Borrow This Book: Fans of reality TV social strategy may delight in ‘The Compound’
Published 3:30 am Thursday, May 21, 2026
With its fast pace and sharp strategy, “The Compound” by Aisling Rawle is the perfect warm-up for summer reading. Clever power plays and surprises will keep you turning pages.
In a remote desert in a nondescript country, the reader is dropped into a setting where contestants on a reality television show are arriving to a large home where they will stay for an undetermined amount of time. They’re participating in a popular program that has strict rules. They will be filmed 24/7 and they are not allowed to talk about their personal lives unless instructed. Most importantly, anyone who sleeps alone at night will be banished by the morning.
Fans of reality competition shows like “Love Island,” “Big Brother,” or perhaps those enjoying Season 50 of “Survivor,” might be looking for a book with a thrilling tilt toward social strategy. If so, this one satisfyingly scratches that itch, blending details from each show into one story. As the players get closer to the end of the game, the rules go by the wayside and their strategies for winning come into play.
Even if reality TV or game shows aren’t your thing, you might be intrigued by the world-building, flawed characters, or social dynamics at play.
The protagonist, Lily, self-identifies as superficial and wishes she had more going on in her life. She views participating in the show as a way out of monotony and a chance to start anew, but chooses not to share this with her counterparts. Lily walks us through the compound they are living in, building the world of the show. As a group, the contestants can participate in both communal and personal tasks such as sharing a secret with everyone or being held underwater for 60 seconds. More difficult tasks come with heftier rewards or necessities such as a freezer or a front door.
Lily takes careful stock of her fellow contestants’ motivations and desires, taking the path of a social strategist to get further in the game. The producers are often talked about but rarely heard from or seen, yet they remain a constant presence on the compound, orchestrating scenarios no matter how nefarious.
It’s important to be paired up, but is there a romantic connection between couples, or is each coupling a means to an end? This is the foundation of the show: stay in a couple, complete tasks and don’t get eliminated. But how long do the prizes matter and how long are the rules at play … and what happens when there are no longer rules? Would the producers intervene if someone’s life was in danger? These are all relevant questions as you dive into this slightly dystopian love game.
Looking for more books centered around reality television? Try the romance “The Charm Offensive” by Alison Cochrun, the survivor-thriller “Small Game” by Blair Braverman or a nonfiction history of reality TV in “Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV” by Emily Nussbaum. Browse other new books at your local branch of the North Olympic Library System or complete the form at nols.org/bookmatch for personalized reading recommendations.
“The Compound” is available for checkout at the North Olympic Library System as a book, audiobook on CD, or digitally in eBook and eAudiobook formats.
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Adrienne Langan is a librarian with the North Olympic Library System.
