A low-budget Love Island/ Perfect Match type show quickly spirals out of control. Lyla, our very unlikely protagonist, should never have set foot on this tropical island., She should never have participated; she is an academic deeply immersed in her postgraduate research. It's true that she had hit a bit of a roadblock, but why would a woman like her agree to go to an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean to participate in an elimination-style love coupling reality show? The answer is simple: her harebrained boyfriend, Nico, an actor who is persuasive enough to drag his much more intelligent girlfriend halfway across the world to humiliate themselves—well, actually, they plan to humiliate her. Lyla is supposed to be eliminated early so Nico can stay, shine, and fake a new coupling to gain clout.
Of course, things go awry when Nico gets booted off the show. Lyla is left behind as a massive storm begins to batter the island, taking everything and everyone down with it.
The story features a classic Agatha Christie-style introduction of the other couples, who, aside from a studious guy, fit the profile of usual suspects in these types of shows. As the chaos unfolds, the narrative is cleverly intercut with passages of someone desperately trying to get help on a ham radio. Ruth Ware skillfully plays with the confusion of what really happened versus what is being broadcast to the world. This has been pitched as "And Then There Were None," so as readers, you can only imagine how things will progress. The Perfect Match concept devolves into a Survivor nightmare, and egos begin to swell and explode like the waves, creating tension among the other contestants.
This is loads of fun, especially for those who watch those shows. However, it made me wonder if the book really managed to surpass the drama that reality TV offers, and therein lies the danger in this subject. Nevertheless, there are characters to root for, unexpected eliminations, love stories gone terribly wrong, and a blurry line between reality and fabrication. So, sit back and enjoy, but be careful not to get hit by a falling coconut!
