I feel like the first thing I want to say is “ick!!!” but in a good way 😂

There were so many twists and turns, not only in the main story but also in the story within the story. There would be a plot twist I would see coming and then at the last minute another, more startling plot twist would happen at the same time. Twists! And! Turns!

For almost as long as they can remember, Emily and Chess have been best friends. For so long, in fact, that they knew each other before they became best-selling authors of very different kinds of books, and before they became the women they really are behind them.

But life is busy and messy and complicated, so when Chess invites Emily to stay at an Italian villa for the summer, things don’t look like they could be any more perfect.

When they arrive, however, Emily begins immediately digging into the history of the Villa - where, decades prior, a clash between five aspiring artists of different forms lead to one of their deaths.

But the further into the twisted history Emily digs, the more complex it seems to be. And while nobody from that fateful summer has ever told the full story of what happened that night, the Villa remembers. And when some of Emily’s experiences begin to parallel those of the ones who came before her, it looks like history may repeat itself. And soon.

Wow this was a mind trip for sure! Absolutely fantastic! This is the best I've read from Rachel Hawkins for sure. You think you know, and then, wow, man that ending! The writing really made me feel for Mari, Lara, and Emma. This was a perfect read for right before Halloween season
Thank you for allowing me to read this through NetGalley.

Thank you Netgalley & publisher for this e arc of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins .
This is a suspense-thriller novel. 3-4*.
Synopsis: " As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend. .. As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history (dual time-line),... Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends."
3 things I liked:
1. The genre
2. 1/2 of the story line; I rarely like a dual as I always like one half more
3. Gothic suspense Italian villa was a unique setting for a novel
3 things I disliked:
1. The pace- to slow for me, skipped much of the middle
2. I do not like a friend- enemies start- it is not relatable
3. I did not connect with the MCs in either timeline
I was glad to read this one.

Houses remember.

This statement which is used various times through the book holds such deep meaning. Introducing the book with this line, gives the reader the opportunity to think about what it means, what will happen and how will it end? As such, it immediately makes the the book a page turner.

With the effortless back and forth between past and present, the reader is taken on a journey to actually witness what the house will in fact remember. The setting being in no other picturesque backdrop, Italy, you think what can go wrong with a group of friends escaping to a villa as a retreat. Sure a little partying, some recklessness and a whole lot of “working” should be no harm.

However as the details unfold while Em is researching/writing her next book we see that it was not just harmless play. As the story escalates we see how each character struggles with their personal life and career.

The parallel between worlds goes to show that deep down when angered and hurt, people will do things you never saw coming.

The way Rachel Hawkins crafted the present story while diving into the past through the current day characters was genius. You grew attached to all the characters in both storylines and rooted for them all no matter their actions (good or bad). The twisted ending wrapped up the book in a perfect bow leaving the reader jaw dropped.

A special thank you to St. Martins Press for the early release copy.

In The Villa, we are presented with a dual time line exploration of friendship, love, and hate, set within the same Italian Villa in a small town called Orvieto.

Emily and Jessica "Chess" are on again-off again BFFS, renting the Italian Villa Aestas for the summer in 2022, seeking to reconnect and find inspiration for their books, as they are both writers.

Mari is staying in the villa in the summer of 1974 with her wannabe rockstar boyfriend Pierce, her stepsister Lara, legitimate rockstar Noel Gordan and his drug dealer Johnnie. Things go awry, tensions come to a head and someone ends up murdered, remaking the villa into a "Murder House".

The eponymous Villa in this novel is a cozy and cheery place, certainly not how one would imagine a murder house. The setting does not lend any tension to the book itself, and the first 35% percent or so presents and women's fiction with friendship and relationship drama.

Obviously we know all is not as it seems in 1974. We know someone ends up dead at the end of the summer in Mario's time line, and the victim is revealed fairly early on, with this book building up to how that person is killed, and why. In the modern time line, Emily becomes obsessed with the novel Mari published after that summer, noted some similarities to the villa and becomes wrapped up in a book about that doomed summer.

All is not as it seems between Emily and Chess, with tensions between them coming to a head as well. I admit the plot I suspected in my own head as I was reading was off, but I felt like there was unexplored potential there that just dropped off.

All in all. I enjoyed Mario's story and felt that Emily's time line has potential but the ending was fairly lackluster. It felt like the author ran out of steam and decided to just wrap it up, very quickly. The novel does read quickly and I enjoyed it overall, so 3 stars to this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

I am a fan of this author but found this book to be slow. But I think it was the premise itself that did not entice. .

A murder house? I just cannot get with this storyline, it just doesn’t work for me as I find it so unbelievable. The execution of this was subpar and I wasn’t invested in the dual timelines as I felt the 1974 one dragged.

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
4 Stars
The Villa is another mystery/thriller by the always imaginative Rachel Hawkins. This time, she takes us to Italy where a villa with a tragic past is available to rent. It seems like the perfect place for Emily to reconnect with her best friend, Chess, as Emily is struggling with a mysterious illness, problems at work, and a nasty divorce. As Emily begins digging into the history of the house, she also learns things about her present that threaten to derail her life even more.
Told across two timelines, The Villa is filled enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. I wish the setting had been fleshed out some more (the book is named in its honor, after all) and I wish we had answers to some questions, such as Emily’s illness and where were those mysterious pages hidden? However, I very much enjoyed the feminist aspects of this book. I recommend this book to anyone who has enjoyed the author’s books before and others who like mysteries and thrillers. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my review.

I usually love Rachel Hawkins books, in fact the last two were 5 star reads for me. Unfortunately, this one was extremely slow and I just couldn’t get into the stories or the characters, perhaps it was the rock n roll I’ve that turned me off, but it I had to DNF this one about half-way through.

👍 What I liked: This was a brilliantly-written novel, and an excellent piece of work by Hawkins! I enjoyed the dual timelines, the story-within-a-story, and how in the end, everything just starts to come together and make sense, making the reader go "Oooh!". The ending was completely shocking and unexpected, as should any good murder-mystery novel!

👎 What I didn't like: The story did start a bit slowly in my opinion. I wasn't immediately hooked nor convinced about this book. Some chapters were rather long, and some transitions between timelines were choppy and a bit confusing, and should have had chapters of their own. However, I'm glad I stuck it through, and the ending is what made me rate this book with 4 stars instead of three!

TWs: maternal death, loss of a child, homicide (may not be an exhaustive list)

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's press for my free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was good - though to call it a thriller is a bit of a misnomer. It was more of a drama surrounding a mystery murder. I thought the ending was pretty obvious the whole time, but she works hard to make even the obvious a bit surprising and it works.

The Villa, Rachel Hawkin's latest twisty-turney thriller, is the type of book that gets under your skin and hides out in your soul for hours after reading the last page. I found myself spellbound by every single character and racing through the book to see what would happen next. While reading, I was fully engaged and hooked from the beginning, The time-hop added so much depth to the storyline and each character (present and past) was vital to the flow and growth of the mystery. I was entertained, intrigued and unbelievably gripped throughout. Now to check out other Rachel Hawkins books and wait patiently for this one to hit bookstores.

Rachel Hawkins is a thriller queen. I loved the tie in between the past and present. I didn't love it quite as much as I loved Reckless Girls, but a great read nonetheless.

Wow! Another great book. At first, The book dragged a little bit. I didn’t love the pastime parts but it got better and wow! The end had multiple CRAZY twists. The last chapter I had to go back and reread. It changed the entire book. Rachel Hawkins has done it again!

Excellent storytelling once again by Rachel Hawkins! This book had me turning pages so quick just to see what would happen next. The twists were perfect, I never saw them coming. Awesome book, really enjoyed.

This one was just okay for me. I enjoyed it, but found it to be predictable and very slow at times. I also found a couple characters very unlikable.

This story didn't quite hit the mark for me. The characters were mostly very unlikable. Emma was a boring. Chess was too predictable. The characters from the 1970's were all sort of hopeless rockstars. I did like Mari. She had some redeemable qualities.

I originally enjoyed the story. However, the middle dragged on longer than I would have liked. The line "Houses remember" really stuck with me and could have been used to make the book creepier. It was difficult to determine the pieces of the story from the 1970’s that were written and what actually happened.

Overall, I would still read another book by this author and I did enjoy the story. There were just a few things lacking in the story and I would have liked some stronger characters. The rockstar characters and the villa setting were both fun and a neat aspect of the story.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins.

if you’re looking for a book that you can read in a day - this is it! it’s a fast-paced thriller that had jaw-dropping moments throughout, and it’s the type of book that had me thinking about it for days afterwards.

told across dual timelines, the villa brings in aspects from the sex, drugs, and rock + roll of the 70s along with the present day. the character development was incredible and captured the aspects of friendship, betrayal, and trust SO well. I found myself both rooting for and against certain characters, and I was enthralled as the story unfolded in both the past and present timelines.

with multiple storylines [including the book excerpts + podcast transcripts] I did find that it was a bit confusing at first, but it ends up weaving everything together in a way that I didn’t see coming. overall, it was a page-turning thriller that I couldn’t put down!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy. I typically really enjoy Rachel Hawkins books but this one was a little slow and hard to get into at the beginning. It was an enjoyable read but not my favorite of her books.

1974- a grisly murder is committed at Villa Rosato. In the modern day, Emily and her best friend Chess decamp to the same villa for a break from their lives. But when they discover the secrets of the villa and the secrets they are holding from each other, will the sinister past of the villa be replicated?


I liked this book (a 3 is a like in my book). This book had interesting twists and turns. While some you could see coming a mile away, other ones were a surprise which was appreciated. Ultimately this story is about the bond between women and what they can create. Appreciated the dual timeline as well and the dual vantage points between Emily in the present and Mari in the past.

Bottom line: a fast read with twists that’s perfect for mystery fans