by Ruth Ware
Scout Press, 2024. 383 pages. Fiction
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, One 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.
With her quick-paced thrillers and engaging characters, Ruth Ware is a go-to author for me – anything she publishes, I’ll read. I was pleasantly surprised to find that One Perfect Couple deviated from her usual who done it style mysteries. While it starts out as a behind-the-scenes look at a Love Island style reality show, it quickly morphs into a survivalist story. The plot here is as much man against nature as it is man against man, and I was fascinated by how the different characters reacted to tragedy, danger, and deprivation. The strong focus on character and bonds forged between women reminded me in many ways of Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers. One Perfect Couple won’t necessarily leave you guessing about who the bad guy is, but it’s at its most interesting exploring the good, the evil, and the just plain petty in all its characters.
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SGR
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