Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of “The Villa” in exchange for an honest review. I liked the premise of this, but I don’t know that it was the book for me. There was so much going on with the past, present, and podcasts/articles, etc. I found myself just feeling a little sad for the protagonist at the end of the novel and didn’t feel fulfilled by the ending. The first 50% of the book was really quite slow. Julia Whelan on the audiobook was a win though.

I read an arc of this already and loved it so much that I wanted to experience the audio version. The audio version was just as good. Good narration, same solid story. Definitely Rachel Hawkins’ best yet.

I was so excited to give Rachel Hawkins a try and I’m sad to say that book was so slow and lackluster. I felt that there was no thrill and it was so drawn out. I was expecting some twists and turns but it was a SLOW-burning mystery with a predictable ending. I did enjoy the atmospheric setting and the dual timeline.

I listened to this as an audiobook and I loved the full cast of narrators! Julia Whelan, Kimberly M Wetherell, and Shiromi Arserio did a great job and added flavor to the slow-burner.

If you are into slow-burner reads, then this book might be right for you!

***** Many thanks to St Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, Rachel Hawkins, and NetGalley for the #gifted copy as it was provided to me in turn for my honest opinion.

Rating this 2.5 stars but rounding up to 3 stars on Goodreads.

DNF @ 57%

I enjoyed many of Hawkins books in the past however this one just wasn't for me; I wasn't able to stay engaged with the book, I kept finding my mind wandering and there were just a few too many POV's to be able to be interested or invested in any of them. Everytime I started to find myself intrigued or started to get into a POV it would switch and I just didn't care about the story by the time we got back to them. I also just didn't enjoy any of the characters all that much, they weren't blurring into each other per say but none of them were enjoyable enough to have a favourite character or even bother to remember their names once I dnf.

Not the worst book I've read but I simply cannot be fussed to finish it.

The Villa is a classic Rachel Hawkins novel. Many twists and turns and well written unlikable characters along the way. I did find this book a little more confusing than her others, it wasn’t a book that you could listen to, or read, while focusing on anything else, it definitely required complete attention. I had to look at other reviews to understand what was going on at points, but I did read some very interesting theories that I wish Hawkins could have included in the book. Based on the theories I’ve read, I already want to reread this book because it definitely opened to many interpretations.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rachel Hawkins does not get enough credit for being THE nonmagical/contemporary modern gothic queen. Gothics are back en vogue, and there are many great ones, but Hawkins is my favorite for grounded modern stories.

The premise of The Villa didn't catch me from the description. I requested an arc of this because of the author. The simple version is that this is a duel timeline story.

Timeline one focuses on Emily and Chess, lifelong friends who are both authors. They travel to an Italian villa for a summer getaway and start investigating the murder that occurred there.

Timeline two follows Mari and her sister Laura teenage girls swept away by adult rockstars for a summer in Italy, resulting in a murder. This timeline is very Fleetwood Mac meets Daisy Jones meets murder.

On its surface, it feels like a lackluster premise, but Rachel Hawkins has this way of writing that feels so deeply salacious. It draws your in and makes you hungry for more. When I am sitting in a parked car to finish a chapter of a book, I know it's excellent.

Emily's storyline is the one that drew me in the most. Her and Chess's characters are very unlike typical thriller heroines, who are often haggard married women who are more or less victims of circumstance. Emily is a spiteful, angry protagonist who echoes some brutal truths about jealousy. It's easy to relate to the darker parts of her- her character flaws are rarely explored by fiction through the lens of a protagonist. In many other stories, a character like her would be a flat-out villain.

Chess is also fascinating. She's a southern belle self-help guru-type (think Girl Wash Your Face) She is bubbly, warm, inviting, sweet.....and completely manipulative. The weaponization of her femininity and charm is delicious.

There's an interesting, fun darkness to this A-Plot, particularly for anyone who has ever felt they were being overshadowed or lied to by a best friend. Some of the twists and turns are very strange and unexpected. The anxiety this A-Plot gave me was incredible.

The B-Plot with Mari was slightly less interesting to me, but still fun. I never had any affection for "sex drugs and rock and roll' premises, but if you liked Daisy Jones, you will probably like this. I still enjoyed this storyline, but I don't have anything gushing to say about it other than that it does a great job deconstructing what this lifestyle does to young girls who are manipulated by gross, abusive men.

The Villa is really about what happens when a woman is wronged. When TWO women are wronged together. It touches on the hurt women inflict on each other and how men gaslight and abuse women to the breaking point, and how that affects female friendship. The Villa's brand of feminism is closest to Gone Girl- the assertion that women too, can become monsters capable of great darkness. It centers on rage first. If that's the kind of story that does it for you, and you enjoy women's wrongs, don't miss this one!

Houses remember.

What a great, great line. Unfortunately, because of this line, I was expecting something that I didn't get. I was expecting the house to be a central character, to be a bit haunted. While the story alternates between the past and present (with some rather interesting parallels), the house really isn't all that important. That being said, I did enjoy this book overall, and in fact, it may be my favorite by Hawkins. The real focus of the story is the relationships between the characters, both hidden and seen. I loved getting tidbits of the book Mari was writing- I love books within books. Honestly, I want to read Lilith Rising- sounds fascinating!

I was fortunate enough to receive a digital copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review, and I thought the narrator did a stellar job with the story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for the opportunity.

Set in an Italy, "The Villa" follows the story of two long time friends, both writers, intertwined with the story of a long ago murder that occurred in the same villa. Emily is working through writer's block, the end of her marriage and trying to re-start her life. Chess is, as far as I can tell, just a jerk. I know that she's Emily's best friend since childhood, but I never really warmed to her. She was self-serving (and I think I a liar and a fake( and every time Emily almost was ready to leave her behind, Chess found ways to manipulate her way back in.
And I was absolutely there for it. As much as I hated it, it worked. Chess was convincing and believable (and awful!) I think Emily should have cut her loose along with her jerk of an ex-husband (maybe not in the same way... but still...)
The way the original murder was woven into the story (and no spoiler, but the ENDING...oops!) loved it!

Overall, really enjoyed this audiobook. While there was a little predictability in some parts, there were quite a few twists and turns that surprised me.

3.5 stars. I just finished the audiobook version of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. Overall, a pretty good mystery/thriller. There were some places in the audiobook where it jumped scenes abruptly and had to rewind to make sure that I didn't miss anything and also had to decipher who was "talking" in that particular scene when the scenes changed. The narrators were all great.

Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this audiobook. #TheVilla #NetGalley

3.5 stars

I have mixed feelings on this one! I enjoyed reading it but I couldn’t have cared less about the backstory POV in the 70s. There were too many characters that we didn’t get to know enough, flowery music & writing drama that I didn’t care about, and too much romantic drama that was annoying. If that hadn’t been in the book and the mystery was pure research by Emily, I would have liked it a LOT better.

I did like the ending but in a sort of toxic best friend way. It reminded me a bit of a favorite movie but is referencing that movie a spoiler because of what happens? Probably. Anyway, loved that part!

I always enjoy the writing style but I just didn’t care about the flashbacks, like at all. I had a hard time paying attention to them until later and meh, it wasn’t worth it. Cut all those and make it more wild between the two friends and I would have been all for it. There were some dark holes to dive down that we didn’t and that could have been awesome.

The titular villa itself also could have been this cool, creepy, gothic character in itself and it just wasn't.... anything. It was barely described except for a few locations which ended up being important to the plot and there wasn't much of anything that really gave you good *vibes* to really pull you into the story.

Ultimately, I feel like this was pulled in too many different directions. The setting didn't get a good description going, the main characters were slightly under-developed, the backstory wasn't deep enough for me to care, there were random bits of song and podcast but they were exactly that: random. It was a little of this, a little of that. Cut all the "extra" stuff and focus on the core of the story and it could have been really awesome. It just left me underwhelmed in that sense.

I really enjoyed this story in regards to the atmosphere of The Villa and a vacation. I feel like this could be a great read for those summer beach days. Sneaky, entertaining, catty, with an intriguing plot .The story started off a bit slow but reading it as a mix of audio/physical felt like it went by much quicker. It was entertaining and I liked the mix of timelines, podcasts clips, and stories. I did find this predictable and the ending was not my favorite due to the open lines. Will there be another book or are we left with a meh ending? Loved the murder house idea. Great character introductions (although, none were likeable for me and that’s okay!) Overall would recommend but did not love how both the stories were wrapped up.

I was disappointed with this book. The main appeal of a thriller is the drive to keep turning pages, but I just lost interest in the plot. Maybe others will enjoy it more.

Wow! This book might have been the fastest audiobook I have ever listened to. I did not want to stop for even a second. The best review that I can give is that my stomach was in knots throughout the entire story. The dread I was feeling with what happened in the past with what might be happening during the present had me glued to my seat!

I wish I could give this book so many stars! I had already read it but I wanted to see how the audio compared to my own inner dialogue.

Hooked from the very beginning. Something about the back and forth between decades and storylines had me fully invested.

While Emily and Chess’ story felt like your modern day bff adventure thriller, Mari’s side was utterly fascinating to me. Mari’s decade gave me Manson Family gothic esque vibes and I couldn’t get enough of it. I only wish there was more to it. I could have read about their group for many more chapters.

A littttttle predictable towards the end on the Emily/ Chess side, but I was completely blown away by Mari’s. Not sure if this is considered a spoiler, but the novel Lilith Rising was a huge part of the story (imo) and I would give anything to read a full length version of the book! Please make it happen.

I received an ARC audiobook from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for review!

Childhood friends, Emily and Chess, go on a summer trip to The Villa Aestas in Italy. In 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato where summer getaway of artists turn into the brutal murder of an up and coming musician Pierce Shelden. Emily digs into the complicated history of the villa as she believes that there may be more to the story.

I loved the setting that this book took place in. I could imagine the beauty of the villa. I did get a bit confused with the multiple POVs along with the dual timelines but I was reading in the form of an audiobook. Although that didn’t keep me away from the story. I was still hooked to see where the story of both timelines go and how it all ties together in the end.

I look forward to reading more of Rachel Hawkin’s work in the future.

Rachel Hawkins knows how to write a good mystery! I loved the way The Villa switched between narratives and how Emily's story complements Mari's. Aside from the mystery, this book does a great job of delving into the complex relationships and creating interesting and complete characters. The mystery itself was captivating and well-written. Overall, The Villa was a great read!

This is my first Rachel Hawkins book and I have to be honest I was left a little underwhelmed. The Villa is a multi-faceted story, drawing from two different timelines and different modalities of media to create a historical mystery/thriller. Life long “best” friends, Emily and Chess, are both writers. Chess is a multi-millionaire with her self-help books, while Emily found modest success writing a cozy mystery series. Emily is currently facing an unknown illness, divorce, and a serious case of writer’s block when Chess invites her to Orvieto, Italy for 6 weeks to reset and write at the Villa Aestas. Emily discovers that the villa, formerly known as Villa Rosato, was the scene of a gruesome murder in the 70’s from a typical sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll scandal. From this scandal, two famous works were produced by the women involved; a feminist horror novel, Lilith Rising, and a music album, Aestas. Emily finds a copy of Lilith Rising on the bookshelves of the Villa and becomes obsessed with reading it and researching the murder. She slowly starts connecting things that were described in the book with actual places in the house and in the town of Orvieto. She puts aside thoughts of writing another cozy mystery and fully focuses on unraveling the true story of the famous murder that night. While Emily falls into this new obsession, Chess has a secret motivation of her own for inviting Emily to Italy that summer. The story unfolds with the current timeline of Chess and Emily, supported by the 70s timeline being told from a third person perspective and occasional news articles and podcasts that give background. While the premise was promising (I mean doesn’t all this sound exciting?) the execution was lacking. To start, the characters (from both timelines) were incredibly annoying to the point of exhaustion listening to them whine about all their problems. All the female characters talk about “feminism” and “empowerment” but the author wrote them as insecure and meek. The story itself dragged for the first half, slowly picked up steam, and then fell completely flat at the end. I mean, I want to talk about the ending… but I won’t. However, kudos to Audio Macmillan for getting an absolutely stellar narrator for the audio book. Thank you to NetGalley and Audio Macmillan for the ARC.

After previously LOVING The Wife Upstairs and feeling very "meh" about her most recent release of Reckless Girls, I was excited to see where this book would land in my overall author ranking. I am happy to report that while it wasn't as high as a 4.5 stars as TWU, I definitely enjoyed it overall and gave it a solid 4-star rating, landing right in the middle of her three mystery thrillers so far.

The Villa was mainly set in an extremely scenic Italian villa and alternated timelines and POVS, which kept me hooked throughout and kept the overall story moving quickly. It was extremely atmospheric and I enjoyed the all too familiar relationship dynamics that were woven into both timelines. Some of the characters I really wanted to punch in the face sometimes but overall I still really enjoyed this one. If you enjoyed previous books by this author, I definitely recommend picking this one up when it publishes in January!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for my review copy!

Where to begin with this book. I really enjoy this author and the audiobooks had excellent narrators. This book personally, was a no for me. It was too many characters and I enjoyed none of them. The Chess and Emily relationship was the most interesting. I did not enjoy Mari and Lara storyline at all. I felt the book had potential but it just fell short and I thought boring.

Childhood friends Emily and Chess were a besties, but as with adulthood, lives changes and people have other obligations. Chess is doing well and offers her friend Emily a trip of a lifetime, to stay in a Villa in Italy to reconnect.

1974-The Villa has an interesting history and there have been a murder involving sex, drugs and rock and roll and one eventful summer.

Emily becomes intrigued with the Villas past and the people involved in that summer have written a novel and an album. Emily finds clues in what is left behind and this causes more tension in her relationship with Chess. What secrets will they find out? Will someone else be murdered? Is the Villa to blame?