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One Perfect Couple

Ruth Ware

Start date: June 1, 2024

Finish date: June 30, 2024

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What Members Thought

Dec 06, 2023 Trisha rated it really liked it

"Sometimes it is all you can do to survive."

If you asked me to name my favorite Ruth Ware, I wouldn't be able to. I would just rave about all her different novels - because they are all unique, interesting stories and I love them all! And this new one is great, as always.

I loved the main character, Lyla. She's a struggling scientist at a crossroad. She's struggling to keep her current job as her contract runs out. Her boyfriend, Nico, is chasing his career dream of being an actor. He's found a h ...more

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Jul 04, 2024 Priya rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-in-2024

Ruth Ware books have been a bit of a hit or miss for me. I loved The woman in cabin 10 which was the first of hers that I read but after that it was all downhill until The IT girl which I really enjoyed. This book goes into the 'misses' section too though it was fast paced and had a lot of action. None of it translated to what I wanted in a book of the psychological thriller genre though.

The setting is a reality show on a deserted island in Jakarta. Five couples are competing for the title of 'O Ruth Ware books have been a bit of a hit or miss for me. I loved The woman in cabin 10 which was the first of hers that I read but after that it was all downhill until The IT girl which I really enjoyed. This book goes into the 'misses' section too though it was fast paced and had a lot of action. None of it translated to what I wanted in a book of the psychological thriller genre though.

The setting is a reality show on a deserted island in Jakarta. Five couples are competing for the title of 'One Perfect Couple '. We get the story almost entirely from the perspective of Lyla, one of the contestants along with her wannabe actor Nico. A virologist whose research funding is in danger of being cut off, Lyla lets herself be persuaded into thinking of this show as a break while she reevaluates her future in academics. She has some very strong misgivings about the format and the show itself but still goes ahead. The other four couples are mostly social media darlings and seem very glamorous and totally at home. They are just getting started on the filming when a massive storm hits and they are all marooned with no help and in classic Agatha Christie fashion, they begin to get eliminated.

So far, so good even though it's unclear to the reader why Lyla even agrees to go on the show because her relationship with Nico seems really on thin ice and fake from the beginning and the producers and set up on the island are really shifty. What happens next is more like a survival show like Lost where everyone scrambles for the limited resources and teams are formed and fights ensue.

The issue was that there was absolutely nothing that was unpredictable and it even got quite monotonous in the way people disappeared and nothing changed! In a paradise gone wrong thriller, I expected some twists and turns even if not on every page but here it was just the same right till the very ending. In fact, I felt that the whole thing had been kind of pointless immediately after I finished the book because that is how the mystery, such as it was, seemed to me.

There were moments of female bonding and friendship and smart coping mechanisms and a behind the scenes look at a reality show and how nothing is as it seems. These were interesting to read. However, the rest simply did not match the description for a suspense book. Besides, it seemed to me that the original premise was set aside somewhere in the very beginning!

It could be that my expectations from a deserted island thriller in the vein of 'And then there were none' were pretty high and that's why I was more disappointed. I will continue to take my chances with the author and hope to have a hit next time!

I have to include this - Lyla mentions that her favourite dish to order on a night in is paneer cheera and lemon rice. I love paneer and lemon rice separately but they are not eaten together to my knowledge! Also, there is no dish called paneer cheera! This stood out because there are so many well known paneer dishes that actually exist that could have been used here. Also, there is a mention of backpacking in Goa and a stay on Anjula beach which is actually Anjuna beach. These errors somehow jarred maybe even more because the rest of the book didn't work! ...more

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Jan 05, 2025 Susan rated it really liked it

I gave Ruth Ware a shot again because some books are hits and some are misses and since I got this book from my book subscription I decided to give it a shot. I actually liked this book a lot. There were a few laggy moments but for the most part it was pretty fast paced. Most of the lag was in the beginning but after part 2 it was really good. I loved it.

Lyla and Nico were one of the couples chosen for the show and Lyla wasn't sure about it. Nico who was trying to break out into the world of act ...more

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Jul 14, 2024 Shruti morethanmylupus rated it liked it

I usually love Ruth Ware novels, but this one was disappointing for me. The story isn't really a thriller - we know who the villain is, the twists are largely predictable, and it felt more adventure survival overall. Our characters are ... fine? The MC was frustratingly one dimensional. We get it, you're an academic and you're not into reality TV dating shows. Nothign at all wrong with either of those things. But that doesn't need to mean that you're utterly clueless. For example, why would that ...more

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Sep 24, 2024 Kylara Jensen rated it liked it

Shelves: unreliable-narrator

A solid 3 stars.

Very engaging.

Some twists and turns I didn't see coming.

Parts of it felt a bit unrealistic even within the world of the book.

Mostly I found Lyla a bit lacking as a character...idk ...more

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