One Perfect Couple

Author: Ruth Ware
Genre: Thriller, Psychological Thriller
400 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books

Synopsis
Harkening to Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None, this high-tension and ingenious thriller follows five couples trapped on a storm-swept island as a killer stalks among them—from Ruth Ware, the New York Times bestselling author who “is turning out to be as ingenious and indefatigable as the Queen of Crime” (The Washington Post).

Lyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she’s pretty sure they won’t extend her contract, and things with her boyfriend, Nico, an aspiring actor, aren’t going great. When the opportunity arises for Nico to join the cast of a new reality TV show, The Perfect Couple, she decides to try out with him. A whirlwind audition process later, Lyla find herself whisked off to a tropical paradise with Nico, boating through the Indian Ocean towards Ever After Island, where the two of them will compete against four other couples—Bayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana—in order to win a cash prize.

But not long after they arrive on the deserted island, things start to go wrong. After the first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean, deprived of their phones, and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla finds that this game show is all too real—and the stakes are life or death.

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.

My review
One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware was a fast and entertaining book! It’s not what I was expecting after reading the plot summary – I would describe this as part survival, part reality show, rather than a psychological thriller, but it was entertaining and a nice change of pace for me. Add in a devastating storm on a remote island and I’m immediately hooked!

Ware is a great writer and I find most of her books engaging, well planned, and presented in a way that’s enticing and exciting. Ware did an extremely good job creating a rich sense of atmosphere on the island and I was immediately drawn into the setting and survival in the aftermath of the storm.

Where this story fell short for me was the character development and sense of tension and suspense. While the survival aspect was fun to read, I didn’t find the storyline very complex or thrilling. There wasn’t much tension, and there was no element of guessing or puzzle-solving to discover who committed the murders. I also felt like the pacing dragged in a few places and the story could have been a little tighter to create more sense of urgency.

One Perfect Couple is a fast read and entertaining. Unfortunately, while I’ve been a fan of Ware’s previous novels, this one fell short for me. I would still recommend it to readers who enjoy survival stories with a hint of mystery, although it may not satisfy those looking for a serious psychological thriller.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Ruth Ware for an advance copy of the book for review. All opinions are my own.

My recommendation: read it but keep your expectations realistic. For me, it didn’t quite live up to the hype.