Nobody But Us by Laure Van Rensburg

Nobody But Us by Laure Van Rensburg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 384

Publisher - Michael Joseph Books

Source - Friend

Blurb from Goodreads

In this locked room, high‑concept thriller that's part The Guest List, part The Girl Before, a couple's romantic weekend‑getaway is not what it seems.

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 harbors secrets—and that one of those secrets is deadly.

Ellie is an 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.

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 Review

Ooooh the opening chapter definitely draws you in with intrigue as the police enter a scene of mayhem, blood, broken carnage around the house, what happened? We flip between chapters titled Ellie, Steven and dates were a story starts to emerge. Ellie and Steven are going on holiday to this far out deserted house, just the two of them, romantic time. They become stranded and both of them are not quite what they seem and the readers get to know a bit more about each as the chapters tease out the details. And things turn dark!

Steven is a college teacher and Ellie is his student and girlfriend of six months, Steve is an unlikeable controlling older man. Ellie is the younger girlfriend, innocent, quiet, meek and manipulated by Steven, he likes his girls a certain way, type, behaviour, his ideals, beliefs and very questionable behaviour.

The tag line was "introducing 2022's most f*cked up couple" and they weren't wrong. The pace isn't neck breaking but you are engaged from the prologue and wanting to know what they are hiding. Toxic is one way of putting it and I was intrigued to the dated diary style entries - clearly damaged, devastated and in love but who is the writer?

Some of the details/passages are pretty horrific, if you have ever been in a toxic relationship the book is likely to stir some hard hitting emotions. #Metoo movement has strongly influenced this story and we get a unique view point of a perpetrator, a victim and a survivor but with a unique spin to it.

Creepy, shocking, stomach turning, tense - a psychological thriller that turns in ways the reader won't predict, well I didn't and aghast at what was happening but unable to put it down long because I needed to know where it was going next, 4/5 for me!

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Baby Doll by Hollie Overton

Baby Doll by Hollie Overton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 288

Publisher - Century

Blurb from Goodreads


You've been held captive in one room, mentally and physically abused every day, since you were sixteen years old.

Then, one night, you realize your captor has left the door to your cell unlocked.

For the first time in eight years, you're free.

This is about what happens next ...

Lily knows that she must bring the man who nearly ruined her life - her good-looking high-school teacher - to justice. But she never imagined that reconnecting with her family would be just as difficult. Reclaiming her relationship with her twin sister, her mother, and her high school sweetheart who is in love with her sister may be Lily's greatest challenge. After all they've been through, can Lily and her family find their way back after this life-altering trauma?

Impossible not to read in one sitting, Baby Doll is a taut psychological thriller that focuses on family entanglements and the evil that can hide behind a benign facade.



My Review

We open with Lily, Lily has been kidnapped, tortured, abused, beaten and trained for 3110 days, but today everything has changed. Lily finally has a chance to escape her torture chamber, this is Lily's story of what happens next once she is free. The story splits mostly between Lily, her mum Eve, her twin sister Abby and Rick her captor. The story looks at how everyone tries to adapt to finally have Lily home, coping with what happened, picking up as a family and each dealing with the demons Lily's kidnap brought forward for everyone involved.

This book kicks off pretty much from the first page, with Lily in captivity, you feel the fear and tension immediately as the character ways up the options for self preservation. Initially I was a bit worried we were getting another "Room" style novel as initially there were strong echoes of that book however you soon realize the two are very different. We follow Lily as she integrates back into her old life, her family and read along with each of their experiences and feelings. Rick is the bad guy, he doesn't get as much voice as the other characters and to be honest I would have liked to have heard more from him. The face of normality, hiding a psychopath and seeing or hearing more of his family life rather than just glimpses after the fact.

The book looks at societal reintegration, family struggles as each has both tried to move on and been trapped since their world was shaken and turned upside down. The glare, scrutiny and judgments of the media on such a high profile case and how that impacts upon the family. I found this book to draw the reader in, evoke emotion for almost all of the main characters and the underlying issues of not only Lily's plight but how everyone was affected by her disappearance and reappearance. Each chapter is headed with the individual whose perspective the tale is being told from so it is easy to follow. A strong debut novel, I will be looking out for more by this author, 4/5 for me this time.

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