
Member Reviews

Ruth Ware is a hit or miss author for me and unfortunately this was a miss. Initially, I was intrigued by the plot — but started to lose interest due to a LACK of plot and unlikeable characters.

I really enjoy reading Ruth Ware. I would not call this a psychological thriller. It was more of a survivalist novel. I kept waiting for a big twist, but everything was so straightforward. Baz setting everything up to embarrass Connor wasn't enough of an reveal for me. I expect a mystery with Ruth Ware and this book just didn't have it. It was still a good read. I would recommend to patrons who enjoy thrillers.

Not at all what I expected.
Well, finally, this is over. What a nightmare of a read. Despite being lured in by the synopsis that pretended to relate to reality television competitions, the book was basically a bad episode of a survivor show. With totally nasty, hideous characters and a very disjoined narrative. The writing was terrible and repetitive, and the book was way too long. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I tried, in vain, to understand why others liked it but I can't relate. There were so many missed opportunities for the author to use the setting and the show concept, but those were ignored and missed. The motive for the whole experience was so lame it strained the last bit of my credulity.
I listened to the audiobook while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. Usually, this approach makes me enjoy a book more, but in this case, the narrator's voice and the way she expressed the characters put me over the edge. The mispronunciations (such as her saying inchulin for insulin) and the very bad French accent, not to mention the male character voices grated on every last nerve. Hard pass for future Ware novels. I've tried and now I'm totally done.

I love Ruth Ware. This was a fun reading journey. The reveals throughout the book weren't big or catchy which made the pacing of this book a little hard. This would be a good book club pick or a quick pool read.

I find Ruth Ware to be highly inconsisent in the quality of her works. This one was a total dud for me. Everything about it falls flat from the unlikeable characters to the lackluster concusion. I just cannot recommend this one unless, like these characters, you are stuck on a desert island and have nothing else to read. Even then you might want to skip it and go play in the sand or something.

I've enjoyed previous books by this author and have enjoyed then. I enjoyed this one as well but it did not do as much for me as some of her others. I'm not sure I can put my finger on why it didn't grab me as much. I still enjoyed it plenty but it fits in the "pretty good" but not "great" category.
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This one was just okay. I think it's missing something in the plot to make it really engaging. I do like this author, though, so I will read more from her.

Love Island meets Lost and Lord of the Flies in this thriller about a group of reality contestants trapped on a deserted island, Lyla is convinced by her boyfriend Nico to set her career aside and join the show for a few weeks, but when they show up they realize they have been sold a vision that doesn't truly exist. After a few short days, a storm rolls in, and Lyla and a group of other contestants are trapped, lost to the outside world. When tensions run high and contestants start dying, Lyla realizes the dark side of reality TV is darker than she thought.
This was a good thriller but I wanted something more from it... we seemed to fast forward past the reality TV aspects that could have made the book incredibly dynamic (ironic statement), and focus only on the survival of the cast. Ruth Ware is fantastic at writing characters you want to save... or push off a dock into shark infested waters.

I love a Ruth Ware book, and I really enjoyed this one, but it was not my favorite of hers. With that said, this book kept me engaged and had such an interesting premise. I really enjoyed the suspense throughout.

This book was so good! I really liked the concept and the reality show part was an added bonus. This book had a lot of plot twists and I confess that I didn’t see most of them coming! Many times I thought I had figured out what was going on and I was so wrong. I really enjoy Ruth Ware’s writing and this was no exception

I have enjoyed all of Ruth Ware's novels, and One Perfect Couple did not disappoint! It was fast-paced and had me on the edge of my seat anticipating what would happen next. It was reality tv meets Lord of the Flies with characters likeable and not so likable. Thank you to NetGalley and Scout Press for the ARC!

This one is really a wild ride! Lyla and her aspiring actor boyfriend Nico are recruited to star in a new reality TV program. The premise is that four couples will be sent to a remote tropical island and subjected to a variety of trials and challenges. One player will be eliminated each week and the partner of the eliminated person will have the chance to "couple up" with one of the other contestants, if they so choose. The idea is to determine which couples are in solid relationships, and of course, for lots of drama to happen between the participants. Lyla is working as a research scientist on one short-term contract after another. She has no interest in participating, but she knows Nico thinks this will be his big showbiz break and will lead to offers for more acting work. She reluctantly agrees. When they get to the island, they discover that it's "not ready for prime time." Much of the infrastructure is still under construction and many of the cameras and microphones that are being used for filming don't work. The cabins where the contestants stay are all on the small island, except for one that is out in the water, connected by a rickety walkway. The newly paired couples will get to spend time here to after eliminations to see if they want to stay with their current partners or move on to someone more interesting. The crew stays offshore on a yacht when not filming, but can monitor the couples through the cameras. After the first person is eliminated, there is a massive storm. The yacht is no longer visible, some people were killed and injured during the storm, and everything is damaged. As the people who are left await rescue, things begin to take a dark turn when they realize the food and fresh water on available to them won't last long. And soon someone begins to exhibit extremely disturbing behavior.
I really was on the edge of my seat for the whole time! This book is very compelling for so many reasons as the people struggle for survival, both from the hostile (but beautiful) environment and also from each other. Really a page turner! I couldn't wait to see who made it off the island and how they would accomplish it!

I like how Ruth Ware does reality. This book a twisty thriller that will keep readers engaged until the very shocking end. I highly recommend!

WOW.. I've read Ruth Ware before and, while I've always enjoyed her work, I've never been so enamored by one of her stories. I was on the edge of my seat, biting my nails and gripping my kindle for dear life! What began as a foreshadowing turned confusing to telling as the contestants of a new reality TV show become stranded on their tropical island paradise after a horrible storm. Thibk Lord of the Flies meets Animal Farm.

As a fan of both Ruth Ware and reality TV, I assumed I'd like this one, and it was a fun read. Though there were a lot of characters to keep track of, they were differentiated enough that it wasn't too tricky, and the pacing of the story was good. I thought some of the characters could have used a bit more dimension, but perhaps it was an intentional choice to make them archetypes the way that reality TV contestants often are.

Love the author but this one just wasn’t it for me. I personally don’t like to read about reality tv shows. Other than that i think others will like it a lot. As always the author has great writing style.

Ruth Ware does it again. The queen of thriller never fails to delight the fear out of me each time. I enjoy books that are set on islands, and this spin off of a reality game made it even more interesting. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen, there was another twist. This is a perfect thriller to cozy up with in front of a fire with a hot toddy in your hand this Fall.

Ruth Ware's stories are always great. The narrator was fun to listen too. I expected more from the ending, but still a good story.

dnf at 55%
the characters are so stereotypical which I know is kinda the point with them being reality TV stars and all fitting those molds, but everything was so obvious and idk how a thriller could move so slowly. Having diary entries between the chapters that are written before the chapter happens was a really bad move because then I know what's going to happen? Also I found way too many typos and grammar mistakes for a traditionally published book. Needed some serious editing before being put on shelves

Ruth ware is always just a fun summer read!
This one wasn’t her best, but I still enjoyed the ride. Following the couples on an island, it was clearly another take on Agatha Christie, but with a bit more oomph. I enjoyed this one more than her other book, one by one.
I’ll read Ruth Ware as long as she writes.