Reviews - The Compound | The StoryGraph

3.1k reviews for:

The Compound

Aisling Rawle

3.79 AVERAGE

lmrajt's review against another edition

4.0

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was a book club book and it got the job done - very polarizing! In some ways it was a light palate cleanser about a near-dystopian reality show ("Big Brother meets The Hunger Games.") In another way it was a grim meditation on our late-stage capitalist hellscape. I thoroughly enjoyed it - very thought-provoking but also entertaining as hell.

lamplightlibrary's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

"Another gaping sore on the face of our compound."

Messy, stressful, griping. This was unlike anything l've ever read (yay for bookclub helping me out of my comfort zone!) It really felt like watching a reality tv show.

Like Hunger Games X Love Island. The pacing and writing were solid, but it was the shocking things that happened, not the characters, that kept me reading late into the night. The end was completely unsatisfying for me but I'm sure the author wanted you to be left unsatisfied and unsettled.

oliviaarmstrong's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I was super into this at first, but it kind of started to fall off for me by the end. It’s a crazy concept and really interesting if you’ve ever watched shows like love island or big brother. I think I maybe didn’t like it by the end because it gets really dark (obviously that’s the point but for some reason I wasn’t vibing)