Oh my god.. I've been anticipating this read so thank you NetGalley & St.Martin Press for this ARC. This was definitely my favourite book from Rachel Hawkins.. This had two stories in one and the way I read this all in one sitting because I could not put it down! The Villa kept me on edge the entire time and I was sooooo invested in the characters. I can usually guess twists in thrillers but not for this one.. it was something I wouldn't have expected at all. I am really sad that I finished this one so quick but so happy that I got to experience this wonderful book! Thank you again!

This book is my new favorite Rachel Hawkins books for sure. Such a neat ride through this mystery. I love the cover art as well. You follow this down on her luck girls journey through finding family in friends and living off the streets, to marrying rich and then finding herself locked away in time deprivation. You're never sure who the suspect is and will continue guessing everyone. You root for this intelligent main character the entire way. She's a super loveable character who is smart and works hard, I was never annoyed with her. The cliff hanger ending killed me a bit but leaves you being able to create the ending you want. Overall such a well put together and well written book. I highly recommend it!

The format for this novel was quite interesting. The present storyline introduced two friends and in the past storyline we met two sisters. The house (Villa) was (IMO) the central character in this well written, fast paced thriller.
I think this book is the best Rachel Hawkins book that I have read thus far. I highly recommend it.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

This was the change of pace in a book that I’d been waiting for! We’re presented with two stories, from two different women, told decades apart yet they interweave for solve a mystery dispersed throughout the book. The characters came alive that I felt annoyance, anger, and the pain they suffered. I really enjoyed the twists and turns that came from both decades that then came together in the end where both shocking twists were revealed. This is definitely a “book club” worthy read!

I honestly should have DNFed this one 🫤🫣🥴

when I got to about 25-30% in this book and thought to myself “wow this seems like the family upstairs meets we were never here,” I should have stopped

for me, the story would have been stronger if it stayed in a single timeline, rather than a dual (I know, who am I!!!), especially since the present day timeline reiterated the past timeline once the MCs worked out a clue

I loved the parts of the present day timeline - the two former best friends were so clique-y I loved to hate it 🤭 as much as I flew through their chapters, I wanted more of their experience on the villa and less of what drew people there back in the day

I get what the story was trying to do, but the plot seemed to fall apart about halfway through and it just felt rushed 🫠 I really wanted to like this one because any remote location in italy is a win

thank you to st martins press and netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! this one’s out in january!

rating: 2 stars
wine pairing: trentino moscatop

The book alternates between the present and the past. I found the first half of the book to be kind of dull and put it down a few times. I finally picked it up again and the second half was much better and felt more like a thriller. The “twist” in the present was obvious but I still really enjoyed the themes running in the book. The Italian setting was cool too.

"As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 3o's, the bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives..."
The Villa is a slow burn drama about a crime from the past that weaves its way into the present. Childhood besties, Emily and Chess spend their summer in an Italian Villa to foster their creativity. We soon find out the villa is the scene of a famous murder from the 1970's!! This murder involved a famous rock star beloved by all. The narrative alternates between the past and present.
The characters were flat, at first, I found Mari more likeable, but in the end, I didn't like either of the narrators. The twist were not very suspenseful but somewhat interesting. The friendship was contrived. This was not hit for me but may be a bit of fun for Rachel Hawkins fans! 2.5 stars for keeping me reading.

i liked this a lot more than the only other book i’ve read by this author, “the wife upstairs.” it had a lot more substance to it: an interesting cast of characters, interspersed quotes from (fictional) songs/books/articles, and better writing overall.
however, what this book did have in common with its predecessor is that the ending fell a bit flat. it was predictable and not really twisty or interesting. i didn’t really get the reason for the final reveal, either: seemed a little pointless?
i thought the combination of influences was cool, i wish there had been more connections to the aestas album, but i thought it was a neat idea.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital galley in exchange for my honest review.

If you crossed Daisy Jones and the Six with a thriller, it would be The Villa. Equal parts Fleetwood Mac and Mary Shelley the summer she wrote Frankenstein.

Friends betray friends in this story inside a story, relationships crumble, lines are crossed, and people die. The current timeline mimics the past timeline, so if you’re thinking ahead, you can guess how this one ends.

I didn’t find myself meshing so much with the voice of the narrator but the story swept me away so quickly that it didn’t really matter. I like how it is told in two timelines and the twists that mimic each other in every chapter.

Best friends who have grown apart over the years go on an Italian vacation slash writing retreat to a villa with an interesting past. It was the location of a grisly, convoluted, Manson-like murder.

Emily writes cozy mysteries and is going through an ugly divorce and Chess is a self-help guru who writes the same book again and again and makes millions. The story of the murder takes them both under it’s spell and tensions arise as they realize that they are both writing about it’s events.

Can the vacation end without history repeating itself?

An unforgettable read that will make you lust for a vacation to a haunted villa in the Italian country side.

Overall, the book was just okay. I wish the house had more to do with the story (more than just a setting) and the characters were more interesting. The two story lines were just not engaging and it took half the book to get to a point where it was actually interesting. The confrontation and resolution between Emily and Chess was frustrating and unrealistic and left me not really liking either of them. Would you really forgive your friend for sleeping with your husband that quickly, regardless of the circumstance?
The most interesting part of the book would have to be the twist at the end when you find out what truly happens in the villa in 1974. Finding out that Mari didn’t really kill Pierce washed away the only part of the book that really seemed thrilling…not sure why the author took that turn.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Emily and Chess have been friends since they were children, but 30 years later, adulthood and divergent paths have kept them apart. Chess is a successful published self help author and has a glamorous life. Emily is a successful author in her own right, but her personal life has fallen apart due to illness and her husband leaving her. So when Chess suggests a summer trip to Italy to spend time together, Emily jumps at the chance. During their time in Italy, Emily pursues the history of their villa reigniting her passion for writing. She also evaluates her friendship with Chess and must face truths about her failed marriage.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced readers copy.
Wow. Great book. A page turner to the very end.
The perfect winter storm day book. Must Read.

Thank you to St. Martin’s press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my third Rachel Hawkins story. I’d rate this one somewhere in between Reckless Girls and The Wife Upstairs, which still takes the cake as my favorite of Hawkins’ novels.

I really enjoyed the dual timelines in The Villa but especially found myself drawn to Mari’s story set in the 70s. I did start to become more invested in Emily’s timeline about 60% of the way through.

Overall I did find the ending slightly anticlimactic and not extremely satisfying. There were parts I predicted but I didn’t have everything figured out. I did enjoy this story and would recommend it to thriller lovers, although I feel it may be more accurately a mystery than a thriller.

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

PUBLICATION DAY: January 3, 2023

Two lifelong best friends who have recently drifted apart are suddenly reunited when a villa in Italy becomes available for the summer. When Chess invites Emily to join her, Emily thinks it is just what she needs to recover from her recent illness and marriage problems. But there is sordid history of the villa, a rock star was murdered years earlier, and Emily becomes consumed with what really happened that night. Will the history of this home bring these friends closer together? Or tear them apart? And if it’s true that houses remember, what will that mean for them?

PROS and CONS:
Excellent, excellent, excellent! I loved the dual times of Emily and Chess/Mari, Pierce and Lara. The gothic setting, the rivalries (past and present), the horror novel, the dreams, the trauma - gosh it was good! I think this one is a winner (and I love anything set in Italy!)

READ IT?
If you’re looking for…a mystery with a bit of a twist, and love the past/present timeline type of story, then you’ll definitely love this one!

5 Stars

Rachel Williams is one of my favorite writers! This is my second book of hers that I've read and it was so good! I couldn't put it down! I was hooked immediately. It is such a good thriller. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this!

This was such an interesting and unique read. I really wasn't sure where this was going at first, but I found the dual timelines compelling and couldn't wait to unravel the mystery of The Villa. This was my first book by this author and I would definitely read more from them in the future.

Honestly really underwhelmed by this one. I disliked everyone, there were too many threads that felt rushed to conclusion. I have a lot of constructive criticism about the writing choices/voice. I will probably never think about this book again if I'm being honest. This was my first book by the author and I don't feel inspired to pick up another. There was truly nothing BAD about it, but I would give it a resounding meh.

A rockstar, an influencer, and a writer walk into an Italian villa …
This was one of the most unique stories I have ever read. Told in two timelines: London in the 70s and America presently. In one timeline, two childhood bestfriends - Chess and Emily an influencer and a “cozy thriller” writer go to Italy for a summer vacation. Emily is struggling since her husband has left her and decided that he is entitled to her income from her writing, and Chess is a “Girl scrub your hair” type blogger/influencer/self love preacher. In the other timeline, a complicated threesome - a bohemian singer/songwriter, his girlfriend Mari, and Mari’s stepsister Lara are invited to the same Italian villa to hangout with a rockstar wishing to escape his own family and time in the spotlight. Simultaneously a story of friendship, love, loss, and a murder mystery.

I would definitely call this an atmospheric thriller of sorts. We begin to learn about the Villa’s dark history through Emily’s research and reading about the murder in the 70s while Emily finally begins to come back into her independent power. I loved the theme of Lilith Rising in this book, and the strong women characters really stepping into their own and taking charge of their lives. I really think everyone could find a reason to love this book. I enjoyed the childhood friendship relationship of feeling such a strong kinship and obligation to connection with someone who may no longer have your best interests at heart.
I also believe this book is such a good representation of rockstar lifestyle and the depiction of staying in a house with a narcissist who believes the world revolves around him.

I could not put this one down.

The “twist” in the present timeline could be seen coming a mile away, but I believe it was perfect for the character development. I do wish Emily’s internal struggle had a more dramatic reason, but otherwise. A great book.

Emily needs an escape. Her best "frenemy" Chess offers her the perfect one to a beautiful Italian villa, that also just happens to have been the scene of a grisly murder in 1974. Bouncing between what happened in the 70s and present day, the Villa is a slow burn thriller/drama that touches on female friendship and relationships while always bracing yourself for the next twist.

****

Typically, I'm not one for bouncing around decades, but I loved both stories Hawkins told and felt they intertwined in a more believable way than other deus ex machina type of parallel plot lines.

I also love how complicated all of the relationships are. Each timeline has only a couple of people involved, so Hawkins can really dig into each one thoroughly for such a short book.

Your heart isn't racing throughout the whole book, as it takes some time to build up the setting and characters in each timeline. but that does not mean you aren't turning the pages rapidly. I raced through this is two days!

The big question: Did I like the final chapter?
As with other reviewers, I think there could have been another way to cast doubt on Emily and Chess' final decision. It is definitely not a cop out, and I like the implications that a story retold can have a lasting impact on the world in ways you may not see coming. And as Hawkins demonstrates throughout the novel, in a story, who can we ever really believe?

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this ARC with me in exchange my honest opinions.

This novel is buttressed by two timelines whose trajectories start to intertwine as the novel burns towards its climax. It's a deep character study investigating toxic relationships and what we owe ourselves.

*Thank you to the publisher and #NetGalley for the chance to review this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review*