"Houses remember". And so begins The Villa, a slow burn gothic thriller. And who doesn't love a good gothic thriller. I sure do. This gripping novel had many a twist and turn. The story is told over two timelines and events of the past and the present mirror each other. This was a well structured and executed novel. See synopsis from Amazon:

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.

Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.

As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.

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.

Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.

I wanted to read this because I'm a fan of the author's other two books and went into this almost blindly. Didn't really know that plot, just knew that I liked the author. It was cool because I was experiencing the book as it was happening with very little expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed this reading experience. It has many surprises and a sinister ending for one of the story lines that I did not see coming. I will say no more. Definitely worth your time. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. The Villa will be published on January 3, 2023.

“Houses remember.”

Two childhood best friends go to Italy for the summer of a lifetime! Sitting by the pool in a gorgeous villa, drinking wine, writing their new novels? What could be better? As Emily begins to explore Villa Aestas, she also begins to uncover the dark truth of what happened there in the 1970s. The narrative alternates between Emily (present day) and Mari (1970s), and each of their stories intertwine to create this bombshell of a murder mystery. This book was full of twists and turns, and kept me guessing until the very last page!

The only thing that bothered me was the formatting. Sometimes I couldn’t figure out who was telling the story, and news articles and podcast excerpts would randomly be put in the middle of a section. But that could just be the ARC, and all the kinks will be worked out before the actual publishing date!

Overall, this was a 4 star read for me, and I can’t wait to read more by Rachel Hawkins!

Grrreat book! Really, this was a wonderful book by an author I’ve come to depend on. Thank you NetGalley and Rachel Hawkins for the ARC and the opportunity to share my thoughts.

What could be better than a book within a book? In fact, two books within a book! Doubly good!

Emily, the author of cozy mysteries, happens to be stuck in a rut. Writer’s block and a vague illness brought on by her cheating ex-husband. Her lifelong friend Jessica, now calling herself Chess, (pretty hokey, huh?) a self-help guru and author of self-improvement books. Chess convinces Emily to join her at a villa in Italy for the summer. The hope is it will break Em’s writing slump. It does! It also opens the other two books - one featuring Mari and one she authored. Mari also stayed at the villa over the course of a 1974 summer.

This book is a web of deceit and betrayal in both the time periods. Just when I thought I had it figured out, it took a sharp left turn and left me scratching my head. I love it when a book so completely surprises me. That’s the icing on the cake! I hope you will have a slice.

The book kept my attention the whole time as I was desperate to find out what happened and it paid off. BUT the very end was unnecessary… the last huge reveal fell flat for me and didn’t really work in my opinion.

2.5 to 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Emily and Chess travel to Italy for the summer, with hopes of rekindling their friendship and working on their new books. They are staying at Villa Aestas, once known as Villa Rosato, a home with a history: an up-and-coming musician was murdered there when a group of artists stayed in the 70s. Emily becomes obsessed with the villa’s history, and begins uncovering secrets from the past… and the present. But at what cost?

I enjoy other books by this author (Reckless Girls and The Wife Upstairs) but overall this one was just okay for me. The Villa is a slow-burn, too slow at times. The reveals are kind of anti-climactic, although I did like one of the final twists at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

I read through this book so fast I went back to check if it was a full-length book! It's truly a story that keeps you glued to the page. The two interwoven storylines built and grew together in such an intricate and interesting way. I didn't find it as suspenseful as I expected it to be - it read to me more like a story of the relationship between the two writers and as so I was a bit caught off guard by the big turn in the book and wished I got to see more of that plot develop, but I still really enjoyed the story leading up until that point.

Rachel Hawkins has been kind of hit or miss for me. I enjoyed The Wife Upstairs but Reckless Girls was definitely not for me - so I had high hopes for The Villa tilting the scales more toward enjoyment. I’ve gathered Hawkins is the queen of a slow burn but it’s slightly painful when her past two books have taken me until about 70% in to have any idea where the story is actually going. I didn’t love the “sex, drugs and rock n’ roll but make it sinister” kind of Manson murder vibes going on in the past timeline but I definitely didn’t expect how things would play out in that very last, twisty chapter. I did however, enjoy the parallels between the two timelines and how Hawkins weaved the past and present together. Overall - I craved a little more dark from the Villa’s history and am still lukewarm with how I feel about how the present day characters ended their story. Definitely a quick read though, at under 300 pages, if you’re in the mood for mild suspense.

I received this ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

Rachel Hawkins did an amazing job again on a gripping thriller. I loved the layers of this book going back and forth in time and characters and the end left you wondering what was true and what was not.

I love an author who can intertwine two stories Specifically, during very different time periods. I could not put this book down. It kept me guessing until the very very end and I loved every second of it. Rachel Hawkins is genius at creating page turners. The characters were so different but so similar. Love love loved it

Emily’s life has fallen apart: her husband cheated on her and left, she’s been mysteriously sick for months and still doesn’t know what with, and she’s got nothing for her next book, despite a dwindling chequing account and constant nudges from her agent. Then her friend Chess has an idea: they should go to Italy for the summer. Chess is a famous self-help influencer, with multiple books and a million-dollar brand. They haven’t spent much time together in recent years, but why not? Emily decides to go for it.

The Villa Aestas, their summer retreat, has a spooky story: it was the site of a murder in the 1970s, after a groups of artists stayed there. Pierce Sheldon, a guitarist, was murdered by Johnnie, a pal of the star Noel Gordon, who invited them all. Writer Mari Godwick wrote her first famous novel there that summer, and Lara Larchmont, her stepsister, wrote her famous album Aestas, which ended up lending its name to the Villa. Emily becomes obsessed with their story, and starts to see a way back to writing.

The Villa is told in alternating sections between Mari’s summer at the villa and Emily and Chess’s. Clips from books, emails, podcasts and other pieces round out the story. Mari’s summer honestly sounded a bit like the summer Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein - but I did have a good time with this one. It had a number of little twists, and didn’t quite follow the path expected.

I loved this book! I was intrigued from the very beginning in both Emily and Mari’s stories. I think that the storytelling was great and even though one of the twists at the end seemed a little predictable, everything else at the end of the book had me saying “omg”. The only issue I have with the book is the last chapter leaving me a little confused. I’m not sure I fully understand the ending, so I’m looking forward to reading others’ thoughts on the ending. I would definitely give it a solid 4.5/5 stars and I’m excited to read more books from the author.

Secrets and scandal are the themes of this murder mystery thriller, The Villa, by Rachel Hawkins! Travel between the present and the mid-1970s with Chess and Emily as they uncover the hard truths behind the Villa Rosato, their rental in Italy, for a summer filled with writing and rekindling of friendship. The Villa is a perfect late summer/early fall thriller with a hint of intrigue, suspense, and spookiness. I enjoyed the alternating points of view between the time periods as the details of the mysteries surrounding The Villa begin to come into view for the reader. You’ll fall in love with the strong female characters of the present and want to fight for the female characters of the past as each individual embarks on a journey to find her artistic outlet and solve life’s struggles.

Once inseparable, but now in a frayed relationship, lifetime best friends Emily and Chess take a trip together to a villa in Italy to both work on their books and repair their friendship. Emily soon starts to research the history of the house and discovers the story of Mari, who while staying at the villa the 1970s wrote an incredibly famous horror novel. Mari was also there when the murder of a famous star happens. As Emily researches the story she begins to uncover the true events of that night as well as what kind of person Chess really is.

This book is definitely a slow-burn story. It was a little to slow for my taste. When revelations are revealed they are a little anti-climactic and I began to lose interest. The story flows between the points of view of Emily and Mari. I felt that with the villa being called a Murder House the reveals good have been a lot more intense and satisfying.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Rachel Hawkins for letting me read this ARC.

Emily is at a low point in her life. Her writing career has stalled, her husband has left her and she is still recovering from a mysterious illness that doctor’s had never figured out. So when her famous, self-help guru best friend invites her to spend the summer in Italy at a Villa with a sketchy past, she goes for a change of pace.

In the 70’s, Mari also stayed at the same villa with her step-sister, her boyfriend, a famous rock star and the rock star’s friend. Amid drinking, drugs and art creation, tragedy strikes. But what truly happened that night?

The Villa alternates between Emily’s and Mari’s perspectives. I was really invested up until about 80% through where I started to not really like where it was going. The twisty parts were not jaw dropping and many of the characters are just really unlikable. I was expecting a much different cause of Emily’s sickness and I found the character of her husband Matt a little confusing. Is he evil? Did he ever really love her?

Thank you to Net Galley for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After loving The Wife Upstairs and thinking Reckless Girls was just ok, I wasn’t sure what to expect with The Villa, but this is Hawkins’. best novel yet! Atmospheric, or possibly more accurately claustrophobic, a creative plot, and totally engrossing.

The book is set at a villa, but vacillates between 1974 and the events surrounding a murder, and present day, when two childhood best friends take a trip together and stay at the Villa. Both timelines unfold to reveal stories of toxic friendships and betrayal, and connect flawlessly. The ending was unexpected but not outlandish- the clues were there but they were cleverly spaced and included as seemingly casual details and didn’t stand out until the puzzle was completed, A fast, excellently written read- highly recommend!

Emily is a cozy mystery author who has been struggling with finishing her latest novel after splitting up with her husband. When her childhood BFF, Chess, suggests a summer get-away in Italy she decides it might do her some good. Emily soon learns that their rental, Villa Aestas in Orvieto, was once called Villa Rosato and was the location of a well-known murder in 1974. Emily begins researching the events of 1974 but as she gets closer to discovering the truth, tensions rise between her and Chess, and secrets from their past are soon revealed.

The Villa is a brilliant new mystery/thriller by author Rachel Hawkins. The story transitions between present day and events leading up to a murder in 1974. The reader soon discovers that their getaway local is said to be cursed and was home to an infamous murder. The events of 1974 are told by a young woman, Mari, who was the girlfriend of the victim. After the murder, Mari went on to write one of the greatest horror novels of all time Lilith Rising. Emily becomes obsessed with the murder and discovers clues in the novel that lead to uncovering Mari's hidden journal in the house. This is a fun double mystery in which Emily and Mari's lives seem to connect despite the years separating the events. The Villa was an engaging read that was difficult to put down including a fun twist I didn't see coming. A must read for 2023!

Rachel Hawkins is an automatic author for me. Any book by her I have to have. They NEVER disappoint. This was awesome! And the fact that it included Italy as the setting- sold even more. A must read!

I really loved the plot of the book and how it followed multiple sets of characters in the same location at different times. I loved the connections between all of them and how all of them were slightly different as well. I also really liked the characters and how even though there were a lot of them, they were well developed and easy to keep track of who was who. Only giving this 4/5 stars because I wasn't super surprised or wow'ed by the ending. There was a minor plot twist at the very end, but it did leave me wanting a bit more.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 288 / Genre: Psychological Thriller / Release Date: Jan. 3, 2023

From the Publisher’s Description: Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle--the birthplace of Frankenstein--The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is a keep-you-on-your-toes psychological thriller that swings between two sets of women and their experiences while staying at a beautiful villa in Italy. The futures of both sets of women are changed forever based on what went down in the villa.

This is the perfect read for when you’re in the mood for a really good mystery with a twisty ending and wish you were on vacation in Italy. It comes out Jan. 3, 2023, so be sure to add it to your #TBR!

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advance copy of this book. I loved it!

I loved this! “ The Villa” tells the story of two sets of women 50 years apart and how their lives forever changed while staying at a vacation home in Italy. I love the parallel stories, while similar play out very differently. Rachel Hawkins does a great job of creating complex characters quickly so you care about where the story is going from the onset. While there wasn’t some big twist I didn’t kind of see coming this was still an amazing book so well written you won’t be able to stop turning the page.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.