A review by kelleyincontext
The Compound by Aisling Rawle

reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

Aisling Rawle has created the most exhaustingly boring book-- but isn't that kind of the point? 

I feel like she has fully disenchanted me from the romanticized idea of being on one of those reality tv shows where they take your phone away. Why? Because it FEELS like it has to be the most boring time. 

There is so much offscreen that isn't shown to the viewer. We're missing hours and hours of their lives and this feels like the behind the scenes of all of the little and slow moments that they don't typically include. 

And it really shows how humanity slowly gets removed when you're being pitted against your housemates for a challenge. It's a wonder any reality challenge show stars can still be friends with each other outside of the show.

Reading this made me sleepy, feel warm and exhausted. I dissociated often and wasn't engaged. I should have DNF'd probably at the beginning but I was HOPING it would get better at some point. 

I had to put the audio on 2x speed just to get through but this entire book made me feel like I was suffering. This should have been like a 3 hour novella. Because the theme of "is the cost of winning worth it" is bashed over your head for like nearly 3x that length. 

All of the high reviews make me confused like... did we read the same book, guys? LOL.
I would really just rather watch Love Island UK and Yellowjackets and forget this book.