One Perfect Couple: A Huge Miss

One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
Genres: Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 385
Goodreads

A high-tension and ingenious thriller following five couples trapped on a storm-swept island as a killer stalks among them.

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.

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It took me a lot longer than it should have to finish this audiobook. Usually, I am at least somewhat intrigued by the mystery of these kinds of books that I will take any opportunity to listen. Not this time. 

If a book has me ranting to my husband about how insulting it felt to be told so many details, then I should have just DNF’d it. Alas, I did not, so let’s get on with it shall we?

First of all, the main character, Lyla, was insufferable. If I had a dollar every time it’s mentioned that she’s a scientist (not a doctor), I would have been able to buy a better book. She’s also one of the most judgmental female characters I’ve read in a while, spending a good chuck of the first half of the book side-eyeing reality television and women who wear makeup. Also, she is so clearly uninterested in her boyfriend, Nico, and his endeavors that I feel bad for him – even though he’s a pretty flat character that’s reduced down to his looks and nothing more.

Honestly, all the characters are fairly one-dimensional mostly reduced to their looks or small annoyances that Lyla seems to have with them for no good reason.

But a thriller can be saved from poor characters with a good story and exciting thrills.

Neither of which this story had. 

It’s difficult to review this part of it without going into too many spoilers, so I will try to be as vague as possible: nothing happens. Sure, a few bad things happen to them, but ultimately, nothing really feels high stakes. Or mysterious. And the big twist at the end is more of a slight drift to the right and bump on the curb.

So far, Ruth Ware has been a hit (The It Girl) or miss (Turn of the Screw), and this one is a very hard miss.

And you know what, as a woman who wears makeup and is a lover of reality television: this book can eff off with its judgmental a-s-s.