Annie Bot

Annie Bot is one of those books that makes me, against my better judgment, strongly desire to return to academia so I can teach a Gender Studies class where it is one of the readings. It also falls into my “I'm so scared of a man in this I don't fully enjoy consuming this piece of media,” camp, accompanied by Nate Jacobs in Euphoria. Why is he so scary? Why are men so scary?

Annie is a highly sophisticated android, a Stella whose primary function is having sex with her owner Doug. This is glossed over with the euphemistic label “cuddlebunny.” Other Stellas serve as maids or nannies, though there is overlap between the categories.

This book provokes questions about humanity. What makes a human? What turns a something into a someone?

An organic vessel teeming with organs and blood, requiring food and water to survive? What about having independent aspirations and preferences? Passing a certain threshold of self-awareness? Feelings, strong ones, including empathy? A base need for autonomy and independence? Deep, warranted resentment for the inherent violence of being owned by someone else?

Some may think there are simple answers to these questions, or that comparing any robots to humans is offensive, naïve, or both. Playing God or becoming sympathetic to machines are dangerous slippery slopes.

Still, as Annie progresses, the water is muddied. Just how sentient and free-thinking must a robot be before consent is relevant? If you are literally programmed to please your owner, does that include lying to spare his feelings?Annie finds herself caught in a central bind, warring with whether to share that Roland had sex with her. This demonstrated so perfectly how women are not believed. We speak up and are dismissed or villainized. We withhold the truth because we know this, have experienced it. We shoulder this weight, then maybe say something long after the fact, when we cannot bear to not. Only then, not speaking up immediately is disqualifying. Why now? Why are you trying to ruin someone's life? He has a wife, a child, a family, a career, whatever it is. He has made something of himself and you are trying to erode that by telling others who he really is.It is not simply disbelief. You are never seen as more duplicitous than during your most vulnerable and truthful admissions. Your credibility is never more undermined than when you are finally saying what actually happened. Women are just dramatic. They are irrational. They have unrealistic standards. They need to calm down. They lie. That's not what really happened. Meanwhile, their partners are idolized. They are being ungrateful. They are so lucky. Many other girls, er, I mean, women, would gladly take their place in a heartbeat. Which Annie does not even have!The main issue I had was the author's choice to cast Annie as an equal and willing participant with Roland. That knocks it a full star down for me, to be honest. I kept waiting for it to be different, for realization to dawn. I think in order to keep us in the dark about Annie's inevitable escape, far too much time and effort was spent trying to lull the reader into a false sense of complacency, with little time left for Annie to come into her own. This was a big disappointment for me. A real letdown, if I'm honest. I think it undercut Annie's motivations in a crucial way.

For fans of [b:Klara and the Sun|54120408|Klara and the Sun|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1603206535l/54120408.SY75.jpg|84460796], [b:Stepford Wives|52350|The Stepford Wives|Ira Levin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554371721l/52350.SY75.jpg|1534281], Ex Machina, and [b:Ella Enchanted|24337|Ella Enchanted (Ella Enchanted, #1)|Gail Carson Levine|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1410727190l/24337.SY75.jpg|2485462]. If you are interested in emerging technologies, relationship dynamics, and fiction about free will and freedom, I think you would enjoy Annie Bot.