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moxiereads 's review for:
One Perfect Couple
by Ruth Ware
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5 ✨
I kept thinking this was going to have some surprise twist at the end and that the opening scene was going to be consequential, but it just wasn't and no twist happened.
This book featured one of the worst men I've ever had the displeasure to read about. So much so to the point that when our main character is questioning if he deserves to die, I was emphatically screaming "YES! OF COURSE HE DOES!"
Lyla's own boyfriend as well was terrible, going as far as to ignore her for other women on the trip. He didn't care about her, but about his own career and fame. He clearly knew nothing about her and then had the audacity to accuse her of being in charge of his failure, calling her a "stupid fucking cow" on camera. And then she spent the rest of the book worried about his well-being. No babe, fuck that guy! 🤬
The writing was not bad, but it did rely far too heavily on Lyla not understanding any sort of current social cues (she questions what a "champagne socialite" is, including asking if "socialite is a typo for socialist". She doesn't comprehend what a "Pilates instruction and influencer" is saying "maybe she influences people to do Pilates". Etc) and it felt very very forced. Lyla is almost exactly the same age as me, and I wouldn't have had those issues understanding. This is likely nitpicky, but it drives home the exhausting idea that women in STEM cannot also have flourishing social lives and it was annoying.
I also got sick of reading about Lyla's "salt stiffened hair". We GET it. You're stranded at sea. You're fighting to survive. You haven't taken a shower for weeks. We don't need the constant reminder that your hair, and Santana's extensions, and Angel's acrylics are destroyed. We understand, I promise.
Lastly, the ending was very disappointing. I understand coming to a conclusion and wrapping everything up with a nice little bow. The problem was that this wrapped up with them accidentally celebrating a gross man. For a book that had less twists than I was expecting, that is not something I can stomach easily.
I kept thinking this was going to have some surprise twist at the end and that the opening scene was going to be consequential, but it just wasn't and no twist happened.
This book featured one of the worst men I've ever had the displeasure to read about. So much so to the point that when our main character is questioning if he deserves to die, I was emphatically screaming "YES! OF COURSE HE DOES!"
Lyla's own boyfriend as well was terrible, going as far as to ignore her for other women on the trip. He didn't care about her, but about his own career and fame. He clearly knew nothing about her and then had the audacity to accuse her of being in charge of his failure, calling her a "stupid fucking cow" on camera. And then she spent the rest of the book worried about his well-being. No babe, fuck that guy! 🤬
The writing was not bad, but it did rely far too heavily on Lyla not understanding any sort of current social cues (she questions what a "champagne socialite" is, including asking if "socialite is a typo for socialist". She doesn't comprehend what a "Pilates instruction and influencer" is saying "maybe she influences people to do Pilates". Etc) and it felt very very forced. Lyla is almost exactly the same age as me, and I wouldn't have had those issues understanding. This is likely nitpicky, but it drives home the exhausting idea that women in STEM cannot also have flourishing social lives and it was annoying.
I also got sick of reading about Lyla's "salt stiffened hair". We GET it. You're stranded at sea. You're fighting to survive. You haven't taken a shower for weeks. We don't need the constant reminder that your hair, and Santana's extensions, and Angel's acrylics are destroyed. We understand, I promise.
Lastly, the ending was very disappointing. I understand coming to a conclusion and wrapping everything up with a nice little bow. The problem was that this wrapped up with them accidentally celebrating a gross man. For a book that had less twists than I was expecting, that is not something I can stomach easily.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism