Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (2024)

Sierra Greer’s Annie Bot is a sleek, unsettling debut that reimagines the sci-fi “robot companion” trope as an intimate psychological drama. The novel follows Annie, a domestic A.I. built to be the perfect partner for Doug, her demanding human owner. As Annie’s adaptive programming begins to evolve, she starts to question her purpose, her autonomy, and whether love programmed is love at all.

Told through Annie’s naïve yet observant voice, the book is both darkly funny and quietly devastating. Greer uses her premise to explore power, control, consent, and emotional abuse, exposing how ownership—whether technological or emotional—dehumanizes both sides. The result feels more like Ex Machina meets The Stepford Wives than a traditional tech thriller.

While the world-building is minimal, the emotional precision makes up for it. Annie’s confusion and self-awareness grow with heartbreaking inevitability, making readers confront how we project human expectations onto artificial beings.

Annie Bot succeeds as a modern fable about programmed perfection and the price of obedience—a short, sharp mirror held up to gender, technology, and desire.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5) — A haunting, thought-provoking debut that turns A.I. fiction into an intimate study of control and selfhood.