thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review! <3

’We told ourselves that we wanted to live peacefully, but I think we were looking for new ways to make ourselves miserable’

The Compound by Aisling Rawle is a sci-fi, lit-fic mix that claims to be inspired by Love Island and Lord of the Flies. This description is in some ways accurate, but in other ways I see it as a disservice to what I believe to be an utterly incredible debut. To me, The Compound is a fantastic look at consumerism, the dangers of reality TV, and the ‘unhappiness epidemic’ that the people of modern day are facing. This book wholly captures the paradoxical feeling of everyday monotony partnered with the knowledge that the world around you is in constant turmoil. The world in which The Compound is set is very similar to our own, only one that is facing a world war instead of isolated ones, and one that's climate crisis is at its peak. Politics is not the centre of this book by any means, but that is the point. The isolation of the cast members in the compound is shown by how little we as the reader learn about the reality of their lives - we never even learn their last-names, ages or where they are from. Their focus is entirely on their current realities on the show, in a way I assume is the same for contenders on any reality show.

I initially picked this book up due to its advertising - that comparison to Love Island. I have been a fan of the show since I was a teenager, and although I know it is complete garbage, I still watch it every year without fail. I am drawn to watching the drama unfold on my screen, even with the knowledge that it is an incredibly toxic and damaging environment. The show featured in The Compound is never named, but we are told it is a famous, worldwide dating show that centres on finding your ‘true love’ as well as competing for gifts / prizes, and building up the compound itself - a massive villa and grounds placed in the middle of the desert. It takes the Love Island concept and twists it, the cast literally fighting for their survival at certain points. The show is dangerous, vicious, and something I can completely see the people of the future watching while the planet crumbles around them.

We follow the perspective of Lily, a woman who admits that she has very little going for her despite her beauty. Throughout the book she mocks her own lack of intelligence, particularly her lack of political understanding. Despite her own perceived inadequacies, Lily is great pov to follow, and a character I really liked. She is very endearing, and I sympathized with her throughout the story. She has a lot of positive traits outside of her looks, and is shown to be observant, kind and a wonderful friend. It is clear she has been told throughout her life that all she has going for her is her looks, and she has absorbed into her personality. I thought this was particularly poignant, as the rise of social media has certainly caused many women to feel the same way. Other characters I particularly enjoyed were Jacintha and Tom. Jacintha is Lily’s close-friend, and the only Black woman on the show. She talks about the negative experiences of herself and other POC contenders in the show's history throughout the story, and this I found to be very compelling, particularly as this is the same experience many POC reality TV show stars go through. Tom is the story's antagonist, and on the surface appears to be the typical body-builder, misogynistic alpha male these shows attract. As the book goes on, however, more of his psyche is revealed, and the book explores the dangers of misogynistic thinking, obsession and greed. The show reveals itself, by the end, to be one more so about monetising the human condition than helping anyone find their soulmate.

I also really enjoyed the discussions on consumerism throughout the story. The book highlighted the idea that material items will never bring us happiness in the long-run, and without someone to share them with, they are pointless to have. It is something in a world of fast-fashion and Temu, a lot of people should learn from…..

Overall, The Compound is one of the best books I’ve read this year. A brilliantly written discussion of the issues of modernity. 5/5 stars.

This was dystopic read that blended current reality shows with darkness and danger. Twisty, satirical, and scarily on point.

This was an interesting contemporary take on the classic trope of power and betrayal and I enjoyed the way the plot panned out. However, I really struggled with the writing style which seemed very stilted and I kept expecting to discover all the characters were robots and using some form of computer generated text.
Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy of this book

A pitch black satire of Love Island in an unnamed peri-apocalypse, The Compound does for critiques of capitalism, body image, and societal collapse what Darren Aronofsky's Mother! did for Biblical allegories. Open-ended to a fault, and trading any humour for escalating violence, the reader leaves The Compound all but discomfited but not completely without hope.

This was one of those books where I didn't really like any of the characters but I was addicted to reading the story. I spent most of the day reading it and when I got to the end I didn't care who won.

This was a very interesting storyline which lead to a heated discussion at our book group.
Lily has great expectations as she wakes up as a contestant in a reality show with 9 other women and 9 men. To remain in the show, the contestants must pair up with a members of the opposite sex or be banished. As Lily narrates the adventures in the compound, we get her view of the other contestants and the games they play in order to win prizes and ultimately the whole competition. Whilst giving Lily a major role in the story, this narrative seemed to lessen the impact of the other characters, leaving some of them as mere cut outs.
I found that the storyline pulled me in, even though I have never watched Love Island. The setting was very clever, a compound isolated in the desert, initially dry, hot with little shade guaranteed to fray tempers and leave contestants in a state of undress.
This insight into human behaviour kept me intrigued most of the time.
I would like to know how the contestants reacted to normality once their time in the compound was over, although it was mentioned that a few of the past inmates had suffered mentally.
An interesting book with many discussion points.

Described by author Louise O’Neill as Lord of the Flies meets Love Island, this novel places 20 beautiful young people in a compound – away from the catastrophes of a near-feature outside world. They pair up, face bizarre challenges and gain useless rewards. But what is the ultimate prize? And what happens to those eliminated on the way? The story is told from the viewpoint of one female, Lily.
Ideal for fans of an unusual but topical premise and traditional, past-tense, first-person narration.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

On publication I will post this review on my blog and on GoodReads.

I really didn't click with this book, which is so sad because I had such high hopes!! It was described as Lord of the Flies meets Love Island and the initial reviews made it sound really excited, fun and fast. It's not the author's fault at all, but I went into it with those expectations and it's actually a story with an excruciatingly slow pace and so many characters to keep track of.. I spent the first half of the book entirely lost, then decided to DNF rather than push through. I really hope this book finds its audience, but unfortunately it wasn't me.

The description, “Lord of the Flies meets Love Island” is spot on!

10 men and 10 women arrive in a compound where they will have to meet challenges for rewards and be judged by each other, and by a TV audience. And it’s brutal.

The rewards are initially almost worthless and the group have no food and very little in terms of other useable resources. As the game progresses and the number of contestants reduce, the rewards change and human nature towards material things is a key factor.

It has a dystopian feel and there are references to events in the outside world that indicate it is set a little into the future.

The book started brilliantly, but was a bit too slow in pace for my preference and then the ending was a real let down for me. It just…. ended. I felt I wanted more clarity and a reaction from the outside world.

3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

2.5⭐️ I found the concept of this book to be absolutely fascinating but unfortunately didn’t hit the mark for me. It was told in a very limited point of view, we didn’t really get much insight into any other characters only on a surface level. I kept waiting for something to kick off but nothing ever really did, it stayed at the one level the whole way through really so was quite anticlimactic. The themes explored of consumerism and fame and influencer exploitation was interesting but this just missed the mark unfortunately. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I had such high hopes for The Compound and I read it quickly but something about it just feels off. It's not frightening enough or dystopian enough to be really gripping or thought provoking. 19 pretty people put in a house and have to couple up, do tasks and survive some (slightly) nasty situations. It doesn't help that Lily, the protagonist, is very boring and knows it. She is there as eye candy and while she finally proves to be resourceful it doesn't make her a better person. Some of the other characters are reasonably well rounded but, as they are all seen through Lily's eyes, we don't get much more than looks and superficiality. The hints of the horror in the outside world ( a war) aren't developed enough to make the compound seem like a sanctuary. May be I'm not the target audience but this seems like it could have been a far better book.

The Compound is a dystopian take on a dating/reality show, and a smooth, enjoyable read that may nevertheless leave you with some questions.

Lily is our beautiful narrator and one of the first women to wake up at the compound. She's excited for the boys to arrive, and for the games to begin. Once everyone's in, they can start doing tasks that display on screens - winning everything from materials (including doors), to food and trinkets. Many essentials aren't provided until they start winning tasks, which adds an air of tension to the whole thing. Plus the little fact that if you get to the final five, you're allowed to hurt one another if you so desire... The powers that be that run the show are never in the foreground, and never fully explained.

The dystopian nature of it all is implied rather than explicit. There's a cruelty in what the audience is clearly looking for, and the contestants aren't always protected. There are hints of war in the background, but nothing too specific about why the world is so grim - why anyone would need to do a show like this.

Lily is a passive character for the majority of the book. I enjoyed the journey with her, but did sometimes wish she could ask a few more questions, fight a bit more against the system. But if she wasn't Lily, this would be an entirely different book.

And its current form, the book does give you a lot to think about - why these shows exist (even in the less extreme versions we see today), and why we find them enjoyable (or not). How much can we really get to know someone in an entirely artificial setting - and does it matter?

I enjoyed my time with Lily and think this is a worthwhile new look at what reality TV is or can become.

I hate dating shows but the blurb piqued my interest so thought id give it a go and I'm glad I did. The book is told from the point of view if Lily who is one of the 10 girls in the house and when she awakens in the house, aside from some makeup and a few clothes there isn't much in the house so the contestants need to complete tasks in order to get things for the house and themselves. Things go well for a while but as time goes on things start.to take a turn and often become violent.

The use of the desert and its unknowns as an antagonist is very cleverly done, it is almost it's own character.

This is definitely worth a read.

Imagine Love Island colliding with Lord of the Flies, then throw in a dash of Black Mirror and you’ve got Aisling Rawle’s explosive debut, The Compound. This is not your average beach read—it’s a razor-sharp takedown of reality television, late-stage capitalism, and the illusion of choice, all wrapped in a binge-worthy narrative that’s as addictive as the shows it critiques.

The story follows Lily, a disillusioned twenty-something who wakes up in a remote desert compound with nineteen other contestants. The goal? Outlast everyone else in a high-stakes reality show where luxury items and basic necessities are earned through challenges and where the cameras never stop rolling. But as the producers push the contestants into increasingly dangerous and manipulative scenarios, the line between game and survival begins to blur.

Rawle’s writing is punchy and propulsive, with a biting wit that skewers influencer culture and the commodification of human connection. Lily is a fascinating narrator—both complicit and critical of the system she’s trapped inand her evolution from passive player to someone who questions the very structure of the game is one of the novel’s strongest arcs.

What makes The Compound stand out is how eerily plausible it all feels. The desert setting is stark and isolating, the contestants are painfully real, and the show’s mechanics are disturbingly familiar. It’s a novel that entertains while making you squirm and think.

If you enjoyed The Circle by Dave Eggers or The Power by Naomi Alderman, this one’s for you. Just don’t be surprised if you start side-eyeing your favourite reality shows afterwards.

The compound by aisling rawle
Lord of the flies meets love island was the description of this “dystopian” thriller. I expected an easy, trashy holiday read that would be entertaining. Although described as dystopian I’m not sure I’d of said that, and although there is mentions of a different world on “the outside”, the setting is based on a desert compound which is the base of a reality tv show where people couple up to stay in and earn extravagant gifts through tasks.
What starts off as a fun holiday soon sees the participants turn on each other when essentials become limited and the backstabbing only increases as the numbers dwindle and the prizes become more lucrative.

A really interesting concept and much more than I was expecting, I couldn’t not put it down and even after finishing I still want to know more about the contestants and what they are doing!!

File under: books I would have loved in my early twenties (derogatory).
I really, really wanted to love The Compound, the debut novel from Irish writer Aisling Rawle. The premise is fantastic - 18 contestants gather in a compound in the middle of the desert. They earn rewards by doing tasks, and if they are left alone in bed at night, they are eliminated. The marketing for this one cast it as a spooky satire of reality TV, a sort of Hunger Games x Love Island. Sign me up, I said, but unfortunately the novel is heavy on Love Island and very light on the dystopian, satiric elements that would have made the story compelling.

The novel is mostly a play-by-play retelling of the main character, Lily’s, time in the compound, during which very little actually happens.Rawle is at her best when she’s deviating away from the compound setup, and scenes that involve real peril to the characters had my blood pressure skyrocketing, but there just wasn’t enough peril to hold my interest.

Lily is a flat and lifeless protagonist, her beauty and her plot armour preventing her from being in any real peril over the course of the novel. The storyline - such as it was!! - is, as I said, a pretty standard Love Island story with some violence thrown in. I kept expecting things to take the dark turn the novel promised me, but it never appeared - sure, some dark and scary things happen, but it’s as if the author didn’t give herself permission to go full-on dystopian horror like I wanted her to.

Rawle also leaves the reader without answers to even the most basic questions about the show - I found myself questioning what the point of anything was at around the 75% mark. She drops tantalising hints about the world outside, but we never get any real world-building. In the hands of another writer, this can add to the horror - Jacqueline Harpman’s stunning I Who Have Never Known Men comes to mind - but I was left deeply frustrated by the lack of answers here.
Between the unanswered questions and the totally unsatisfying ending, I can’t say I recommend this one. A disappointing squandering of a great premise.

A very interesting take on a future world Love Island where only the ones more then 100% focused and prepared will win
Brutally realistic,think Lord of the Flies updated with influencers and a raw need to win and uncaring re manipulation
Well written and made for discussion after reading as will make you think and have an opinion

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Compound by Aisling Rawle

When I started this book, I was not expecting a romantic thriller-type dystopian novel and was truly delighted and enthralled that this was the direction it took as I'm not a huge fan of reality TV thrashy romance books so I was glad this wasn't one of those.

The story is narrated from Lilly’s point of view. She is one of twenty contestants who enter the compound, all competing for fantastic prizes for themselves and items to improve their surroundings and make daily life as comfortable and fun as possible. Lilly’s main goal is to be the last person standing, which will allow her to stay as long as she likes and have whatever her heart desires.

The contestants have no idea how this reality show works but they do know they must always share their bed with someone or they will be banished before sunrise. Lilly who was an avid watcher of this popular reality TV show provides an insight into how some of it all works.

It’s all done to give the audience what they want and by humiliating, shocking, embarrassing and upsetting the contestants the public is entertained and the number of viewers rises by the day.

No one knows who is real and who is a big fat fake. Are they being genuine or just trying to win prizes? As the story unfolds, the characters become a bit more comfortable and learn how to play the game. As the story starts to turn more Lord of the Flies everyone begins to watch their back and become more suspicious of who they can trust. Rivalry and jealousy take over and the few that are left lose sight of what truly matters.

The concept of this book picqued my interest straight away and captivated me in a way I never expected. It was exciting not knowing who was being real and who was faking all the way. The tasks had me constantly on the edge as you just never knew how & why someone was going to banished.

The writing, the twists and turns and the characters were exceptional and it proves just what a talented writer Rowle is. I loved the small snippets we received of the distress that was going on in the outside world and this drew you into the story even further. I would have loved to know more about this and about the characters' backstories but the lack of this means there is room for a sequel.

This was different from anything I have read and I am hoping for lots more from this author in the future.

Thank you so much to @netgalley @harpercollinsuk and @harperfiction for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

The Compound by Aisling Rawle gives ‘Black Mirror meets Big Brother/Love Island’ vibes. 10 women and 10 men must live together in a compound in the middle of the desert. There are only a few rules; don’t talk about your life outside of the compound, complete the group challenges to earn rewards, no violence among contestants, don’t talk about personal challenges and don’t talk about past series. The most important rule, and the stipulation for staying on the show; don’t wake up in an empty bed.

After seeing this book shared by some of my favourite authors on Instagram, I was curious and went on to NetGalley to read about it. When I read the blurb I was intrigued. When I saw what other reviewers had said I was sold!

The story is an easy read. I’m usually a slow reader but the style of writing, the tension and drama, and the steady pace made it feel like I was binging a reality show where you don’t know who to trust. I had to keep reading.

This book is the epitome of money doesn’t buy happiness. If anything, the prospect of a materialistic future leads to turmoil and untold stress in the lives of certain contestants.

The Compound is a dystopian Love Island where only the strongest can withstand it and only the most determined want to. This deserves the hype it is getting and will be deservedly a much-talked about summer read.