3.5/5

Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley & Penguin Random House!

I was hooked from page one because of the concept of this book: a dystopian reality dating show. The setting is immediately tense, something you wouldn't expect while watching Love Island, but I loved the unsettling feeling from the bits and pieces of world building we received. Our narrator, shared her story through an apathetic lens; sometimes entirely detached from what was happening, almost like a camera recording the events unfolding around her. This was a quick, original read and although I had some issues throughout, there was nothing notable to complain about. It was eerie, tense, and a new concept that makes it worth reading but not revolutionize the genre.

The Compound was an absolutely wild ride from start to finish. It starts abruptly, throwing the main characters and the reader into a Big Brother-style show where the stakes are high, but the rewards are so much higher. At times, it felt like a commentary on overconsumption, other times it seemed to make clear parallels to wartime austerity and the response there, and occasionally it seemed like the characters had absolutely lost it. Throughout it all, though, we accompany our protagonist Lily on the descent into the final five, and see the lengths the contestants will go to in order to win -- and whether they truly won in the end, or lost themselves along the way.

As someone who never watched Big Brother or many other reality shows, I found this story was captivating. The gist is that the outside "real" world is not going great and there is one reality show that everyone watches to escape the grim reality. The MC, Lily, wakes up as a contestant inside the compound like house and believes that this is the answer to all her outside problems. The contestants only get to remain if they sleep the night in a bed with a member of the opposite sex. This causes a lot of shifting allegiances and politics as members get "banished". Lily is a of the road player, with a lot of common sense. She manages to last into the final rounds, where all bets are off.

Solid 3.5 stars

Wow, I cannot even think with words about this book. I think this book really about the human experience in dire situations. This book makes you think about what you would do in their positions. It was very eerie and had a high-tension atmosphere. I got to a certain point in the book, where I couldnt put it down. It was very interesting and would recommend it for a phycological thriller.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for the eARC. Al my opinions are my own.

A chance to star in a reality tv show, showered with gifts and the promise of romance. Thrilling, right? The Compound takes the “thrill” literally, as the story becomes more and more suspenseful… and even dangerous.

I thought the premise of this book was really interesting! The content was addicting to follow, kind of Black Mirror meets Love Island, and I always wondered what would happen next.
But.. as it went on it really slowed down, and I thought that the ending felt very unsatisfying.

Highly recommend for reality tv show enjoyers!!

~For fans of dystopian fiction and/or reality TV~

4.5 - thank you NetGalley and Aisling Rawle for an arc of this excellent book.

What a fantastic read. I've always enjoyed dystopian sci-fi that feels like it is either happening in a time not too far from our own. I truly feel like this book could have been an exposé on the reality TV of now, and I would not be surprised. This was a very strong debut and I look forward to following Rawle's career!

As an avid reality TV watcher myself, I was pretty excited for this one. I will say that every time I watched my weekly episode of 90 Day Fiance or a old episodes of Love is Blind, I found myself realizing how dystopian these producer-driven "realities" are.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House & the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Set in a future that is vaguely bleak, contestants seeking an escape compete in The Compound to find love, win prizes, and participate in the most sadistic HGTV reno of all time.

I LOVED this book (and I’m stingy with my 5 stars!). I finished it in one sitting on a 7-hour flight, even! Lord of the Flies meets Love Island is perfect to describe this, and would also appeal to anyone who’s a fan of reality TV, Black Mirror, the spectatorship aspect of The Hunger Games, Yellowjackets, and grounded dystopian “5 minutes in the future” fics.

I am a big fan of all of the above so I had a blast with this book. The premise of the Compound TV show is so clever and I’ll be thinking about it a while. It is such a cool commentary on consumerism and detachment from reality in media, and eerily believable (it’s so twisted, but also, if it was real, ngl, I’d probably watch it…..)

Only thing is I wish the MC was a bit more complex (ironically I think Lily also thinks this about herself LOL) but it makes it easy to self-insert and imagine you’re in her shoes. The conclusion was quite open-ended, with the plot being entirely the events of the show’s season with no ‘outside world,’ and I’d have loved to see more of a development arc for Lily.

Definitely pick this one up when it’s published in May! Kudos to the author!

This review is on GoodReads (posted December 2024): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6975026362

Thank you to NetGalley, author Aisling Rawle, and Random House for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Lord of the Flies meets Love Island is the perfect way to describe The Compound and was what I was drawn to in its blurb. It figures that I really enjoy one (Love Island) and don't like the other (Lord of the Flies), so I would come away ambivalent towards this read. This is an extremely gripping read in that I never knew where it was going, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Rawle does a fantastic job with how eerie she makes the setting; The Compound feels truly icky and unsettling the entire read. The greatest question posed is "How far will you go and at what cost?" This is an interesting musing, and I think by setting the book in a near future/dystopian world, it works as a whole. Each character has different morals that we as a reader see present and shifting as new horrors appear in the book, and they work sometimes as foils to each other, sometimes as outliers. I think personally I would have preferred to read this book through the perspective of a different character besides from Lily because I really didn't connect with her. But I think that is partially the point, as she is very candid about being pretty vapid. There are parts (even though the book is short) that lulled a bit, whereas other parts weren't explained enough for my liking. I also wish that Rawle would have pushed the horror aspects a bit more, as while the book was unsettling as a whole, I feel like I kept waiting for the other shoe to fully drop, and it never did. I would have enjoyed more context as to their "outside world" setting as well, just to better be positioned in this world, but again, this might be intentional to keep you in the isolated space with the characters. If you are someone that enjoys reality TV, I do think this is still worth a read because it poses some very interesting questions into what constitutes entertainment and how easily people can be manipulated.

Dark love island vibes. I really enjoyed this book- it's a page turner set in a dystopian reality TV show. The characters were complex and imperfect. Made me think about consumerism and some of the passages have stuck with me for weeks after reading (rare)!

The pages just flew by in this book. The premise is brilliant -- a nebulous post-apocalyptic or dystopian world with a Bachelor/Squid Game hybrid reality show, with characters who feel absolutely real. Though the novel is quite bleak, it's undeniably entertaining. And I've never encountered such a plain heroine (not in terms of appearance, because she's apparently beautiful) who actually stayed with me after the book ended. I'm still thinking about her weeks later, and still thinking about what this novel is saying.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance reader's copy of this novel.

Love Island x Black Mirror.
*3.5 stars*

I read this in the span of a day - fast-paced and compelling, and a fairly short read. The confined compound setting and limited information about the broader world keeps you on the edge of your seat. Don't expect explosive plot twists, but rather a measured, uneasy building of tension alongside social commentary. I loved how the themes of materialism, loneliness, escapism, and performative culture were explored. Great for anyone who enjoyed UnREAL or "Fifteen Million Merits" (Black Mirror).

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the free e-ARC! Out on June 24.

the tension is the best thing about this book. the story starts slow and the writing is very straight forward, but rawlings is good about bread-crumbing unsettling details that keep you engaged and curious.

my main qualm was the character and world building. we're introduced to 20 contestant who are all bascially carbon copies of each other. no one stands out, everyone was too polite, too reserved, so they blend together. every man is chiseled and tall with no personality. every woman is slim and anxious. i think the limitation of the contestant not being able to talk about their personal lives until almost the very end really limited the oppurtunity to see any character arcs and stilted the dialouge between the character. not knowing anyones backstory made it hard get attached to the characters at all, even the main character. i found myself not really caring when anyone was elimnated. in the end, i feel that that the relationship between tom and lily was meant to be a relationship that was fulfilling enough to make her want to live in the real world, but again, i didn't believe in the relationship because there was no depth to it.

the world is a really interesting one, both inside and outside of the compound. on the compound, there is the threat of the desert and what lies beyond the bounds or the house, and further than that, the threat of a vague war and break down in society. but we don't know much else than that.
the good thing is that the conflict inside the house almost grips you enough to not need the outside conflict, but i did find that when the war or the desert were mentioned, it cut the tension because it was underdeveloped.

the moments that really shine are the break downs in humanity, when we really slip into the LORD OF THE FLIES elements. i wish there were more of those moments, i wanted it to feel relentless. i think the book was only addicting because i was desperate to get to the next moment where the book picks up.

outside of the "no talking about your personal life" rule, i really liked the rules of the world. i love personal rewards rule. anything that added to the physcological horror elements.

this one was frustating because the concept is so promising, but i feel like the author left a lot of things unexplored. it was a wild read, but came out of the book not really knowing what the author was trying to say.

Lily wakes up at a desert compound, selected to participate in a reality show.

Definitely has thought-provoking moments, but just when you think it's getting to a great point, it backs off. Recommend for fans of reality dating shows.

I love books about reality shows set in a slightly dystopian world (thinking of "Small Game" and "The Last One") - and this one did not disappoint - I was riveted from beginning to end. The Compound is a reality show that starts off feeling like an off-kilter "Love Island" crossed with "Big Brother" crossed with "Survivor". We follow the main character Lily as she wakes up in the house known as the compound, situated in the desert, and is joined by 18 other female and male contestants. They compete for valuable rewards, aim to avoid punishments for breaking the rules, and strive to be the last one standing. This was just the book I needed - totally propulsive, fun, and different. I'm so grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance look at what is sure to be a popular book this summer!

I loved the premise of this book, Hunger Games meets Love Island, but it just didn't do it for me. My attention really flagged in the second half of the book, and I found myself skimming just to get to the end. I would have liked more information about the dystopian world they were living in outside of the compound that led them there, and there wasn't any growth or a single likeable character in the bunch.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

The Compound by Aisling Rawle had me hooked from the beginning. I love reality shows, so the premise of a POV where the FMC wakes up along with 9 other girls, in a compound where there every move is tracked? Sign me up. Lily and the others are expected to couple up with the boys. If they don’t have a “bed” partner, they will be banished from the compound. They have communal tasks as well as personal tasks that earn them rewards. It’s very much giving our everyday reality show, but also with higher stakes. I really enjoyed the characters. This is fantastically written and I’m looking forward to more from Aisling Rawle. It was a little slow paced, and I wish we learned more about the producers, but that’s not what the novel is about. All in all, a phenomenal read.

Aisling Rawle’s debut novel, The Compound, is a gripping and provocative blend of dystopian fiction and reality TV satire. Set in a desert compound where ten women and ten men participate in a high-stakes televised competition, the story follows Lily as she navigates challenges that blur the lines between game and survival. Rawle masterfully escalates the tension, crafting a narrative that is both binge-worthy and thought-provoking. While some plot elements may stretch believability, the novel's sharp commentary on consumerism, power dynamics, and media exploitation makes it a standout read. Fans of The Hunger Games and Love Island will find this a compelling and unsettling exploration of modern society's obsessions.

💭: This was a fun one! Think Bachelor in Paradise and Big Brother having a baby.

You are picked to go on a reality show. You arrive and the house is kind of in shambles and there is no furniture. You have to do group and individual challenges to earn comforts. The longer you stay on the show by not being voted off, the greater the prizes. Contestants have to couple up before nightfall or be sent home.

I was interested to see what challenges they had to do, and wondered who would win. I was curious to see who would win and what would happen after. It was somewhat of a slowburn, but still felt addicting to read. It read a little YA, but that was ok with me.

This is my favorite book of the year! I was texting all my friends to read it. I literally couldn’t put it down!

Lily wakes up in a desert compound, finding herself on a reality tv show, she must out last 19 other contestants. if you like reality tv you will love this story.