A dystopian big brother.

Ten girls wake up in The Compound. In a few days time ten boys will join them.

Don't break the rules, the punishments are severe and far reaching. Don't trust everyone, even the ones you do!
There must be a winner and some will stop at nothing to be that winner.

A quick read, some surprises.

This was compulsively readable. I read most of it on a single train journey between Edinburgh and Leeds on one of the warmest days of the year so far and didn't feel a single minute of the three hour journey. My only real complaint is the vocabulary of the narrator. We're repeatedly told by her own inner monologue and her actions that she is not a particularly intelligent person, but then uses terms that I wouldn't expect someone of this intelligence level, so there were moments where her word choices really took me out of the story. This only seemed to be a problem for me in the first half of the book, and once I got used to it I just kind of accepted that this would be the style of the writer and it wasn't going away. I really did enjoy this though. There were no hints left undeveloped, or ideas that I wished had been fleshed out more. It all felt very believable and even nuanced in places which surprised me for what this was marketed as. Would be a fantastic beach read for the girlies who love a bit of a thriller but get scared easily but also love The Hunger Games and Love Island and Survivor with a tiny sprinkling of 1984/Animal Farm (but very tiny).

I'm one of those rare beings who has never watched a single episode of Love Island, but that was the type of setting and people that I envisioned when reading the premise of this book. The beautiful villa and matching beautiful contestants.

Set in a dystopian future, 10 young women awaken, separately, in a villa, without any memory of how they got there. They don't know how long they have to get to know each other before 10 men are due to arrive, walking in from the desert surrounding them. Will they all survive?

Having to 'couple' up with the opposite sex, the men always seem to have the advantage. If you're not sharing a bed with the opposite sex by sunrise, you will be banished.

Daily communal tasks are set to earn everything they need to survive, and personal tasks are given for all the things you think you need.

Told from the POV of Lily, a beautiful girl who knows she's beautiful but also has a naivety about her. She knows herself she doesn't have much else to contribute but is happy to observe the other contestants. She has a plan to make it to the end, but plans never go smoothly, do they?

There are some books that are just extremely addictive, completely unputdownable, and this is one of them. I literally carried it around with me! I'm not sure if it was the concept, the writing style, or the characters, but it had me solidly gripped from beginning to end.

A plot that not only highlights today's generation of wanting fame and fortune, the daily dose of reality stars and reality tv but also the over consumption of absolutely EVERYTHING. The fact that at the touch of a button, you can find out the most minor details of someone's lives or purchase something to arrive near on immediately (believe me, im guilty of this also).

I do wish that we got to learn more about the personalities outside of the show, we were fed tit bits, but I personally would have liked more. Even though Lily was the narrator and main character, we never truly learnt much about her. It would have been nice to have seen a little growth in her character.

It was a fantastic read that had me hooked, but I'll admit I wanted more from the ending, I'm not sure what, but it felt like quite an abrupt, empty ending.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the ARC.

I felt this really only came into its own at about 70% through. It was only then that I found it quite propulsive and difficult to put aside. Up until that point I felt it was dragging because it seemed like a description of day after day after day on a reality show where I was just waiting for people to disappear so that there would be a few enough to actually develop as characters.

It’s pretty bleak as a view of society today largely because it’s so believable - I can absolutely imagine that people in their late teens/early 20s would find very little more appealing than being given the opportunity to earn free stuff by doing trivial and pointless tasks, given the state of the world and the future on offer to them.

I gave this a 3.5 because I have mixed feelings.

I was excited because i love love island and thrillers so it seemed up my street.

I did find the book highly addictive and I enjoyed reading it for sure but it didn't quite deliver on the thriller parts. The message and themes are quite basic and it didn't really have the sort of dark element it was advertised to have.

I think it's a case of mistaken identity. If it had been marketed as a rom com with a twist I would've enjoyed it a lot more but my expectations were set for something slightly different

An excellent read. So descriptive it feels like you're actually living within the compound. It is an engrossing book with great characters and a pulse pounding climax

A tense and gripping read set against the background of a somewhat dystopian world.

Truly believable, it displays the world's obsession with reality shows and how they may proceed in the future. How sad that the players preferred the barren desert to the reality of their own life.

Lily was a brilliant character, she had just enough passion to win and the beauty to blind her opponents to her ruthless pursuit.

There are so many threads in the narrative that speak to today's consumerism and the greed for more and more. But also to how empty that can become.

Acconplished prose, slow burning plot and a fscinating read - I'd love to read a sequel.

Overall, I really liked The Compound. It was a bit of a slow burn though and I don’t think it fully lived up to how interesting the premise was. Lily as a main character felt pretty flat which I guess was kind of the point but still made it hard to really care what happened to her. That said, the whole setup was cool and unsettling in a quiet way and I actually didn’t mind the vague ending. Not a perfect one but it kept me turning pages and I’d still say it was worth reading.

Imagine waking up in the middle of a desert with nine other women—all stunning, all desperate to escape a world that’s literally and figuratively burning. Cameras are everywhere, broadcasting your every move to millions of viewers who are probably snacking while watching your life devolve into a dystopian game show. Then, ten men arrive (if they survive the journey), and suddenly, it’s Love Island meets The Hunger Games—but with sharper social commentary and zero trust.

This book is brutal, addictive, and painfully self-aware. Whether you’re a reality TV addict or a skeptic, this story will sink its teeth into you—and leave you staring at the ceiling at 3 AM, questioning society.

The rules are simple: pair up or get eliminated. But of course, the couples must be perfect—heterosexual, attractive, and willing to perform their assigned roles. The women cook and clean; the men... well, they mostly just exist and occasionally "supervise." The prizes start innocently enough—designer clothes, makeup, jewelry—but quickly escalate into grotesque consumerism. The longer you stay, the more you’re rewarded, yet the emptier it all feels. (Sound familiar?)

Lily, the protagonist, is "that girl"—she knows her beauty is her currency, but she’s also achingly aware of how hollow that is. Watching her shift from "I just want to win" to "What am I even doing here?" is unsettlingly relatable. The other contestants? A mix of terrifying, tragic, and why are you like this?

You’ll devour this book because it’s bingeable as hell—every chapter feels like a new episode packed with drama, betrayals, and jaw-dropping twists. The satire is razor-sharp, making you laugh before gut-punching you with the realization that oh god, this is our world. And that ending!!

It’s a wild, uncomfortable, impossible-to-put-down ride that’ll make you question everything.
Read it, then come back so we can scream about it together.

A really cool idea that skirted around what it could have been. I enjoyed a lot of this, but there were so many hints about the world, about what was going on beyond the desert - and we never get a look in.

Lily is very much a blank page, and repeatedly draws attention to the fact that she doesn't have opinions about things beyond not wanting to go back to her dull life before. Which makes her, sadly, the least interesting character of the bunch. She doesn't really end up anywhere she wasn't before, beyond the age old lesson of 'be careful what you wish for'.

The other characters were interesting, different, and the brutality in which they descended into was something to behold. The cycle of what the compound looked like when they started to how it finished mirrored each other nicely.

The end was somewhat unsatisfying but the more I thought about it, the more that somehow works. The whole point of this story is the unsatisfying nature of reality tv, of the damage taken and the lessons learnt too late.

An incredibly addictive book. Ten men and ten women enter a reality show, looking for love and fame! Strangers. Thrown together in a tv show. Are they who they really seem?? Are their motives genuine? What will they do to win?
A claustrophobic and tense story, examining choices, morals and the very depths of the human psyche. Some of the characters are likeable, others are despicable. But can they work together to survive the compound? The tasks are challenging and the punishments brutal. What price does fame and fortune come at??

Thank you for my copy of this book to read and review.

I really liked the concept of this book and haven’t read anything with this sort of storyline before.

However, I did find it quite slow, repetitive and drawn-out.

I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it.

I really enjoyed this! Although a slow pace for a plot, you feel quite tense throughout waiting for something to happen. A great commentary on the current state of the world and late stage capitalism, mixed with a fascination with reality TV.

An interesting first person narrative of a person in a reality TV show in a remote eponymous compound in the desert.

It charts the progress of Lily as she navigates her way through the field as other contestants are eliminated.

It is written in the voice of someone with limited opportunities in life due to her education and personal life.

3.5 ★’s

Set in a near dystopian future we follow Lily who wakes up in a tv show similar to Love Island where contestants must couple up to avoid being banished. They must also compete in daily group/personal tasks to earn rewards.

I appreciate the underlying message in this novel showing the dark side of reality tv shows such as beauty standards, body image comparisons, lack of diversity, exploitation, overconsumption and the lengths one will go to for fame and materialistic items.

The beginning was great and read like a Black Mirror episode but as it went on it slowed down. The story focuses heavily on the reality tv side of things such as their day-to-day activities, interactions and relationships. I think because this is listed as Mystery/Thriller I was expecting more of a life or death situation with big plot twists and higher stakes but it never really came to that. The story did pick up later in the second half but the ending was unsatisfying. I would have liked to have seen more character growth from main character Lily.

I wish we got to learn more about the outside world apart from mentions of recent wars there was no further information. First-person narrative but it would have been interesting to see from a viewer or producers perspective as well.

Overall entertaining, thought-provoking read despite some flaws. I think reality tv fans will love this.

I don’t like reality TV, but I couldn’t tear myself away from this book. I read it in three sittings over two days.

It’s set in a near-future that feels dystopian, although we really don’t learn much about the world beyond the compound. Before entering the compound, Lily is dissatisfied with her life, working in retail selling products she’ll never afford, feeling it’s all ultimately pointless. There’s talk of a war, and of characters believing they’ll be dead in a few years. This mysterious war, never expanded upon, made me think of 1984 and Fahrenheit 451.

The book has plenty of social commentary, some love-to-hate characters, and a few that I actually felt myself cheering on as they progressed through the show and survived the banishments.

After a while I realised that I was waiting for something more that never came, perhaps because this has been classified as a thriller/mystery on Goodreads. It’s very much not, although there’s a nice amount of suspense, and there are some moments of excitement and heightened tension. Despite these, the book becomes very bleak and I felt that it fizzled out towards the end.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advance review copy.

3.75 stars, rounded up.

This was a phenomenal and deeply emotional journey for me. I loved every second of it. I was addicted, couldn’t stop reading. Forget about all of the reality shows you’ve watched - this is better, bigger, deeper, funnier and an absolute blast. The story is set in a dystopian world of wars and consumerism that is not so far away from our current reality. So it’s absolutely reasonable to assume that people would want to go on a show, where they can get everything they want, just for a little bit of humiliation, where things are meant to escalate and get scary and dangerous. The cast of characters is so colorful - are unlikable contestants, frightening people, but there are also sweet and honest ones. The MC Lily was such a real person, superficial but absolutely self-aware of that fact, she knows her only value is her beauty, but her development is enormous. The plot moves fast, I felt like watching a REAL TV show. I’m surprised how much I loved that book; this is definitely one of my top reads of the year so far. I highly recommend if you love reality shows, corky characters, survival and dystopian stories. Absolute 5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | The Borough Press for providing me with the ARC.

This book is Love Island on steroids! It's a binge read due to having that reality TV thing that can hook you in, like a guilty pleasure.

At times the plot felt slow and drawn out. There are only so many times you can read about long drawn-out days for the contestants when not much happens. The challenges mix things up and get the plot back on track.

I would've liked to know more about the war and dystopian world outside. They were only alluded to but important for understanding why the contestants wanted to be in the house and away from the outside world.

The ending was too open-ended for me.

Overall, this is an enjoyable novel.

I knew I’d like this book from the description, but I didn’t realise how much! It’s such a great debut that I actually just assumed it wasn’t until I Googled the author to find her other books and realised there were none.

Set in a dystopian world, our characters find themselves in a love-island style reality TV show where customs - and occasionally, laws - of polite society are skewed or abandoned completely. What would they do to be the last one standing and reap the rewards of money and fame, in a world where living isn’t easy - and would falling in love make a difference? It was an unputdownable critique of late-stage capitalism, overconsumption and human nature.

Every long-term character had depth to them, and were somehow well fleshed out despite us as readers knowing very little about them. I don’t think any of the characters could be classified as much better than morally grey, and our main character is no different. She is definitely frustrating at points, - they all are - but there are very few times I don’t understand why, and I think that is what makes book such a great insight into human behaviour and motivations, especially under stress.

The writing was good - easy to read without being over simplified or over-explained. It was as easy to consume as a trashy reality TV show, but far more interesting.

My only complaint is that I would have liked to have seen a little more of the dystopian side of the book - despite vague details about the outside world, we never fully get to understand what’s happening outside of the walls of the compound, nor do the events inside often feel like they would be impossible today. I think this is actually by design, so I really don’t put much weight in this criticism - it does highlight how absurd things are getting that this doesn’t feel *that* dystopian.

Overall, I really enjoyed this, and I cannot wait to read everything else that Aisling Rawle (hopefully) writes in the future.

This is also posted to my Goodreads now. Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins and Aisling Rawle for my eARC in exchange for an honest review ♥️

Aisling Rawle's *The Compound* is seriously binge-worthy—it’s a total page-turner from start to finish. When I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about it. It’s exactly what it promises to be: a dystopian spin on the reality shows we all love. Think *The Bachelor* or *Love Island*, but set in the near future with a cast of mostly fun, quirky characters.

The story follows Lily, who wakes up in the "compound"—this book’s version of a reality show villa—surrounded by a bunch of sexy singles. They’ve got a wall of tasks to complete to win awesome prizes, or in some cases, just food. The challenges get more intense as the story goes on, keeping things suspenseful and exciting across its 300 pages. Like any good reality show, you can’t help but keep reading to find out what happens next and who gets kicked out. Rawle does a good job touching on themes like relationships, love, and consumerism, and I really enjoyed the way she handled those.

But, as much as the suspense kept me hooked, it’s also what held the book back a little. At first, I found it hard to keep track of the characters, but that gotAisling Rawle's *The Compound* is seriously binge-worthy—it’s a total page-turner from start to finish. When I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about it. It’s exactly what it promises to be: a dystopian spin on the reality shows we all love. Think *The Bachelor* or *Love Island*, but set in the near future with a cast of mostly fun, quirky characters.

The story follows Lily, who wakes up in the "compound"—this book’s version of a reality show villa—surrounded by a bunch of sexy singles. They’ve got a wall of tasks to complete to win awesome prizes, or in some cases, just food. The challenges get more intense as the story goes on, keeping things suspenseful and exciting across its 300 pages. Like any good reality show, you can’t help but keep reading to find out what happens next and who gets kicked out. Rawle does a good job touching on themes like relationships, love, and consumerism, and I really enjoyed the way she handled those.

But, as much as the suspense kept me hooked, it’s also what held the book back a little. At first, I found it hard to keep track of the characters, but that got easier as the story moved along and we started saying goodbye to people pretty quickly. The book also tackles some heavier topics, like biphobia and misogyny, but doesn’t dive too deep into them. The biphobia angle is explored in an interesting way, but it feels like it’s over before it really gets the chance to make a strong impact.

One thing I struggled with, personally, was that I kept waiting for something more sinister to happen. The whole time, I felt like there were dark forces lurking at the compound, but in the end, it’s just a reality show in a dystopian world. There’s a bit of a comparison to *Leave The World Behind* on Goodreads, which I can see, but I felt like this book didn’t live up to that comparison. Both have characters you’re curious about, and there’s this underlying sense of dread, but in *The Compound*, the really intriguing stuff—like the world outside the compound—is just hinted at. We hear a lot about theAisling Rawle's *The Compound* is seriously binge-worthy—it’s a total page-turner from start to finish. When I wasn’t reading, I was thinking about it. It’s exactly what it promises to be: a dystopian spin on the reality shows we all love. Think *The Bachelor* or *Love Island*, but set in the near future with a cast of mostly fun, quirky characters.

The story follows Lily, who wakes up in the "compound"—this book’s version of a reality show villa—surrounded by a bunch of sexy singles. They’ve got a wall of tasks to complete to win awesome prizes, or in some cases, just food. The challenges get more intense as the story goes on, keeping things suspenseful and exciting across its 300 pages. Like any good reality show, you can’t help but keep reading to find out what happens next and who gets kicked out. Rawle does a good job touching on themes like relationships, love, and consumerism, and I really enjoyed the way she handled those.

But, as much as the suspense kept me hooked, it’s also what held the book back a little. At first, I found it hard to keep track of the characters, but that got easier as the story moved along and we started saying goodbye to people pretty quickly. The book also tackles some heavier topics, like biphobia and misogyny, but doesn’t dive too deep into them. The biphobia angle is explored in an interesting way, but it feels like it’s over before it really gets the chance to make a strong impact.

One thing I struggled with, personally, was that I kept waiting for something more sinister to happen. The whole time, I felt like there were dark forces lurking at the compound, but in the end, it’s just a reality show in a dystopian world. There’s a bit of a comparison to *Leave The World Behind* on Goodreads, which I can see, but I felt like this book didn’t live up to that comparison. Both have characters you’re curious about, and there’s this underlying sense of dread, but in *The Compound*, the really intriguing stuff—like the world outside the compound—is just hinted at. We hear a lot about the world being at war, but we never really get to see it firsthand with Lily, which left me a little disappointed.

In the end, the journey is way more interesting than the destination, which honestly feels pretty fitting for a reality show-themed novel. Like those shows, the journey is what keeps you hooked, even if the couple you were rooting for doesn’t make it to the end—or worse, breaks up after the finale airs. Big thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC! world being at war, but we never really get to see it firsthand with Lily, which left me a little disappointed.

In the end, the journey is way more interesting than the destination, which honestly feels pretty fitting for a reality show-themed novel. Like those shows, the journey is what keeps you hooked, even if the couple you were rooting for doesn’t make it to the end—or worse, breaks up after the finale airs. Big thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC! easier as the story moved along and we started saying goodbye to people pretty quickly. The book also tackles some heavier topics, like biphobia and misogyny, but doesn’t dive too deep into them. The biphobia angle is explored in an interesting way, but it feels like it’s over before it really gets the chance to make a strong impact.

One thing I struggled with, personally, was that I kept waiting for something more sinister to happen. The whole time, I felt like there were dark forces lurking at the compound, but in the end, it’s just a reality show in a dystopian world. There’s a bit of a comparison to *Leave The World Behind* on Goodreads, which I can see, but I felt like this book didn’t live up to that comparison. Both have characters you’re curious about, and there’s this underlying sense of dread, but in *The Compound*, the really intriguing stuff—like the world outside the compound—is just hinted at. We hear a lot about the world being at war, but we never really get to see it firsthand with Lily, which left me a little disappointed.

In the end, the journey is way more interesting than the destination, which honestly feels pretty fitting for a reality show-themed novel. Like those shows, the journey is what keeps you hooked, even if the couple you were rooting for doesn’t make it to the end—or worse, breaks up after the finale airs. Big thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC!