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The Compound

by Aisling Rawle Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE

Book Club Pick Critically Recognized

A reality competition where the game meets survival

Regular price $17.51 USD
Regular price $29.19 USD Sale price $17.51 USD
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Awards & Recognition

  • Book club selection

    Good Morning America Book Club Pick

    Identified as a Good Morning America Book Club pick.

  • Editorial selection

    The New Yorker Best Book of the Year

    Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker.

  • Critical praise

    Praise from The New York Times Book Review

    The review calls the novel smart, provocative, and addictive.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A reality competition where the game meets survival

On a remote desert compound, Lily and nineteen other contestants compete to remain on a reality show set in a home where rewards range from champagne and lipstick to basic necessities. The cameras capture their lives, while unseen producers keep raising the stakes. As competition and intimacy develop among the players, the boundary between wanting to win and needing to survive grows harder to define. Lily’s sense that the outside world is falling apart gives her a reason to stay, even as the contest places its participants in increasingly dangerous situations. The setup brings questions of scarcity, spectacle, and the cost of winning into the same enclosed space.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in reality-show competition and its behind-the-scenes power dynamics
  • Readers drawn to fiction about surveillance, scarcity, and social pressure
  • Readers looking for a literary novel centered on a group contest in an isolated setting

Themes

Reality television and surveillanceCompetition and survivalScarcity and luxuryDesire and desperation

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK

Nothing to lose. Everything to gain. Winner takes all.

"Every bit as addictive as your favorite guilty pleasure binge-watch, but with all the substance of a literary classic."--Oprah Daily

"It's fun to watch hot people do psychotic things in this novel. . . . Smart and provocative [and] so damn addictive."--The New York Times Book Review

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, THE NEW YORKER, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, OPRAH DAILY, THE GLOBE AND MAIL, CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY

Lily--a bored, beautiful twenty-something--wakes up on a remote desert compound, alongside nineteen other contestants competing on a massively popular reality show. To win, she must outlast her housemates to stay in the Compound the longest, while competing in challenges for luxury rewards like champagne and lipstick, plus communal necessities to outfit their new home, like food, appliances, and a front door.

Cameras are catching all her angles, good and bad, but Lily has no desire to leave: why would she, when the world outside is falling apart? As the competition intensifies, intimacy between the players deepens, and it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between desire and desperation. When the unseen producers raise the stakes, forcing contestants into upsetting, even dangerous situations, the line between playing the game and surviving it begins to blur. If Lily makes it to the end, she'll receive prizes beyond her wildest dreams--but what will she have to do to win?

Addictive and prescient, The Compound is an explosive debut from a major new voice in fiction and will linger in your mind long after the game ends.
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Customer reviews

M
AlbakiReads
Malaika Taylor

I highly recommend to for anyone looking for inner clarity

T
AlbakiReads
Thomas DiMassa

Great service and fast service

Great shopping experience! The book arrived quickly, was well packaged, and matched the description perfectly. I would definitely shop with you again

O
AlbakiReads
Olivia

Smooth.