Nobody But Us was a 3.5⭐️ Rounded up to 4⭐️.
This book was very different from anything I have read before, which is a good thing as that is hard with the amount of books I read. The book only has two characters, Steven is a professor and is very well respected and is trying to be as good as his father is. Ellie is a grad student and is very clever and has a great future. Steven and Ellie have been together for six months and decide to go away, Ellie finds a remote house for the weekend that is perfect for them as they’ll be able to get away from prying eyes. From the moment they arrive it is clear one of them has decided the weekend is not going to go as they planned and has other ideas.
The book started off well for me and then lost me around half way but I carried on and it picked up again. I think it was perhaps that it was so riveting in the opening chapters that when “the plan” started to take place it was a little drawn out. This is a great debut though and can’t wait what direction the next will take. This book dealt with a lot of sensitive issues and was rather graphic at times but fitted well within the book.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

This chilling and disturbing read sees Steven Harding, a college professor at a well-to-do Manhattan school, and Ellie Masterson, a college student, taking a holiday together. They are looking forward to their time as a couple away from inquisitive eyes but are they both the people they believe each other to be?

Atmospheric and very dark, I thought this was a terrifically good début. Though graphic at times, the delivery was great and I will be on the lookout for Laure Van Rensburg's next offering. Very highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Penguin Michael Joseph UK via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Powerful!

Nobody but us is a dark, chilling, disturbing read but is so powerful and important.

Ellie is going away for the weekend with her boyfriend but the romantic weekend he is hoping for is going to turn into something very different!

Steven is a professor and thinks he is above reproach. Yet learning about his previous relationships sheds a chilling light on him.

Dealing with abuse and misogynistic views this book is powerful and deeply sad. I liked the inclusion of good men within the story, quietly showing that most men are good people and giving a stark contrast to the monsters who dominate the book.

I found Nobody But Us a little long and drawn out for my personal taste. I was really looking forward to it after reading the description and although I finished it and did not dislike it, it just did not deliver in the way I had expected.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

A great debut! Tackles a storyline relating to grooming, abuse, control and revenge told from the perspectives of two characters Ellie and Steven. A brilliant set up to the story resulting in a cat and mouse game with plenty of fast paced action. Who is telling the truth and who comes out alive is only revealed at the end. Looking forward to more from this author.

Nobody But Us has a great premise.. The story unfolds with Ellie and Stephen at a luxury remote cabin and what follows is an eerie, intense atmosphere and a feeling of never truly knowing what is happening or what will happen next. The chain of events which build to the conclusion unfold slowly and whilst this ramps up the intensity, at times it moved too slowly and I had to skim paragraphs. But overall, this was a satisfying read.

What a brilliant debut this is! Influenced by the #MeToo movement, this impressive novel bodes well for the career of Laure Van Rensburg. It tells the story of a middle aged professor and a much younger student who are going away for the weekend for some time and peace together in a remote cabin. The novel uses first person narrative to tell Ellie's story and third person for Steven, and a very effective device it is. Neither is as they seem and the outcome is explosive. I loved it!

Ellie is a graduate student, she is clever and talented. Steven is a professor and a well respected academic. They have been together for six months and are planning an anniversary weekend away at a secluded house. When they arrive it soon becomes clear that one of them has an ulterior motive and neither will leave undamaged.

Ellie and Steve are the only two characters in the novel and this lends a real intensity to the narrative. The background of a snowbound house provides a claustrophobic atmosphere. The action is unrelenting, violent and compelling. What is most significant about this book is the message it leaves with the reader.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Starts out well but then goes downhill.
Ellie and Steve her professor set off for a weekend away in a secluded cabin in the middle of winter, but each has a secret.
I feel it jumped from the present to the past too much so didn`t flow easily for me and none of the characters are likeable with the story going on too long so definitely not for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up as although it all becomes a little bonkers, it's also quite good fun!
So we start with a student/teacher relationship - Ellie being the grad student at NYU, and Steven, a teacher at an elite school. So not the usual forbidden kind, just a bit age gappy! Well, we first meet them when they are en route to a romantic break. To a remote cabin. With a snow storm coming. Well... what could possibly go wrong there? Throw into the mix the usual (and essential for the genre) secrets, lies, and dysfunctional behaviour and, what starts out to be quite fun swiftly degenerates into danger for one of them... or both...
Flitting between the present and the past, with the past parts complementing the present, we learn how certain things in that past have shaped the present they are both experiencing.
So... the characters. Well, there really are only two and I pretty much hated both of them. Hard to go into too much detail here for obvious reasons, but suffice to say that they both annoyed me to the point of, well, not quite the point of no return. Pity really as there is quite the message to be found herein but I feel that the characters could have maybe helped portray this in a different way - again spoilers prevent me from expanding. For a character driven book I found the characters weren't quite up for the job.
The plot was kinda obvious. There really was nowhere else for it to go - it just escalated a bit more than I was expecting. As was the finale. But, again, delivering that message was the key here too rather than holding back for a final twist. That in itself was a bit of a change. It just took way too long to finally get there and the action got a bit out of hand towards the end.
That said, I did finish the book and was mostly satisfied at the end, which was exhilarating albeit a tad OTT. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This story is amazing!. I started to read and just couldn't stop!.
It's main storyline is about a professor who is travelling with his latest teenage student lover to a remote holiday home where they are going to spend some time alone together. Oh my word!. What I thought about these two characters when I started totally changed by the time I was at the end!! There are so many twists and turns I felt like I was in a tornado!!!!
You have to read this book!!!. It's a fantastic thriller!!!
Many thanks to Netgalley for the free ARC book for an honest review.
#Netgalley, #Nobodybutus, #michaeljbooks

I am afraid I gave up on this book at 47%. as I was losing the will.

I was really looking forward to reading the book as the blurb was great and it seemed to be very much the sort of novel I go for and very pleased to be accepted for an ARC..

I found it very slow and repetitive. It was, for me, overly descriptive. I found it difficult to follow when each chapter was different dates. I did get when it was either dialogue from Ellie or Steven..

I would like to thank Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC for which I have given my true and unbiased review.

I will not be putting this review on any other book site.

Nobody But Us by Laure Van Rensburg
I give this book 4 stars

Steven Harding is a handsome, well-respected professor.
Ellie Masterson is a wide-eyed young college student.
Together, they are driving south from New York, for their first holiday.
It should be a perfect, romantic trip for two………..

A topical, dark and disturbing psychological thriller.This book starts off at the end of the story which immediately pulls you in, Told to you by the 2 main characters and an unknown diary writer we then explore the backstory…..a creepy remote setting, no connection to the outside world…….everything isn’t as it seems,suspense builds.
Who’s lying,
Are secrets being hidden,
Who’s out for revenge,
How does it all fit together………..
If you want to know you’re just going to have to read it for yourself!
With thanks to Netgalley, Laure Van Rensburg and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for my chance to read and review this book

I'm afraid, for me, this was just an OK read. I found it laborious and difficult to get through - although, please don't let this put you off trying it as it's got some great reviews.

It's about a professor and a student who 'get away' for a romantic weekend, which turns out to be anything but.
I found it to be 'over written' and lengthy and would have been better as a shorter story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview though.

2* OK read.

A great premise and a writing style I enjoyed. There's a claustrophobic atmosphere to this book that makes it gripping, and although both main characters are unlikeable, the pull to know the 'why' keeps you reading. The book draws upon important current societal and gender issues, though at times they are forced a little too much on the reader. Overall, a great thriller, and I look forward to reading more by this writer.

Wow! I was gripped by this book from start to finish. A tense tale of secrets and lies between two people who are not quite who they seem. I spent the whole book on edge not knowing what was going to happen next and only having a vague idea of what could happen. A story well told and definitely an author to read again!

This is my first read by Laure Van Rensburg and I literally could not wait to start reading it.

The blurb sounded interesting and right up my street. We meet Ellie and Steven who are going away on their first romantic getaway. Both very different people - Ellie is a student and Steven is a teacher. Both are not really who they appear and hold very dark secrets.

The secret soon appears to light and we uncover a hidden secret that is horrendous - I am not going to say who.

This novel kept me hooked, quite a different style of writing from what I am used to but still a good and thrilling novel.

Thanks to NetGalley, Laure Van Rensburg and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel, in exchange for my honest review.

I received an E-ARC copy with a request for my honest review.

This book follows Ellie a 23-year-old student at NYC and Steven a professor at Richmond Prep. They are leaving New York for an anniversary break away in an isolated cabin.

Ellie starts to get a little spooked out as they arrive and start to get used to the noises in the cabin.

Soon the snowstorm means they are cut off from the outside, and with no phone service they are hoping nothing sinister will happen.

What they don’t know is they both have their own secrets they are hiding from each other.

Will they get their romantic break, or will learning the truth about each other come between them?

I like stories like this that are set in a room or a place where there isn’t any real way of escaping. It adds to the tension of the storyline as you feel the characters are trapped.

I must admit I wasn’t really expecting the truths that emerged and I also felt a great disliking to Steven’s character and a level of arrogance which I hate.

I would say that the intense storyline starts quite quickly with only a small introduction, which I do like as I find that some books do drag it out a bit to build to the action/shock.

Overall, an intense and dark thriller where a couple discover neither of them are who they thought they were.

A well written and timely reminder that #metoo is a real movement highlighting the physical and psychological harm that men have previously, and continue to, inflict on women
thank you to netgalley and Penguin Books for an advance copy of this book

Thanks to netgalley for the arc ebook to read.
A dark and rather brutal tale told between the narratives of the two lead characters. A gripping read.