An absolute ride from cover to cover, Ruth Ware's One Perfect Couple was a book I couldn't put down! I've been taking a break from thrillers lately, but this book got me right back into them and reminded me of Ruth Ware's older (and in my opinion best!) books, like The Woman in Cabin 10 & In A Dark, Dark Wood. And if there's one trope I will always love, it's people surviving on an island, which One Perfect Couple does PERFECTLY!

With strongly written and refreshingly multifaceted and diverse female characters, One Perfect Couple had me guessing what would happen from start to finish. It was unique from the classic who murdered whom and felt like a breath of fresh air, rather than the same old thriller plots. Honestly a great read that I really enjoyed - the perfect summer beach read!

Lyla is a virologist living with her boyfriend, Nico who is an aspiring actor. When Nico gets selected to go on a Reality TV Show, One Perfect Couple, filmed on a remote island, Lyla agrees to go to show her support. A terrible storm comes through, leaving the contestants stranded on the island with minimal food and water. As if that weren't bad enough, the contestants start to die off one by one. Will rescue come in time to save them?

This book was a fun page turner, reminiscent of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. I thoroughly enjoyed this ARC and plan to listen to the audiobook once it comes out. Imogen Church and Ruth Ware? The perfect dream team.

I am absolutely in awe of his book. This was a PHENOMENAL thriller. One Perfect Couple will absolutely get your adrenaline going. I needed time to come back to reality after I finished it because I was so invested that I felt like I had lived this experience as well. THAT’s how good the writing was.

Interesting premise and I am a Ruth Ware fan so plus x2. I enjoyed a good percentage of this novel, the middle fizzled out for a bit, it’s a good quick beach or rainy day read.

Five couples are signed up to compete on a new reality TV show “One Perfect Couple” on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean. There is more than one catch, such as couples do not have to remain as they entered, and an unpredictable hurricane that strands them on the deserted island. As with her latest books, the contestants are being eliminated one by one. Lyla begins to catch on that she is the outsider of the group and that the others have some thread binding them. As she makes this connection and forms a bond with the remaining women, they work together to get access to their supplies and eliminate the biggest threat to their safety.

The last quarter of the book goes into hyper speed and the connection is made very quickly. This is a great quick thrilling read on par with Ms. Ware’s other novels.

I find Ware very hit or miss and I only read this one because it sounded similar to One By One, which I think is Ware's best. But this is so deeply phoned in it's barely a book. Comparing it to And Then There Were None is wrong on so many levels.

I kept reading thinking, but all the pieces are here so surely it will get better. It did not. Eventually I got to the point where it was short enough and going fast enough that I might as well finish. But you do not have to make that choice! You can just opt out! You should!!

Sometimes along the way you may think, "Huh, so mysterious" about certain details. But they are not mysterious. They just have not been thought through at all. You may think, "Oh that's ominous" except it's not it is just lazy. And if you know anything about reality shows or have just existed in the modern world for five minutes you will just constantly be thinking "But this doesn't make any sense." And it doesn't. All of this in service of a last minute "twist" that doesn't even attempt to be interesting or actually twisty.

The trappings are all there but the story itself is quite dull. And whoever decided to put And Then There Were None on as the big comp here is doing readers a big disservice. I'm actually wondering if 2 stars is too generous.

My thanks to #GalleryBooks #Gallery/ScoutPress #NetGalley and #RuthWare for the ARC of #OnePerfectCouple. With a gazillion reality shows on TV now, the thought of a new show One Perfect Couple where five couples compete on a remote island isn’t that far-fetched, so as a reader, I was hooked from the beginning – but from the beginning it was not like any other reality show. Stuck in a rut with her job and her boyfriend, Lyla reluctantly agrees to be a contestant with her boyfriend Nico. The very first challenge is extremely upsetting for the couples, but worse, a storm comes through and makes things worse for the couples. This is an extremely fast-paced book that closely resembles an actual reality show – I can clearly picture this in my mind as happening in real life. It's a shocking suspenseful thriller, with characters that are completely relatable and realistic. Ruth Ware does it again.

Ruth Ware is always good at twists. And this one had twists on twists. Every time I thought we had everything straightened out, new twist. It kept me up until 1 in the morning, if that says anything. I also really enjoyed the characterization of the villain. It showed how shaky the difference is from "men's rights' activist/just asking questions guy" to "abusive psychopath". The stuff he was doing was vile, and his sheer smugness about how no one fight him back on it made me want to reach through the pages and throttle him (nice visceral reaction). And the reader ends up feeling complicit at certain points, because before he really starts to ramp up, some of his suggestions start out fairly reasonable. I also loved the relationship that developed between the women on the island, especially as they figured out that if they were going to survive, they were going to have to work together and they ended up becoming people that would literally ride or die for each other.

This is the first book I have read by Ruth Ware and it definitely captivated me! It's about five couples who go to an island in Indonesia to film a competition reality show called "The Perfect Couple." Shortly after arriving, a bad storm leaves the contestants stranded, injured, and desperate to survive with dwindling supplies and damaged shelters. The boat offshore that housed the production team has disappeared, and there is rising tension in the group as the dynamic shifts from a democracy to a dictatorship. The surviving contestants are faced with impossible choices as they figure out what to do.

I had a hard time putting this one down! I felt like I was there with the characters - feeling their fear and panic as the days ticked by, supplies ran out, and the power dynamics came into play. The whole book had an overlying feeling of unease and impeding doom that was stressful but exciting. I was a little worried it would be hard to remember and keep track of all the characters, but it didn't end up being a problem for me. As someone who watches reality TV, I thought some of the production side of the reality show was a little unrealistic, and I was expecting more of a twist at the end. However, I enjoyed the ride this story took me on and would read more by Ruth Ware in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing me with this ARC!

One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware caught my attention just by the name. However when I started reading the book I was totally blown away. I had to really pay attention to the characters/storyline because there is a lot going on.

Overall a good book by a great author!

This was an interesting book. - has all the trappings for a twisty, fast paced, beach read. I enjoy reality tv and like mysteries - this was both. It took me a while to get into it and know all the characters - there are many! Readers who like "Love island" may enjoy this book but it felt too forced and contrived for me. Ruth Ware is an author who is hit or miss for me - One by One is her best work - atmospheric. This tries to do that in a tropical island and fails. I will definitely read her next though!

Ruth Ware's 'One Perfect Couple' is shaping up to be her standout thriller yet, primed to be the talk of the town this season! From the very start, I was hooked on the gripping journey of Lyla and Nico, thrown into a reality show that quickly turns into a fight for survival.

As they navigate the challenges of the competition, the tension keeps rising, pulling you deeper into the story. What begins as a slow build soon explodes into a whirlwind of suspense and intrigue, leaving you eagerly flipping pages to uncover what happens next. With authentic characters and a clever twist of a reality show within a novel, 'One Perfect Couple' is a must-read for any thriller enthusiast.

This one felt a little different from the typical Ruth Ware formula, and I appreciated it. I felt like I was on the deserted island, and was very concerned with the survival of the characters and how the island brought out different parts of their personality. Everyone handles the pressure differently.

It didn't read as much like one of her locked room mystery's in that the deaths were mostly explained as they occurred, so the end felt less satisfying as I hoped, but I did enjoy the Lord of the Flies aspect of the novel.

Perhaps my favorite mystery author Ruth Ware always manages to find an interesting setting for her novels. This time she takes us to a remote tropical island in Indonesia where the filming of a reality show is taking a bad turn when an unexpected storm hits the island.

I really wanted to love this book. I enjoyed past Ruth Ware books, but unlike most thrillers, this book didn't surprise me. It kept my interest and attention, but it wasn't my favorite book of all time. I will still be looking forward to her next book, but this one missed the mark for me.

I am a big fan of Ruth Ware, but this was not a favorite. Good story line and interesting, but I enjoyed more of her mystery plots in other books and this one kind of ended flat.

A page turner that I devoured in a weekend, as I’ve come to expect from Ruth Ware. I loved the premise of the Love Island type tv show and the different characters included. Lyla was a great protagonist and when I got to know the other characters a little better they all had depths to them that weren’t immediately apparent. A few little things were bothering me as I read which I detailed below, they include minor spoilers.
I did really enjoy this one though and couldn’t put it down.

SPOILERS
I thought that there was a way to distill sea water somehow to make it drinkable, I’m sure as a scientist Lyla would know something about that. I could be wrong though. The other thing that bugged me was that no one realized that Santana needed insulin after her head injury. Her diabetes had been talked about so much and her insulin going missing was a big deal.

As a fan of Ruth Ware in general: This just became my favorite title of hers! The beginning felt "off" and I wasn't sure the storyline was going to hold up to Ware's usual strong writing, but I was wrong (and so happy to be wrong!). I appreciated the duality (and duplicity) of characters, the tension held in the storyline, the way it was written--the journal entries, the mayday calls, and figuring out how each bit actually fits in the plot was definitely part of the fun for me...just a solid, enjoyable read all-around.

My thanks to NetGalley and Gallery books for the chance to preview this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow, this one was hard to finish. It took me a long time to finish because I just couldn’t get into the story. It had potential, but fell very flat for me.

When I see Ruth Ware's name on a book, I am already intrigued. What will she come up with this time?

One Perfect Couple is a bit on theme with One By One and a tip of the Hat to Agatha's, And Then There Were None.
Lyla is a virologist working to recreate, and thus confirm, the outcome of her predecessor's research which, if reproducible, would be a very big scientific break through. Try as she might, she cannot reproduce the results. Lyla is frustrated with work and not all that happy with her relationship with her actor/boyfriend, Nico. Nico is eternally optimistic about his threadbare career, which leaves Lyla as the breadwinner.

Nico gets an opportunity to participate in a reality television pilot for a yet to be launched tv network. The only problem is, the show is looking to find "One Perfect Couple," so Lyla would have to come too, or no show for Nico. In a last ditch effort to be supportive and try to make the relationship work, Lyla agrees.

Days later they find themselves taken by boat to an island with 4 other couples competing to be crowned the One Perfect Couple and take home a substantial monetary prize. The other couples are quite competitive and Lyla feels even more out of place. A violent storm passed over the island on the first night leaving the couples stranded, without power, without real food, and with a broken water desalination system. Surely the production crew will be coming to rescue them. As they wait, tempers flair and Lord of the Flies sets in. Everyone wants to be in charge. As tensions mount and fears rise, so does the body count. One by one, people go missing or are found dead. What will kill them first, the killer amongst them or being stranded on the island?

The story is fairly face paced and written in a way that is easy to keep track of so many characters. It is told from the POV of Lyla, but with insertions of one of the contestant's diary. Although I did not find any of the characters very sympathetic, I did see qualities of each of them in people I met in my life. You will have to place a bit of suspended belief to move through some of the action, but go with it for the fun of the journey.

One Perfect Couple is another entertaining story by Ruth Ware which includes updating a familiar scenario with the fresh twist of a reality show lens. This is definitely a great beach read; that is unless you are on a deserted island.

My thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/ Scout Press for the ARC of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

Maybe my favorite Ruth Ware book so far! 4 out of 5 stars. First few chapters I wasn’t hooked when introduced to Nico and Lyla’s seemingly superficial disingenuous relationship. The ominous unease crept in soon after and I was hooked.

Five couples travel to a deserted island to compete to prove themselves as the “one perfect couple” completing challenges for a new reality tv show. After the first challenge and unexpected storm changes the course of the staged show the contestants are soon fighting for their lives rather than the prize and the eliminations begin.

The distress calls at the end of each chapter were a reminder of the impending doom. Then the distress transcripts were replaced with journal entries giving the reader a perspective of the situation besides Lyla’s (MC).

Tensions start rising as rations start to diminish. This locked “room” trope gives tense feelings as the days tick by and the contestants start to analyze who is them and who is us.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.