3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the story within a story within a story within a story concept and was super invested throughout. The Emily/Chess/Matt storyline felt unfinished to me, though. Lots of buildup with no payoff in the end. I was convinced I knew what was going on when their storyline abruptly ended. To any future readers, I definitely recommend the audiobook, narrated by the wonderful Julia Whelan. There's an excerpt from a fictional true crime podcast and she NAILS that stereotypical podcaster voice.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's press for providing an advanced copy.

"Houses remember."
As kids, Chess, best-selling self-help writer, and Emily, cozy mystery writer, were inseparable. But in their 30s, they are pulled apart by life. So when Chess suggest a summer trip to Italy, Emily, whose health is finally better and on the verge of a divorce, jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend, and they both decide to take this time away to write. But the villa Chess has rented is well known because it's where a murder took place there decades ago. As Emily digs into the villa's, Mari's, Noel's and Pierce's history, she thinks there might be more to it. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more the tension grows between her and Chess, who would love to co-write a book with her, but Emily wants to keep this story for herself.
This was a slow-paced thriller told in a dual POV/timeline that was easy to follow. I did however prefer the Emily-Chess-present timeline, outlining the complex friendship between the women. The twists were no big surprise, but I enjoyed the ride. I read the ebook and listened to the audio book, and I enjoyed them both (great job on the narration!). I read it in one sitting, I simply couldn't put it down!
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Engaging, but I kind of wanted it to end differently. So, overall, decent but not stellar.


Review copy provided by publisher.

2.5 stars

We have two main stories, both happening in this beautiful villa in Italy. One story is in the past of two minor sisters that go have a good time with a couple of notorious rock stars. And a somehow similar story in the present where two best friends that are also well renown writers take some time off to create their next best seller book.

Initially the story in the present with Emily, the victim of an insensible and cheating husband, was pretty intriguing. Until the end when she made some choices that made no sense to me.

The narrator of the story in the past and more specifically Mary hasn't been the best choice in my opinion. And due to this fact, i felt that I didn't care at all for Mary's story.

The ending was a bit farfetched for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this book!

Chess and Emily have been forever friends since early childhood and with Emily having marital issues in her early 30's, Chess offers her the chance to spend time at an Italian villa in Orvieto.  This is a great opportunity for the two friends to enjoy Italian history, and its ambiance, and maybe even learn more about the gothic and dark history of the villa. 

The dual timeline of Hawkins' suspenseful novel was easy for me to follow with the excellent narration of Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell, and Shiromi Arserio.  I do believe that their narration is what helped raise a 3.5 to the 4-star rating I have given it.

This novel has plenty of flawed characters, actually, I will say they were all flawed.  I couldn't name one that I would want to have a coffee date with.  Each of them had their own agenda, each of them lied, and each of them had secrets they wanted to hide. 

I did enjoy watching the toxic relationship between Em and Chess.  For the life of me, I can't imagine how Em could even remain at the Villa with Chess after Em learned about what Chess had done.  If I were reading this in paperback, I would have flung it on the floor due to my being so upset with Em for having no backbone.  This is what a good book does, it takes you on a roller coaster of emotions, no matter what they may be. 

All in all, I enjoyed this audiobook. 

My thanks to #NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for the ARC.  This opinion is my own.

"Houses remember!"

Two estranged childhood best friends reconnect on a girl's trip to Italy. Their summer adventure consists of staying at Villa Aestas in Orvieto, a high-end holiday vacation spot., In 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, which was rented by a famous musician and friends. The summer of 1974 consisted of sex, love, rock and roll, and all forms of creative expression until things suddenly ended in a brutal murder. The story is told from a double perspective of Mari's account of past occurrences and Emily's present-day adventure as she digs into the complex history of the house to see just what it remembers.

The Villa was a solid average read for me. I preferred the audio version to the kindle ARC. I struggled to engage with the story at first, but I am glad I continued reading. I originally connected more with Emily's story, but my interest in Mari's story grew by the middle of the book. There are some mildly suspenseful moments. However, this is more of a fictional drama than a thriller like I had expected. I enjoyed the pacing, storyline, and especially liked the ending. The Wife Upstairs remains my favorite book by Rachel Hawkins, but The Villa earns 3.8 stars from me.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide a review of The Villa.

I read the book AND listened to the audio. I actually think I enjoyed the audible experience a lot more. The narrator did a great job conveying all emotions and making the character seem relatable. I would definitely listen to this again.

I absolutely loved this book, it may be my favorite of Rachel Hawkins yet! I thought the premise was clever, the uncovering of the real story of the "murder house" Italian villa and the exploration of the experiences of present day writers Emily and Chess with the two women who spent the summer of 1974 in the same villa. This book is part psychological thriller, part feminist manifesto, part exploration of the arts and what it takes to create, and what the cost of that art can be. It was smart, quick, and interesting. As always, the voice of Julia Whelan is warm honey to my ears. This was very well performed, as Whelan was joined by Kimberly M. Wetherell,, and Shiromi Arserio.
Highly recommend!

I had the pleasure of hearing this author speak about her writing process and her books. What a wonderful time was had by all. I love the woman upstairs and thoroughly enjoyed the parallel story lines in the murder house! Will recommend to my fans of Liv Constantine.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook copy of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins in exchange for an honest review. This was my second book by Rachel Hawkins and the more I read, the more I enjoy them. This was an intricate story about women and the chains that keep us from being free. With flashbacks to Mary and Laurel and their summer at the Italian villa in the 70's, then to Em and Chess now at the same villa. The parallels and history repeating itself are woven through a fascinating story of discovery and creativity. I really got hooked and listened to the whole book in one day.

4.5 Stars

I finished this book a few days ago and I still can’t stop thinking about it…and the ending and just ugh the whole thing. I love when a book makes you question everything you thought you knew about the story as it unfolded, and this is definitely one of those books.

The Villa is loosely inspired by the summer in Villa Diodati (where Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as part of Lord Byron’s ghost story competition). This story is broken up into flashbacks of “The Summer” at the villa in the 70s where an infamous murder happened amongst an artistic group of people and modern day, where our main character is trying to get over her writer block and happens to unravel the truth of that summer in the 70s.

At first the timeline switches were hard for my brain to keep up with, but it all blended together beautifully by the end and I became fully invested in both storylines.

The summer at the villa was all based on the original summer with Mary Godwin (soon to be Shelley) and the Villa Diodati houseguests and I loved how Hawkins translated that real life summer into her fictional world. It was steeped in rock-n-roll and feminism and finding one’s self leading to destruction and art. Mari is our Mary Godwin stand-in and her step-sister Laura is Clair (Mary’s IRL stepsister) and both are struggling for love and independence and discovering who they are and what their art is.

The modern storyline gave a true suspenseful vibe. You didn’t know who to trust or why and felt on the edge of you r seat, yet no crime had even occurred. Yet. Emily is our main character in this portion of the storyline, and she is at the same villa trying to overcome writers block and staying with her childhood friend Chess. Chess is our modern day influencer inspiration holistic #bossbitch full of affirmations etc and Em and Chess have some tension there. It was an interesting exploration of sisterhood and friendship and female relationships, all while Emily was unraveling the summer of the villa from before, with her life often paralleling with Mari and Laura’s.

I’m sure my review is just a mess at this point, but it’s as if my brain is still reeling from the story and the different layers and ugh, I just adored it. The audiobook was so well done and i highly recommend it!

Rachel Hawkins has a way of taking some of my favorite classics (or in this case, real life events from famous classic authors) and spinning them in a refreshing way for modern readers. They truly stand on their own and are so inspired and I cannot wait to read when she writes next!

Loved! I finished this almost 8 hour audio book in about 12 hours because I could not stop listening. I wanted to know the end.

Told in dual timelines, with multiple narrators, The Villa is a suspense book which understands suspense. The present-day timeline features two 30 something lifelong friends, Chess and Emily. Their friendship felt authentic - friends but also frenemies. There is clearly a love/hate/competitive nature to their relationship and a 6 week girls trip to an Italian villa, which was home to a mysterious murder in the 1970s, provides a genuine tension which the reader feels.

The second timeline features a group of young folks, including a famous musician, who are also in the villa, with lots of drugs, alcohol, sex and murrrrderrrr.

To be honest, I preferred the current timeline and especially the character Emily. Chess made me mad. That's a good thing - the author did her job.

I always appreciate multiple narrators, and The Villa uses three voice actors, Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell and Shiromi Arserio. All gave solid performances and moved the story along effectively while not getting in the way of the words. You don't realize the importance of a good narrator until you've heard a really bad one. The bad ones can destroy a good book. These actors knew the assignment.

Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for allowing me to listen in advance of the January 3, 2023 release date.

Thanks NetGalley for the advance audiobook copy.

The audiobook narrator‘s were great. However as far as the story, it left me wanting more. I enjoyed the current chapters and dislike the past chapters.

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins (audiobook review)
Narrative by Julia Whelan; Kimberly M. Wetherell; Shiromi Arserio

Wow! This is a banger! It is a pleasure listening to this audiobook! The narrators do a fantastic job creating believable characters. You are immersed in the setting by the voice inflections. While reading the book on my kindle, I also listened to the audiobook. Engaging with an author in that way is a win-win situation.

Synopsis:
Emily and Chess have been best friends since childhood. Having the chance to reconnect with Emily as adults, Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy.

Currently known as Villa Aestas, Villa Rosso was built in 1974 as a high-end holiday home. It is now called "Murder Mansion" after up-and-coming musician Pierce Sheldon was brutally murdered there.

Emily, a writer, discovers the villa's complicated history. This fateful summer of 1974 may have had more to it than meets the eye. In addition to sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll gone wrong, there might have been something sinister behind Pierce's murder.

This is my favorite work by Rachel Hawkins. The novel is intriguing and holds your attention. Her books have been enhanced by this excellent addition.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for allowing me to review this delightful audiobook! 4.25/5

The Villa is another great book from Rachel Hawkins. I loved the stories of Chess and Emma, trying to find their way. I loved the villa's descriptions, very atmospheric.

Emily’s marriage is over and her writing career is going nowhere fast, so when her childhood BFF, Chess, invites her for a six week vacation at an Italian guesthouse, Emily is only too happy to accept. Villa Aestas may be a luxurious guesthouse now, but in the 1970s it was known as Villa Rosato and rented by rock god Noel Gordon, who wanted to use the venue to help revive his flagging career . He brings his entourage, but instead of Noel being inspired, two of the group become famous in their own right, one as an author the other as an award winning music star, and the murder of yet another. Emily begins to think the tragic and convoluted story of the guesthouse would make perfect fodder for a story of her own, but the more she looks into the past, the more questions she has and the more the rift between Emily and Chess grows. This is an atypical setting for a Gothic novel, but it works

This book had it's moments. Not quite a momentous thriller as some others I've read - but good. I feel like there just could've been a little more. It just seemed like there was something missing. However I did like this one better than the previous 2. 3.5 * for me

It was a pleasant surprise reading a "thriller" that, for once, I did not need to wait to the very end of the book to critique, based on the "mandatory" twist(s). This book had a wonderful story line that avoided a dramatic revelation being the point of the story.
Excellent audio.

When best friends decide to spend the summer together in Italy to work on their books, they end up learning much about each other and the history of The Villa, itself. Another great story from Hawkins.

Wow! Fantastic! Because so many have asked, I’m going to start off by saying that this is WAY better than Reckless Girls. The Villa totally exceeded my expectations in every way. When I first read the premise, I thought the plot was going to be convoluted and a bit too dark for my liking, especially seeing how it was inspired by Frankenstein. However, to me, this really felt more like the perfect escape read with suspense that kept me turning the pages.

Synopsis: This story is set in Orvieto, Umbria, Italy and is told in a dual timeline / POV manner. In the present, the story follows Emily, a mystery writer who has been invited to spend the summer in Italy by her best friend Chess, a successful self-help novelist. While Emily is set to focus on the tenth book of her series, this new setting gives her inspiration to research and explore a murder that occurred in 1974 at the villa they are staying at. As Emily searches for clues left behind, the story dives into Mari’s perspective in the past and follows the events that led up to what is known as the Villa Rosato Horror.

What I loved:
-There was such a strong start to the book, and I was immediately invested
-The past and present timelines weaved together seamlessly, and I didn’t favor one narrator over another
-There were snippets of news articles and podcasts that gave you insight into the characters’ rise to fame, personal work and the mystery surrounding the Villa
-How we got to see two authors work through the writing process
-The ending could not have been more perfect

Thanks SMP for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review !! It was impossible to put down. Pub date 1/3/23