Nobody But Us by Laure Van Rensburg

Description from Goodreads:

"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 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'S NOT WHO HE SAYS HE IS.

BUT THEN AGAIN, NEITHER IS SHE . . ."

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A dark secluded setting with secrets

This is another book that has been on my to-be-read shelf for far too long, so I was glad to finally pick it up! The story follows Ellie and Steven, a couple who have only been dating for a few months and are taking their first trip away together. They head off to a remote, luxurious cabin in the woods for a romantic weekend, but right from the start, you can tell something isn't quite right. Both Ellie and Steven are keeping massive secrets from each other, and as a winter storm traps them inside, their getaway quickly descends into a tense game of cat and mouse where neither is quite who they claim to be.

The atmosphere in this book is wonderfully claustrophobic. Laure Van Rensburg does a great job setting the scene, and the isolated, snow-bound cabin creates a really eerie backdrop. The story is told in alternating perspectives between Ellie and Steven, with flashbacks mixed in, which keeps you guessing early on about what each character is hiding and who is actually the real threat.

However, as the plot unfolded, it started to lose its grip on me a bit. With both main characters being so guarded and fundamentally manipulative, I found it quite hard to connect with or root for either of them. The middle section dragged a little as the tension gave way to repetitive internal monologues, and when the big twists were revealed, they felt a bit melodramatic and heavy-handed rather than genuinely shocking.

It's still an atmospheric, quick read with important themes around power dynamics and revenge, but it just didn't quite come together as smoothly as I hoped.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts.

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