Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The Compound
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
17 posts | 20 read | 14 to read
Love Island meets Lord of the Flies dark, thrilling, and delightfully twisted LOUISE O'NEILL 'So gripping and propulsive that it beats reality tv at its own game. Why watch TV when Aisling Rawle does it better?' TORREY PETERS 'A clever and delicious treat' ZAKIYA DALILA HARRIS 'Page-turning, nail-biting... utterly bingeable' OLIVIA GATWOOD
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
DebinHawaii
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image
Pickpick

#Read2025

Finished in August & read this #BOTM novel for #FictionalTraveler August #Hot (it‘s set in a desert compound in the summer).

I am a sucker for reality television drama even though I rarely watch it these days so I quite enjoyed this dystopian version. For a debut novel, it was well done & I liked the elements of reality tv & looking at what is truth versus fiction. It had both dark humor & a few mild thrills & twists thrown in.

DieAReader Fantastic!! 4d
julieclair Sounds like a fun read! 4d
54 likes2 comments
review
Decalino
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image
Pickpick

Lily is a contestant on a reality show where contestants must bunk next to a member of the opposite sex each night or be kicked out. While the compound can provide big rewards when things go right, the contestants must complete challenges designed to create drama and follow certain rules or risk terrible punishment. Lily just wants to have nice things, relax, and escape a tedious life, but how much does she want to win? I really enjoyed this one.

review
Erinreadsthebooks
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image
Pickpick

This book is so in my wheelhouse. I love the weird dystopian (but you don‘t really know why it‘s a dystopia) setting, the reality show and the boundaries it pushes for the sake of “entertainment,” and the view of consumerism. How much of yourself would you give up for stuff, especially with it being televised? My jaw dropped a couple of times, and these are some fleshed out characters. I loved it. Gave me Chain-Gang All-Star vibes.

review
chlolovesbooks
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
Panpan

🌟🌟2/5

review
BookishTrish
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image
Pickpick

The dark side of reality TV but make it fiction

review
BennettBookworm
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image
Pickpick

Incredible writing, incredible story, and especially incredible audio narration! Gripped me from start to finish. Many people feel it doesn‘t go far enough, but I disagree—I think its strength IS how close to our reality it is. By giving just a HINT of dystopia while mostly resembling our world (and voyeuristic, consumerism reality tv as it exists now), the messages hit that much harder. Restrained AND brimming with tension in all the right ways.

47 likes2 stack adds
review
GidgetsTreasures75
post image
Pickpick

8-7-25: My 52nd finished book of 2025! Think Love Island kind of meets The Hunger Games but not quite. Not as violent but just as cutthroat. Lily is the first to arrive. She just wakes up there. Then the other 9 girls and 3 days later 9 boys arrive from the desert. They compete for prizes they can use around the compound but also do personal tasks for their own stuff. As people are banished, Lily must figure out how to be the last one standing.

GidgetsTreasures75 ⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣5️⃣2️⃣ 1mo
17 likes1 comment
blurb
Deblovestoread
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image

My last BOTM box sorted. I haven‘t been thrilled with many of the choices lately but wanted a free b‘day book. Will cancel when it arrives.

IriDas Free birthday books are good 1mo
AnnCrystal 👏🏼🥳 A Happy Birthday Book 🎂🍰🎉📚. (edited) 1mo
Read-n-Bloom I‘m getting The Man Nobody Believed too! But I‘ll probably be late reading it because I‘m behind on my BOTM books. 😬🙁 1mo
56 likes3 comments
quote
ChrisBohjalian
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image

Yes, I loved THE COMPOUND!

review
britt_brooke
post image
Panpan

⭐️⭐️

Too much telling, not enough showing. Grossly underdeveloped characters. No backstory. No explanation for time, place, or why the show exists. Nothing to make me care what happened. Maybe if I watched reality dating shows, the satire would‘ve landed? Was this satire? I don‘t even know. It wasn‘t clever nor humorous. Want a dystopian competition reality show with a solid message? Try Chain-Gang All-Stars.

ChasingOm I was really disappointed by this one! 1mo
britt_brooke @ChasingOm Such a bummer! 1mo
70 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image

Meh… just meh for me. A quick listen though!

ChaoticMissAdventures I am so torn about picking this up! I don't watch reality TV, but I have found novels about it fascinating. 2mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @ChaoticMissAdventures if you do let me know what you think! 2mo
46 likes2 stack adds2 comments
review
BirdLaVie
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image
Pickpick

Do I need to watch more reality tv? I had such a good time with this! Hypnotically engaging, The Compound examines the insidious nature of consumerism as our ultimate escape from reality and barrier to connection. Loved the narration 🎧

review
Hooked_on_books
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image
Pickpick

We meet Lily and the 18 other contestants as they arrive at The Compound, a place in the desert and location of a reality show of the same name. They compete in group and (secret) individual tasks to try to stay in the game as long as possible. There‘s so much here about interpersonal relationships, capitalism, and even climate change. I‘ve never been a fan of this type of reality show, but I did love this book.

squirrelbrain Oh good, this is another one where I have the ARC but haven‘t read it before pub date! 😝 (edited) 2mo
Hooked_on_books @squirrelbrain It‘s so good! It would have been a great choice for camp, had it been eligible. 2mo
squirrelbrain Ooh, that‘s high praise! 😊 2mo
57 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
ICantImReading
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image
Mehso-so

⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The Compound” was an interesting microcosm of human nature. It was bingeable, but I wish it had dug deeper and hit harder. I think reality show fans will like this more! 🎧

review
marleed
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image
Pickpick

Think a Survivor/Big Brother ‘ish competition in the not to distant future where the end-date of the game is negotiable and the small amenities of life (received as rewards) as we currently know it have significant value on the open market. With a dwindling ensemble cast of 19 characters I liked this but it was a slow roll for me. With the ensemble I was expecting multiple perspectives but we only got the perspective of the FMC, Lily.

62 likes2 stack adds
blurb
RaeLovesToRead
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image

I want this book and I love the cover.

My friends hate the cover!

Who is right? Haha

AileenRR Love the cover! 6mo
Sparklemn Love it! 5mo
52 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
Kappadeemom
The Compound | Aisling Rawle
post image

The Compound is a house out in the desert where 18 young people compete in a reality competition by pairing up with another contestant. As they work together to solve challenges, they get rewarded with items from sponsors (don‘t forget to thank them!)

37 likes2 stack adds