Point of View

The novel is told in the first person from Lily’s perspective, which shapes the reader’s relationship to the events within it. The constraints of this perspective create a sense of isolation, since the reader can never access the inner lives of the other contestants. This absence is intensified by the rules of the show itself, which prohibit the contestants from sharing information about their lives outside the compound. As a result, Lily is never certain whether the behaviour of others is genuine or a performance dictated by personal tasks. Her inability to know whether another contestant’s gesture of kindness, hostility, or attraction is sincere mirrors the reader’s own uncertainty, leaving both trapped in the opacity of the situation.

This restricted view is crucial to how the novel portrays the mechanics of reality television. In most reality programmes, viewers have access to...