I always look forward to a new Ruth Ware book coming out because I just know that, whatever the premise, I’m going to get a compulsive read. She’s an accomplished and versatile writer whose previous novels have ranged from psychological thrillers such as In a Dark Dark Wood and The Lying Game, Agatha Christie-style mysteries The Woman in Cabin 10, The Death of Mrs Westaway and One by One and, more recently, into tech and dark academia thrillers with Zero Days and The IT Girl.

With her latest novel, One Perfect Couple, Ruth is back in psychological crime thriller territory that, as blurbed by Erin Kelly on the back of my hardback copy, is ‘the Love Island/Lord of the Flies mash-up you didn’t know you needed’.

As the novel opens, postdoctoral virologist Lyla Santiago finds herself at something of a loss. Bouncing from one short-term postdoc to another, Lyla’s dreams of landing a glittering scientific or academic career are rapidly slipping away. So when her latest project doesn’t return the results that she’d hoped for, Lyla is more than tempted by her actor boyfriend Nico’s suggestion that the two of them jet off to an exclusive island resort to film a new reality show. One Perfect Couple has the potential to be Nico’s big break and, Lyla figures, a couple of weeks of sandy beaches and sunny skies might give her some perspective.

Given that this is a Ruth Ware novel, you can probably guess that things do not go to plan for Lyla, Nico, or the rest of the One Perfect Couple cast and crew. From an unexpected ban on technology to rules seemingly designed to separate established couples, One Perfect Couple soon turns into Lyla’s perfect nightmare. And that’s before a tropical storm hits, leaving the group stranded, with increasingly limited supplies and, Lyla suspects, with a killer in their midst.

Before I go any further, I should probably confess to having never seen an episode of Love Island. As a teenager, I followed Big Brother for its first two seasons before bouncing off reality TV and never looking back. So I have absolutely no idea how accurate Ware’s depiction of the setup for One Perfect Couple is. What I can say is that it makes the perfect backdrop for a compelling thriller that explores themes including imposter syndrome, precarity, coercive control, abusive relationships, grooming, influencer and internet culture, and toxic masculinity.

There is quite a bit of setup, with the first 100 pages or so spent establishing Lyla and Nico, getting them to Ever After Island, and then introducing the other couples that they’ll be starring alongside. Although some readers might find this a little bit of a slow start for a thriller, I enjoyed getting to know more about Lyla and her motivations for joining One Perfect Couple before the action really kicked into gear. It meant that, later in the book, I felt that I had a better understanding of why she took some of the decisions that she did. I always enjoy the setup parts of Agatha Christie novels – where we get introduced to all the characters and begin to form our impressions of them – and this first section of the novel very much did that.

After the storm hits, the novel shifts gear, picking up the pace and throwing a succession of challenges – both environmental and psychological – at Lyla and the remaining One Perfect Couple cast members. Ware’s depiction of the tropical storm and its aftermath was pretty scary and I liked the fact that, for much of the book, the challenges faced by the survivors are focused upon basic survival needs. Although it quickly becomes apparent that there is a possible killer amongst their number, the need to expose them comes second to the need to simply find enough food and water to stay alive and, for me, this really ratcheted up the tension.

I don’t want to say too much about the plot – or about individual characters – for fear of spoilers but I did find Lyla to be a relatable and interesting protagonist. I also liked that Lyla’s fellow cast members aren’t just a parade of wannabe influencers and that, as the novel progresses, we get to find out more about their backstories and their reasons for wanting to take part in a reality TV show. Whilst some are more fully drawn then others, I did find myself rooting for the survivors (with the exception, of course, of the villain of the piece who is a truly nasty piece of work).

As mentioned above, Ware weaves some very topical themes through her novel and the book examines participant mental health and wellbeing (or the lack thereof, as the case may be) in the entertainment industry, as well as the intersection between internet/entertainment and fitness culture, toxic masculinity, and violence against women and girls. These topics are handled sensitively but there is occasional violence on the page, as well as references to suicide and descriptions of injuries sustained by various characters, so I’d advise a quick check on the content warnings before heading in.

Overall, One Perfect Couple was One Perfect Summer Read for me. Although the mystery element isn’t the strongest – the bad guy becomes apparent fairly early on – the twists and turns kept me guessing and, as the bodies piled higher, I was fully invested in finding out which characters would survive and the lengths that they would go to in order to ensure that!

Fast-paced and compelling, One Perfect Couple is another edge-of-your-seat read from Ruth Ware and the perfect summer read for anyone seeking a bit of intelligent escapism this summer.

NB: This review appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpre... as part of the blog tour for the book. My thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review. 

As a long time fan of Ruth Ware I was excited to pick up her latest release.

“One Perfect Couple” follows Lyla and her boyfriend Nico as they venture to a remote island, Ever After Island, to participate in a new game show a lot like “Love Island”. Along with four other couples, Lyla and Nico think they are about to enjoy a few weeks in paradise, and the chance to win a massive prize. Unfortunately, nature has other plans, and the island is hit with a massive storm. Lyla was not initially interested in partaking in this endeavor, but she wanted to support Nico. Now, she has to fight for her life, because there might just be a killer on the island. 

The premise of this book did not initially catch my eye, and I 100% picked it up because I am a fan of  Ruth Ware. I am not a fan of dating reality shows, so I was apprehensive going into this story. I also am not super interested in reading stories that follow a group of characters in a high stakes competition. Nonetheless, I had a fun, okay time reading this story. The game show element is definitely a big part of the story, but there is a lot more going on behind the scenes that I was able to put more of my focus on.

This very much felt like a new age “Lord of the Flies”. A storm comes in and completely decimates the island, and the surviving characters have to work together to try and figure out a way off of the island. They have no means of transportation, and they have no way of communicating with the rest of the world. They also have to ration the remaining food and water. This aspect of the story was interesting to me because in high stress situations, people’s true colors start to come out. I really enjoyed watching the group dynamics shift and see just how far certain characters would go to survive. 

Lyla was an interesting point of view to read from because she was not even interested in participating in this show. She is a scientist, but her career has seemed to stagnate. She does love Nico, so when he asks her to come, do this show with him to help him, and his acting career, she agrees. This initial resistance really becomes evident, while she is interacting with the other characters, because she has every intention of trying to leave and does not want to win. 

Unfortunately, the overall story fell a little flat for me. The characters and their behavior were highly predictable, because they acted exactly as you would expect people to behave in this scenario. Although I did not see the overall mystery of who the true puppet master was, and what their sinister intentions were, I did not think it was a super unique plot line. Additionally, there is a twist, because the remaining characters take it upon themselves to shape the narrative in a different way, so this drastically changes, the impact of the big twist of the story. I really did not like that the author added this element. I felt like the characters had been through enough, and their rationale for making this decision that changed the course of the story, felt very unnecessary. The entire conversation between the characters at this point in the story made the novel feel very amateur. 

I will definitely continue to keep Ruth Ware on my TBR, and I do recommend this story to someone who enjoys competition based thrillers.

Least fave book from this author I've read so far. Idk it started off good, but it was too long for the story she told. It dragged too much at times since there wasn't a real mystery to solve, & everything was way too obvious.