This book gives new meaning to the phrase “slow burn”! Usually when people use this I feel like it means “plot/relationship that takes forever to go absolutely nowhere.” The Compound, however, truly starts out with absolutely nothing, both in universe and in terms of what we, the readers, are given: the contestants show up at a compound that has zero furnishings, not even a front door, and we get nothing but a bunch of first names for barely distinguishable characters who have no background. At this point I’m wondering how I’m possibly going to get invested in any of them, but as the contestants slowly earn prizes to build their compound into a home, so does the intensity of the story and characterization ramp up. By act iii, my jaw is dropping and my hand is flying to my mouth in shock and I’m also completely fascinated by the characters and the metaphor for consumerism.
This is not a romp or campy like most novels based on reality tv shows; I would most liken it to Alexandra Oliva’s The Last One, which I loved.

Strange and beautiful speculative fiction. The Compound is like the reality show, Big Brother, but way harsher and more mind-numbing. 10 men and 10 women live in a compound in the desert and are thoroughly filmed doing everything. They must complete communal tasks and sometimes banish their counterparts. They receive rewards and sometimes punishments. They must couple up, otherwise, they are banished by sunrise. This is a very odd novel but very riveting. Told from 20-year old Lily's POV. what really can you win by staying in the compound? And are the risks worth the rewards?

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this digital e-arc.*

• The Compound has been one of my most anticipated releases of this year; it did not disappoint. As soon as I opened this book, I was hooked. Even when there were times it ran a little on the slower side, I still couldn’t put it down. It truly gave the feeling of binging your favorite reality show. The rules to the game were well thought out; as a reader I often have to suspend my disbelief, but this was all logical. The author also picked up on some of the main issues that these reality television shows have with discussions on race, sexuality, and gender roles.

• The story is told through the eyes of Lily, who I instantly didn’t like. Actually, I don’t think I liked any of the characters. They were all unlikeable, though I think that was the author’s intension. But that’s what makes this such a good book: despite not liking anyone, I was glued to my Kindle screen, watching their every moves.

• If you’re going in looking for silly, goofy vibes like Love Island tends to have, you’re not going find them here. I felt uneasy the entire time, never knowing who to trust, what punishment will be bestowed upon them if they break one of the rules, I had no idea what to expect, I was in the dark just like the contestants.

• At this point, you’re probably wondering, “Brooke, if you liked it so much, why didn’t you give it 5 stars?” Well, the scene with the ducks did it for me. I understand they were starving and it was a means of survivable, but the details of it all made my heart ache. And I know some of you are probably thinking, “Come on, Brooke. Ducks?” But I’m so sensitive when it comes to animals 🥺 I even got sad about the part where the pond dried up and all the fish died. Then in the middle of all this, Lily realized she loved Sam at that exact moment he was butchering innocent creatures. That’s a choice.

• Ok now that I think about it, I take back what I said above ⬆️ about not liking anyone. Lily grew on me. I can’t ignore the drastic character development she underwent. Gotta give credit where credit is due! She went from being a superficial, vapid girl who only cared about the fame and gifts to winning then giving it all up for love. I respect that.

• The book doesn’t come out and say what happened to the world, but some of what the author said made me believe it might’ve been global warming. The brutal heat in the day and brutal cold at night, brush fires in the distance, the masks everyone was wearing on the “outside”. I wish she would’ve told us, yet again, I think that was intentional.

❝𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑏𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔: 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒.❞

“We had built up a kind of immunity to the harshness that was necessary to live in the compound. And so, a few days later, in exchange for a Persian rug, we banished two people.”

This book is based on reality TV—Big Brother or Love Island, who knows—and starts out at a crawl with little by way of tension. Enough strikes in my book, so I can’t believe I plowed through this addictive read. Maybe it’s a case of mistaken identity. I have a mental checklist of expectations by genre and, at first, nothing was sticking. When it hit me that this story is as much about characters as plot, the light bulb clicked on. Reality TV is about fame and money, yes, but this book is also about the persons who seek it and why. Why go on television knowing their every word and facial expression will be critiqued, criticized, or mocked in the off chance that some viewer will adore them, brands will offer contracts, and money will flow. It also critiques the ways in which reality TV producers sow distrust and fear; encourage betrayal; bait contestants by targeting their weaknesses and compulsions.

“It felt like a vulgar thing, to admit to how much it thrilled me: the promise of material things, the rush you get from obtaining something new, something better than you had before. I was frequently anxious, feeling as though whenever I wasn’t requesting something I was wasting my opportunity.”

Rawle exposes the darker side of reality TV and assembles a cast worth studying. After a slow start, she quickly adds tension and mystery that will keep fans of plot-driven writing captivated.

“People did die after the show though—there was a long list now of people who’d taken their lives after they returned home—but that was a separate issue.”

Thank you to Random House Publishing—Random House and NetGalley for providing this e-galley.

This was like love island meets black mirror meets lord of the flies. I couldn’t put this one down. Highly recommend - perfect summer book!

20 contestants, 10 beds. The only rules are
1. You can’t talk about the show, or act like the cameras are there.
2. You can’t reveal details about your life outside the compound.
3. You cannot hurt another contestant.

One couple per bed, if you are sleeping alone at sunrise, you are banished.

Complete group challenges to earn the items you need to survive, complete personal challenges to earn extra luxury items.

This Big Brother/Love Island tv experiment is intriguing from the start. But how far will others go for the items they want?

Who are these people really when no one is allowed to talk about their real lives?

This book was fascinating and gripping as the characters revealed more about who they were, what was important to them and why they were there.

What an excellent debut novel!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for a copy of this book. All opinions were my own.

This cover and storyline have made it my " go-to" recommendation to anyone asking me for a book to add to their beach bag this summer.

WOW. This is the kind of book that made me feel icky inside (intentionally), but also kept me turning the pages desperately to know what would happen next. It was fast paced and thrilling, but also an introspective character study, taking place in an absurd setting that was so completely immersive.
The Compound tells the story of Lily, a beautiful twenty-something who joins nineteen others on a reality dating show to escape the mundanity of her dystopian life, where all she does is go to work in order to try to earn enough money to buy items that she'll never be able to afford, when the world is probably going to end soon anyway. The plot of the show is simple: pair up with someone of the opposite gender and sleep in the same bed as them, or else you get banished. There are also tasks that the contestants must complete in order to earn basic living requirements like food, or sometimes more luxury items, like diamond earrings, ranging from having conversations that the audience will find interesting to banishing someone from the compound.
Lily is our main character and narrator, and what a fascinating point of view she provides. She self-proclaims that she is not the most intelligent or deep person, but she's sharp witted and observant, and she is very self-aware of herself and others. The other characters are less fleshed out, but we are seeing different perspectives on life from Lily's point of view. She and the others have conflicts and friendships and relationships, and I couldn't stop reading to see what would happen next. I read this entire book over the course of two and a half days, and it was the kind of book that made me sit in silence when I finished.
This book is a reflection on materialism and consumerism, among other things, and that made me feel so icky and want to get rid of all of my possessions. The dystopian world Lily and the others lived in was abstract (a little too much, in my opinion), with the entirety of the book happening within the compound, with nothing else happening on the outside world. This book was disorienting and immersive, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Read this if: you like dystopias disguised as dating shows, sharp social commentary, and books you truly cannot stop reading

This is hands down the best book I’ve read this year—maybe last year too. I could not put it down. The Compound is being described as Love Island meets Lord of the Flies, and that’s exactly right. It takes the tropes of reality TV—beautiful people, forced pairings, manufactured drama—and slowly reveals something much darker lurking underneath.

The setup: a group of singles live in a remote, camera-filled compound, competing in couples to win challenges, prizes, and the right to keep their spot in the house. They’re banned from discussing their pasts or the world outside, which makes their conversations feel both hilariously shallow and quietly haunting. The setting is so vivid—the pool, the confessionals, the glossy unreality of it all—but there are just enough cracks in the surface to let something more sinister seep in. We don’t know much about the world beyond the walls, but what we do hear—ongoing wars, extreme weather, general instability—makes it clear things are not good.

As the number of contestants starts to decrease, you can feel the desperation growing. The book takes a sharp turn into psychological suspense as people are pushed to their physical and mental limits to stay in the compound. It becomes less about who will “win” and more about who will survive—emotionally, socially, and maybe literally. Underneath the shiny surface, the story becomes a smart and unsettling exploration of consumerism, the blurred line between performance and identity, and how competition can distort even the strongest bonds.

It’s sharp, compulsively readable, and full of tension. I’m still thinking about it and would honestly reread it just to spot what I missed the first time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the chance to read this story in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a hardcore reality TV watcher, whether it’s reality competition like ‘Survivor’ or reality dating like ‘Love Island,’ so ‘The Compound’ was absolute catnip for me. Rawle does a
great job setting a tone of unease and suspense, and the characters are the right level of likeably unlikeable (just like all the best reality TV stars). Wrapped up at the center of its popcorn reality TV premise is some really smart cultural commentary, making the story a real winner in my book.

As someone who has recently gotten into Love Island and grew up during the post-apocalyptic book fad (Hunger Games, Divergent, etc.), I was really excited for this book, but it fell really flat. One of the biggest downfalls of this book is the main character quite often thinking about the outside world, but not giving us any information as to what happened. The premise of the island is that the contestants cannot talk about the outside world until they are down to the final 5, so I was hopeful we would gain some details later in the book, but no dice. What made it even more frustrating was the little information we were given wasn't enough for us readers to draw our own conclusions, so why include it in the first place?
On the subject of the final 5 being able to talk openly about everything - there was so much conflict between the last contestants that we got barely any information on them. For example, why were they all so desperate to stay in the compound after the contest was over? What happened to the contestant who got "saved" by the producers and started acting weird? The ending was also very lackluster and I felt that Lily had zero character development. Overall, this book could've been good but it was missing SOO many details that could've made it more enjoyable.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book—it kept me engaged from beginning to end. The plot was compelling, the characters were well-developed, and the pacing made it hard to put down. I found myself completely immersed in the story, and it offered a perfect blend of entertainment, emotion, and intrigue."

I was very excited to read this debut based on the synopsis, however, the delivery fell flat for me. What I thought was going to be a more cut throat competition, with a race against some sort of apocalyptic demise (based on the cover), ended up being a play-by-play of a poorly scripted "reality" show with underdeveloped characters, non-existence world-building and mediocre writing. The commentary on gender roles, sexuality and race felt like an afterthought, and I don't believe the author succeeded in her attempt to highlight the role media consumption plays into our lives.

I'm sad to say that I didn't really enjoy The Compound as much as I had hoped. I thought it was White Lotus inspired and didn't realize it was about a dystopian reality TV show that was half Survivor and half Love Island. The characters all blurred together and weren't all that interesting (to me personally). While I love watching reality TV, I often find that reading about it just doesn't work for me. But I am sure other readers will feel differently.

Thanks so much to Random House for the advance copy!

The Compound by Aisling Rawle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Don’t let the “reality show” vibes trick you, this one was a complicated and thought-provoking read.

When I saw reality show, I was expecting drama, entertainment, outlandish behavior. And while there was definitely that, it was in a way that was completely surprising and unexpected. This was a slow-burn, I’m talking molasses slow, serious novel that explored performance culture and consumerism. It made bold societal statements in a way that felt surreal. There is so much I could say but I just can’t put it all into words.

It was an intelligent novel that you should go into blindly. Fans of ominously toned books, books with social commentary, and reality shows will find much to love here.

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.