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.

Houses Remember” - the opening lines to Lilith Rising.

This book centers around two separate timelines, one from the past and one from the present.

In the past, Mari, Lara, Pierce, Noel, and Johnnie spend the summer of 1974 in an Italian Villa, Villa Rosato. Noel is a famous musician who has invited musician Pierce, his girlfriend Mari, and her stepsister Lara to spend the summer with him at an Italian villa. Relationships are already fairly tumultuous before the summer at the Villa begins and grow to be even more complicated throughout the summer. The happenings of the summer inspire a horror novel entitled Lilith Rising written by Mari and a famous album entitled Aestas written by Lara.

The present day focuses on Chess and Emily, two women who have been friends since elementary school. Emily is having relationship problems and her self-help guru friend Chess invites her to spend the summer with her in the same Italian Villa, now renamed Villa Aestas. Emily and Chess are both authors and hope that the summer away will inspire their creativity. Little do they know, they are about to write the story of a lifetime.

This novel was a bit of a slow burn, but kept me interested the entire time! I absolutely loved the premise of it and would highly recommend it. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

2.5

Ehhhhh ... Unfortunately, I didn't find this enjoyable.

I liked the setting in which the story took place, Italy, that is about it. Even then, I didn't really find 'The Villa' the girls were staying in to be creepy whatsoever and it totally lacked giving me those 'atmospheric vibes'. The murder mystery that took place in the past wasn't very thrilling and I found everything to be extremely predictable until the tiny twist in the last chapter that didn't affect me or my outlook on the story whatsoever.

This was my very first Rachel Hawkins book. I'm still willing to give her others a try at this point, but this one definitely missed the mark for me!

Meh, oh well, moving on!

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.

This was a fun read. I admit that I expected it to be a little more gothic, and it’s not that. The vibe was more like a breezy thriller, but that’s fine. I could see this as a Netflix film (with Blake Lively and a nerdy but still beautiful brunette as the main characters). I enjoyed the different timelines, particularly how the characters pieced together what happened before. I thought it was fairly well-plotted and paced; it kept my interest. I just didn’t connect to any of the characters; I more wanted to see what happened. I wish this system had .5 stars, as this was a solid 3.5 for me, but I’ll round up. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy for this unbiased review.

👏🏼 I’m a fan!! I have had Rachel Hawkins books on my TBR for awhile now & thank to NetGalley I got to read an ARC of The Villa!
I’m so happy I did. I don’t want to give much away, this is a book you want to go into somewhat blind. You’ll really enjoy the characters, their development, the mystery, the similarities to true crimes. I had a lot of fun reading this! Grab a copy January 2023.

Halfway through and loving this book, will be posting final review on the audio arc I received.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this just didn't hit the mark for me. I was disappointed because the idea of the plot really grabbed my attention, but I think generally it was too slow for me and I didn't find the characters all that likeable.
I wouldn't say it's bad, just not my cup of tea, if you will. I'll definitely be checking out other works from this author!

Thank you netgalley for providing me an arc for an honest review!

This book follows 2 different timeslines of the present an dpast. In the past we follow a scandalous murder and in the present, 2 friends who are trying to figure it out. I got kind of lost in this book so until we got into the halfway point, I had a really hard time understanding what was happening. But the end was pretty interesting.

I was a bit disappointed in this one, especially after the amazing previous books by this author! I felt like the twist was a little underwhelming and the ending was very hurried. The elements of this one felt very done before but the story overall was entertaining. I wish there was more of the current timeline as that to me felt MOST interesting. The past timeline felt like it didn't add much to the story and honestly made this one a little slow.

Welcome to The Villa! This dual timeline mystery by Rachel Hawkins had me invested from the start. Emily and Chess have been friends since they were young girls. Now grown their relationship has morphed into frenomy terrain. Emily is a writer of cosy mysteries and Chess a mega star lifestyle guru writer of nonfiction. After a contentious split from her husband Emily accepts an offer to spend the summer with Chess at an infamous Villa in Italy. Nearly forty years earlier a group of five young musicians stayed at the Villa. Only four were alive at the end of the summer. In the aftermath one of the women wrote a best selling book, the other launched a music career with an iconic album for a generation. As Emily and Chess settle into the Villa to write their books Emily becomes preoccupied with the events of 1974. What really happened, and are there clues in the book and album written by the woman who stayed at the villa that summer.

Hawkins weaves an incredible web here, there is a lot going on! While this is undoubtedly a mystery, and we are left guessing motives of several characters until the end, there’s much bigger themes. Hawkins asks us to consider some morally gray ground as a balance of women’s creative efforts getting drowned out in service of the men in their orbit. I loved the way the stories intertwined, the complexities and nuances of the relationships. For me it was slightly overcomplex. I thought the basic premise was incredibly strong and well done so I became distracted when the story veered off course too much.

I think this makes a great buddy read as I really wanted someone to discuss some of the plot points and twists as I was reading! I think fans of Rachel Hawkins will enjoy this one, as well as readers who like mysteries set in Italy, where the location is integral.
I received an advanced copy from the publisher, St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley. It drops 1/3/23 so preorder from your favorite bookstore, and request from you local library now!

⚠️Outlier alert!

Sex, drugs and rock n’ roll!
Well, that sounds like an interesting little party! Unfortunately, (for me) this book was far from that!

Told in two timelines:
1974 - Young, star-crossed musical artists looking for inspiration and a getaway, rented an Italian villa.
Try as I might, I couldn’t connect to the past timeline and dreaded this part of the book!

Present day - Friends Emily and Chess have also rented an Italian villa to vacation and hopefully get some writing in as well. And maybe, fingers-crossed, get their strained friendship back on track!

This read had a similar vibe to Daisy Jones and The Six, but the execution just fell to pieces.

I tried the audio as well, since Julia Whelan was one of the narrators. And truly she was the only reason I made it to the end. Listening to her voice gave me the resolve to keep going.

I’ve loved previous works by this author in the past and know this is just a one-off. So will definitely be trying again with her next.

A buddy read with Susanne that left us both a bit speechless.🤦🏻‍♀️

Other readers have loved this one so I hope it works out better for you!

2.5⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins press and libro.fm for my 🎧ARC

An edge-of-your-seat page turner! The dual timeline worked well with this one, flipping from 1970’s and present day. Rachel Hawkins fans won’t be disappointed with this one.

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 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 St Martin's Press for my review copy!

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?

Thanks to NetGalley for sharing a copy of this book with me.

I've only read one other Rachel Hawkins book, and both that one and this new one gave me the same reaction: Well, that escalated quickly!

I enjoyed this dual narrative, one set in the 1970s in an Italian villa, and the other set in present day at the same location. Both female narrators are going through romantic difficulties. The 1970s storyline ends in a murder. I liked how these two stories tied together, with the present-day narrator Emily doing some investigative work to figure out what really happened. In each storyline, there are also female friendships put to the test.

I won't spoil the ending, but it was definitely a shocker that made me re-read the last portion to make sure I was understanding everything correctly. Well done, Rachel Hawkins!

This was my first Rachel Hawkins read and i have to say i was actually surprised with the suspenseful plot twist. I felt it to be slow at times but it picked right back up when it needed too. I will definitely be grabbing more of Rachel’s books to read soon.

I have a love/hate relationship with Chess... and Emily is... well, she needs to find herself I think. I loved the twists in this and how the center of the novel truly is friendship. The duel timeline definitely mixes things up, but is well written and not confusing. I must say, I hadn't seen those twists coming either... Another winner from Rachel Hawkins.

I simply adored The Wife Upstairs so I was looking forward to this latest novel. It started off strong but then just kind of fell flat for me. I didn’t really like the story within a story. I read both the e-copy of the book and listened to the audio. Three stars is my rating

I was intrigued to read THE VILLA as I enjoyed RECKLESS GIRLS, but THE WIFE UPSTAIRS was a miss for me. THE VILLA was a little convoluted but I enjoyed the premise. It’s definitely a slower burn than THE WIFE UPSTAIRS and RECKLESS GIRLS but a unique plot and engaging for readers. Definitely recommend if you have enjoyed Rachel Hawkins’ previous work.