This book centers around a "romantic" getaway weekend between a predator professor and a young impressionable student that goes awry. The book started well, but lost its pace and I found myself scanning the pages to get to the predictable ending. Another book with lots of unnecessary, repetitive detail that felt like filler to make it a novel, when it fact it would be better suited to a novella format. 2.5 stars, rounded up to a 3, mainly due to the author tackling the subject matter well. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

For all those readers who have recently enjoyed Verity and are looking for another novel about a dysfunctional relationship with a catastrophic ending… this may be your next great read!

Ellie and her boyfriend, Steven, head out for a romantic break away from the hustle and bustle of the city. They are in love and looking forward to spending some time alone. Ellie is an NYU grad student. Steven is a wealthy, privileged teacher at an elite Manhattan school. They appear to be the perfect couple on the verge of spending the rest of their lives together.

At least, that’s what one of them thinks is going on. It turns out that both Ellie and Steven are not quite who the world thinks they are, and as a snow storm leaves them stranded in their holiday home, the weekend takes a dark twist and their secrets are slowly revealed.

Advertised as a novel featuring ‘this year’s most f*cked up couple’, I’d say that it delivers on its promise. The book’s opening chapters are rather disorientating and it took me until at least a third of the way through to work out what on earth was going on. Stick with it though as all will become clear in the end.

Not one for the faint-hearted, or anyone who’s looking for a lovely romance about a weekend in the countryside. I struggled to connect with either of the characters – I hated Steven by the end of this, and I’m not sure that I liked Ellie any more. Was I supposed to though?

This is a psychological thriller with twists and turns coming at you from all directions. The descriptions of place are claustrophobic and the unpredictability of the characters will keep you gripped until the novel’s climax.

Loved this book and finished it in two days. A great plot, page turner and fantastic thriller. Definitely worth reading.

What a fantastic read, I enjoyed this book from start to finish and wanted more.

The characters were set out very well.

This was a slow burn of a book for me, starting off with an apparently everyday couple going for a weekend break together, then slowly and surely the underlying story appears. We soon realise that they are a college professor and student, with a significant age gap between them - but they're both adults and happy with the age difference, so that's fine. Then things start turning a bit darker, and the weekend isnt exactly what they might have first thought.
I prefer a book with more dialogue than this - there is a lot of descriptive set up which isn't my personal taste - but the developing storyline kept me engrossed and I was keen to find out more about what was going on until the very last page.

This is such a relevant novel for now. And it is so difficult to review without giving anything away. The plot is amazing. The characters are so well drawn. The atmosphere is chilling. There is tension in droves.

There's a paragraph where Steven is describing the trees, it's amazing, it's bleak, it's terrifying. I would include it but I think it'll give some spoilers.

I raced through the last quarter of this novel, holding my breath for most of it.

A taut thriller but...
A couple take a three-day romantic break somewhere south of New York but it's all illusory - once the gloves are off, there's very little romance. Instead, what we get is terror, violence, a lot of blood and mayhem. It is certainly good but it did go on and on. And it's a book that paints men in a terrible light. The author isn't saying all men are despicable, lowlife, raping b*stards like Steven, but at times it felt like it. I finished it with an unpleasant, icky feeling and rather wished I'd never read it.

Not for me,if a book concentrates on 2 characters they have to be dynamic and interesting and unfortunately the 2 leads in this story are neither,confusing and repetitive

Things are not what they seem at first with these unlikeable characters. I wanted to know what was going to happen and found it hard to put down. Overall it was an enjoyable reading.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

A gripping and chilling thriller!
This book hooked me in quickly with a horrifying crime scene opening, and then kept me there throughout.

A couple stay at a secluded house for a romantic getaway, but only one of them is there for love, the other for revenge. A great premise, told well through both of the characters points of view in an extremely uncomfortable and chilling way. Both are riddled with secrets that keep coming at a relentless pace.

A claustrophobic setting and a pacy, twisty story with a very real and important theme at its heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Penguin Michael Joseph for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!!
Absolutely loved the characters, the plot, the tension - impossible to put it down

This was a brilliant book. I went into this blind and I am so glad I did. This story has so many secrets buried that are dying to come out. brilliant

An okay read, but not what I expected.

This book starts well and I initially had high hopes as the beginning was intriguing and the writing is incredibly atmospheric. Unfortunately, I lost interest a few too many times throughout the story and ended up skim reading a few pages as it didn’t manage to hold my attention and I think maybe the story was just a bit too long!

Steven has dated a lot of girls, most of his relationships are kept secret, but Ellie is different. He can see things working out with her and he’s more than happy to show this one off! They decide to take a mini-break for some proper alone time at a deserted cabin in the middle of nowhere! Not everything is as it seems between this pair and what was meant to be a romantic weekend away soon turns into something else altogether! Neither Steven nor Ellie are who they appear to be!

It’s not that I didn’t like the idea of this story and I do appreciate the author was inspired by her own personal experience as well as other women’s experiences with men; I also think it is very different to anything I’ve ever read before, but it sadly wasn’t for me. It seemed to go round in circles being quite repetitive. I found myself switching off and losing interest a bit too easily. Something would happen now and then to grab my attention again but it didn’t keep hold of it, unfortunately.

I didn’t really warm to Ellie or Steve. Steve was a total knob and Ellie I just couldn’t relate to, so I didn’t find myself rooting for her. I think with the kind of storyline being used in this book, we (the reader) need to like a character like Ellie to feel invested in the story.

On goodreads this book is labelled as a locked room thriller, I’m not sure if this is quite right as there’s only 2 characters, plus it is quite obvious which way it will go as the story progresses. I’d probably label it as a revenge thriller.

I’d say it is a pretty dark read and the atmospheric descriptions were very good and incredibly detailed, but possibly overdone a bit at times.

I think this story was probably about 100 pages too long, had it been shorter and things hadn’t been drawn out so much it may have held my interest more.

I really do appreciate the hard work that goes into writing a book though and this review is just my personal opinion. I have seen many glowing reviews for this book and we can’t all like the same thing, so do read the blurb and other reviews as this may just be the book for you!

Thank you to Laure Van Rensburg, Penguin Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my copy of this book. This book will be published on 14/04/22.

Ellie Masterson a young student and her boyfriend Steven Harding a professor are going on a much needed holiday to celebrate their sixth month anniversary. Ellie has made all the arrangements for a romantic and secluded weekend away from it all in the middle of nowhere. One of them can't wait and is looking forward to spending secluded time together just the two of them.... The other is on a mission to destroy the others life forever. The
How well do they really know each other, what happened in the past for one of them to want such retrbution and who will get it? So many different avenues to go down in this novel including student/teacher relationships. No one will ever be the same again but just who comes out on top? And has it turned out the way it should?

Many thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this novel. Laura Van Rensburg what an explosive debut novel to come on the scene with!! I will be looking for more from you in the future and recommending to everyone I know. Would love to give more than 5 stars as it's more than worthy!!

I really thought I’d enjoy this as it seemed really dark and thrilling. Unfortunately, I struggled to finish it as it’s very repetitive and too long.

It follows Steven and Ellie who go on a romantic weekend-getaway for their six month anniversary. While one of them is looking forward to spending time together, the other has a much darker idea for how the weekend will pan out. Once they arrive they realise that neither of them is who they say they are and that they’re both keeping secrets.

Steven is a respected professor and Ellie is a student. While I think this is an important topic to discuss, there were so many times I nearly didn’t finish this. I probably would have enjoyed it if I cared about Ellie as it’s a very character-driven story, but I couldn’t connect with her at all even when her tragic backstory was revealed. Steven is just unlikeable from the start.

There’s a great twist near the beginning that gave me high hopes for the rest of the story, but then nothing happened until the end. Steven and Ellie spend so much time talking as she tries to convince him that what he’s doing is wrong, but he can’t see it. It’s so repetitive and I was skim-reading most of it. It just felt like we were going round in circles. The way the narrative flows isn’t very smooth either. It abruptly flips between the past and the present with some diary entries dotted throughout. I was disappointed with the ending as it felt very rushed and I thought it didn’t match up with the synopsis. I was expecting it to be so much darker.

While this is an important topic to discuss, I found the book disappointing and not what I was expecting.

Well-respected professor Steven Harding and his girlfriend, Ellie Masterson, a young college student, are embarking on their first holiday together. Three days in an isolated house, far from the city and its disapproving eyes. It should be a perfect, romantic trip for two. Except he isn’t who he says he is, and neither is she...

From the moment I first heard about this book its premise had me intrigued. It is so much darker than I ever imagined though, because of the secrets Steven and Ellie are keeping and as a result the story covers some really difficult themes. It is an extremely powerful and thought provoking book as a result!

I really liked how the story was told through the alternating chapter perspectives of Ellie in the first person, and Steven in the third person. There were also short flashback chapters interspersed throughout from an unknown narrator’s perspective which was clever, and I knew they were going to be pivotal to the secrets that were later revealed.

This is quite an uncomfortable and unsettling read because of the subject matter the story covers. I think the isolated setting of the house really added to the tension and unease I felt as I was reading too. There is also a real sense of foreboding given that the book opens with descriptions of the house as a crime scene with police present, before we are taken back in time to the day Steven and Ellie embark on their journey for their romantic getaway together. The ending of the book when all becomes clear and we see the aftermath of this day is particularly chilling, especially the final chapter!

The author’s note at the end also shows just how important it is for people to be aware of and feel able to talk about the matters at this story’s heart. It’s a very powerful book!

When Ellie and her boyfriend Steven take their first trip together, what starts as an idyllic weekend soon takes a darker turn, as it quickly becomes apparent that each of them harbours secrets - and that one of those secrets is deadly. Ellis is a NYU grad student, timid but fiercely intelligent, and eager for the perfect weekend away with her boyfriend. Steven is a wealthy and privileged teacher at an elite Manhattan school. His and Ellie's relationship has stirred up envy among the teachers in his academic circle.

The story is told from Ellie, Steven and an unknown narrators perspectives. We know from almost the beginning of the story that things are not quite right. Ellie and Steven both have secrets. They had went away to celebrate being together for six months. This is a dark and twisted read. The story is descriptively written. I could feel the fear dripping from the pages. Soon their true identities come to the forefront. This is a story of revenge. This is a most enjoyable story.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #PenguinMichaelJosephUK and the author #LaureVanRensburg for my ARC of #NobodyButUs in exchange for an honest review

NYU grad student, Ellie, and her professor boyfriend, Steven, are on their first trip together to celebrate their 6 month’s anniversary. Ellie chose the perfect place, a cabin in the woods. The trip starts out great, but then it gets crazy when Ellie’s motives is revealed. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for a gifted copy.

Let’s start with a disclaimer, I find it hard to concentrate on reading books at the moment, so when I say I could not stop reading Nobody But Us, it is high praise indeed. It is a chilling thriller set in a remote location, during a winter storm, with two characters who – as the book progresses – show the reader their true colours and motives. Steven Harding and Ellie Masterson - a professor, jealous of his father’s success, and a young college student - arrive at the isolated house to spend a weekend together. The atmosphere is tense from the start, as we know from the beginning that something horrible will happen there. Despite a slow start I could not wait to see what was going to happen next and what surprises the author had prepared. The second part is a right rollercoster, disturbing in places, and you get to see the characters for who they really are. I enjoyed not only the unease and tension in the book, but the character building as well as the themes discusses. It is very hard to say more without spoiling it, so you will have to read the book for yourselves!

This was a very well written book and unusually I found the first half better than the second. I raced through it to see what was going on with the story but once I found out it was just an ok read to the end . I did expect a twist but there wasn’t one . It was worth a read but it lost a star for me as the tension wasn’t in the last half of the book