WOW. This is like, Love Island meets the Hunger Games and it absolutely works. It's dystopian but we don't quite get a taste of what exactly is going on in the world outside of the compound...and it turns from dystopian novel to pure thriller. One that will stick with me for a while.

Love Island meets Lord of the Flies?

I was sold and immediately downloaded it on netgalley. I never got to it before it was published so I ended up getting the audio on Libby (love when that happens 🤓).

Summary
Aisling Rawle's debut novel The Compound takes place on an unnamed reality competition television show, where contestants live together, compete in challenges to earn rewards, and gradually get banished until only one remains to win the grand prize.

This would make one crazy, controversial show 😱 Although it isn't too far off from the kooky reality shows out there so maybe we'll see this book come to life one day.

It wasn't the best, parts definitely dragged but I did listen to it in two days so there's that.

What's your favorite reality show? I don't watch as many as I used to but I loooove me some Love Island 😆

Thank you @netgalley for this reading copy!
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A solid 4.5 stars. I absolutely tore through this and could not stop thinking about it. I dreamed about it. I found myself staring into space at random times of day wondering what certain characters were going to do next. I’m so in awe that this was Rawle’s debut—it’s such a unique concept and a very propulsive read about the nature of desire, consumerism, and boundaries of our humanity. “Love Island meets Lord of the Flies” overdoes it a little bit in my opinion, this story is a lot more understated and eerie than Lord of the Flies or The Hunger Games (in the absolute best way). It’s more like Love Island meets king of the hill but where anyone will do almost anything to be king. Gonna be pondering this one for a long time and recommending it to everyone I know.

The Compound exceeded all my expectations. I was initially intrigued by the premise but the execution and the questions it asked of the reader made it an even better read. I can’t wait to see what Aisling Rawle writes next.

This was a super entertaining read! I really liked the premise of a competitive dating show that slowly started to show some darker undertones. It was unique and very gripping. Just a few things took my rating down, the first being that the main character was really annoying. I didn't like her and I know that's probably the point, but I just kept thinking how she doesn't deserve Sam. I also wish that we got some more answers at the end about who the producers are, why some things happened, etc. Otherwise a cool book!

The Compound by Aisling Rawle
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Confession- my guilty pleasure is watching reality shows like Love Is Blind and The Perfect Match. The Compound reminds me of a cross between The Perfect Match and Hunger Games. Like these shows, once I start, I can’t stop. Part dystopian and suspense drama, as part of a tv show, 10 women and 10 men are at a desert compound. Couples pair themselves up and anyone left without a partner at the end of the night is asked to leave. The contestants are given daily tasks while being filmed for a tv show. There is a big screen that shows the daily Communal Tasks while the small screens assign Individual Tasks. These tasks result in luxury gifts/prizes awarded to the group (food, furniture)or individual (makeup, clothes)respectively. Contestants start doubting whether actions are true or done to complete a task for gifts from high end brand sponsors. How far will you go to be the last one standing? Materials vs morals is the name of the game. Filled with unlikeable characters and drama, this would be a great beach read. Thank you to @netgalley @randomhouse @aislingrawle for this amazing binge read! Out 6/24. #books #bookstagram #booklover #noseinabook #bibliophile #reading #read #bookreview #TheCompound #NetGalley #randomHouse #ainslingrawle #dystopiannovel

The writing is excellent, but man is the MC so dang unlikeable. Giving us the perspective of such a detestable character was an interesting choice for the this type of storyline. Not a bad call, honestly. One of my only two complaints about the book is you don't really get much of an idea of what's going on in the real world beyond some type of war? Also, the early stage of the show when they're running out of food, bananas are the last things they have to eat. Bananas turn bad quickly, so I feel like the author should've emphasized the deteriorating of the fruit. Maybe even mentioned a ton of fruit flies being drawn in by the process. Otherwise, a fairly thought provoking story.

I loved this book. Absolutely will be recommended. So thoughtful, gripping, a total page turner. Did not want it to end!!

Holy bingeable book! I could not put this down and I am dying to talk about it with someone! I honestly had no idea where this story would go from chapter to chapter. I found myself questioning so many of the characters decisions throughout the book and thought about the symbolism you could find in this one. It was compared to Bachelor in Paradise/Love Island with Lord of the Flies and I think that is a perfect way to describe it. My only critique is there was not a lot of information about what life was like outside the compound. I found myself wondering what motivated these contestants to continue to stay on the island (lots to unload with that honestly) and I really wish I knew! However, that is probably part of the point and part of why there would be a lot to discuss with this one. I don't want to spoil anything but if you are looking for a book you can't put down this is it. Just know it may have some romantic situations; this is definitely not a romance book!

"The Compound" was very different from things I typically read, but I was hooked by the tagline of "Love Island meets Lord of the Flies". This book left me wanting more, and I'm not sure if it's in a good way or a bad way.

First of all, the premise was super compelling and I loved seeing the reality show unfold. If this existed in real life I think I would probably watch it. I'm not sure what that says about me. The characters in the book were all very similar, which I think was kind of the point. However, I would have liked to learn more about some of them or experience a little more depth from them. Lily had no discernable personality, which I think was also sort of intentional. But there were times when she bored me.

I definitely would have liked to learn more about the broader world "The Compound" takes place in or the public perception of this season of the show. Again, I know this was part of the point, that the characters of the book went on the show to escape the wider world and are therefore isolated from it, but I think some hints of outside context would have added a lot to the story.

Overall, this book kept me hooked, especially towards the end, but I think it really had the potential to be a great book rather than just a good book.

3 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Solid debut novel! I thought it would feature more climate dystopia, but there's only a few sentences mentioning the 'outside' world. I didn't get to know the FMC well and other than her cursory motivations for entering the competition, but could also see with the book being a satire on consumer behavior, why character development was left at surface level. Around the last third, it turned into a fun thriller as stakes grew higher to stay on the compound. Would recommend!

This was a rollercoaster! 😱

So it took me a bit to get into this because there were a lot of characters at first, and I was trying to understand how this show worked.

So the compound is in the desert. The 10 girls wake up in the house and that kicks off the show, I’m guessing they’re like drugged or something? They wake up with nothing, the place is a mess from the last group that was there for the show. It’s like a big brother sort of? The guys wake up in the desert and they have to find their way to the compound. One dude doesn’t make it, one is attacked by a dog?

Once the guys show up, there has to be a guy in each girls bed each night and if there’s not the girl gets banished.

They have to complete tasks given to them by the screen/producers in the living room to get things for the compound, and complete personal tasks to get rewards that are like branded items. The whole thing is the longer you stay, the more famous you are when you get out. But then they also talk about staying on the compound awhile at the end to get free stuff and avoid going back to real life?

We never see cameras or producers, nothing behind the scenes, and I think that’s a huge benefit and leaves a lot of mystery and creates a lot of tension. It’s all from Lily’s POV. The ending gets very intense as people get banished, and the tasks turn into things like the producers taking all the food away, and a task has to be completed for them to get more food. Or the water being turned off. So the show is intentionally starving them, and it’s this like, how far will the producers go before stepping in if a participant is injured or sick.

It was all pretty dark near the end, overall a pretty good thriller, a great summer read!

Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

The Compound was a really unique amazing debut!

It starts off a bit suddenly and it took me a few minutes to get my bearings. But once I did, I couldn’t put it down! Despite not having much character development, I was incredibly invested in the story.

It had an eerie vibe from the beginning with a touch of dystopian undertones. I loved the reality tv setting and how it tackled so many topics in a really interesting way.

I found this to be a captivating read and I’d recommend it! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

A modern-day Lord Of The Flies x grown-up Hunger Games x The Truman Show mash-up made for a binge read that was as compelling as any real-life reality show train-wreck. I would have loved more of a background into who Lily was before the Compound and her relationship with her family to round out her character. Overall, a thoughtful take on the impact of consumerism, capitalism, and climate crisis on our near future. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

I went into The Compound intrigued by the premise—it promised a mix of reality TV chaos with a dark, dystopian twist. The reality show angle was definitely a highlight. Watching the characters navigate a manipulated environment while being watched and judged added a layer of psychological tension. The way the contestants are treated, and the power dynamics at play, definitely speak to bigger themes of exploitation and control. I also loved the desert environment, which made this a great summer time read.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “*reality TV meets The Hunger Games,” as I’ve seen it advertised. The violence is there, but it’s not as graphic or central as it could have been to warrant that level of comparison. One thing that didn’t quite work for me was the female main character. Her inner voice and actions often felt robotic.

Overall, I had a good time reading this one. The competition element and dystopian air or mystery kept me wanting to see what happened next.

Thank you to the PRH team for the review copies! All the Lord of the Flies meets Love Island comparisons are spot-on—but The Compound is so much more. Aisling Rawle delivers a dark, edgy, and deeply thoughtful exploration of human behavior, consumerism, and the slow unraveling of empathy. There’s an unsettling sense of loneliness woven through the novel, paired with sharp commentary on appearance, gender roles, and sexuality. The writing is moody and immersive, and the story raises more questions than it answers—in the best way. A truly compelling, book club–worthy read.

This book is hard to describe. It makes me think of a fever dream where I was sucked in and couldn’t stop reading. Time had no meaning here and the comparisons of it being Lord of the flies meets love Island or not far from the truth. There’s definitely a survivor aspect to this, and the underlying allegory for the consumerism in our world Today was not lost on me.

I don't watch shows like Love Island and Big Brother because the contestants are necessarily vapid, stupid and fundamentally useless, but I leaped at the invitation to read this book (thanks, publisher and NetGalley) because it purportedly would treat those shows like Squid Games and Hunger Games, which I loved. But this book does nothing with that premise beyond challenges a la Squid Games and sponsor awards a la Hunger Games. In fact it makes Love Island look like Breaking Bad, what little commentary there is on the world being shallow, and the characters, in an age where books are deeply concerned about peoples' internal lives, don't seem to have internal lives at all besides what they think of themselves in the mirror.

Are we supposed to valorize people so colossally stupid that, for example, when dying of thirst, they discover there's ice in the trays they used for popsicles, but WAIT UNTIL IT MELTS to drink the water (what they call "melted ice") instead of simply EATING THE ICE? I mean, they do know how popsicles work; can they not fathom that ice works the same way despite lacking flavor and sweetness? Why not just hold the ice in their hands to make it melt? Really, all you need to know about the mimbos and bimbos in the compound is that none of them ever wants or regrets the lack of a book.

Or are we supposed to be laughing at the characters like Darwin Awards in waiting, especially the main character, who is even called vapid at one point? I don't think so either because the penalties in the game are hardly terrifying or dystopic. In fact, when you get voted out, you can keep all the stuff you won. And the contestants aren't reduced to the level of animal instincts and urges due to the show; they start there. At least the compound isn't likened to a concentration camp.

So what is the point, then?

I will say, the book is a very easy read--because it really provokes no thought, reflection or passion and kept me going because I figured something interesting had to happen, sort of like why people scroll through TikTok and Instagram. (Maybe this is what the author intended?)

Note: I really hate to dump on a book, but with a thousand-plus other reviews already on Goodreads and the book having been chosen as a morning show read, I feel I can have my honest say without dooming its prospects unfairly or biting the publisher hand that feeds. Also if readers are meant to feel like they're watching the show in the book, well, the show's reviewers complained too, it's said, so I guess it's fair to do so in a review of the book.

Two stars because I grudgingly finished it, skimming the last 30% just to see what happened.

Told from the POV of Lily, one of the contestants, we follow her time at The Compound. Together, the group is responsible for completing communal tasks as a group to win rewards that will make their time there more enjoyable (food, a freezer, patio furniture, wood to make a door, even water at one point). Some of the tasks are mundane like telling everyone what you do for a living. Others are more personal or physically demanding: discuss all previous sexual partners, hold your breath under water for 60 seconds. They also have personal tasks they can complete for rewards like shampoo, brushes, clothes, makeup, etc. Contestants are not allowed to talk about the fact that they are on a show, what their personal tasks are, or anything about their lives before they appear at The Compound. Until the final 5, every guy must have a girl he is partnered with; and if anyone wakes up in the morning without someone of the opposite sex in their bed then they are banished. What starts out as a fun time quickly turns into a malicious and salacious attempt at winning everything they could ever want - literally. The winner is allowed to ask for anything at any time and can live on the property as long as they want.

This is very much part Love Island, part Big Brother, and part Lord of the Flies. With loads of drama and shadiness, this plays out like a reality television show...just on the page. While I did enjoy the drama and the overall storytelling is very good (albeit gruesome at times), I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was a fan of reality television. But the Lord of the Flies component that we see is executed brilliantly. I didn't love that we find out some of the contestants are so young; it causes some moral dilemmas in depicting people of that age in such a nature, but overall, for a debut novel, I was very impressed.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

I had heard good things about this kind of odd reality show competition, so I was certainly intrigued by the premise!

A woman wakes up in a compound out in the desert and is on a reality show. The contestants compete until there is only one left and then they either go on to be famous or can continue living in the compound until they are ready to leave. There are 18 people to begin with, and fierce competition ensues to be the only one left!

I am not a regular reality show watcher, so perhaps this book wasn’t for me. However, the main character an only POV we get for the entire book is certainly what you think of when you think reality show - slightly vapid, a little vain and willing to sacrifice a lot in order to win. I would have liked to know a little bit more of what was going on in the wider world - it is alluded to some wars/catastrophes but we don’t get much info. The competition aspect of the show is interesting, as the producers are never seen but have the contestants do things in order to earn rewards/get material objects to make their lives easier. I believe the author was going for a statement on TV, consumerism and voyeurism, but I didn’t feel like it quite coalesced into a true statement making book. I do think if you like reality competitions and being where the action is, this is a great option!