I’d like to thank NetGalley and Michael Joseph for approving me for an ARC of this debut.

I love a good thriller and when I started reading this one I soon felt those Gone Girl vibes and knew I was in for a treat. We meet Steven and Ellie as they embark on a romantic weekend away. From the alternating chapters it is clear that not all is as it seems and the author does not hang about in getting the action going. By 35% so much had happened that I didn’t dare turn my gaze away from the page!

I soon found myself in the thick of Ellie and Steven’s worst nightmare and there were moments when I held my breathe, unsure what would happen next. I liked how the story unravelled and although there were moments when the action ebbed I still enjoyed the read.

The subject matter of this book is very important and it’s going to be hard to review this without spoiling it for others, so please excuse the lack of information from me. What I will say is I found it interesting hearing both male and female POV on the subject and the author’s notes at the end gave clarity to why she wrote it.

Fast paced and gripping, this is a psychological thriller to get your heart racing! A couple keeping secrets and isolated in a creepy house, what more could you ask for? I wish I could tell you more but if you want the answers then add this to your tbr pile!

A very clever psychological thriller which I enjoyed. The twists and turns are great.

Thanks for letting me review this book

A brilliant character driven read that's hard to put down. A must read for thriller fans and a fantastic debut from Laure Van Rensburg.
4 stars.

It had the promise of a blockbuster but delivered a straight to dvd disappointment. The story of a couple going away for the weekend which escalates to a crime scene is the promising premise of this book. The writing is enticing and the story pleasant enough but the story becomes quite predictable and is really let down by a patronising end.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this ARC.

The premise of this book had me hooked - a couple head for a romantic getaway in an isolated cabin? Yes please.

I really loved the atmospheric cabin setting - it made it all the more creepy to read. I enjoyed that it had a remote location which I think worked really well with the style of the book. I do get easily freaked out by this genre so I enjoyed that element of the book.

However, I just couldn’t really get behind either character. I found it difficult to connect with them and struggled to empathise with Ellie and her revenge story didn’t really resonate with me.

This book gave me Rock Paper Scissors vibes so if you enjoyed that one, you’ll like this one too!

Twisty and incredibly tense throughout, I really enjoyed this unusual thriller. The entire book was so intensely claustrophobic – I found it incredibly skilled in terms of the relationship between the two central characters that developed and was ultimately turned in its head. I also very much enjoyed the cabin setting.

Nobody But Us is a tense revenge thriller. Ellie and Steven travel to an isolated cabin for a romantic trip away. Steven is a well-respected professor and Ellie is a young university student. They are still in the honeymoon period of a new relationship. But as soon as they arrive for their three days away, it becomes clear that things aren’t as they seem. This idyllic holiday may turn deadly.

This book was well-written and interesting, with multiple points-of-view. It had a strong beginning, which pulled me in immediately and made me want to know more about the characters and what they could be hiding. The middle section of the book was not as fast-paced as the start but I enjoyed it despite this. There was information about the backstories of certain characters which illustrated their motivations further. I found the characters intriguing, however one of them in particular seemed too fixated on one goal to the point where it stretched credibility. However, the stronger elements of this novel meant that I could suspend my disbelief on this. The mysterious diary entries throughout the story, together with allusions to past incidents, raised the suspense and this paid off to a satisfying conclusion.

The atmospheric setting was described perfectly. I enjoyed the remote, foreboding location and it fit the style of the book, as well as working together with the plot to present further challenges to the characters when tension ran high.

The themes in this novel are timely and important. Without revealing too much of the plot, this story reminded me of ‘My Dark Vanessa’ crossed with ‘Promising Young Woman.' I appreciated the author’s note at the end which described her motivations to write this book. Fans of a slow-burning, character-driven thriller will enjoy this.

A couple on their first romantic weekend away in a house in an isolated spot from away from a town. Where there is severe weather and away from technology. How romantic and a great setting for a phycological thriller.
Steven Harding is a professor and well respected and has written several papers on literature. Ellen Masterson is a college student. The pair are enjoying their weekend away when things take an unexpected turn and Steven finds himself drugged and tied up in a wheelchair. Ellie is taking revenge for a friend who was a student of Steven but took her own life.
Thank you, Penguin Michael Joseph, for a copy of Nobody but us by Laure Van Rensburg. But unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. Don’t get me wrong but I liked the idea of the premise told in two points of view. But found the story too over descriptive and found me sometimes being a bit confused who was telling what in the story. Unfortunately, because of this I couldn’t connect to the story and skipped the last third of the book. Three stars from me.

I'm not sure I liked this book but at the same time couldn't stop reading! I needed to know who it ended but was slightly freaked out about it too.

Well written and did keep me gripped - if it had been a film I'd have watched from behind a cushion!

I don't want to say too much about the plot of this book as I really don't want to give too much away. But in short, Steven and Ellie go away for a romantic break. Because this is a thriller and bit a romance, things understandably go awry

This book is exceptionally well written. With switching viewpoints and a slight changing chronology it's gripping and keeps you on your toes. There's a sense of foreboding throughout that you just can't shake off! Having read the authors note and understanding the inspiration for the book, I think it's a big, relevant and important theme.

But...it just bordered on a bit ridiculous for me and beyond the realms of possibility. Neither of the character's connected for me and I do think Ellie could have been written a bit more sympathetically perhaps.

Having said all that, I definitely wouldn't put someone off reading it. I just prefer my thrillers to be a bit more believable. Which the motive was. The reaction wasn't.

I did not find this book to be as compelling as I would have liked. All the ingredients were there - two psychologically complex and distrustful characters, a remote house shut off from technology and by weather, an extreme sense of claustrophobia - yet for me there was something missing. I struggled to empathise with Ellie and her revenge back story didn’t resonate with me.

This is an extremely dark, twisted thriller which I normally love, but unfortunately I could not connect with this book. It has a very up to date subject but I found my thoughts wandering as I read it. I found the constant back and forth between the two characters very confusing, often having to go back to check which character was actually ´talking'.

I'm sure other people will simply love this debut novel, perhaps I will revisit another time when my mindset is in the right place.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Together, they are driving south from New York, for their first holiday together: three days in an isolated cabin, far from the city. Ahead of them, the promise of long, dark nights - and the chance to explore one another's bodies, away from prying eyes. It should be a perfect, romantic trip for two. Except that he is not who he says he and but neither is she.

I love a good thriller and when I started reading this one I soon felt those Gone Girl vibes and knew I was in for a treat. From the alternating chapters, it is clear that not all is as it seems and the author does not hang about in getting the action going. This would make an excellent film or Netflix series!

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Omg this is an amazing read! I couldn't put it down. Dark, twisty and disturbing - these characters are definitely the most challenging and complex I've met for a long time. Fantastic!

Nobody But Us is being touted as a must-read of 2022, and I can completely see why. Topical, cleverly constructed and a book that was very hard to put down.
The book starts at our end point, and I’m always a sucker for stories where we’re working our way up to the event and trying to piece together what has happened and why. This does something very common, but so well…and I can see this appealing on so many levels.
A horrific crime scene. We know nothing more, but the detective called out to investigate is shocked. This tells us it’s bad. Then we get a perplexing jump, focusing on Ellie and Steven heading to a remote cabin for a romantic get-away. Steven is a professor with a chip on his shoulder about his father, and Ellie is a student who seems besotted with her lover. Be warned…sometimes things are not as they seem.
While I found the initial shift in focus confusing, it is very necessary to make sense of the revelations that come out during the course of the book. I was expecting to be manipulated, but the reality of the deception showed the depths of the damage caused by such events.
The focus throughout is on the couple and the things each is hiding. We slowly piece together the grim facts, and it’s at this point that I have to stop. Going into this not knowing more than we’re told is vital. I’m eager to see how this is received, but I’ll be recommending it widely.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this prior to publication in exchange for my thoughts.

This book doesn’t disappoint if you love psychology thrillers. I found it very fast paced and easy to read. The main character Ellie I could relate to which helps when you’re reading this type of book. I really enjoyed reading it and will not go into anything that happens within the book so that I don’t give away any spoilers. Would read another book from this author as I really enjoyed the style of writing.

This story was a quick and compulsive read. I wasn’t necessarily expecting the subject matter and I won’t say too much on that as I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t read it yet.

It felt a little repetitive in places for me, but a quick enough read.

Intensely claustrophobic in tone and setting, this twisty MeToo thriller opens with a brutal depiction of a crime scene that tells you all you need to know about the tone of the rest of the novel. While it may not be subtle in its depiction of justifiable vengeance/revenge gone wrong, fans of similar titles/styles of writing within this genre will not be disappointed. Does a good job presenting the psychology of both sides without ever allowing the reader to forget who you're rooting for. As a tense two-hander, this would be great on the stage. 3.5 stars.

I feel it's important not to give anything away about the plot of "Nobody But Us" but it makes for compulsive reading and I finished it in a day. Laure Van Rensburg's debut is a tense and violent psychological thriller. I'm hearing a lot of buzz about it and am sure it will be a popular release. Good premise and I appreciated the Author's Note at the end.

This story is told from two points of view, both characters were hard to like for different reasons. The storyline was well plotted, atmospheric and intriguing, with the tension slowly building throughout the book. This was an enjoyable read despite the dark nature and amoral acts of the main characters.