I forget where I heard this book first mentioned; I think it was on a podcast of some kind. It's the story of an android named Annie, created to be a sexual companion for her owner Doug, and her journey to sentience and autonomy. Honestly, it might have been one of my favorite books that I've read this year. It's disturbing and thought-provoking in a lot of ways, but that's kind of what I dig about it.

The book is essentially an allegory for human relationships as a whole. It explores concepts like someone treating their significant other like an object (and specifically a sex object), what aspects of your partner you're allowed to possess, the multitudes that people contain (i.e., being both a "good person" and someone who is capable of genuinely hurting others), and how human insecurities can ruin relationships. I'm not usually one for books that focus on exploring romantic relationships, but this story really did a great job of putting relationship dynamics under a microscope and exploring what makes the characters tick. Even the scenes where Doug and Annie are in therapy, it reads like the author really understands how couples try to resolve issues with the help of a therapist.

This book won't be for everybody. There's a fair amount of sexual content (Annie is a sex bot, after all), and for anyone who's been in an abusive or manipulative relationship the content might be a bit triggering. But I thought the author found a really creative way to tell a relationship story, with just enough science fiction elements worked in there to keep my interest.

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Created Jan 18, 2025 at 6:35pm • Submit your own review...