Lyla Santiago has spent months working on a research project that could be the key to getting a permanent job in her field. So, she can’t really drop everything to go to a desert island with her actor boyfriend, Nico, to film One Perfect Couple, a new reality TV show that Nico is sure will lead to his big break – can she?

Two weeks later, Lyla finds herself boarding a boat to an isolated luxury resort in the Indian Ocean.

The rules of the game are simple. Ten strangers have to survive together on the island – and the last couple standing scoops the prize. There will be sun, sea, laughs and plenty of flirting. What could go wrong?

But when a huge tropical storm cuts them off from everything, the group must band together. As tensions run high and fresh, water runs low, Lyla realises that someone is playing this game for real – and they’ll stop at nothing to win.

Anything that involves some sort of game show/reality tv concept usually captures my attention and seeing this Ruth Ware thriller in the airport called for an immediate purchase. I haven’t read any Ruth Ware books before but heard good things about ‘The Woman in Cabin 10’ so didn’t think I could really go wrong with this. There is something I absolutely love about buying paperbacks in airports that are only released everywhere else as a hardback.

Imagine your typical love island style game show with a classic reader thriller twist – that’s exactly what this book gives you. While there are around 10 characters to follow and remember the main character Lyla is a pretty simple character to get your head around. The concept of the book wasn’t completely new to me but personally I didn’t find this to be a boring concept I’d read several times before. There weren’t any huge plot twists (apart from the ending maybe dependent on how you read it.)

Honestly, I read this within a day – mainly because I found at the end of every chapter I didn’t want to put the book down. I think a key part of this was the diary entries from one of the contestants on the island. The glimmer of an ending in these sections had me gripped throughout, making me want to find out the real ending and as a holiday book that was exactly what I needed as I was sitting around the pool.

It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea and that is absolutely fine but in short – well written and a good tension-led thriller!