Engineered Desires

by Chanice Dwyer

How much of yourself would you sell to survive?Amelia is running out of options when she signs a contract with Synatecture, a powerful tech company preparing to launch EroSyn, a next-generation augmented reality platform promising total immersion, total intimacy, and total control.

Her role is allow her body, emotions, and neural responses to be captured and rendered inside curated fantasy scenarios for paying users. At first, the experiences feel scripted, distant, safe. But as Amelia unlocks higher-tier content, the boundaries between performance and consent, fantasy and violation, begin to collapse.

Guided by the unsettling presence of Adam, an AI figure who grows more complex with every encounter, and overseen by the increasingly conflicted project manager Carys, Amelia becomes trapped in a system designed to escalate desire, erase autonomy, and monetise harm.

As her real life fractures under grief, isolation, and family estrangement, the virtual world tightens its grip. Escape becomes impossible. Observation becomes exploitation. And survival comes at a cost she may not be able to pay.

This is not a story about sex.It is a story about power.Blending techno-dystopia with psychological horror, this novel interrogates the commodification of bodies and trauma, the illusion of consent in algorithm-driven systems, and the struggle between corporate ethics and human cost.

Structured through immersive scenes, internal documents, and corporate communications, the narrative mirrors the very systems it critiques. Slick, controlled, and increasingly violent beneath the surface.

Content book contains themes of sexual exploitation, coercion, psychological trauma, violence, and self-harm. It is written with a critical lens and intended for mature readers.Unflinching, unsettling, and urgently relevant, this novel asks what happens when intimacy becomes infrastructure, and preservation of self is secondary to user experience.

166 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 4, 2026

Reviews

[Chad Alan Honestly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amelia is running out of options when she accepts a contract with Synatecture, a powerful technology company preparing to launch EroSyn, an advanced augmented-reality platform promising users total immersion, intimacy, and control. She is to let the company capture her body's reactions, emotions, and neural responses so they can be reproduced in customized fantasy experiences for paying users. Meanwhile, Amelia's real life is unraveling under the weight of grief, isolation, and family estrangement. As the virtual world tightens its grip, she finds herself trapped in a system where her most intimate experiences become corporate products; her autonomy is threatened, and survival comes at an increasingly devastating cost.

The author suggested this book to me. I can honestly say that I have never read anything like this. This book is dark and covers a lot of different triggers, but it does so in a way that makes you examine how far things should go. This book cashes in on the dark side of AI and the companies behind it. This book goes to places that most people fear going. This was a good read. For the most part, fast-paced and smooth. Adam and Cary .... When these characters join, pay attention...

[Kiran · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like my main problem with this book is that it was not what the blurb suggested it would be. I very rarely read blurbs, and after finishing this book I found myself regretting having read this one. The blurb intrigued me more than almost any other I have come across, and I went into this expecting the story to approach its themes from a very different angle.

It started with a lot of promise, featuring strong character development for the FMC and a solid setup for what I expected the plot to be. Unfortunately, the story quickly moved away from the aspects that had initially drawn me in.

The exploration of bodily autonomy, AI, data collection and surveillance is thought-provoking, and these were by far the most interesting elements of the book for me. I found myself wanting much more focus on the relationship between autonomy, AI and personal data, and how those concepts intersect and influence one another.

As a woman, I understand and empathise with many of the issues discussed throughout the novel. I also appreciate the importance of raising awareness of topics that can place women in dangerous or compromising situations. These are important conversations to have, and I can see what the author was trying to achieve.

However, I wish the themes had been approached differently. I felt there either needed to be a more balanced exploration of the gender dynamics, or a stronger focus on the ethical and technological questions surrounding autonomy and AI. Instead, too much of the narrative felt centred on how men treat women, which was not what I had expected from the blurb.

Unfortunately, the reading experience was also affected by the number of grammatical errors throughout the book. They appeared frequently enough to pull me out of the story and became increasingly difficult to ignore.

[Tatiana Gasanova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant debut

This story gripped me from the beginning and I finished it in a day. It doesn't shy away from heavy topics of exploitation of vulnerable people and whether consent in those circumstances is even meaningful. A person would agree to anything if it's their only choice.

If you enjoyed the Adolescence TV show, you'd love this story. It'll make you think and it'll disturb you as good horror should.

I hope the author continues with her fiction writing, I'm looking forward to reading more.

[Aurora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too realistic to ignore

This book caught my interest from the first moment I heard about it, and let me tell u that this book exceeded my expectations by far!

This is not a book made for comfort, it's written to open eyes and minds.

This book will fit you if you love fiction with a harsh reality check and tough lessons to learn from. This one being centered around morals and ethics in adult entertainment as well as AI is extremely fitting in the modern day.

I love the writing style, the story and the message.

[Elisha Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best erotic horror I have Read in years!!
Dystopian Meet Ai Meets the horrid thoughts Men can have
I would Choose the bear every time if this was my reality !!
Can't Wait for More like this!