Just finished an ARC of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins (thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress)

This book had Daisy Jones and the Six meets murder in a creepy house vibes for me. It's a book within a book that weaves the events of the past with the present.

The villa doesn't play as important of a role as I thought it would. My horror loving ❤️ was probably hoping for more murder as I read it. It was also a bit of a slow burner.

However, if you like Hawkins' writing and her ability to twist at your gut even though you knew what was coming- look out for this book.

Overall, I love a quick, light, and fun murder read and this hit those marks for me.

I absolutely loved this book! I could not put it down so I read it in one sitting. It’s a book that literally has a little bit of everything.

Rachel Hawkins, award winning author of books such as "The Wife Upstairs", has crafted another compelling mystery in "The Villa." "The Villa" centers around two long time best friends, Emily and Chess, who have both become bestselling authors. When Emily is going through a hard time (medically and with her marriage falling apart), Chess convinces her to go to Italy with her and enjoy a few weeks at a luxurious villa. However, the villa has a history of its own: a gruesome murder occurred there decades ago. While in Italy, tension grows between Emily and Chess until finally something snaps. Will history repeat itself at the villa?

I enjoyed the first 75% of the book (and the side story as well!), however I don't believe that Emily would have continued being friends with Chess after discovering the truth, much less tie herself to her indefinitely. The ending was a little unrealistic to me, and wrapped up a bit too neatly. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

The Villa is set in Summer in Italy and follows a group of 5 in 1974 and two woman in the present. The story in 1974, builds to understanding how the summer came to a close and the death of one of the members, while the present time covers the history of the two women, their present careers/lives and what brought them here. The two become enthralled in the murder that occurred in the house in 1974.

Honestly, I can’t say that I was truly invested in any of the characters but the mystery behind both stories was captivating. Interestingly, in the beginning I was more interested in the present story about Chess and Emily and slowly made my way through the 1974 sections, but about half way through the book the tables turned especially when the climax of the book starts to unfold.

Also, based on the original description, I went into the book expecting a little more mystery and haunted house vibes, but really its just a location of unfortunate events. I was looking or expecting more haunted house versus a location where vacations ended poorly.

Despite my opinions above, I really did enjoy reading this book and I think its one of Rachel Hawkins best. Ultimately, there a couple points lacking in the story or setting and it fell a little flat during the climax and outcome of the present scenario; however, it does end with a pretty interesting twist that bumped up my overall rating.

Houses remember. What a line! This was my first Rachel Hawkins book and it won’t be my last! I’m not usually a fan of dual timelines but this book kept me on the edge of my seat and awake past my bedtime.

OMG THIS BOOK!!!!! Houses Remember.....The twist after twist that didn't let me put this one down!!!! I finished it and am still thinking about it and telling EVERYONE! It was an amazing book. This book did not disappoint and I felt like just when I thought I had it figured out.....another twist, more is revealed and your mind is left spinning but then more is revealed and you're like WHAT???!!! I liked the correlation between Mari and Emily, Lara and Chess and even Pierce and Matt. I'm not going to give any spoilers so GO BUY THIS when it comes out!!!

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is a gothic thriller. Emily and her best friend since childhood, Chess are spending the summer in Italy in a famous villa. Famous because of a horrible murder that took place there in the seventies. The books is told in the present time and the past when the murder took place. I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down still I finished it. Thanks Netgalley for this Arc.

Rachel Hawkins' books are not thrillers and for some reason I always think they will be! The Villa is similiar to her other books - well written, atmospheric, too many characters and intriguing cover. Other than that her books seem to be the same type trope over and over with a few minor details changed. Wasn't a big fan of this one - actually skimmed it, sorry to say.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and Rachel Hawkins for this ARC of The Villa!

This story was absolutely gorgeous. A perfect definition of summer gothic. I loved the descriptions of the food, wine, and scenery!
The overall plot was very intriguing. However, I found that, in the beginning, I wasn't a fan of the flashback sections. It was hard for me to keep all the characters straight in the flashbacks, but that issue cleared up as the story progressed. With that being said, the story was a bit slow at times. The action didn't start until about 60% but continued to swell until the end. Pretty on par for a gothic story.
I wish things would have ended differently with Emily and Chess; regardless of my personal opinions, their storyline wrapped neatly enough. On the other hand, I LOVED the ending of Mari's story. It really was lovely. I have such a soft spot for any kind of story about writers.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this, Rachel Hawkins's newest novel. This was by far my favorite of hers. There are two story lines intertwined - the present day story of two friends and writers who spend a summer at an Italian villa and the mysterious events of a group of friends who spend a summer at the same villa in the 70s. There's a lot going on as the suspense slowly builds: secrets, jealousy, love, heartbreak, friendship, and trust. I liked the characters - all were well developed and interesting. The story was smart and well paced; I even thought for sure I had one detail figured out but I was wrong. All around, a fun great story and quick read!

The Villa is a dual timeline book. The present timeline follows two women who have been BFFs since they were kids. Now adults, they take a summer girls trip to Italy and stay in a villa in Orvieto. The second timeline, based in 1974, follows a group of friends staying at the same villa and may explain why their stay ended with murder.
This book starts out as a very slow burn. I kept wondering when something was going to happen especially when I realized I was halfway through the book and not all that much was going on. And yet I felt invested in the story and kept hoping it was going to pay off in the end.
There were three main twists, two of which I saw coming. The one at the very end I did not realize was going to happen and yet I was slightly disappointed with it.
In my opinion, the 1974 timeline completely made sense. The how and why and whodunit made sense. The present timeline made no sense whatsoever. You can’t go from not trusting someone at all, to finding out they’ve screwed you, to trusting them so completely you’ve now hitched your wagon to them permanently. Also, I hate it when books use legalities to scare someone. The legal issues that the main character, Emily, had, while very real, would not have ended up being as bad as she was imagining. The threats made by the other party were completely bogus, no judge would have ordered her to do those things, therefore rendering that whole part of the story senseless.
All said and done, I’ve given the book 3 stars. I was entertained, it kept me interested but fell short of what I was hoping and wanting it to be. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s press for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the setting of this- a villa in the Italian countryside. The cover is stunning and I also liked the dual timeline story- it has the present and also diary entries about the past of the “murder house.” As a true crime lover, I was really interested in learning more about the sordid history of the villa. I also really liked the theme of female friendship/competition.

I did feel like the author perhaps was trying to do a little too much and that some of the final twists/reveals might not have been necessary, and I also felt like some plot points needed more details. These didn’t take away much from my enjoyment though.

Overall, I enjoyed this one! It’s a perfect read if you want a dreamy Italian setting. I also really like fiction books with characters that are writing a book/are authors.

⚠️: infidelity, suicide, murder, child death, drug abuse, adult/minor relationship

Rachel Hawkins' new book is a combination of two stories. In the present day, Chess, a popular self-help author, and Emily, a cozy mystery author struggling to finish her next book, travel to an Italian villa for the summer to work on their books. At that same villa in the 1970s, a notorious murder happened, and we follow that summer from the perspective of one of the two women who found untold success from the works they created after that summer.

I liked this book more than Hawkins' previous books. She does a good job of balancing the two timelines and emphasizing the complex relationship between the central women in each timeline. The book also has transcripts and articles between the chapters that I found very enjoyable. The book was a quick read, and I was surprised at how quickly I got through it. The ending was well-done, if not that surprising. Hawkins wrote an easy to read thriller about relationships and authorship that you will enjoy if you have enjoyed her past works.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

What I liked:

Quick read
Quick chapter
Easy writing
The storyline of Emily & Chess
Dual Periods flipping back And forth
The mystery of how both are connected
Tuscany 😍 made me feel like I was trAvelling

What I didn’t like

(Spoilers in part)
The gaslighting by Chess over what happened with Emily’s husband
The competition that I hate within friends but makes for a lot of thrillers (this isn’t a dislike. More a 🫤 I liked it and disliked it)
The storyline of Mari & Pierce

3.5 stars because I did enjoy it. Totally binged it but parts did feel a little 🫤. But I think I would recommend to certain readers.

Doesn’t matter because I’ll still buy what she writes even if I didn’t love this one. She’s a total author buy, thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy in return for an honest review

There are two things that Rachel Hawkins does best: 1) makes her characters as unlikable as possible lol, and 2) she creates fast paced stories that are easy to get through. Are they the best thriller books I’ve ever read? No, but the entertainment factor, particularly in this one, is amazing.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t going to read this one because I hadn’t thought her last two books were all that special. However, this one has something different.

Two friends go to Villa Aestas to work on their respective writings, it mirrors two sisters who go to the then Villa Rosato. The 70s storyline was more interesting to me because it dealt with music, horror, and murder. But the present day storyline with Chess and Emily was EVERYTHING at the end. I love how their experiences mirrored that of Mari and Lara.

The VERY ending didn’t work for me and I felt that the Villa itself wasn’t much of a spooky presence and those are the only reasons why this isn’t receiving 5 stars. Otherwise, I think the mystery was exciting to unravel and the unlikability of the characters kept you on the edge of your seat.

This book comes out January 3, 2023 so keep an eye out for this summery read this winter! Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC of The Villa! 🍋

The Villa had will have you captivated from the first chapter. It's rare that I"m equally interested in both sides of a dual timeline, but these characters pull you in and make you care about their lives and choices. Just enough suspense and a hint of creepiness made this one a winner for me.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a little slow at times with long chapters but I love that it was inspired by a real life event. There’s complex female relationship and a creepy house. It’s told from multiple POVs and dual timelines. I enjoyed the snippets of podcasts/ news articles. It was more of a lighter read and not as creepy as I was anticipating. I loved the unexpected ending.
It’s Daisy Jones and the Six meets Verity.

3.5 stars

Struggling with her unexpected divorce and her writer's block for the next installment in her cozy mystery series, Emily is hesitant to reconnect with her childhood best friend, the social media advice guru Chess Chandler. But when Chess invites her on a girl's trip to a gorgeous villa in Italy, she can't say no - possibly because it was the site of a gruesome murder amongst a group of rock stars in the 70s. The longer she stays, the more things between her and Chess become tense; the more she learns about the women who stayed there during the murders, the more she can't help but write...

This was such a fun multi-perspective mystery/thriller. Half of the time, we're following Emily as she's dealing with the pressures of her own life while on a trip with her friend, and the other half of the time, we're following the narrative of one of the women who was at the villa at the time of the murders: Mari, who wrote one of the most iconic horrors of all time before all but disappearing. The thing is, that novel describes a girl murdering her whole family, which some people took as a hint at what really happened at the villa. It was so cool to see these two interwoven narratives, and I thought the pacing was balanced well between the stories. I was so engrossed in Emily's playing detective with Mari's story that I couldn't put this down. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, even if there wasn't as unexpected of a payoff as I was hoping. The flipping between stories and the ending that ran out of steam reminded me of another engrossing thriller I enjoyed, Plain Bad Heroines. I just wish that this had done something crazier at the end to really seal the deal.

Overall, if you enjoyed Plain Bad Heroines or this author's previous thriller titles, I think you'll be in for a good time with this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and MacMillan for this ebook ARC.

Rachel Hawkins has a way with making old stories new again. In The Villa, she does that in the book, retelling an old story with a new voice as authors Emily and Chess. I found myself anticipating where the story would go, and being surprised by small curve balls (and then a BIG one). It was a lovely, suspenseful story of friendship, family, and the lengths we go to protect ourselves.

As bookstagrammers, we are always on the lookout for our next great suspense novel, so I am putting The Villa by Rachel Hawkins on your radar!!

Houses Remember... 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 brings you gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history (!!)

Reasons to read this book:
+ Fast-paced
+ Dual timelines
+ Set in Italy
+ Daisy Jones rockstar vibes
+ Umm, have you seen the cover?!

The novel jumps between Em, a present day writer, and Mari, a writer in the 70s, as they spend time at the same Italian Villa. I don't want to give much away but the dual stories were incredibly captivating, Mari's being my favourite. Both timelines mirrored complex relationships- especially complex female relationships- and the way Em and Mari were tied together was done in a very smart way. I kind of guessed part of the ending but nowhere near all of it so the twists did make for a delicious surprise.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for eARC in exchange for my honest review. Keep this one on your radar for Jan 2023!!