One Perfect Couple, Ruth Ware, author; Imogen Church, narrator
Lyla is a scientist. Unfortunately, the result of her research has just produced the opposite results of what she had hoped for; she disproved the paper she hoped would actually be proven by her efforts. If the paper’s results had been affirmed by her testing, she would have advanced in the world of virology. Instead, her efforts might possibly end her career. Proving failures did not gain access to a lab or grant money.
Nico, Lyla’s beau of a couple of years, is a handsome actor. She is surprised and thrilled that he has chosen her to be his mate. He is struggling, but he has just received an offer to participate in a pilot program that might accelerate his career, catapulting him into fame and fortune. However, Lyla must also participate in this pilot program, since it is about relationships between couples and how strong their commitment is to each other. She is one-half of the equation. Participants will be eliminated through the use of various challenges to their relationships. Although Lyla is not sure she wants to participate, not sure she can leave her job that is probably about to end anyway, Nico is so convincing, she agrees to do this. She is hoping, however, to be one of the first contestants to be eliminated, as they face challenges to their relationships.
Five finalist couple participants are chosen. Soon, they are flown out to Jakarta. There, they board a boat to the Ever After island destination. It is a remote location in the Indian Ocean and has been fitted out as a kind of paradise. All devices of communication are taken from them, so they are totally cut off from the outside world. They only have each other. Soon they will get to know each other intimately. The first challenge throws their group into confusion and turmoil. One of them is immediately eliminated, and now, instead of ten, there are only nine contestants. Lyla is not eliminated as she had hoped.
The main idea of the pilot program is about how well the commitment to their relationship will fare when facing hardships. Will they survive the extreme challenges they will face? Will the same five couples emerge or will they switch partners? Have they arrived with their partner for life or will temptation win? Will someone else on the island be a better life choice, perhaps? The idea of watching couples air their dirty laundry as their fidelity is challenged, as they witness abusive relationships and power struggles, is the fodder of the social media programs today, and this reality TV program will be a sure hit if it works out and captures them destroying each other.
Baz, the head of the program is demanding and bullying. They have all signed contracts that bind them to the rules and challenges he presents. Although a powerful storm is approaching, Baz does not postpone the event, and he deposits them all on the island. What follows challenges them far more than they ever expected. Food and water must be rationed. Their fears and secrets will be exposed and will challenge their very existence. What was the real purpose of this pilot program? Do they really know their partners? They do not know the other participants well. Can they be trusted? Is there a murderer in their midst? Will they be rescued from this now desolate place? Soon, they begin to wonder who or what is behind the deprivation and terror they are facing? Will they survive?
I enjoyed this thriller, but sometimes, although a main theme of the book is reality TV, some of the scenes and behavior of the characters challenged my idea of reality.