I’m always excited for a new thriller from Ruth Ware. I had especially high hopes for this book since there were some comparisons to Agatha Christie’s, And Then There Were None.

Five couples are invited to compete on a new reality TV show located at a remote, resort island. When a storm hits they are left stranded without any outside contact and rapidly dwindling food and water. Soon other contestants start turning up dead. This first part of the book took me a little bit to get into the plot, but once it got going I couldn't put it down! It isn't super twisty and the plot was a little predictable, but it was a fun psychological thriller.

I definitely wouldn't compare this to And Then There Were None, other than the setting being on a remote island, it felt a bit more Lord of the Flies to me. Overall this was an enjoyable read and the survival on the deserted island aspect added to the drama and tension of the story and definitely kept me invested. This book felt more straightforward and less twisty/convoluted than a lot of thrillers, which I thought was refreshing. I kept waiting for a huge twist and there wasn't much of one, which I actually enjoyed. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers. Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

I'll open with my one big disappointment; the diary aspect had me predicting one villain, and I was honestly a little disappointed to find out that what I saw was what I got. With that being said, what we got was a pretty ridiculous, fast-paced story of psychopathy, fear-building, and little seeds planted here and there hinting at what was to come. Ware does a great job of sprinkling in the day to day monotony of being stuck on the island, while also getting the nail-biting moments, and having that losing-all-sense-of-time feeling. Are we going slightly mad reading this? Maybe. Quick, dirty, and dare I say fun.

Ruth Ware is so good at bringing you right alongside her characters. As the water runs low on the island, I could feel my lips getting chapped. As our POV character has to fight for her life, I can feel the bruising. As the true horror of their situation sets in on the stranded, I too am overwhelmed by hopelessness. The interstitial radio messages and diary entries between chapters were well executed. They added to the overall sense of dread and loss of control. The interpersonal dynamics amongst the survivors felt visceral and believable, as well as the privations everyone was experiencing. Drinking a big glass of water while reading a book never felt so indulgent.

A lot of characters but you get to know them pretty quick. If you like Bachelor Paradise and have ever watched Survivor, this is book is for you! 5 couples put on an island and then after a storm, left to fend for themselves. What would you do to survive?

Lyla is a virologist and her recent project is not going well, which means her contract may not be renewed. Her actor boyfriend Nico has a proposition for her. His agent contacted him about a new show that was filming, One Perfect Couple, and Nico feels that this is just what he needs to really launch his career but he needs Lyla to join him. Against her better judgement Lyla agrees and they find themselves jetting off to a private Island in the Indian Ocean to join four other couples - Bayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana -in this Survivor meets Newlyweds game. Unfortunately Nico fails the first challenge and is the first to be kicked off the Island. As the yacht leaves with the entire production team and Nico to take Nico back to the Helicopter pad, the rest of the contestants settle in for the night to only be woken up by a huge tropical storm. With all electricity out and the island partially destroyed, the game becomes a game of survival. People die, alliances are tested and a murderer is loose within the group. I haven't read Ruth Ware before, but thoroughly enjoyed this book, start to finish. I loved Lyla and her keen eye and knowledge in helping her fellow stranded contestants. This was an amazing page-turner and I finished it in one day. I just could not put it down. Thank you to NetGalley, Ruth Ware and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this advance copy.

I've read lots of Ruth Ware's work and sometimes it's a bit hit or miss. In general, though, I find her books to be page turners, even if characters aren't fully fleshed out or plots move a bit too conveniently. This one definitely hits the mark for a fast-paced, summer read.

The protagonist for this one is interesting--Lyla is a PhD level scientist, trying to manage the (realistic) path of an academic trying to make their way through the labyrinth of research and development. I appreciated the approach here, that showed the work as it often is (tedious, difficult, little job security, constant pressure to perform and/or find funding, etc.) since too often this type of work is shown superficially. When Lyla's boyfriend (a wanna-be actor) gets the chance to join a reality show that puts 5 couples on a deserted island in an elimination game, Lyla grudgingly goes along to make him happy.

I liked the way the reality show was portrayed in this novel--I don't know much about how these shows are actually produced (and not sure if what is in the book is accurate) but I can imagine what we see in this novel is close to the truth: the way seeming spontaneity is manufactured, the reality behind the glamour, even the time manipulation. I enjoyed seeing how such a thing like a reality show might really come to be.

And I like the "and there were none" formula--it's just one I personally enjoy.

The end was a little wonky for me and some of the overall decision-making of the characters was also a bit too convenient. However, this book kept me hooked to see how it would play out. This would be a great summer beach read and, if you like Ware, I think you'll like this one too.

A surprising and totally engrossing tale that tackles dark issues with propulsive energy and wonderful sensitivity. Ruth Ware is always a stunning writer, but this book stayed with me for a long time.

Somehow I have made it this far in my life without reading a book by Ruth Ware. How? I do not know, but reading One Perfect Couple has caused me to realize that I should've jumped on this bandwagon a long time ago. One Perfect Couple is the story of Lyla, a postdoc who agrees to do a reality show to support her partner's career. And then, all hell breaks loose.

I love a good "locked room" mystery, and One Perfect Couple provides just that when Lyla and her fellow contestants get stranded on the reality show island and people start to die. This book was suspenseful, and kept me changing and refining my hypotheses right unitl the end. I also appreciated that the contestants didn't fall into stereotypical roles

Thank you to Ruth Ware and Gallery Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ruth Ware always manages to create suspense that is so intense you cannot put the book down (and end up staying up far too late) and she has done it again with One Perfect Couple.

The set up of this book is slightly different from some of the others she has written in that the previews/forecasting are very clear about what is happening (everyone is stuck on the island, some people have died, they aren't sure when or if anyone will be able to rescue them - these are not spoilers as you find this out very quickly from radio messages as soon as you start reading) instead of being vague or unclear. However, you don't know the details or the individual actors. There is also a diary that you read interspersed between chapters told from the narrator's perspective. Despite these different accounts and indications, I was not able to predict the ending and outcome of events. I also liked how the narrator felt like a real person and her relationships with the other people stuck on the island were very realistic (aside from the setting of being trapped on a deserted island of course).

A fun read that was very suspenseful - I'm rounding up to 4 stars as I thought the ending felt a bit rushed or too convenient, but I still really enjoyed reading the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ruth Ware for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 3.5/5

The premise of this story was so unique and fun, and I was definitely interested in seeing where it would go. A little slow for my taste, but a good story nonetheless!

I just finished the ARC of One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware! Great read with twists and turns! This will be a great summer read for a beach trip!

What begins as a reality show quickly goes horribly wrong as a storm crashes the tropical island, and the cast is stranded. Told from the point of view of Lyla, the book details a story of survival. Lyla, a scientist, originally enters the contest with her boyfriend, Nico, who dreams of getting his big break. Lyla and Nico are two contestants on a reality show looking to find the “perfect couple.” When Nico is the first contestant out, Lyla is forced to carry on by herself. A huge storm hits the island, and then each contestant is left to fend for themselves. One by one, it is survival of the fittest. Thanks to #netgalley, I couldn’t put this book down. Full of twists, this thriller is a page turner.

The time has finally come, it is time to admit defeat and say Ruth Ware books are not my cup of tea. This is the third book by Ruth Ware that I have read and disliked. This one has been my least favorite to date.

This book made ZERO SENSE. There is/was so much wrong with it. First, I feel completely bamboozled by the synopsis. It reads as if a mysterious killer is picking off the cast one by one. When it is blatantly obvious who it is from the start, it is not a secret. It is more of a survival thriller than anything, Anytime something suspicious happens to a couple, it's always off the page. We never really see any of it. We are just told someone is missing, and we are told someone is hurt, but the author never shows us.

Second, this would never actually happen. It is so unrealistic that this TV show would ever happen like this. No one is going to allow a bunch of people to film on an island without the proper crew, insurance, and safety precautions. Not to mention the pacing of the "TV show" was laughable. First night on the island, they do a questionnaire for the first game and someone is already kicked off? That defeats the entire purpose of the show.

Third, the couples on the island were so frustrating. Someone steals the supplies you need for survival and everyone is just going to be okay with that? No one cares that one person is in charge of their supplies, the same person who beat a guy to death? COME ON.


And last, the journal entries are supposed to be important. But finding out what they were for really was stupid. Making a murderer/abuser/toxic/awful guy like that a hero is the stupidest plot twist of all time. What a joke.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware.

This is a book about a love reality show gone really bad. The contestants get stranded on an island and all hell breaks loose. Never everyone makes it off the island.

It was an ok book. Not great but not terrible either.

Lyla, a research scientist, is having a tough time. Her most recent job is not getting the results she wanted and she fears that once time and funding run out, there will be no extension on either. When her boyfriend, struggling actor Nico, comes to her with a proposition – want to be on a couple’s reality show? – she says yes despite wanting anything else. It’s good for his career, so she’s being supportive. But one challenge in, and this are starting to go wrong - and that doesn't even count the impending storm which destroys a big swath of the island and leaves them with minimal food and water and worse...

Ruth Ware has become an automatic buy author for me. I've enjoyed all her books, and this one was no exception. I was anxious to see what would happen as things progressively got worse, and I hoped for the participants' survival along with them. I inhaled this in 24 hours, and now I'm only sorry that I read it so fast.

I am in my Ruth Ware era! I recently read Zero Days by listening to the audiobook on Libro.fm and couldn’t stop listening! Bonus – the narrator was excellent. After that wonderful reading experience, I was thrilled to read Ruth Ware’s upcoming release, One Perfect Couple. The cover is striking, and the premise was interesting.

Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down. Work and sleep didn’t matter, only this book did. Ruth has a way of writing a mystery that keeps me guessing and keeps me invested in the story. The novel was fast paced and is perfect for a summer read! At first, I didn’t like the character names, but they all grew on me by the end. Ruth also leaves a little easter egg in the book for fans of hers which I absolutely adored.
Part psychological suspense and part survival story, this book delivers. Highly recommend for your summer reading list!

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books, for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

4 couples on an island, stranded after a bad storm, how will they survive? This book was one I could not put down! I love Ruth Ware and this new book did not disappoint! I was so happy I was able to get an advance reader copy of this book through NetGalley and I devoured it!

A few months ago, I heard Ruth Ware at an author talk where she shared what she could about this book. I remember her saying, “Imagine ‘Love Island’, but things go very wrong.” She had me sold on that description alone.

I really enjoyed “One Perfect Couple.” It didn't feel like Ware’s usual fare, yet somehow feels like it belongs in what’s becoming a prolific collection of novels by her. While it isn’t my favorite of her novels, I did really enjoy it. I’ll be suggesting it to our patrons.

One last note, no spoilers, but I did really love the ending. Not exactly shocking, but oh so satisfying.

I expected a thriller, but instead got a survival story. The marketing is all wrong on this book. It is not a modern And Then There Were None. It’s more a novelization of a season of Survivor.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of One Perfect Couple!
The story revolves around couples going on a new reality show, as soon as they get to the island, things take a turn!
It was a fast paced read that I couldn't put down! It would be the perfect summer beach/vacation read!