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!

I have been seeing this one everywhere and I think it lives up to the hype! It puts you both in the mindset of a viewer of the “show” they have set up and in the mind of one of the “contestants.” As a huge fan of shows like Love Island, this book really adds to my constant argument that reality TV shows tell us as much about ourselves and society at large as they tell us about the people on them.

Yay for unique premises! As soon as I saw the cover I checked out the synopsus and this became an immediate must read. Mixing the some dystopian life with reality tv was so intriguing and made for a great read. The challenges the participants had to perform went from easy to dangerous and added suspense as the plot moved. Lily was an interesting MC and even though you don’t get details to her past about her motivations you still pull for her. Rawel does a great job leaving many things open (like what is actually happening in the real world?) but it doesn’t affect the reader’s experience.

This was buck wild, but in an eerie, dystopian, very slow moving way. I’ve definitely never read anything like it. Just strange vibes the whole time. Impressive debut novel that’s for sure! Not necessarily for me though? I’m finishing it feeling weird… I don’t know. (Might also just be a current mental state issue hahah)

As a reality TV fan, I found this novel particularly disturbing. The book is definitely thought-provoking and well-written, but I’m not sure I can say I enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley & Penguin Random House for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I devoured The Compound! This novel delivers far more than its buzzy premise suggests. Though pitched as Love Island meets Lord of the Flies, this isn’t just a juicy reality-show-gone-wrong thriller—it’s a sharply written, thought-provoking character study set against the backdrop of a high-stakes social experiment.

Twenty contestants are brought together to compete in team and individual challenges inside an exciting but isolating compound, where every win, loss, and alliance is mediated through brand sponsorships and constant surveillance. There is a sense of something else going on in the world outside The Compound but I like that Rawles uses that to create a sense of dread without really giving the reader any explanation or details.

Rawles creates a claustrophobic atmosphere, where the lines between performance and authenticity blur, and where control, trust, and image are constantly at the forefront. The characters are flawed, messy, and often unlikeable while also being multi-dimensional and interesting. Just like the reality shows on TV today - some characters come into sharper focus than others depending on how long they last but each is used to help bring to the surface the themes of manipulation, group dynamics, and individual ambition.

Fast-paced, immersive, and deeply observant, The Compound is both entertaining and incisive, a social satire wrapped in a thriller that I know I will be thinking about for a long time. Aisling Rawles debut is as smart as it is compulsively readable—I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

This book has been pitched as "love island meets lord of the flies" and that is exactly what you get. A bit heavy handed, this slightly-dystopian novel is lighting up a neon sign that says "we are all horrifically shallow" or something like that. Its a satire about reality TV and social media beauty standards, I think, and was pretty much impossible to put down. The book is set on a reality TV show where 10 beautiful women wake up in a "compound" (villa) and start to work together to get it ready for when the men arrive (they boys have to travel on foot through a desert to reach the compound) and then couple up or be removed from the compound in the middle of the night. This is only the beginning of how gender roles and expectations are amplified by the show. The main activities for the show involve completing group and personal challenges to get prizes, and the longer you stay the more luxurious the prizes get, and the gamification of the greed gets (obviously) way out of control. A wild ride for sure but I would not watch this show lol.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Super weird story, but extremely bingeable. I read it in one day. This book being described as Love Island meets Lord of the Flies is 100% accurate.

I really did not expect this to be as good as it turned out to be. Yes, the premise sounds awesome - I mean "Lord of the Flies meets Love Island"? Can it even get any cooler? I expected this to be fun, yes, but I didn't expect the depth and important commentary.
There is an eerie atmosphere to the whole story: We are dropped into this Compound, following our protagonist Lily who is beautiful yet, by her own admission, not much else to the point that she has trouble with the simplest maths. She's a great protagonist and there is depth to her reasons for being in this compound. The reader learns that this is a Love Island kind of dating show set in this run down house in the middle of the desert, and the more we learn about it the more horrifying it becomes.
It starts with the fact that while the girls wake up in the compound with no recollection of how they came there, the guys have to actually track through an apparently highly dangerous desert that surrounds the house with deadly heat and wild animals that might attack at any moment to even just get to the place. We get small glimpses through Lily or dialogue at the world outside which seems close to complete collapse, multiple characters telling us that humanity will be dead in at most 30 years anyway. The contestants have to find a significant other on day on in order not to get eliminated, and who gets eliminated is based on who ends up waking up alone in bed in the morning. There are competitions the whole group has to participate in together as well as personal challenges for the characters that lead to them getting more and more valuable prizes - ranging from a fridge for the whole group to luxury articles for the individuals sponsored by brands they have to shout out.

This is just the set-up but already there is a feeling of dread, and it never leaves. It's a fascinating read and a clever commentary on consumerism as well as a character study of a sort. There's jealousy, there's performing for an invisible audience, there's competition and manoeuvring and betrayal, all of that wrapped in the vanity that comes with a group of gorgeous people participating in a dating show that is said to be immensely popular - all while the world around it crumbles to dust, which is strong societal commentary on its own. The world is dying, but at least we can watch these beautiful people be dramatic and receive prizes normal people could only ever dream of.

It's clever, it's dark, it's beautiful yet very bleak underneath, it kept me on my toes, it surprised me. Just an all around gem.

Lord of the Flies meets reality dating show? This premise could not have appealed to be more. THE COMPOUND follows 10 men and 10 women competing to be the last to remain on the compound, a fancy home filled with cameras watching every angle and located in the middle of an actual desert where real dangers lurk.

The book is narrated by our main character, Lily, voted as the 2nd most beautiful by the boys and paired up with the boy who was voted as the most beautiful by the girls. Similiar to Love Island, no pairing is set in stone and there are opportunities to change partners, with the risk that once you are left alone by morning, you must go home. With cameras and millions of viewers watching their every move, the cast members’ behavior becomes extremely strategic. Challenges are offered by producers to spice things up, and they must work hard to complete group tasks to earn necessities like furniture, clothing, and even food and water.

The dystopian element is what makes this book so suspenseful. While not outwardly explained, there are mentions of wars and dangers in the outside world—hinting at how this may be their only path to living comfortably after the show. I was easily sucked in to the story due the fast-moving plot (what disaster will occur in this chapter?) and the typical reality dating show drama that I find so entertaining.

The second half really picked up in pace as tensions become higher and Lily begins to feel her life is in real danger. Many are humiliated, alliances are betrayed, and getting out alive eventually becomes their true reality. This is one of those books that is so different from your typical read, the perfect escape that you could easily binge in one or two days. I flew through this on a pool day and couldn’t wait to finish it later that night.

For me, this was the perfect escape and possibly a top 5 read of the year for me. If you love stories of survival, reality TV, or just want something unique to binge this summer—I highly recommend picking this one up!

Rating: 😐/2.75
Review: What?!? Intriguing premise and beginning. Then got slow and by the end I was wondering what was the point. Has vibes of Big Brother and Survivor - but very one dimensional with no one to cheer for.
Format: 👩🏻‍💻
Source: #netgalley
Published on Goodreads 7/4/2025

TLDR: If your ideal read blends psychological thrills, sci-fi, dystopia, and a dash of Love Island obsession, add this to your list immediately!

What an intriguing thriller! I've been on a kick with this genre lately, and this book delivered. It’s described as Love Island meets Lord of the Flies, which perfectly sets the stage. Prepare to delve into compelling themes like influencer culture, social classes, pervasive consumerism, isolation, and the complexities of mental health.

Knowing this is a debut novel makes it even more impressive. I'm definitely keeping an eye out for Aisling Rawle's future work!

Thank you Random House for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.