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.

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.