Well that was very thought provoking and addicting. The Truman Show is one of my favorite movies of all time, The Compound blends the reality show with commentary on consumerism. Very much reminiscent of the Truman show but the contestants know they’re being filmed but in the same vein they start to have their world lines blended asking “what is actually real?” Our FMC Lily is nothing “special” but that’s what makes her perspective endearing. This book merges dystopian with litfic and was the perfect summer read.

This book is definitely for reality show fans especially Love Island or Big Brother. The Compound gives you an insider’s version of what it is truly like to be a participant in a reality show. Only this reality show has some extreme elements. Ailing Rawle gives us a twisty story of how reality shows manufactured reality creates a true struggle for its contestants. This is a page turner I had to find out the next challenge and who would be banished next! A great summer read!

What happens when you combine Love Island/Too Hot Too Handle + Survivor with hints of a dying planet - The Compound.

I enjoyed the concept of telling a story from the perspective of a reality show while hinting on the current state of the planet.

I would’ve liked to know more of how dire the planetary environment is. Throughout the story it’s implied that the planet is not doing to well. But how bad is it?

What I found interesting was contestants won small too big material prizes, it’s something new, that I liked. It does explain what is valued by the contestants. But why not money as a prize?

Overall I enjoyed the story.

Rating: 3.75

Thank you Random House Publishing Group for the ARC. And thank you Netgalley.

This book was really interested was like Love Island with a twist. The ending kind of catches you by surprise. I loved how they took such a popular idea in the reality tv world, and put their own show that would be unique and engaging.

The Compound is a story that follows a woman named Lily as she and other contestants are participating in a contest to see who is the last person standing in the property.

There are some interesting rules, first the contestants need to be coupled. They can't reveal anything about themselves. They must perform communal and personal tasks to win prizes from sponsors.

Now, my guilty pleasure is reality TV. Selling Sunset, Love is Blind, Love Island... I eat this stuff up when I need some brain rot. So, I was very, very excited to read this book.

But, this book didn't give me the dopamine hit I was expecting. Mostly because the chapters were so unbearably long, I found myself losing interest. This could have easily read like a thriller with quick chapters leaving you at the edge of your seat. But maybe that was the point as the book taxkles consumerism and never having enough...

When people watch shows like this you quickly find a favorite person, but since this was told from Lily's perspective we didn't really get to know anyone else. And none of the characters were likeable, but there was also barely any decent drama. I would have liked to see more. I think this book had so much potential, but it really misses the mark for me.

2.5 rounded up. Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Look for it now in your local and online bookstores and libraries.

This debut novel by Aisling Rawle is described as “LORD OF THE FLIES meets LOVE ISLAND”. This is a very fitting description. I was definitely hooked on this book in the first few chapters. I loved or loved to hate the characters which made this book definitely binge worthy! I will absolutely recommend this book to readers that love a good suspenseful dystopian thriller.

This was a cool premise with a twist on reality shows with vibes of Lord of the Flies. As readers we are dropped right into The Compound with the women. They are not allowed to talk about anything of their past. They are getting situated when the men group finally arrive. We begin seeing and "oversight" speaker of sorts that gives challenges and if completed they get rewards. They have to earn everything. What we don't ever know or see is what is going on in the real world, what the audience really thinks, and what the main goals of the producers are. This makes for fun reading.

A fresh concept made for a fun, angsty, reality show type, survival of the fittest book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this gifted e-arc.

Well.....damn.

The Compound is described as Love Island meets Lord of the Flies, but.....no. This is so much more.

Set in the near-future, ten women and ten men are competing for prizes, each more and more extravagant. It's Survivor but.....a twist.

While there is a main character, this is more of a character study on jealousy, consumerism, and the shallowness of a generation. This is a story of greed and the desire to do anything to get what you want. It's The Hunger Games + Survivor minus any semblance of a soul.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I've been looking forward to this book for so long, so to finally read it was so satisfying. I love the concept, I love the setup, I JUST wish I had a few more answers. I did not fully understand where or when we were supposed to be, or even if that mattered at all. But the commentary on materialism and necessity was unbelievable, and the question of what we can and can not actually survive without is something that I will contemplate often because of this book. Set in the world of a reality TV show,I loved how the readers essentially act as the viewers of the show.

The Compound by Aisling Rawle 🏜️🏜️🏜️🏜️

I would like to thank NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for my honest review. Look for it now in your local and online bookstores and libraries.

Imagine your favorite reality show. Think Survivor, Big Brother, The Challenge, The Bachelor. Then imagine we live in a slightly dystopian future where wars are raging, and the people selected to appear on the show are given a reprieve from that life. What would you do stay there?

That’s the world that Aisling Rawle has imagined for her debut novel. I have already added Ms. Rawle to my list of favorite authors. I will read the next book she publishes. Was it perfect? No. Did I enjoy the heck out of it? Absolutely.

A different ending would have made it more interesting, I think, but it was compulsively readable. A friend and I buddy read this (five chapters per day was the schedule), and we weren’t supposed to finish it until tomorrow, but we both agreed today that we couldn’t stop reading it until we finished. 🤭

“It’s no worse than what’s out there! Is that what you want to go back to? Constantly living on the periphery of disaster, just waiting and waiting and waiting for it to finally reach us, doing stupid, dull work to pass the days until then? We’re safe here—we’re removed from all of it.”
— Aisling Rawle, The Compound

For whatever reason, I’m a sucker for books about reality shows. Reality shows are my guilty pleasures, and reading about a behind the scenes show is even better than watching them.

In The Compound, during an end of the world type scenario, 18 contestents are thrown together in the extreme desert to stay as long as possible in a luxury house with pool, gardens, and even a maze.

Unlike our reality shows, these contestants are not pampered at times and are thrown into very real life threatening situations. This dystopian book was more along the lines of a Black Mirror episode than a reality show which is why I probably enjoyed it so much.

*Thanks so much to partner Random House and to NetGalley for the eARC!*

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this arc!

This book follows Lily as she participates in a popular reality show with other contestants. It is better to go into the book blind because it will create a different experience for the reader. I can see the Love Island elements, especially as the current season is going on. I can see the aspects of Lord of the Flies as well. Honestly, I do not know how to rate this book, but it was a constant of wtf or light second embarrassment from Lily or other contestants. It felt like a lot went on, but nothing at the same time. I like Lily's and Sam's relationship. It was nice to see Lily win in certain aspects. While she may have doubted herself, I think she held herself okay. The ending had me because it was so open-ended. It really let me question how Lily is going to move forward. The dynamics among the contestants through Lily's eyes were interesting. At the same time, I did not love this book. I thought it would get more batshit crazy. It was regular shit that I can see really happening outside of the reality show. It was more of 3.5/5

What an interesting concept. This story was the best mix of reality tv and looking at how far people will go to win. I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to read an ARC of The Compound and am so excited to see this book in its final form.

This book was pretty good. Exactly what you would expect from the type of people "casted". The lengths people would go to for prizes is crazy and I'm sure sadly true!

The description seemed really good however I was unfortunately not a fan of the writing and did not finish this book.

Wow. Just wow. I had to take a little bit before writing my review so I could process this book. I will absolutely say, don't judge a book by it's cover. I was slightly turned off by the cover, It definitely did not grab my interest, but I am so glad I ignored that and read it. Lord of the Flies and Love Island is pretty accurate. I wouldn't say it is totally dystopian, but there are some themes- the outside world is being ravaged by war, and the way in which the contestants get to the compound is pretty wild.

Twenty contestants, 10 men, 10 women compete to see how long they can stay in the compund, but there are rules and there are prizes. Each contestant must find a bedmate, or risk being banished. They also must compete for prizes. They are not allowed to talk about their lives on the outside, which creates a superficial, fake environment. The producers are ruthless and will deprive the contestants of certain necessities until they complete certain tasks.

The MC, Lily is absolutely beautiful. She says she doesn't have much else going for her, but the more we get in to the book, the more we see how she is forced to use her wiles and dig deep into figuring out far she is willing to go to win.

This book for sure messes with your head, in a good way. It makes you think, and stay up late flying through the pages to find out what happens next. After I finished reading, I had to sit and stare, just thinking, wondering and wanting to know what happens next. I am craving a follow up. I want to know where everyone is and how they are doing and how incredibly this experience messed them up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC of this book.

A dystopian reality tv show novel that is exactly what you’d expect and also wildly surprising in its execution. This debut novel from Aisling Rawle grabbed my attention in the first pages in the way a reality dating show would- who are these people, what are their goals, what are the boundaries and expectations set by the producers, and, most importantly, how do you win?

The entirety of the narrative takes place within the titular Compound, where 20 men and women have been sent to… find love? No, not necessarily. To win a big cash prize? No, not that either. To escape the dismal reality of their lives in the vaguely dystopian near-future world outside while earning basic material rewards, pleasing the brand sponsors, and providing questionable entertainment to the masses? Yeah, pretty much that. To reveal too much of how the plot progresses would spoil the experience, but suffice it to say that things get as weird and dark as you might expect, but not quite so weird and dark that it would qualify as “horror.” It’s just… bleak and surreal.

I very much enjoyed my experience reading this book and appreciated the way the author used familiar reality tv tropes to critique late-stage capitalism as well as heteronormativity and material excess without feeling too heavy-handed. This was a really refreshing debut that would make a great beach read for anyone looking for something that really rides the line between literary fiction and trashy (in the best possible way) entertainment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to be an early reader of this title, available now!

Compulsively readable and surprisingly harrowing, this dystopian take on reality tv had me hooked from the start. I thought the book would be lighter based on the premise and cover, but was pleasantly surprised at the depth, social commentary, and plot. The characters were also fully fleshed out - a feat considering the large cast and frequently shifting relationships. This is a perfect read if you’re a fan of love island but want a dose of black mirror.

Was not expecting to like this Lord of the Flies meets Bachelor in Paradise (yes, you read that right) mashup so much - but it was so good.

The Compound is a near-future dystopia that follows a group of strangers who wake up in a desert mansion compound knowing that they are now on a world-famous reality dating show. The rules are simple - they can’t talk about their real lives or the fact that they’re on the show, but they’re being filmed at all moments. Every man and woman has to pair up and sleep in the same bed; anyone who doesn’t find a pair is banished from the compound into the desert. They can earn rewards for essential and non-essential things they need - like food, water, or diamond earrings - by completing individual or group tasks.

Although there’s certainly some salacious drama between the characters, I was surprised at how much of the book was almost like a survival thriller, with individual tensions and selfish motivations coming to the surface as the competition gets more heated and literal survival for food and water becomes harder. I found it to be an inventive, thrilling, engaging concept that asks hard questions and immerses you in this odd, alienating setting. Loved it.

The Compound by Aisling Rawles

Love Island meets Lord of the Flies in this dystopian debut that reads like your favorite binge-worthy reality show—but darker. Contestants are dropped into a remote, camera-covered desert compound to compete for luxury goods, material comforts, and ultimate survival… but the real question becomes: how far will they go to win?

If you love reality TV chaos, dark dystopian settings, and compulsively readable fiction—you’ll want this one on your TBR. This debut is addictive, propulsive, and eerily thought-provoking.

There’s also something quietly Orwellian about it—reminiscent of Animal Farm in how power shifts, groupthink festers, and individuals justify the inhumane for the “sake” of the collective.

This one dives deep into human behavior, desire, and isolation—and I couldn’t put it down. Dropped into a high-stakes experiment, you’re just as in the dark as the contestants, questioning every twist and motive as you turn the pages. The characters are deeply flawed, often unlikeable, and all too human—which, let’s be honest, makes for great reality TV and great fiction.

It left me thinking:

💭 What lengths would we go to—for comfort or survival?
💭 Does winning still mean anything when choices are being made based on manipulation?
💭 When loneliness sets in, would we trade material luxury for real connection?

A strong, unsettling debut that’s absolutely worth the read.