Reviews with content warning for Body horror - One Perfect Couple: Der New-York-Times-Bestseller | »Köstlich düster und absolut fesselnd.« LUCY FOLEY

God this was so unrelentingly terrible. Terrible characters, terrible plot, terrible everything. And just terrible writing, somehow both repetitive and inconsistent, ugly and banal on a sentence level. Predictable, badly written, boring, meaningless. I honestly cannot believe that people can read this and tolerate it and that it got past editors in this state.

I listened to it on 2x speed while driving and doing errands and chores and I STILL wish I could get those 7 hours and 4 and a half minutes back. You could not pay me to read another book by Ruth Ware.

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faeriegodmutha's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This was a wild ride. I love the intersection of disaster story and reality TV. The unreliable narrator and the ending were so satisfying.

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celticthistle's review against another edition

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dark lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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mrsmishler's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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minimicropup's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Although survival thrillers are rarely for me, I found this one sooo tense and stressful. I hated how it made me feel, but I was captivated!

Energy: Hostile. Distressing. Ruthless.

Scene: 🇮🇩 Set on a small, deserted island outfitted for a new reality tv show off the coast of Jakarta, Indonesia.

Perspective: We follow a virologist post-doc (30s) asked by their actor-wannabe partner to audition for a new reality show meant to test the strength of a couple’s bond. We also get snippets from the diary of a 22-year old contestant on the show. Leading up to the disaster, emergency radio calls foreshadow what’s to come.

🐕 Howls: The reality tv intrigue too quickly overshadowed by survival horrors (but that may be a plus for others). The overall book felt a little too long for me.

🐩 Tail Wags: The characters and how they’re written. The hint of extreme horror energy in certain scenes. Slow and steady pacing. Overall writing style and attention to detail. Atmosphere.

🤔 Random Thoughts:

There are a lot of unlikeable characters. They’ll make you angry; it was tense, pettiness, bickering, chest-puffing stuff especially when things were already high-stakes.

If you want fast-paced action-adventure the ethical cerebral moments may feel like interruptions, but they saved me from being exhausted by all the terrible visceral moments.

The characters and atmosphere formed around me as I was listening. Imogen Church is my fav audio narrator when paired with Ruth Ware’s storytelling style. Expressive but not melodramatic.

Prepare for extreme survival horror elements. The injuries and consequences of actions play out much like they would in nature. We get an immersive description of the smells, sounds, and sights and all the emotional aftermaths.

I got a sense for how many days were passing on the island because it felt like I’d been reading for that long!

🤓 Reader Role: Tagging along with Lila who is telling us the story from her perspective. Sometimes we are in her mind and other times watching from afar. Also a bit of a time jumper as we get glimpses into the future.

🗺️ World-Building: Immersive, layered, and atmospheric.

🔥 Fuel: What is the real story behind this reality show? What will the other couples be like? Will Nico and Lila’s relationship survive the show? Will the anyone survive?
📖 Cred: Not impossible + hyper-realistic moments

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Crystal blue. Warm waves. Soft sand. Tropical summer breeze. Palm forests. Wood oil and fresh paint. Blood. Flies. Salt water. Stale pastry. Decomposition. Body odour. Terror.

Reality TV gone Fyre Festival level wrong
Descriptive human vs nature & human vs human survival thriller on a tropical island
Ethical exploration and commentary around survival, murder, society, death, relationship abuse, and grief.

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Content Heads-Up: Relationship breakdown. Verbal abuse. Body gore (graphic; blood, injury, wounds, fatalities). Corpse (discovery of, handling). Loss of romantic partner. Tropical storm (waves, destruction, high winds). Violence (physical). Murder. Psychopathy. Adult/minor relationship. Suicide (mention). Abusive partner (controlling, violent). Medical (diabetic shock).

Rep: French. British. Olive, tan, pale skin tones. Gay. Heterosexual. Cisgender. Diabetes. Diverse body sizes.

📚 Format: Library Audio

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

Content Warnings

juanat77's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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