“You wake up in a compound in the middle of the desert, along with nine other women.
All of you are young, all beautiful, all keen to escape the grinding poverty, political unrest and environmental catastrophe of the outside world.
You realise that cameras are tracking your every move, broadcasting to millions of reality TV fans.
Soon, ten men will arrive on foot – if they all survive the journey.
What will you have to do to win?
And what happens to the losers?
The Compound is an addictive literary satire on modern excess: it holds a twisted mirror up to our obsession with winning, losing and, above all, watching.”
Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of The Compound by Aisling Rawle. The Compound was published by The Borough Press on 3rd July 2025 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow. I chose to read a free eARC of The Compound but that has in no way influenced my review.
Set in a near-future, war-torn, almost dystopian world, ten young men and ten young women have voluntarily given up their lives to be filmed 24 hours a day as part of an ongoing reality television series. The previous housemates have come to the end of their stay, leaving the house and compound in disarray. The reader is there to see the first of the new housemates ‘coming to’ (I don’t want to say ‘waking up’ as I’m not sure it can be described as that!). They will be filmed non-stop. They will need to remain coupled up; otherwise, they’re dismissed from the compound and sent out into the surrounding desert. They’ll be given tasks, some dangerous, some humiliating, to earn small treats and to furnish the house. For Lily, winning is everything. Lily is confident she will be crowned the winner of their series because she will do whatever it takes to win. Anything at all….
The Compound is a highly readable debut with an interesting premise. I loved the idea of a much darker, much more sinister version of Love Island. I’ve never seen Love Island myself (and I probably won’t start watching it any time soon) but gosh, the idea of a full-on dating show wrapped up in a dystopian thriller grabbed my attention immediately! Ten young, beautiful women meet ten young, beautiful men and spend an indefinite amount of time together, couped up in a compound. A compound, I should add, where the main house doesn’t have a front door. In the middle of the desert. Where anything that lives outside can wander inside. Yikes! A door is one of the many prizes the group can win. But you can guarantee, for entertainment purposes, that it won’t be offered up anytime soon. So the aim of the game is to stay to the end and be part of the last couple standing. If you wake up in the morning alone in your bed, you’re out. No questions asked, hardly any time to get your stuff together, off you go into the desert. If you’re lucky, the producers will pick you up at some point along the way. So providing the numbers are even and everyone is paired up, you’re pretty safe? Not quite. The producers see and control everything. They’re going to make sure that tensions are high, relationships are fragile, and trust just doesn’t exist.
Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. The Compound was a little different to what I expected, but oh my gosh, it hooked me in. I was addicted. Unable to tear myself away for any length of time. Always, ALWAYS looking forward to returning to it on the odd occasion I did put it down. There are a number of downright unstable characters in the book, and the situation they’re put in only adds to their unravelling. There is so much tension, friction and unease sprinkled throughout that I gobbled this book up at light speed! The characters are all really quite fascinating. There’s obviously a large cast here, but please don’t be put off by that. The main characters make themselves known early on, with Lily leading the way. There isn’t enough time or space on the page to get to know everyone in-depth (particularly as some of them don’t last all that long), but they all add something to the building narrative. All in all, I couldn’t tear myself away from this engrossing, disturbing and unsettling read. It’s dark and unapologetic. I felt more and more on edge as the book progressed. Were Lily’s ambitions really worth all of THAT? I don’t know myself. This book is a terrifying look into what could be the future. I hope it isn’t. But it could be… Recommended.
I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Compound. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.
The Compound by Aisling Rawle was published in the UK by The Borough Press on 3rd July 2025 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |
Aisling Rawle was born in 1998, originally from a very small village in Leitrim in the west of Ireland, but now living in Dublin. She works as an English teacher in a secondary school. She loves working with kids, and teaches piano in her spare time. The Compound is her first book.
