I gave this book 4 stars. I love Ruth Ware’s writing and this book did not disappoint. The only thing I didn’t love was that I feel like I’ve read a hundred books about a group of couples stuck on an island.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!
I have not read anything by Ruth Ware before, so was solely drawn to this book by the synopsis. A reality tv show with couples on a secluded island, a big storm causing them to be stranded and in survival mode. All their truths and personalities come out during this time. People were dying and they weren’t finding a way off the island. I knew there was something underlying the whole story and kept thinking - is it the tv show making them think they were stranded? Is one of them in on something and have contact with the outside world? Etc… there just had to be something more to it than what I was reading. I kept going and the twists at the end were what I was waiting for! There was definitely more to the story and while it wasn’t exactly what I had been expecting, it was still good! Overall, this was a really good book and kept me interested to find out more the whole story!

Ⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
𝕆𝕟𝕖 ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕡𝕝𝕖
𝙍𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙚
Thriller
400 pages
May 21, 2024

Sʜᴏᴿᴛ Sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs
Lyla agrees to go to a faraway island to be on a show with her boyfriend. She isn’t thrilled about it but does it for him as he tells her it is his last chance to be a star.

Once there, a massive storm hits, leaving some dead and others hurt. With no outside communication and limited supplies, how will they manage?

Mʸ Tᴴᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀs
I knew this would be a five-star read for me soon after I started reading it. This story kept me thinking about how I’d handle the situation.
Not surprisingly, there is a bulked-up bully who decides he will run the show. This type of person makes me cringe.

The things happening seemed so realistic, making for a frightening and emotional situation that makes you wonder what people will do when pushed too far.

One Perfect Couple clipped along at a fast pace. It was a psychological thriller indeed; the thrills were around every corner.

The characters are all so different from each other, yet they eventually find out each other’s secrets. I wanted the rest of the group to stand up for themselves when Conor used his brute strength and mental brutality to rule the island.
The ending was intense and perfect to bring this story to a close.

💕Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing this ebook for me to read and review.

Don’t let the title of this book fool you into thinking it’s some cute romance. Ruth Ware has concocted another thriller with some serious, relevant issues in the background. I found this enjoyable, but did get to a point where I was ready for things to get wrapped up. I recommend this book for those who enjoy Ruth Ware and trapped thrillers.

As with all Ruth Ware books, One Perfect Couple is bingeable! I read it in one day (and ignored my family and chores for the day!) This thriller had me guessing (and hating!) many of the characters!

Reality Show ✅
Group of Friends ✅
Deserted Island ✅

Here for ALL the drama!

Another great page-turner from Ruth Ware! While I didn't feel like it was a murder mystery and lacked some great twists, I was still enthralled and couldn't wait to see what happened next. This will be a great addition to your beach or pool bag this summer!

One Perfect Couple felt like abut of a deviation from Ruth Ware’s typical work and I’m feeling decidedly meh about it. I still love and respect her and consider her a “must read,” but this book wasn’t my favorite. The concept of a reality TV show with one especially awful character was (in my opinion) the makings of a mediocre story. I did really enjoy the character development of the girls on the island. I love how they bonded together and found a way to survive (both the island and the people around them). Personally, I feel like this this could’ve been branded as a survival story rather than a “thriller” and I may have enjoyed it more.

I wouldn’t call the ending a “twist” per se, but I like how it was neatly wrapped up and explained.

I’m a big Ruth Ware fan but I didn’t love this one. I felt like it was hard to keep track of the couples, the plot dragged a big and it was a little predictable. I did like the love island vibes though but was hoping for a few more twists.

This felt a lot like One by One. The slowly picking off people to die one by one. I feel like a lot of thrillers have used this trope lately so it didn’t feel too original.

I liked the island setting for this one. There were parts that I was so stressed out. And I also didn’t know who would be next to die. Like Love Island gone wrong! This book is good for those who like reality tv.

The ending felt rushed. I didn’t feel like I connected with any of the characters enough to be rooting for them. Lyla was kind of a wet blanket and could have been a little more likeable.

One Perfect Couple is Ruth Ware's best novel yet! Lyla and Nico have been selected to join the cast of a new reality show set on a gorgeous remote island. Yet, from the instant they set sail, Lyla gets the sense that something is off. When people start having mysterious accidents, she will need to figure out who to trust before she succumbs to the killer in their midst. With an interesting protagonist and a great cast of characters, One Perfect Couple keeps you captivated.

I opened this book thinking I would absolutely love it. I had high hopes for it! I will say, I did enjoy it. I found it a little confusing trying to keep all the characters straight and who is with who. I felt there were too many people. Throughout the book I was mad and confused about the journal entries but was so relieved at the end when it all came together. The ending was so good and pulled the book all together!

When I first started reading this book I had ideas of what I thought it was about. It was the story of five couples who are participating on a reality show on a luxurious deserted island. On the first night, all of the staff and one of the contestants left on a boat headed back to the mainland, leaving the nine contestants to fend for themselves. The staff was supposed to return the following day, but they didn't. And they didn't come back the day after that or the day after that. The nine contestants were shipwrecked on the island. The couples where Lyla and Nico, Santana and Dan, Zana and Conor, Romy and Joel and Angel and Bayer. Lyla was the narrator of the story, and Nico was the contestant who was expelled from the island.

So this became a story of survival. Conor took it upon himself to control of all the food and water. He and made it very difficult for the others to survive. There was a storm on the island during which Romy died. None of the contestants liked the fact the Conor made himself in charge of their food and water so Bayer decided to confront him. They got into a fight and Conor killed him. And then Santana, being a diabetic, realized all of her insulin was gone. They assumed Conor had taken it. Dan went to confront him and he disappeared. The next day, his body washed up on shore. It was assumed that Conor killed him. It was Lyla who first saw the body and in his hand was a bottle of insulin. Lyla told Joel about it and then he disappeared.

It was clear to everyone that Conor was a psychopath. The women wanted to be rid of him but they didn't know how to make that happen. Evidence indicated that he had been abusing Zana but she was too traumatized to leave him. So it behooved the other women to find a way to survive until they could be rescued.

All of the characters were truly believable and I found it easy to identify with them. I was impressed with the way the author spun the story and found it was not at all difficult to follow. I liked the way the author paced the story to a compelling crescendo. It wasn't overwhelmingly excellent book. I gave it five stars.

Thank you to Ruth Ware and Gallery Books for my copy of One Perfect Couple! It’s about Lyla, a logical scientist dating an aspiring actor. Things aren’t going the best, so when he asks her to join a new reality TV show with her, she thinks of it as a last ditch effort to make it work. The show is called The Perfect Couple, and is similar to Love Island, and Lyla knows she won’t fit in. The other couples are beautiful and competitive, and she just wants to last the first week.

When they finally get to the island, things start to go terribly wrong. The first challenge leaves everyone upset, and then a huge storm cuts the contestants off from everyone else. They are stranded on the island and aren’t sure when they will be rescued. They band together to survive, but realize maybe not everyone wants them to be rescued after all. Then, the contestants start dying one by one.

Thoughts: This was a reality tv version of a book. It was super fun, lots of drama, and way over the top. You have to suspend belief immediately, and then this book is easy to enjoy. I loved the premise of the reality tv show and the location of a resort in the middle of nowhere. It was just like if Love Island went wrong.

I didn’t like any of the characters and they were hard to root for. I thought it was hard to connect with them because there wasn’t much background established. It was a fun popcorn thriller with an “And Then There Were None” trope. I think it could have been a bit more mysterious, as the reveal, if you can even call it that, fell pretty flat and was obvious. It’s a fun beach read, but I wasn’t necessarily wowed. 3-stars

One Perfect Couple follows Lyla and her boyfriend Nico who are cast in a new reality show called the Perfect Couple. The show is filmed on a remote island. They will be competing against four other couples. All of their technology gets taken away and they are left to fend for themselves. The first challenge does not go so well leaving everyone on edge. To make matters worse there is a big storm coming. Soon they are left to survive the storm with no way to contact the crew or anyone else to get help. And now they all must work together to survive.

Ruth Ware is very hit or miss for me. But one was so good. I have read books with a similar before so this didn’t seem very original to me. But this was very fast paced edge of your seat thriller. I was hooked the whole time. I also felt like this book had the right amount of drama. Overall I really enjoyed this one and I highly suggest it.

Thank you Ruth Ware, Scott Press, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Didn't want to put it down

This captured me from the start and I found myself trying to figure things out when i was supposed to be concentrating on adulting stuff.

A young British couple join a reality series set on a remote island way off of Indonesia. Lyla, a research scientist, has no interest in going but her boyfriend, Nico, thinks it will be the break he needs to get into acting. The premise is that couples come and individuals are kicked off when they lose a challenge. Then the partner of the losing couple is "re-coupled" with another person. Lyla hopes to be kicked off quickly, but instead Nico is the one sent packing. He and all but one of the crew head to the ship that is supposed to take him to a helicopter pick-up site and return the next day to continue filming. But, a storm blows through, killing two people on the island and injuring another. The participant's only way of communicating with the outside world is a radio with an ever-decreasing battery. With no way of making water and not much food, attempts to find someone out there to rescue them are desperate. And futile. As participants start to die and their supply of food and water dwindles and one by one, it is hard to cope.

The story would be good, but it is greatly enhanced by the mystery component. Although you read of events happening, like Connor, the self-appointed, controlling head of the survivors, getting into a fight with someone and that person dying, you read a diary excerpt that tells a totally different story. The puzzle was very good as you really don't know what was reality. The ending ties everything together and is very satisfying.

I have read and enjoyed all of this author's work, but this was my favorite. There was plenty of suspense and a decent bit of social commentary.

Highly recommended

Ruth Ware does it again! Great thriller with so many layers, keeps you guessing until the very end. Great read.

A psychological thriller where our characters are cut off from everything and everyone is one of my favorite kinds of books, so it is no surprise that I was excited to read One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware. Lyla has been dragged onto a new reality TV show by her boyfriend Nico who has aspirations of using it as a platform to fame. The new show will be filmed in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and five couples will compete to determine the winner. From the very beginning, things felt a little off with the production, but when a massive storm leaves the couples completely cut off from not just the producers, but the entire world, things turn deadly.

The story grabbed hold of me with the anxiety-inducing action, but it was the smartly written characters that did not let me go. The ongoing battle for survival had me turning pages. Lyla is the narrator and I liked her voice and approach to what was unfolding. We learn that some of those stranded have secrets and the weaving of their narratives worked well for me.

This is a good read and while a little longer than necessary, I absolutely enjoyed the ride.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted (free) ARC

Deserted island, group of strangers, new reality tv show gone wrong? Count me in!

In a fan of this authors writing in general, and this book was no disappointment. I breezed through it in one sitting and was intrigued throughout the story. I’d definitely recommend it for fans of her previous books, and the genre!

I've read a lot of thrillers through the years, and this one unfortunately, just didn't hit the mark for me. I wish it did! I hate leaving poor feedback for an author because it's got to be incredibly hard to write a book, and I never want to make anyone feel badly about their work. As a reader of A LOT of books though, and many thrillers, this one was a let down! There was so much room for shocking events and twists that would keep the reader on edge, and it just didn't happen! I knew the ending and who was responsible the whole time! Everything was just so...blah! My jaw was never on the floor--and that's what I need for a GREAT thriller! In fact, by 65%, I just started reading dialogue and skipping chunks of narration so that I could move on. Ruth Ware is typically a great author, but this one was not her best work. It's thriller lite--diet thriller, if you will.


Side note: the characters' names drove me nuts! Zana and Santana...really? Of all the names in the world, we had to have RHYMING names to confuse the reader? I couldn't keep track of who was with who!

Thank you for the ARC to review, #NetGalley! #RuthWare #OnePerfectCouple

Entering into the pages of this novel was meant to be a journey filled with hope and excitement, fueled by my admiration for the author's previous works. However, what awaited within its covers was a devastating letdown, leaving me grappling with feelings of profound disappointment.

Despite my initial optimism, the narrative quickly unraveled into a shallow and predictable tale, failing to capture the essence and magic of the author's earlier creations. The promise of strong female characters, while initially appealing, proved to be nothing more than a superficial veneer, unable to compensate for the glaring deficiencies in plot and character development.

What added to the disappointment was the delayed introduction of elements that held the potential to elevate the story. These glimpses of brilliance emerged far too late, unable to salvage the sinking ship of disappointment.

Furthermore, the pacing felt rushed, with revelations and resolutions presented in a manner that robbed them of any emotional impact. Instead of leaving the reader pondering the intricacies of the narrative, everything was laid bare prematurely, depriving the story of genuine engagement and depth.

In summary, my experience with this novel serves as a poignant reminder that even esteemed authors are susceptible to creative missteps. While the presence of strong female connections provided fleeting satisfaction, it was ultimately overshadowed by the myriad shortcomings that plagued this literary endeavor.

For those who, like myself, approached this novel with high hopes, the bitter taste of disappointment lingers long after the final page is turned.