Thursday, May 8, 2025

The Compound

The Compound by Aisling Rawle
6/24/25; 304 pages
Random House  

The Compound by Aisling Rawle is a highly recommended literary fiction debut that takes on a dystopian reality show competition.

Lily is a beautiful young woman who joins the cast of a reality TV show. The competition begins when 10 women wait on site for 10 men to cross a desert landscape to join them on the compound. The winner is the one who stays the longest as the others are sent home along the way. The contestants are required to pair up and share a bed. For this show there is immediately a problem as only 9 men show up, which means one woman will be eliminated immediately. 

The group will complete group challenges for items the whole group needs or can use. Then they also have individual challenges where they can earn luxury rewards for themselves. As the competition continues it becomes increasingly unsettling for numerous reasons, which you'll have to discover for yourself.

The Compound will immediately grab your attention for a number of reasons and then will hold that attention right to the end. It might help if you have some basic familiarity with reality TV shows, but you will be able to follow what is happening even if you don't. Honestly, it might be best to dive into this without a lot of extraneous information about it and just experience the narrative as the author intended. The themes explored will become abundantly clear along the way, as will the dangers. I will admit that I wasn't a huge fan of the ending.

The Compound is a good choice for those who appreciate literary fiction with a dystopian feeling. Thanks to Random House for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

No comments: