Are there ever any winners when your actions lead to losing? Lily, a contestant on a popular reality television show who competes in challenges for luxury goods while trying to outlast her housemates to win the ultimate prize. This was like the modern day version of Lord of the Love Island Flies where diamond earring, hot tubs, fancy clothes and other materialistic goods were the “to die for” commodities: Ultimately this book challenged the narrative of how far someone will go not get what they think they want.
Lily came from nothing and was a bit of a lifeless soul who wants all the pretty things for no effort: insipid at best. A retail assistant selling make up, she woke up in a compound in the middle of the desert withy nine other young women. They know ten men will arrive. They will all be assigned daily tasks, household duties and a ‘partner’. No partner means you are banished to the desert and out of the show. All the gifts they receive for their tasks require thanks for brands for their generosity. Were these products increasing their attractiveness to each other, or was it fulfilling greed? The pecking order on who would be banished based purely on how their compound society was loosely being shaped, but mostly it was all based on doing inane tasks that would be made for viewing just to get ‘stuff’.
The story highlighted reality TV’s negative impact on mental health, body image, exploitation of participants in a distorted reality away from the ‘real world’. However, is it really that separate from how some people act in reality? Was their behaviours as unrealistic as we think it to be? When you remove the backstory of a person, the drive to know someone versus the drive for material items is thinly separated, especially in an environment cut off from the outside world, and all you have access to can be so easily engineered but the wanting of pretty trinkets and comforts. And as the reader, you are also just as detached from what is real, what is true and what is happening outside of the compound.

Ten beautiful women. Ten handsome men. One luxury compound in the heart of the desert. Lily wakes up to find herself as one of the stars in the world's hottest new reality show, where every task completed brings prizes - and every failure risks elimination. Under constant surveillance, they must charm, compete, and betray, voting each other out one by one. At first, it's all for the cameras but soon, they’ll have to do whatever it takes to win.

As someone who was completely obsessed with Big Brother in my early twenties, I was instantly drawn to this book - it gave me the same nostalgic thrill of watching people do the most mundane things while somehow being totally captivating. There’s something oddly fascinating about observing daily life unfold on screen, and I think that obsession has evolved into the YouTube era of “read with me” vlogs and sourdough baking videos (which I happily admit I love). I’ve dipped into shows like MAFS and The Bachelor, so it was easy to imagine this book as a Love Island-style setup, full of beautiful people obsessed with appearances and public perception.

That said, this wasn’t a thriller, mystery, or a horror - at least not in the way I expected. There were flickers of intrigue and tension, but the novel leaned more into literary fiction. It explored the experience of extreme privilege, beauty, and curated identity, and while it had moments of suspense and danger, they came late after a long stretch of superficial reflections, task-based interactions and surface-level conversations.

And yet despite all that, I couldn’t stop reading. The book was strangely addictive, maybe because it mirrored the hypnotic monotony that makes reality TV so compelling. A captivating read and a sharp commentary on the reality TV genre itself. 2.5/5 stars.

Thanks to HarperCollins and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Lord of the Flies meets Love Island" is a promise this book delivers on.

By taking the promise and peril of modern reality TV to its dystopian end point, The Compound makes plain the ugly truth of what we're watching.

While I found it a slow start I was eventually absorbed in the game-play and developing sense of dread with each new 'challenge' the characters were tasked with. It is clear from the outset that something bad is going to happen and you learn along with the protagonist just HOW bad they will get before anyone intervenes to stop them.

A perfect beach read.

Thank you to HarpersCollins for the advanced review copy.

I’m conflicted on what to say about The Compound by Aisling Rowle, because while I did enjoy it, it felt like 300 pages of waiting for something to happen. I was instantly drawn to the premise of the story (Big Brother meets Love Island, but in book format) but I think the book has been mis-marketed as “dystopian” which led me to expect something it wasn’t.

Don’t get me wrong, there were lots of compelling elements to the story. It’s unsettling from beginning to end, alluding to a crumbling society kept entertained by reality television while wars rage on somewhere outside the periphery of the story. The reader follows Lily, a contestant on a TV show that’s essentially a really intense version of Big Brother. As her season progresses, tensions rise with the other contestants and things start to get out of hand. The book reads almost exactly like a TV show, which was unique and unlike anything else I’ve read.

Despite being well written, The Compound lacked momentum for me. It felt like a lot of “middle” without enough substance to flesh out the narrative. I kept waiting for a twist or a turn to surprise me and for the author to reveal more about the world outside The Compound, but this never eventuated. While there was conflict between some of the characters on the show, there was no real “big moment” or challenge for the characters. While the author consistently alluded to political and climate instability, this was never properly addressed which left me feeling like there was a lot left unresolved.

My disappointment likely stems from the book not living up to what I was expecting (a dystopian/futuristic narrative) but regardless I still made it to the end and found the story enjoyable overall.

Thank you to HarperCollins Australia for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

3 ⭐️