3.5 stars.

In The Compound, we read from Lily’s perspective as she wakes up in the house of a well established reality competition show where the goal is to couple up but mostly outlast everyone else so you can win a lot of expensive designer stuff. Yes, that’s all.

The group and each individual has to complete daily tasks that are presented on a screen. If they achieve these tasks, the producers (hidden away somewhere) will provide them with their prizes which start at lawn furniture and escalate to food and water after these resources are withheld for a period of time to cause “drama.”

The clear point of The Compound is to comment on how much our society has propped up reality competition shows, usually dating ones, to disappear into (dissociate may be a better word for it) in order to escape the depressing horror that is real life. I think it was supposed to be set in the future, but it very well could’ve been happening in our current timeline.

It’s Black Mirror coded, and full of existential dread that does a good job of sustaining that tension throughout. There were times in the plot when I would get bored, or sick of the repetitive nature of the “game” but then something would happen that would pull me back in and keep from DNFing.

I didn’t love reading from the perspective of our main character, Lily, but I get why she was our main character. She’s the exact type of person to compete on this Love Island-esque TV competition show. She has low self esteem, hates her dead-end real life, feels like being pretty is the only thing that will get her anywhere in life, and just wants to win a bunch of material shit and get famous. Different scenarios and people she meets on the show try to challenge those beliefs, but alas, expensive stuff and notoriety win out most of the time. You want to shake sense into her the entire time you’re reading.

I have to be honest, I thought this was going to get a loooooot more weird and/or violent, what with the comp to Hunger Games in the synopsis, but no, the only thing that’s similar to the Hunger Games in this is the fact that they get gifts to help them keep house and they banish each other from the compound one by one. That’s it. It could’ve gone more A24, but it didn’t quite go there.

The most unhinged reality tv show premise.

The first couple of chapters I was pretty confused- 20 characters to keep track of and I didn’t understand how the reality tv show worked other than them being in a compound in the middle of a desert.

Then I got hooked as the challenges, dynamics, and eliminations progressed.

Once it got down to the final 5 contestants I found it dragged a bit… and then turned thriller-like with unhinged chaos amongst the competitors.

Made for an addictive read overall, but no way a show like that would stay on the air- let alone for multiple seasons like in the book, haha

Thanks NetGalley and publishers for my free copy in exchange for my honest review.

That was A LOT.

The beginning of the book is so disorienting bc you have no idea what is is happening, who these people are, how they got there...and then essentially you end up in a Black Mirror episode of Big Brother/Love Island.

Lily is our narrator of indeterminate age and essentially a blank canvas. She's whoever the story needs her to be at whatever point in time. This clearly takes place in some dystopian future that they're trying to escape or maybe just Lily is bc winning feels a lot like losing her.

Interesting Lord of the Flies parallels and how we can do the most for truly so little.

This is the guilty pleasure book every psychological thriller reader craves. The book’s description compares it with popular reality shows and competition books, but it’s more than that. It causes you to think about decisions you would make if it meant your survival and that of your colleagues. Each challenge offered to the contestants of the book’s fictional show offer insights into what is truly important to people. This book is perfect for reality fans and for people who want a quick paced book nearly impossible to put down.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Compound follows Lily, a young woman living an ordinary, mundane life, as she joins a hit reality show where ten women and ten men are dropped into a home in the desert and must complete tasks and couple up to earn necessities to survive.

This is a fascinating debut, focusing on the relationships between people in a strange environment and the lengths people will go to to get what they want, whether that be love, fame, notoriety, material possessions, or escape. It is deeply reflective in a very jovial way about the state of humanity and the desire to escape an ordinary life.

As Lily progresses through the show, friendships are made and broken, relationships form and fall apart, and violence and hatred ensue as contestants fight to be "the winner." But what exactly are they winning?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for a review.

This was compulsively readable (although not necessarily the most enjoyable). The concept was pretty cool, and the author does a great job of building tension. This book is like a dystopian Too Hot To Handle, and it started off kind of fun, but plateaued into kind of a “meh” middle. It picks up again near the end, but the conclusion wasn’t super satisfying to me. Our main character is a bit dull, but there were enough genuine relationships or compelling plot points to keep me reading. I mean, I finished the book in one night! I would definitely read more from the author.

I loved reading this book. The compound said a lot about social issues, primarily men vs women. It allowed readers to see the inside of what a reality tv show could be like in a way I’ve never read before.

- totally enthralled with this book from the beginning
- took a minute to place each character throughout, but did get easier
- love island meets hunger games is a great way to describe this book
- would have loved to have known more about what was going on outside of the compound…? it was eluded to but not really touched on
- a component of what the viewers saw would have been an interesting POV to include
- the ended was quite abrupt that left me irritated

thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

TW: domestic violence

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. If you love reality tv you will LOVE this book. It was a quick mysterious read. I just had to know what the heck was going on! Contestants are competing against each other to try to outlast one another while being filmed and given challenges. There was also an underlying creepy feeling as they are out in nowhere desert and are not aloud to talk about anything personal with each other. Readers are going to love it!

Readers are dropped directly into the action in this dystopian story focus on the contestants of a reality television show similar to Big Brother. Those who enjoyed Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis or Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen. While the setting is limited to the Compound, the house and yard of a resort style house, surrounded by a desert, hints are given throughout the story that all is not right with the outside world. Just like the reality television it skewers the book is a compulsive page turner, and will keep readers progressing quickly to the end to see who makes it to the end.

On the surface level it doesn't sound so different from reality, characters hold jobs like project managers, financial analysts and students, but as the story progresses readers get some sense of the outside world through the thoughts and conversations of the characters. There are mentions of an ongoing war, anxiety about the future, some brief mentions of politics, and the willingness of the contestants to do increasingly outrageous and dangerous things to stay in the compound. Also, the willingness of the show runners to allow the contestants to do increasingly dangerous and potentially harmful acts, seemingly at the encouragement of viewers. Readers are left wondering in what kind of world entertainment like this is possible...and how close our reality is to it already. This will appeal to fans of reality television, but also to those who are interested in speculative fiction with social/political messages.

Ugh I wish this had been for me! Thank you to NG and Random House for an ARC. I think per the books description I was expecting more Hunger Games and less dystopian Bachelor. Characters were just all one dimensional and I needed someone to cheer for! It was a propulsive read but when I finished it was just kinda meh.
Knowing this was a debut I was impressed with the writing, and would read something else by the author.

Oh my god, I can't believe this was a debut. I was hooked by the premise of Love Island meets Lord of the Flies, and that is ACCURATE! It starts out with just a fairly ominous Love Island setup, and you slowly learn more about the world and the characters. I would say it definitely leans more Love Island than LOTF, but in a good way in my opinion, it's like slow, social horror almost if that makes sense.

The characters are so well done and easy to love, and really, truly, I could not put this book down. I feel like I could write a dissertation about this book!!!!!

It's hard to describe what was so enticing about this book but I was so hooked. I am not a huge reality tv fan however I could see myself hooked to this show. They allude to "the wars" and the human population dying out which may be why the personalities that emerged towards the end really did. And I could imagine the viewers at home getting a macabre sense of satisfaction of seeing chaos unfold in a controlled environment while their entire work is chaotic. The materialism was interesting - even in hunger games-esque environment there were still people motivated by meaningless items. The ending left me wanting more though.

I had a thoroughly good time reading this. As a fan of shows like Survivor and Big Brother, this book puts a fun spin on reality competition shows. There is a small amount of commentary bubbling on the peripheries of the story, but at the end I want myself wanting a little more of the outside world of the story. That isn't to say that I didn't like the book, it just left me wanting a little more. Overall, a very fun and riveting story that I found completely unputdownable.

really good book and loved the reality aspect. It felt like a reality show and fun to meet the characters

Welcome to The Compound! A show where contestants compete for luxurious gifts, find love, make alliances, & try not to get voted out. Join Lily and the other contestants to see who will survive and make it to the end.

The concept of this novel grabbed my attention right away. Who doesn’t love a good survival show? It didn’t take me long to finish this book, yet it left me with more questions than answers. The contestants mentioned that outside of The Compound there was some sort of war going on. Not much details were given and I wish there had been more information. I was hoping for chaos, yet the characters were driven by drama. Overall, it was an engaging novel and it will leave you wanting more.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was very much a book that read like a reality TV show. Which was very much the point. It was interesting and well done. I thought it was a bit predictable but that's okay, not every book needs to have an earth shattering twist.

I think I’m an outlier here, but this book was not for me. I don’t watch a lot of reality tv but the premise seemed interesting enough for me to want to give it a try. I love thrillers and loved Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games, but this book just didn’t do it for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters who ended up being a bunch of selfish, materialistic, backstabbing people. To be fair, I might not be the right audience for this book due to my age. Younger people may enjoy it more. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy.

I’m not sure what to make of The Compound. I liked the idea of Love Island meets Lord of the Flies, and the start was oddly compelling, but the characters didn’t really evolve which left me wondering what the book was all about at the end?

Whoa. Finished in one day. What an interesting, pretty depressing, but immersive book. Really enjoyed this. As someone who has competed on reality TV (I was on season 45 of Survivor - US) this book really struck a chord. Phenomenally done. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy!