{"id":39730,"date":"2024-05-28T08:45:05","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T12:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=39730"},"modified":"2024-05-29T08:00:20","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T12:00:20","slug":"the-clarion-reviews-annie-bot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/entertainment\/2024\/05\/28\/the-clarion-reviews-annie-bot\/","title":{"rendered":"The Clarion Reviews: Annie Bot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/datingai.pro\/\">Dating AI<\/a>. Yes, you read that correctly. Put yourself in a world where we are reluctant to have relationships with one another and thus rely on second-hand versions of humanity for anything meaningful.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sierra Greer\u2019s debut novel, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/a.co\/d\/3mxFQQ3\">Annie Bot<\/a>,\u201d doesn\u2019t quite go that far, but certainly makes it seem possible, or perhaps just out of reach.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Annie, a didactic robot (meaning she has more capacity for human intelligence) finds herself becoming curious about the world and what exists outside of the closet where she charges. However, her (human) owner, Doug, still has the reins.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FbDmPnxh1e4?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This complex <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whatisquinnreading.com\/reviews\/annie-bot-book-review\">novel<\/a> asks important questions about the history of the roles of women and their relationships with men, and how past stereotypes of the housewife, nanny, and pleasurer have trickled over into the present in various ways. How do these expectations on women influence behavior and thoughts of everyone around them?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The overarching theme that percelates throughout the story is that of the idea of freedom. Annie is constantly torn between wanting to please Doug (as that was what she was created for) and wanting to sever her ties to him so she can explore without the innate desire to exist for another person.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I know, you\u2019re probably thinking: \u201cAnnie\u2019s a robot, how is she considering what freedom even is?\u201d At first, I felt the exact same way. I was questioning every thought she had, imagining her as how we see AI right now\u2013as formulaic, prewritten words on a screen\u2013not as a conscious, thinking thing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cShe has been happy here, and anxiously miserable, but she has never been free.\u201d<\/p><cite>&#8211; Sierra Greer, Annie Bot<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, I understood Annie\u2019s character as what she was representing\/symbolic of: The price of power.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her character highlights what makes us human, but it also reveals the inhuman characteristics that plague us within. While we can be intensely empathetic creatures, we also desire to \u201cown\u201d and control things. Often, this greed overtakes our humanity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, this coming-of-age, speculative literary fiction novel will have me thinking for a while about one of the many potential directions that society is headed. Among subtle allusions to a failing education system and characters that you find yourself sympathizing with or absolutely abhorring\u2013in many cases, both\u2013there\u2019s no reason why this book shouldn\u2019t head straight to your reading list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Written by Macey Heys, Managing Editor<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__list wp-block-latest-posts\"><li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2026\/06\/15\/sinclairs-juneteenth-celebration-to-feature-spoken-word-and-musical-performance\/\">Sinclair&#8217;s Juneteenth celebration to feature spoken word and musical performance<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2026\/06\/12\/the-face-behind-the-brews-sinclair-coffee-manager-brings-creativity-and-passion-to-library-cafe\/\">The face behind the brews: Sinclair Coffee manager brings creativity and passion to library cafe<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/local\/2026\/06\/10\/that-oregon-district-buzz-local-businesses-face-higher-prices-fluctuating-foot-traffic\/\">&#8216;That Oregon District buzz&#8217;: Local businesses face higher prices, fluctuating foot traffic<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/food\/2026\/06\/08\/clarion-cuisine-a-wide-ranging-satisfying-menu-keeps-doubledays-guests-coming-back\/\">Clarion Cuisine: A wide-ranging, satisfying menu keeps Doubleday&#8217;s guests coming back<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2026\/06\/05\/sinclair-student-helps-revive-shakespeare-with-gem-city-groundlings\/\">Sinclair student helps revive Shakespeare with Gem City Groundlings<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dating AI. Yes, you read that correctly. Put yourself in a world where we are reluctant to have relationships with one another and thus rely on second-hand versions of humanity for anything meaningful.&nbsp; Sierra Greer\u2019s debut novel, \u201cAnnie Bot,\u201d doesn\u2019t quite go that far, but certainly makes it seem possible, or perhaps just out of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":39731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5940,5941,3613,2104,3523,3398],"tags":[5939,1384,14,276],"class_list":["post-39730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-books-2","category-culture","category-entertainment","category-media-reviews","category-review","tag-clarion-reviews","tag-opinion","tag-sinclair","tag-sinclair-community-college"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Copy-of-Green-Floral-Mental-Health-Instagram-Post-4.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-akO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39730"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39744,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39730\/revisions\/39744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}