Ugh, am I the only one who gets a little grossed out when a book centers around a teacher-student relationship? I mean, she's a grad student, but still. Plus they are both keeping secrets from each other, it felt like I was reading THE GUEST LIST in a snowy setting.

Beautifully written. Laure Van Rensburg drives you up to an isolated mansion in Chesapeake Bay for a romantic weekend with the young grad student, Ellie, and the not so young college professor, Steven. Perhaps, Steven has finally found the one. There you are trapped with this couple you think you know. Then she turns her characters inside out.

Steven harding is a well-respected professor. Ellie Masterson is a beautiful young college student. Together, they set off to a secluded cabin for a romantic three day holiday. Nobody but us is not a love story, so don't be fooled. It is something much darker. Steven and Ellie aren't who they claim to be, and one of them wants revenge.


This book was inspired by the #metoo movement, and so it's definitely not a light-hearted read. I appreciate what Rensburg accomplished in writing this, especially as it is their debut novel.

I enjoyed the writing, with the exception of how quickly it bounces from past to present. Hello whiplash is that you? The setting was great. I loved the atmosphere Rensburg managed to create. It's uncomfortable and foreboding and really amps the suspense. However, I didn't love the characters, I just couldn't connect with them. Neither of them are very likable.

A lot of 'Lolita' and 'My Dark Vanessa' vibes, so if those types of stories trigger you, I would avoid this book altogether.

As always thanks to the publisher and netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review

As much as I love thrillers and locked room mysteries, the subject matter of this made it a tough one to read. The characters are so flawed I didn't like either of them and the way they hurt each other was really just frustrating. The sense of place was really well-written (especially since I live near there) and I appreciate the point the author was trying to make, but it was still tough to get through.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

Still working through my backlog and was happy to finally get around to this book! I love how both Ellie and Steven were completely unreliable narrators and as the story unfolds, the truth about their pasts is revealed. I really enjoyed the plot of a romantic getaway that turns deadly and getting different pieces from both points of view. It was pretty straight forward, the only twists a thing of the past, but I still enjoyed the writing style and it was an easy and entertaining read. I would recommend to anyone who like psychological thrillers under the guise of a romantic getaway!

I wasn’t very impressed with this book. I went into thinking it was going to be a winter storm thriller with the characters trapped in a remote house in the woods.

It took me about 50% of the way to finally get into the story and understand the characters and their background. Throughout the whole book I was confused. A lot of the background and even current information didn’t make sense. It’s almost like the author left big chunks of the story out to add to the “suspense”, but it just left me frustrated!

All in all it was a slow burn thriller with a good twist that I didn’t see coming! It’s very “wordy”, so if that’s something you like then I highly recommend!

I honestly love nothing more than a thriller that is set in an isolated location and this hit the nail on the head! The perfect thriller to cozy up with this winter and go for a wild ride!

Nobody But Us by Laure Van Rensburg

Ellie and Stephen head to Chesapeake for the first time after dating for 6 months. Each one has there own secrets. Once they arrive to their destination for the weekend this is when the story unfolds and you find out what the secrets are. This is a really good psychological thriller.

I knew what the topic of the story would be based around but the way the story was told pulled me in and the secrets unwind you see how the relevant topic plays into the story. I know this is vague but I don't want to spoil for readers. I was confused at first because it wasn't what I expected but then I was like ok this is really good story telling and the atmospheric scenery added to the ambience of the story.

Wow at the end I was not expecting the way the ending at all. I expect that Stephen would suffer consequences but not in the way he did. This was fantastic story telling. My only complaint is that some time spots in the story did not line up which made things not jell the way it should have. This is why I rated it four stars. I still would recommend this story it is well worth the read. if you are a fan of psychological thrillers this book will be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for a free copy of this book for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Unfortunately, I have been locked out of my netgalley account for a few months and was not able to see which books I had on my list, in order to properly read and review. I do apologize and am doing a 3 for neutral. Will update once I’m able to obtain a copy and read!

A fast, entertaining read. Nobody But Us is a recommended purchase for collections where thrillers are particularly popular.

This book was a serious struggle to get through for me. It was full of mostly descriptions and very minimal dialogue. I understand the connection with the #metoo movement, which itself is very powerful, however, this book was quite the disappointment to me. I’m not one to write negative review often, but this one took me months to get through and was very very slow. There is for sure the right audience out there for this one, but I unfortunately was not it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing, and Laure Van Rensburg for providing me with this gifted copy, in exchange for my HONEST review.

I really wanted to like this book, but I just despised the characters. It was a decent locked room mystery. The descriptive elements of the surroundings were nicely written. I feel this trope is over done and was very unrealistic. Like another reviewer said, revenge porn, it’s just not for me.

Nobody But Us
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 4/12/22
Author: Laure Van Rensburg
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 384
Goodreads Rating: 3.32

TW ⚠️: Sexual assault, suicide, and domestic violence.

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: When Ellie and her boyfriend Steven take their first trip together, that becomes apparent that each of them harbors secrets—and that one of those secrets is deadly. Ellie is an NYU grad student. Steven is a wealthy and privileged teacher at an elite Manhattan school. When they head out for their romantic break, they're both excited to get to know each other better away from prying eyes. But when a snowstorm strands them in the house, they begin to realize that neither of them is quite who they say they are—and that one of them won't escape the weekend alive.

My Thoughts: First, let me say, that the author does an amazing job at setting the tone throughout the book. Her descriptions tests all of your senses. The plot is brilliant. The ending is mind blowing. Everything in between is what I am struggling with. This is a character driven story, they are well developed, but I had a very hard time connecting with either of them for various reasons, which I will not say as I do not want to spoil for someone else. While some reviewers have pegged the plot as out there, I do agree with that, but I enjoy out there scenarios in fiction books. One thing I did like is the author’s reasoning for writing this book, which is at the end, which I again, will not relay as to not spoil things. The writing is a bit choppy and doesn’t flow, the book is a bit long-winded as well. Now, do not get me wrong, it was not a bad read, and I did like the book.

This one missed the mark for me. I felt as though the outcomes were extremely obvious and there was no mystery or thrill for me. Perhaps for a newbie thriller lover?

This was just ok- I felt like it was more about sending a message than a true mystery. The story centers on grad student Ellie and professor Steven who go away for a long weekend together to a remote mansion in the woods. The prologue tells you that something went awry and the rest of the book leads up to that point (which is a style I enjoy).

The book has a locked-room type vibe as the reader tries to figure out the true motivations of the characters. There were some surprises but they felt a bit contrived to me, leading me to believe that the message the author wanted to send was center stage and the story was built around it. There was also an awful lot of sex, which I could do without when I’m reading mysteries. I felt satisfied by the ending but it just felt like it took a lot to get there.

Overall, not my favorite but it did keep me engaged throughout. I’d give it 2.5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an uncomfortable read. I'm a solid mystery and suspense and while an element of surprise, was emotionally draining.

This book was great for a suspenseful read. I really Liked the idea of the both of them being stuck in a snow storm with nowhere to go and being complete strangers. I mean come on who wouldn't be a little spooked! Great read would definitely recommend.

Thank you Grand Central Publishing for the ebook copy of Nobody But Us. This book is available now. I appreciated many aspects of this atmospheric thriller and I feel Laure Van Rensburg shows a lot of strengths in terms of style and tone. The plot involves an older literature professor and a young graduate student on a long weekend away together, fairly cut off from all the things people want to cut off from; the plot has a fairly obvious focus on the age differences, academia, and the definite foreboding of chaos (the first chapter leads into the backstory that leads back to the first chapter).

there are a lot of references to gothic type literature and women's poetry (plath, dickinson) and at times some readers are going to find this too much or not connect with this aspect of the book. For me the academic vibes worked, I am a psych lecturer and sadly a lot of what is here in terms of ego/fragile male ego vibes, feelings of insecurity, and men not always being upstanding aren't untrue (not my personal experience but broadly speaking)... misogyny is ever present for many. This book captures some of that mood but I think in a way that alienates readers unfortunately, the writing is a bit too heavy handed and the dialogue at times just feels stilted or not really how a couple would talk (though are they a couple?).

What does work as noted is the mood, the atmosphere and for me the value in always trying to explore ways to share stories about women's lives, how women/young girls are mistreated in their daily lives; I saw some reviews that felt this book and narrative have been written before and though true there is always space for attention to themes explored in this book.

there are definite content warnings for this one: grooming, self harm, violence, sexual abuse, manipulation

While I enjoy the occasional thriller, I often find them lacking much substance. I generally consider them to be fun beach reads, maybe, but not something I will think back on in the future. Nobody But Us offered more. It's hard to say much without giving away the plot. I'll just say that the book is very timely and forces you to think about accountability. Both characters are very well fleshed out, the language sparse and sometimes beautiful. And there's still plenty of plot twists, danger and surprises.

I read so many Thrillers that I have begun to be very picky about this genre. I have really high expectations for story lines and don't tolerate plot holes very well or simple storylines for Thrillers at all.

I had big hopes here but sadly, I was not a big fan of this story.

The first 20-30% of this story was completely lust focused. Yes, lust. All the time, everywhere. And since I listened to this on audiobook, it made me very squirmy. Overall, tons of sex is not something I really care to read about so this immediately put me back on my heels.

I find that it's hard to write an accurate review on this book without spoilers so I will say that I loved the overall concept or purpose of this story. I'm here for that EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. A really important subject matter that I was happy the author took on and I actually really loved where she went with it. But I could sort of see the ending from the beginning and that was a bummer for me.

The delivery of the story, the writing style, the suspension of disbelief needed just felt a bit off. It was a longish story for what it covered and I found myself really wanting to skip through the story.
Also, major plot holes, all over the place. I'm not a fan of actions not lining up in Thrillers.

So, overall good concept but not executed well, in my opinion.

New readers to the Thriller genre, or readers that love interesting plot lines and can overlook some of the items mentioned above will probably really enjoy this one and should give it a go!