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.
What I liked about this story... Notwithstanding what I say below, I did enjoy reading this novel. What I liked the best was the characters. There were some good, some bad and some plain awful. They were all meant to be how they were meant to be and I liked to see how they all interacted and reacted to both each other and the situation.
What I didn't like about this story... There were really no surprises in this story for me. I had pretty much guessed all of them. I would have loved to have had a few surprises that I hadn't guessed, but that's not the case with this one. Yes I did enjoy the writing and characters but the plot I didn't feel for quite so much.
Would I recommend... Honestly, if you were wanting to pick up a Ruth Ware I would go with a different novel of hers first so you get a feel for her writing and style so you can appreciate that in this novel.
