This novel is visceral and vicious in the best way possible. The propulsive plot keeps the pages turning. There are no real twists but the author still manages to maintain the story thrilling and unexpected, something difficult to do nowadays. A great summer read!

Welcome to The Compound, a massively popular reality show where 10 men and 10 women live together in a remote desert compound, while competing in challenges for luxury rewards like champagne and lipstick, plus communal necessities to outfit their new home, like food, appliances, and a front door. The goal is to outlast your housemates, and the competition gets cutthroat. Cameras are everywhere, catching everything that goes on. However, when the unseen producers raise the stakes, forcing contestants into upsetting, even dangerous situations, the line between playing the game and surviving it begins to blur. The contestants will have to decide how far they are willing to go in order to win it all.

This story is told in the POV of Lily. I did not find Lily likeable at all, which was part of what detracted from my enjoyment of the book. Also, I just found the book depressing, and a slow burn. Don't get me wrong - I love reality TV, in fact it is one of my favorite types of shows to watch. This book was like a mashup of Love Island, Big Brother and Survivor. It was really hard to read the scenes where there the contestants commited violence against each other, the times when they displayed mental health issues because of the pressure they were under, and the cruel punishments production dealt. I had a hard time understanding how anyone would want to watch a lot of what went on, but maybe that is just me.

Big Brother/Love Island with the creepy vibes of a horror movie.

Lily and 19 other twenty somethings build a community in the Compound together through group tasks and compete for the ability to stay and have unlimited rewards. There are almost no rules, but the producers have always stepped in before things got too bad.

Rawle nails the dystopian commentary on what entertainment is and how far is too far. I wish we had gotten to know some of the characters more, but the premise itself is plenty entertaining.

3.5/5 stars

Thank you to #NetGalley and the published for access to an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Compound is a setting in the middle of a desert where a reality show takes place. Contestants, 10 men and 10 women, all young and single, live in the large home, while given group and individual tasks to complete for prizes. Initially, the prizes are simple and essential, but become more extravagant as time goes on, with the goal of avoiding elimination from the show. There are cameras everywhere, and the contestants are mostly aware that they are being watched. It took me a few pages to sort out the plot and the characters, but once the book gets going, it's really hard to put it down. I found the story somewhat dystopian; it's also a decent study of human nature. It's hard to believe this is a debut novel--the writing is crisp and the story is engaging.

The Compound by Aisling Rawle is a razor-sharp, propulsive read that slices deep into the glittering facade of reality television. Beneath the glossy surface, Rawle delivers a biting exploration of greed, consumerism, and mental health, all with a pace that dares you to look away—but you won’t.

Smart, darkly funny, and unsettling in all the right ways, this is satire with teeth. Think The Hunger Games meets Love Island, if both were written with a literary scalpel. Absolutely unmissable.

I’m truly not sure how I feel about this book. The book starts with Lily waking up next to other contestants on a reality show where contestants live together on a compound in the middle of a desert and have to be the last contestant standing. Throughout the experience they all have to complete group tasks and individual tasks to get rewards, some of which are simple and others worth a lot of money.

The book truly kept me invested the whole time, despite honestly not really loving any of the characters. I thought the idea of the reality show was interesting and the story unfolded well. I’m conflicted though on the ending though, although I’m not sure how else I would have imagine it to have ended.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! What a ride! This novel was a fascinating look at greed and reality television but with a very dark vibe.

Lily wakes up on the set of a very popular reality television show at a destroyed house in the middle of the desert. There are ten girls and nine boys and if you wake up alone, you are off the show. You can also do group activities to earn rewards like food, household goods, a freezer., etc. You can perform personal tasks for personal rewards to earn prizes like clothes, jewelry, etc. The problem is that if one personal fails the group task, no one receives the reward, so the darkness begins. Relationships ensue, but so does betrayal.

Thia book will be published June 24, 2025, and I highly recommend to anyone who loves a dark suspenseful story. The author, Aisling Rawle, wrote each flawed character with such irritating personalities, it showed what a great writer she is. This is the first book for this Irish author, but I will be looking forward to her next novel.

Thank you NetGalley and Random Hoise for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review..#NetGalley #TheCompound. #RandomHouse @RandomHouse

3.5 stars

The compound synopsis instantly grabbed me. Think big brother-love island set up. 10 women wake up in a compound style house and await the arrival of 9 men. The women must follow certain rules and when the men arrive it becomes clear they are competing with one another to stay in the house and win privileges and luxuries. They must quickly couple up with the men and the one outsider is banished from the house and so on and so forth according the rules. However, the rules of the game start to become darker and more nebulous as the rounds continue and it becomes unclear to the contestants what sort of game they are playing and for whom.

There are references throughout to a war that is raging outside the compound and dangers in the outside world. It is clear that the contestants are living in a dystopian world and that the stakes for staying in the compound are higher than ever.

I love a dystopian read but this isn’t quite as plot driven as I was expecting it to be. This is more of a character driven novel that picks up speed in the last quarter of the book. I can see this making a lot of best of lists, and I would be interested in seeing what the author does next. I think had I gone into it knowing it was more of a slow burn, I personally would have enjoyed it more, but still would recommend it for others!

Thanks to the publisher for providing the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars
The writing was sharp, and the synopsis instantly grabbed me—how could I not be intrigued by a dystopian Love Island-esque setup? The premise was fresh and full of potential. I really wanted to love this... but the pacing just didn’t quite work for me. It felt a little too slow at times, and I found myself waiting for that next gear that never quite kicked in.

That said, it’s still a solid read. The atmosphere was well-crafted, and the concept of a reality show set against a crumbling world was both eerie and thought-provoking. It just wasn’t totally my jam, but I can absolutely see why it would hit the mark for others.

Could not put this one down! The story is a combination of a reality dating show and a dystopian world. The reader must figure out what the rules of the game are and how the contestants can survive their environment, which is alternately glittering and horrifying.

This is a thriller that managed to explore capitalism, social media, gender roles, and environmental issues. Not an easy feat. Highly recommend!

This was the Les dramatic and more character driven telling of Love Island. It could have done with more plot and drive. Slow burn book.

This is like a more cut-throat version of Love Island with some survival skills being required of the contestants. It was both intense and extremely unserious at the same time. I wouldn’t say this is necessarily high-quality literature; but, if you’re a fan of reality shows and love to be a drama observer, this is a good choice for you! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this in advance.

I think The Compound will be one of this summer’s biggest hits in the book world. I used to be a huge Big Brother fan when it first came out, and this book reminds me of why I enjoyed it so much. Watching how people behave under certain circumstances is exactly what this book is about.

Aisling Rawle takes the reader on one heck of a wild ride. Absolutely loved her writing style. I am blown away that this is her debut novel. There are a lot of characters to keep straight in the beginning, but stick with it, because I think the payoff is well worth it.

Lily is chosen to go on a reality show with 9 other women, and 9 men. The women arrive at the compound first and they eagerly await the men, who are trekking across the desert to join them. You get a feel right away that something is off. These are not normal times. Definitely a post dystopian feel in the outside world. Lily references wondering if the male contestants fought in the War, etc.

Once the men arrive, things get interesting. They must be paired up each night to survive banishment the next morning. With 10 women, 9 men, on night 1, someone is going home tomorrow.
Relationships must form quickly and the characters need to decide who they can and can’t trust.
There are TV type screens with daily personal and communal tasks. To win rewards, and necessities for the household, these tasks must be completed. This is a house with bare minimum. The contestants need to earn the stuff they need or want. As time goes on, and more people are banished, this is where things get really unsettling.

I loved everything about this book. The author had me engaged from the first page. I thought the whole concept was fresh and unique for a novel. Yes, you can reference reality shows when talking about this book, but this book is so much more. How far are you willing to go for “material things” is showcased among Lily and these housemates. Is betrayal, loss of friendships, human life worth a hairbrush or sun loungers? Trust no one.

It’s dark, it’s addicting and it’s made its way onto my Top Books of 2025 list.

If you are looking for an edgy, creepy summer read, I highly recommend picking this one up. It releases June 24, 2025.

Thank You to NetGalley and Random House for the early copy.

This debut novel was entertaining, enticing and imaginative. The author depicted the events and provided enough details for the readers to actually picture the characters and The Compound itself as if it was a reality TV show.

I found the ending not very satisfying, I wanted to learn more about Lily and what was ahead of her after her journey.

This one had me from the beginning and never let go! I thoroughly enjoyed this dystopian tale full of the great MTV’s Cribs vibes. The characters were relatable and easy to love and hate. I thought the author did a really good job of creating a sense of self-questioning when the reader can’t help but ask themselves, “What would I do?” The pacing was perfect. The only thing I didn’t care for was the ending feeling a bit abrupt. I really wanted to know what happened after the show. I greatly appreciate this ARC gifted to me from NetGalley and the publisher and all opinions are my own.

Loved this! The Compound is a darker take on Love Island with clever shifts to the reality show's mechanics and a strong theme of consumerism.

While you'd still enjoy this without being familiar with Love Island, I got way more out of it as someone who watches the show. Each choreographed action by the "cast" is right out of the show's playbook, just with far more interesting rewards and payoff that I won't spoil in this review. And unlike the actual reality shows, it's fun to see from a "behind the scenes" perspective, how each character tries to balance what they want with what the viewer will want to see.

Other reviews have hinted at how different the story is from how it's advertised, or how much darker it gets. Personally, I think these reviews did the opposite of what they probably intended - they made me think the book would be something it's not! There's some faint references to what's going on in "the real world", but it's not explored, and it's not as shocking or interesting as I assumed it would be based on those reviews. And yes, there's some darker elements by the end both with one of the cast and the rules shifting once there's only a few contestants left, but nothing shocking. Those parts reminded me a lot of another recently read book, We Won't All Survive.

Fun, engaging writing, and overall liked this a lot; a solid debut for the author. The minus one star is for the ending. I felt it was a bit anti-climactic after the build up. Observing Lily's thought process and story through the book was one of the most compelling aspects for me. Will she choose love over "things"? Will she grow as a person, or dig into the persona needed to compete on the show? Since there's no way to add spoiler tags in Netgalley, there's a section in my Goodreads review with my thoughts about the ending. But in general, I felt like Lily's arc ended in an unjustifiably "happy' reward for her.

In any event, if you like Love Island, you really need to read this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this ARC.

The Compound is a gripping and disturbing psychological thriller set against the backdrop of a reality television show gone terribly wrong. A group of contestants agree to live off the grid in an isolated compound for a mysterious, high-stakes social experiment. What begins as a seemingly typical reality show quickly devolves into something far more sinister, as strange rules, manipulations, and psychological games unravel the group's trust and sense of reality. As alliances shift and paranoia grows, it becomes clear that someone is pulling the strings—and not everyone will make it out unscathed.
I absolutely loved this book. It was dark, unsettling, and totally addictive. The premise—centered around a reality TV show—was right up my alley, and Aisling Rawle took it in such a fresh, twisted direction. I was hooked from the start and kept guessing all the way through. The story doesn’t shy away from exploring the darker side of human nature, especially when people are pushed to their limits in the name of entertainment. What made it even more compelling was that it didn’t offer a neat or tidy ending—no pretty bow to wrap things up, which only added to the book’s eerie realism and lasting impact. The Compound is a chilling and clever page-turner that fans of dark thrillers and media satire will devour.

Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well this was more than I bargained for... in a good way! Lily is young and aimless and looking for a way out of a dead end job, a lack of meaningful relationships, and a society embroiled in a war we never really learn much about. She is accepted as a contestant on a reality show, where she, with others, will live on a compound in the desert, performing tasks to gain creature comforts, luxury goods, and basics such as food. In order to stay on the show, contestants must also for a portion of the competition, remain paired "romantically" with fellow housemate.

I heard this compared to combos of Love Island, The Hunger Games, and Lord of the Flies, and while I've never seen Love Island, I feel like is probably an accurate comp all the way around. You may think you're getting a fast summer read, but this is much deeper, and much darker, than I expected. It's a pretty damning reflection of the surface level culture the West is devolving into, with people searching for any way to escape meaningless lives and identifying themselves by fame and material gain; or, just seeking SOMETHING because they have no idea who they are, what they want, or what matters to them.

This is an interesting study of group dynamics and power as well, and gets pretty ugly (but honest) in it's depictions of what people will do when they feel they have 1) Nothing to lose or 2) A lot to gain in a zero-sum environment. I definitely recommend this for something quite different. I also found out after I was done that Rawle is a teacher, which made me love this even more!

Lily is ecstatic to be on a reality show where she can escape the hellscape the world has become. In addition, she can win luxury goods. Why would she ever want to leave? She only has to survive banishment by maintaining relationships, fake as they may be, with the other guests and win competitions.

Reading this was much like watching an actual reality tv show – fascinating and frustrating at the same time. I went in skeptical and judgmental, horrified at everyone’s behavior most of the time and at myself for partaking in it, and by the end I was fully invested and could not look away or stop thinking about it.

Lily wakes up in a remote desert compound and is shortly joined by others – all part of a reality show in which the contestants compete to be the last one who is allowed to stay in the Compound as long as they want. They must complete group and individual “tasks” to earn food, tools, and items of luxury. The novel hints at an outside dystopian world that slowly tumbled into crisis; but, it honestly seems pretty much like how the world is now. The author’s prose is sparse and intriguing, nothing and everything happens at the same time. Themes of materialism, consumerism, stereotyping, and isolation weave throughout the story. I am still processing my thoughts on this one. I look forward to seeing what the author puts out next. Thank you very much to Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book!