Ruth Ware is forever delivering the best suspense novels and this one will keep you reading until the end. 5 couples are picked for a new reality show set to take place on a desert island WAY off the coast of Jakarta. A terrible storm hits the island after the first day and the couples are left stranded as the yacht that brought them to the island, has disappeared.
This was a cross between And Then There Were None and Lord of the Flies. It will keep you guessing until the very end. Love Island was never so cutthroat.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this e-arc.*

Ruth Ware is one of my favorite authors!
And One Perfect Couple was hands down my favorite book by Ruth Ware!
All the stars for this one!
Ware did an absolute stunning job here.
You have all the ingredients needed and the book keeps you on the edge of your seat.
The characters are well crafted, the twist and denouement at the end is striking.
There was not a dull moment throughout the novel. The setting was magnificent.
She transports you to the island along with these characters.
Absolutely recommended. If you're looking for an intriguing page turner that gives you the chills, this is it!
A fast-paced, spellbinding thriller rife with intrigue and characters that feel so true to life, this novel proves yet again that Ruth Ware is the queen of psychological suspense.
Ruth Ware is a superb suspense writer!

Thank You NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Oooo this was a fun read! I love how Ware crafted the story and made it so engaging and clausterphobic. This one is pretty straight forward - I kept waiting for a big twist but it wasn’t really needed with the way this was crafted. The characters felt real as I know some people would totally buy into the premise of this show for the chance at fame. While this is very different from her other books, I enjoy the uniqueness and it’s a great summer read.

I read this on a beach and it was a great popcorn thriller for vacation! One Perfect Couple follows Lyla and Nico who are cast on a reality TV show set on a remote island near Jakarta. Soon after filming begins, a storm hits the island and the cast of the show is stranded. It did not feel like Ruth Ware's typical style of thriller, but I didn't mind that. I enjoy when authors explore the genre and try new things. Something that worked really well was that even though there were a lot of characters to keep track of, the story was mostly told through Lyla's POV, so it felt less overwhelming. The storm happens right away and so does the drama and it does not let up until the final page.

Ruth Ware is an author that I will blindly read anything she puts out without knowing anything about it. She never disappoints! Lord of the Flies was the book that sparked my love for books that are on the dark side. This book had that same feel and I loved it! I'm also a HUGE fan of reality, so double win for me!

Lyla research has stalled and she is pretty sure she won’t have a job shortly. So when her boyfriend Nico tells her they are being chosen to go on a new reality show “One Perfect Couple,” she finally allows him to convince her to do it. She is wary of the show and the show runners, but she will do this for Nico and hopefully get eliminated early. When a storm comes through and leaves only the contestants on the island, things begin to look dire. The boat hasn’t come back, and their water and food rations are dwindling. Will they survive being stranded on this island?

Ruth Ware knows how to write a crazy thriller, and this one was no different! From the start this reality show seemed sketchy as hell, but it was worse than anyone could have expected. 8 people trying to ration the water and food they have of course led to mayhem and certain folks deciding they were “in charge.” I did this one on audio and I just could not stop listening to find out what was going to happen. This one kept me on my toes for sure and if you are looking for a fast paced thriller this summer I highly recommend! Though maybe don’t read it if you are vacationing on a deserted island!

This is my seventh read by this author. I only have a couple of her backlist books left to read. Her books rarely fail to entertain me, and this one is no different. This story is told in third person and follows virologist Lyla as she accompanies her actor boyfriend to a deserted island to film a couples reality TV show that he hopes will give him his big break. This narrative is interspersed with conflicting diary entries from one of the other contestants that provide an entirely different narrative lending a slight unreliable narrator effect though not enough to trigger my weariness of this trope.

There are 5 couples competing under rather ambiguous and suspicious circumstances. My last two reality TV show themed thrillers were flops for me due to TSTL characters and their inane actions, but I found this group to be filled with characters with more realistic conflicts. With so many characters to keep track of, I admit that I never got a feel for a couple of them, but since some of them were quickly picked off, it didn’t really matter, not unlike an actual reality show. As the story progressed, I came to feel an actual connection with several of the remaining contestants as they fought to survive despite the actions of others and their environment.

Recommended to thrillers fans that enjoy isolated or deserted island settings, reality show drama and the themes of And Then There Were None.

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

“.. 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 - 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭.”⁣

One Perfect Couple is a suspense filled summer thriller about 5 couples chosen to participate in a reality game show, called One Perfect Couple, kind of like Survivor but with the focus on couples relationships. The game takes place on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. However, after a hurricane hits the island, the contestants are left with little food and water, no electricity and no way of getting help from the mainland, which is several hours away. Competitors started being eliminated but not in the way they originally had planned. What started out as a game to gain fortune and fame, quickly turned into a battle of life or death and survival.
Most of the book is told through the FMC POV except for a few journal entries. The book is divided into 3 parts. The first part was a little slow but it picked up once they got on the island. There were several “red flag warnings” and foreshadowing given in part 1 which piqued my interest. Most of the characters were arrogant, selfish, unlikeable and unreliable for most of the story which made for a great binge worthy thriller.
I love reality shows, so I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a pretty quick and easy read and kept me guessing in anticipation of what would happen next. However, I felt like it lacked depth and complexity, and the ending was too abrupt for me.
Thank you NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Ruth Ware for granting me early access to The Paradise Problem in exchange for an honest review.

One Perfect Couple
by Ruth Ware
Pub Date: May 21 2024
Lyla, a virologist with a withering career, and her boyfriend Nico, an aspiring actor, are offered a spot on a new reality TV show where five couples face physical and mental challenges on a remote island to be crowned the perfect couple. The twist? Sometimes these couple will be rematched with others on the island, which doesn't always sit well with one or both members of a couple.
After the first challenge, tempers flair.
Then comes a literal storm. The paradise island is hit hard with villas being torn apart. The production crew, who had headed out in a boat to work on the first day's film, is nowhere to be found. The morning after the storm brings the damage to light as well as two deaths.
Lyla and the others must work together to survive until they are hopefully rescued. Fights erupt, mistrust over rations flair, and another contestant ends up dead. Their struggle is no longer to survive the island, but each other as well. #netgalley #onperfectcouple #ruthware

This is my second Ruth Ware novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will say the comp to And Then There Were None is a tad misleading (and also odd because doesn't the author already have a novel akin to that one?) as it is MUCH more a Lord of the Flies reimagining with both men and women on the deserted island. But overall I thought it was tightly plotted and the characters were all well-formed, but it was emotion-filled moments at the end of the book that really solidified it for me.

TW: domestic abuse and suicide

This book helped me remember why Ruth Ware is an auto-read author for me. While I have read other books with similar plots (seriously who would go to a remote desert island with all the media that shows everyone dies). I think part of why I really enjoyed this book so much is that I liked the narrator, Lyla, a lot. Maybe because in a sea of influencers and wanna be actors I can respect the scientist who doesn’t even watch reality tv. Lyla agrees to help her boyfriend Nico by going on a reality show for couples. While she has no interest in being on a tv show she knows Nico dreams of being an actor and this could be his last shot. Agreeing to take two weeks of vacation time and hoping to be kicked off the show early on she reluctantly goes. The first night they are on the island there is a storm and they are cut off from the ship that brought them to the island. No one is very worried at first but the days go by and their resources dwindle. In addition to Lyla’s perspective the reader also gets snippets of distress calls islanders make and one of the participant’s journal entries.

Ahh! So good. What I consider a true thriller. My heart racing nearly the entire time. Unputdownable! No big twists, but a satisfying ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy of Ruth Ware’s One Perfect Couple.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
Ware is an auto-buy author for me, so I was really excited to get my hands on an early copy of her up-coming thriller. I really enjoyed this one, in fact… I think it is one of fav’s from the last few that she has written. This has it all….the drama, thrills, suspense, murder, Temptation Island & Love Island vibes. An island + murder is always my fav, and add in a reality tv show 🙌🏻sold! Although this is a slower pace read, it had all the thrills & drama which made for a fun, twisty, and wild ride. I enjoyed the island setting…I always love a good isolated setting for my thrillers/mysteries. However, I will say that all of the characters were really unlikeable and annoying at times. Overall, this was a fun and entertaining popcorn thriller.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
✦Isolated settings
✦Reality tv shows (think Temptation Island, Love Island, and The Bachelor)
✦Unlikeable characters
✦Popcorn thrillers
✦Plenty of drama


𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4/5

Not gonna lie, one of my guilty pleasures is reality television. Not all of the shows, but I did just finish binge-watching "Married at First Sight". Spoiler alert: None of the couples stayed together. So when I read the synopsis of this new book by Ruth Ware, I was all in. It sounded like it would be right up my alley - "Love Island" Meets "Survivor".

Lyla, a nerdy scientist, is asked by her aspiring actor boyfriend, Nico, to participate in a new reality show. The premise is that five couples will stay on a paradise island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, complete a variety of challenges, and one-by-one, the losers will be eliminated. The remaining couple will win the cash prize (amount undisclosed). The specific details were pretty sketchy, which bothered Lyla, but not Nico, who was convinced this could be his big break into the world of entertainment. Lyla reluctantly agrees, and the games begin.

Upon arrival at the island, the contestants are requiried to give up their devices - phones, smartwatches, laptops, etc. They spend the first day getting acclimated and discover that there is no staff other than the production crew on the island. The couples play a game, and the loser is put on the only boat on the island and must return home immediately. Later that night, after the boat had left for Jakarta, a massive storm wreaks havoc on the island. Now the real survival games begin!

I won't give any more plot details, but will say that this book had so many opportunities to be a fun page-turner. Instead, the villian was known from the very beginning, and much of the story felt rushed and half-developed. It wasn't a horrible read, but just like reality television, I wanted it to be better than it actually was.

Ruth Ware did not disappoint! Sometimes when I pick up a new book from one of my favorite authors, I have such great expectations I end up disappointed. Not the case here!

I devoured this book in a weekend, neglecting my adult duties and family, because I could not put it down. If you are a plot driven reader, you will love it. There was also enough character development to make me want to root for the characters as well. Some of them, that is.

To me, this was a modern day Lord of the Flies, and I’m one of the few who loved that book, and I loved this one as well. Highly recommend!

A reality show gone way wrong. Couples compete on a secluded island to be the perfect couple. What could possibly go wrong in a Ruth Ware novel. A nice twist at the end and some likable women make this a good read with the pages turning in suspense. Some unlikely parts but Ware is a pro at pulling the reader in.

Copy provided by the publisher and Netgalley

One Perfect Couple is Ruth Ware’s newest mystery. This one takes place on an isolated island in Indonesia where 5 couples are participating in a reality show. Needless to say, things don’t go as planned starting with a storm that destroys much of the island and supplies. And takes their boat with it….

I’m a big Ruth Ware fan and her books are an auto read for me. I found the premise of this one interesting, but it didn’t end up being my favorite of hers. There wasn’t as much mystery or twists as I would have liked. Definitely worth a read, however, especially for reality TV or Survivor fans!

A different type of mystery than Ruth Ware’s other books. I really enjoyed the concept – Love Island meets Lord of the Flies. There’s been a lot of good television similar to this concept (The Wilds and Yellowjackets being a few) so it was fun to read it in novel form. Unfortunately it did drag for me a bit. I had a hard time connecting with Lila to be really pulled into the story.

One Perfect Couple is a scorching thriller set against an island backdrop. 

Lyla reluctantly joins a reality competition called One Perfect Couple with her boyfriend, Nico. Before the ink is dried on the dotted lines, Lyla and Nico find themselves in a tropical oasis with four other couples. An unexpected storm puts Lyla and her cast mates in danger, leaving them without any way to contact the mainland. The competition turns ugly as the stranded contestants form factions, trying to survive against the elements and each other. 

The premise of murder within a reality show context was an intriguing starting point to push the novel off. Ware plays with the audience's expectations and delivers a unique story.  

The plot had some thematic Agatha Christie pacing and twists. It was compelling, yet easy to follow along. Ware does an excellent job pacing the novel. Her mysteries have a gripping quality to them and One Perfect Couple is no different. Ware builds suspense at a believable pace that's not too slow or too dizzying. 

Lyla is the main narrator in the story, with a few diary entries from other characters between chapters. Lyla's narration was a solid foundation to drive the plot. Ware builds believable suspense since the reader only sees events from Lyla's perspective. It also makes it easier to track clues as the novel progresses. 

Ware writes vivid characters whose personalities stand out against the backdrop of the novel. Their motivations felt organic and served the progression of the plot.  

The ending wasn't shocking, but it tied up all loose ends for a satisfying conclusion. The ending feels earned. One Perfect Couple makes a perfect beach read. It's engrossing and easy to get lost in. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review.

I typically love Ruth Ware books but this one was definitely not for me. I was so bored the whole time expecting a twist or some action.. nothing. I didn’t like the characters, didn’t like the story line and the end was just boring. It seemed like it would be so good from the description but man am I disappointed.