Mix together Love Island/Big Brother/Lord of the Flies and woah.... this book sucked me in and I couldn't put it down! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I am speechless... the last quarter of the book was
INTENSE! The whole thing was crazy but it took a sharp turn into violence. The storyline was truly unique. I felt a sense of dread the entire time reading it as if I was one of the contestants in the book trying to survive in confinement while the outside world crumbled. The characters were very diverse and complex and most of them had many flaws but I think that's what drew them to the challenge in the first place. It was tricky to connect to them as first because one of the rules of the house was that they couldn't talk about their personal lives, but as the story went on I developed a soft spot for many of them especially Sam. I would totally recommend this to anyone. All you really need is 24 hours bc your eyes will stay glued to the pages.

Let me start with the positives. The book managed to keep my attention, and I was intrigued enough to finish it. I appreciated the exploration of themes like consumerism and materialism, especially how they were used to reflect deeper philosophical ideas. The concept—a reality TV show that highlights the shallow, one-dimensional aspects of human behavior—was creative and thought-provoking. I give credit to the author for weaving that into the narrative. There were definitely a few exciting moments scattered throughout.

That said, the pacing was a major issue for me. It felt like an extremely slow burn, and I kept waiting for something big or shocking to happen—but it never really did. The tasks in the show felt childish and, honestly, a bit ridiculous. Compliment someone and get earrings? I was hoping for more intense action or suspense. Maybe I read too much horror and have skewed expectations, but I needed more stakes, more unpredictability.

And the ending—ugh. It was really underwhelming and left me with more questions than answers. As for the dystopian aspect, I don’t really buy it. The dystopian world was barely fleshed out—just a few vague sentences about what was happening outside the show. With more world-building, I think the story could have hit a much deeper level and offered more insight into the characters as well.

Speaking of the characters, we never truly got to know them. I get that their lack of depth might have been intentional, given the reality TV setting, but it made it hard to connect with anyone or care about their choices. Beyond their desperation and materialistic motives, there wasn’t much to grasp onto.

In the end, it was okay. It held my interest just enough to see it through, but it never delivered the impact I was hoping for. I wouldn’t call it thrilling or truly dystopian, and overall, it left me a bit disappointed.

I used to be a big fan of Big Brother and The Bachelor/ette and Pad. This reminds me of a Big Brother Bachelor Pad combination. Only, much more intense! 10 girls start in the house and 10 guys later join. If you aren't paired up, you are eliminated. The whole group can complete tasks to earn things to help make the compound more livable. Like doors, furniture, food. The compound is sparsely furnished when they begin. Everyone can also do personal tasks to earn prizes of their own. Things like brushes, clothing, jewelry, whatever the viewers and producers at home want to give them. There is some very violent things that happen in this book, but I never knew how it was going to end. It was something different than other books that I've read.

I received a free eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an objective review. I don’t remember requesting it, and imagine it was one that was offered to me directly from the publisher, as happens occasionally.

The Compound is a novel that takes place on the set of a reality TV show, the sort of show I have never watched and used to make fun of when my daughter watched them. They’re the opposite of reality, to my mind. Despite that, there was something unexpectedly compelling about this novel, so much so that I found myself returning to it in preference to another book I’d been reading. There are some errors and inconsistencies regarding rewards won by the narrator and other contestants that presumably will be corrected before final publication, but overall it proved to be an interesting and engaging look at the reactions and interactions of nineteen young adults to a rather bizarre and challenging experience. The ending, however, felt unsatisfying and abrupt, as if the author had run out of ideas and just stopped writing.

I was surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did, and imagine a fan of reality TV would find this book far more enjoyable than I did.

Oh no, another reality show gone wrong in Aisling Rawle's debut novel, 'The Compound. This is a sharp, unsettling satire that blends dystopian fiction with reality TV tropes, offering a biting critique of consumerism, performative culture, and the moral costs of entertainment in today's society. How far would you go to win luxurious prizes? Expose all your secrets and frailities?

Lily, is a disillusioned twenty-something who wakes up in a remote desert compound alongside nineteen other contestants. They are participants in a massively popular reality show where the objective is to outlast each other, by competing in challenges to earn luxury goods and basic necessities. Each day, contestants must pair up with a member of the opposite sex or face elimination, (akakkkk), adding a layer of forced intimacy to the competition. As the show progresses, the tasks become increasingly manipulative and dangerous, blurring the lines between game and survival. It's like the sex version of survival with extra ick factor, but Lily will do anything to win.

This was interesting, and says a lot about our current society, but not something I'd ever sign up for.
Rawle delves into themes of consumerism, the dehumanizing effects of reality television, and the lengths individuals will go to attain comfort and status. Rawle uses the show's structure to mirror societal obsessions with material wealth and public image, questioning the many ethical boundaries people are willing to cross for personal gain. The novel also touches on the strain and psychological impact of constant surveillance and the performative nature of modern life.

Lily is ordinary, and relatable, embodying the average person caught in extraordinary circumstances. The narrative's focus on her internal struggles and observations provides a lens through which readers can examine their own participation in a culture that commodifies human experience. However, some readers may find the lack of depth of character development and the ambiguity surrounding the outside world to be a drawback.

It definitely makes you think about society's obsession with spectacle and materialism. Rawle's incisive commentary and unique narrative structure make this novel a standout in contemporary fiction. While it may leave some questions unanswered, it's a novel that sticks with you, forcing you to examine the ethical costs of entertainment and the true price of comfort.

The Compound by Aisling Rawle is an exciting social experiment for those who love reality tv. I would consider this a cross between Love Island and The Challenge.

It starts with a character, Lily, being one of the ten women chosen, as well as, ten men entering a house. The idea is to complete challenges in order to earn household necessities or highly sought after items from brands. Some of the challenges are silly and some are to advance their knowledge of each other's personal lives. It includes banishments, tension, and a level of brutality for the viewers.

Even though staying in the house is supposed to be a 'vacation', the characters still created a society away from home by defining roles and responsibilities to continue feeling that greater purpose. This story explores the lengths that a person is willing to go to get an item they want even at the expense or harm of others. It also explores what others will ignore for the sake of convenience or because they think they are supposed to. The Compound begs the question "What are we willing to do for our own desires and how do we express that desire?".

In the end, it shows how we are all deeply human and at what point is there meaning in desires, or overconsumption, without the human connection. My eyes were genuinely glued to this book the entire time and I was upset when I had real life responsibilities. The only things I disliked about reading this book is that I can never read it for the first time again and that I don't immediately have a follow up book to know what happens next. Aisling Rawle will now be an auto-read author for me!

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an advance reader copy of The Compound via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC! all thoughts and opinions are my own ✨

aisling rawle's debut novel is biting, addictive, and rife with social commentary. readers follow lily, a young woman who has been selected to star as a contestant on a reality tv show. lily isn't particularly assertive or intelligent, but she is beautiful. though the premise of the show is bizarre, humiliating and, at times, openly sinister, the so-called "winner" is given anything their heart desires. who in their right mind would turn that down?

this book possesses all the same qualities that make reality tv so alluring and bingeable for the majority of the population. on the surface, a lot of what unfolds seems inane and superficial, but if you dig a little deeper, the implications are impossible to ignore.

the compound is a story about consumerism, vanity, and performance culture. it provides poignant commentary on extreme materialistic desire: how the urge is initially satisfied, but does not remain that way for long. ultimately, lily and her fellow contestants are just cycling through items that adhere to the newest trends, inadvertently fanning the flames of their greed—that little voice that keeps chanting for more, more, more.

i really liked this book. i thought it was insightful, compelling, and incredibly entertaining. most of the characters were quite interesting, whereas others were downright terrifying. moreover, this story reads like a prophecy of something that could very well come to pass within our lifetime. it's eerie and unsettling and nearly impossible to put down. aisling rawle has certainly given me a lot to chew on; i get the feeling that i'll be thinking about this debut for a very long time.

Really liked the concept of this book reality show competition set in what seems to be a near future dystopian society. Reading this book almost felt like watching a Black Mirror episode and definitely made a quick read. Rating this 3.5/4 stars would recommend. I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Random House for the ARC of The Compound.

This was such a strange story! It's reality television Big Brother mixed with Survivor and the last one standing wins big. But there are strange elements from either the future or a dystopian society, which adds another element. There are 19 contestants and they have to wade through the dynamics of friends and love interests. It was very much a suspenseful drama that kept me guessing the entire time. The end becomes a little unhinged, but overall it was a pretty fun read.

A tense, wildly entertaining summer read. The Compound hooked me with its high-stakes reality show premise and kept me flipping pages with its blend of cringe, chaos, and clever tension. It reads like the best kind of reality TV: a little ridiculous at times, but compulsively watchable.

The atmosphere stays taut throughout, and while the plot takes a few over-the-top turns near the end, it still worked for me because I was so invested in the setup. A perfect pick for readers who love psychological tension layered with social commentary and pop culture flair. Definitely a standout for summer reading!

Well ... I think I'm an outlier on this one. I'll start with the good. It kept me interested enough to keep reading. I enjoyed the themes such as consumerism and the materialis that represented philosophical views. It was an interesting take on a reality TV show that shows just how one dimensional humans really are. I can appreciate the authors incorporating this into the book. It was exciting in a few spots. But overall, it was an extremely dragged out slow burn. I kept waiting and waiting for something crazy to happen, unfortunately it never really did. All the tasks to me seemed childish and just dumb. I needed more action not, oh give someone a compliment and get a pair of earrings. Maybe I just read too much horror and expect insane things to happen on every page, I don't know. Ugh and the ending! The ending was so luck luster and I have a lot of questions. In terms of this being a dystopian thriller, I disagree. The most dystopian it got was about 6 sentences, that barely described what was happening in the outside world and why. If more details were included regarding this I feel the story would have been taken to another level. I also think this would have helped with character development. We really never got to know the characters, which I understand was part of the reality show they were on. But again, it left me with a lot of questions and struggling to understand the characters. Other than them all just being desperate and wanting money and materialistic objects, I didn't know much about them. Again, it was okay, I finished the book and it kept me interested enough to do so. It just wasn't anything crazy exciting and let me down a bit.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group for providing me an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my review.

Rating: 3.75
I really enjoyed this. It's fast-paced and easy to read and kept me engaged just as much as a reality show would. I liked how all of the characters had their flaws and you couldn't really love or HATE anyone. I've seen some people say that they wished it leaned more "hunger games" style but the point of the show isn't to hurt or kill. It's to produce entertainment and honestly *SPOILER* when they burned Tom in that hot tub I was shocked lol. The only downside I'd say I have about the book is, I wasn't completely sold on the writing style. A lot of times it felt as if it was just a recounting of the days and I wished it leaned more into actually living through it with Lily. Those moments had me hooked the most. On a brighter note, this will stick with me for a long time. The story, the games, but especially the characters! I have terrible memory when it comes to remembering names in books especially standalone's but I remember all of them!

Hooked me right away, I loved the vibe of this book. It reminded me sort of of Olga Ravn’s writing or even books like Patricia Wants to cuddle. Very black mirror-esque. I had a great time with this novel!

Thank you to Random House/NetGalley for the e-ARC!

I don't watch reality TV at all, but the concept of this book intrigued me greatly. In a dystopian near-future, 20 contestants must live on a compound in the middle of a desert and complete tasks for rewards. The tasks are communal and personal, and the rewards range from hair brushes to food. The cameras are always rolling, and the audience craves drama. The story is told from Lily's POV, a bored, beautiful 20-something. She's on the show for a chance to win prizes and to escape reality.

Lily was an interesting choice for a protagonist as she's a self-described passive person far more willing to follow than lead. She asks questions she knows the answers to and watches the dynamics of the contestants, often thinking of events as a viewer or producer rather than participant. She's not really a character I rooted for, but I didn't dislike her. Her general apathy and feeling of hopelessness for the future is unfortunately relatable at times. I understand her and know she's a product of the late-stage capitalist/influencer hellscape we're rocketing towards.

I don't know if the published edition will have a dramatis personae or cast list, but I really hope it will. There are a lot of characters to keep track of immediately, and I really struggled to remember who was who. I found myself wishing I'd jotted down some notes as soon as people were introduced. When people were banished, I forgot about them almost immediately. As a part of the rules of the compound, contestants aren't allowed to talk about their past, and that makes it hard to connect with anyone or really care. I think it's part of the point of the book, but it's also a downside. Lily cares about very few people and it rubbed off on me.

In the same vein, I liked the commentary we got but found myself craving a little more substance from greater world picture. There are wars mentioned, but no specifics. Again, I think the vagueness was the point, but it made it hard to really latch onto anything.

I do wonder if people who like reality TV would be more likely to appreciate this book, because I didn't think it was particularly bingeable or page-turning (though this improved during the last third when the stakes increased). I enjoyed it when I picked it up, but I hardly found myself wanting to do that. This is probably more of a personal preference thing, but it did impact my overall enjoyment. By far, the greatest strength of the book was the show itself. It was a perfect combination of capitalistic greed and cruelty for the sake drama for the sake of holding an audience's attention. I just wish it held mine a little more too.

A Gripping Reality TV Dystopia That Will Keep You Hooked

What starts as what seems like a light summer read quickly transforms into something far more unsettling and thought-provoking. The Compound drops you directly into a desert reality show where twenty contestants compete to be the last person standing for luxury rewards, but the longer they remain isolated from a crumbling outside world, the more the lines between performance and reality begin to blur. This isn't your typical beach read—it's a razor-sharp commentary on our society's obsession with consumption, performance, and the ways we've confused want with genuine need.

Lily makes for a compelling if sometimes frustrating narrator precisely because of her ordinariness. She's the kind of person you'd find on any reality show or scrolling through social media—beautiful but shallow, passive yet relatable. Her very normalcy becomes the book's strength, grounding the dystopian elements in something uncomfortably familiar. Through her eyes, we watch as the competition becomes increasingly cutthroat and the contestants struggle to distinguish authentic human connection from strategic gameplay, never knowing if someone's kindness stems from genuine care or a personal challenge requirement.

The book excels at maintaining an eerie, unsettling atmosphere while withholding just enough information to keep you constantly on edge. We get tantalizing hints about the producers' motivations, the state of the outside world, and the true nature of the show, but never quite enough to feel comfortable. This deliberate ambiguity makes the story even more compelling—you're left questioning everything alongside the characters, wondering what's real and what's manufactured for entertainment.

The Compound succeeds as both an addictive page-turner and a meaningful critique of our consumption-obsessed culture. While I would have loved to see the roles of the producers and audience explored more deeply, this debut novel lingers long after you've finished reading. It's the kind of book that makes you examine your own relationship with social media, reality TV, and the endless cycle of wanting more. Aisling Rawle has crafted something special here—a story that entertains while making you think, and I'm genuinely excited to see what she writes next.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC!

This was bizarre but definitely entertaining! if you're a fan of reality tv (or even if you're not), this was intriguing and a cool social experiment. This isn't action packed, but an in-depth look at human behavior. I was entertained throughout!

lily wakes up on a desert compound, one of twenty people competing on the latest season of a popular reality tv show. the objective is simple: be the last person remaining in the compound, and you win near-unlimited luxury rewards. until then, the cast works together for communal rewards or focuses on personal challenges for individual prizes, but the longer lily and her housemates are isolated from the crumbling outside world, the more cutthroat the competition becomes—and the harder it is to discern what is real.

i picked up the compound expecting a light, summery read ahead of love island and bachelor in paradise, but instead i found a clever work of dystopian fiction reflecting back a society obsessed with performance, consumerism, and overconsumption. beautiful but shallow lily is far from the most interesting character in the compound, but she makes for a compelling narrator in this setting. she’s so normal—i can turn on any reality tv show, scroll through any group of influencers, and find a lily—and that normality grounds the criticisms within the novel in a way most of the other characters wouldn’t.

i would have liked to see the producers and audience’s roles explored more, but overall this is a stellar, gripping debut that i don’t think i’ll forget anytime soon. i can’t wait to see what aisling rawle writes next.

hanks to NetGalley for an arc. This has a really interesting premise, but it kind of feels like a lot is borrowed from other books (like the hunger games). I generally found it different enough though. I did not like how it frequently talked about “boys” and “girls” when in theory all of these people are young adults, not children. I also felt like the end kind of dragged and wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. But overall, well done.

Lily is one of 20 contestants (10 women, 10 men) at the start of The Compound, a reality TV show watched globally by millions. We experience the competitions, the rewards, the changing alliances, the producer manipulations, and the contestant emotions all through Lily's perspective.

I'm not a neat fit for this book's target audience -- I haven't been able to get interested in reality shows despite my many attempts. But this story approaches reality shows from the inside. What seems unreal or ridiculous to those watching, feels very real to them on the inside. It starts to feel real to us too. It starts to feel complicated and complex.

I was expecting a popcorn-candy-rollercoaster-beach type of novel, and to some extent it was. But I was also pleasantly surprised at the emotional depth and the difficult personal choices the characters encountered. The PR summary of the book calls it "Lord of the Flies meets Love Island," which is technically true, but I stayed for the dystopic undercurrents that more and more blur with our current reality.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.