outing, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

aholcomb's review against another edition

inspiring sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

Trigger warning for emotional abuse. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

deadwhiterabbit's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

sabrinaleaf's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

4.0

For something which only had one location and followed mostly the mundane life of one person, I found this enthralling. 
This is more of a character study of someone who isn’t human but, after an incident occurs, starts changing and learning how to be human. 
Its an allegory for all the woman who have been trapped by the men in their lives, who have had their credit taken from them, who have had to please their men and make sacrifices, but who have had the courage to change that path.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

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.

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

mountainstobeach's review against another edition

DNF. This book has a great start and premise but turned too much into sex scenes between man and robot.  It is disappointing that the author focused more on that then the interesting complications that can arise when “owning” and being in a relationship with a robot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

kaelilili's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Being unhappy implies that she has a capacity to be happy, but she does not have the right to be happy.

This is the best book I have read in a long time. It is a representation of having a narcissistic partner, and how your sense of self is tied to their perception of you. This was a powerful and challenging read that makes you question what it means to be a human with free will.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death and Fatphobia

Minor: Terminal illness, Transphobia, and Vomit

Vivid depiction of Annie being trapped in a closet with her libido set to 10. She is in agony until she lets her battery die, and as a result has some sexual trauma. She is then left in the closet for 7 weeks.

Very controlling and emotionally abusive “partner.”