I thought this book was dull and predictable. The middle dragged on, and I wasn’t really interested in any of the characters.

I have mixed feeling on The Villa. I absolutely hated Chess and so the timeline with Chess and Emily was not my favorite. I really liked Mari and Lara’s story from the 70’s spending the summer in the Italian Villa. I almost gave this 4 stars but the ending was so obvious that it ruined the mystery of the whole novel. It was a fun summer read and I will read more from this author, but this one was not my favorite from her.

Houses remember.

One beautiful villa in Italy, two stories, never a dull moment. The Villa is fast paced with a few twists that I did not see coming. The detailed description of Orvieto makes me want to jump on a plane to Italy.

Rachel Hawkins never disappoints. The Villa is a must read for fans of this genre.

Thank you to Net Galley, St. Martin’s Press and Rachel Hawkins for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks Netgalley, St Martin's and Rachel Hawkins.

This was such a slow burn read for me. Slow start then would actually get interesting then die back down. It was like riding the kiddy roller coaster at a state fair. I wanted more suspense between the two stories told. I had guessed what was gonna happen with Chess and Em. Mari's story, when getting the history of the Villa where Chess and Em are staying, was a bit more interesting than what was going on with Chess and Em.

There were so many ways this book could have gone when you're reading it, but how it ends it's still a bit satisfying.

I received this ARC from NetGalley, all thoughts are my own.

I was pretty excited to get another Rachel Hawkins book just in time for my vacation. This was a nice, fast-paced read, but nothing really stuck for me.

It may have just been the e-copy I received, but the jumps between perspectives and story mediums was really disorienting for me. This may be improved for the finished released or physical copy.

I loved the idea of the book and I thought it was done well
I didnt love how both stories unfolded I thought It was more sinister

I tried a few times to get into this, but I found it boring and the fact that the chapters were long didn't help. I kept picking it up though and once I got on a roll I could not stop. The characters were three-dimensional, and the present day story with Em and Chess and the past story with Mari and Lara were equally fantastic. The setting was obviously great. All of these things come together to make a solid book with lots of betrayal, deceit, passion and tragedy. I'm so happy I didn't give up on it. I really, really enjoyed it.

Struggling writer Emily hopes a summer trip with her lifelong best friend will be exactly what she needs to get her life back on track. Six weeks at a beautiful villa in the Italian countryside far from her messy divorce and recent health issues. She soon discovers the house has a tragic past, a murder committed in 1974 that took the life of one person while spurring the creative success of two others. Can Emily find her answers there, in that dark history?
This twisty, atmospheric dual timeline thriller does a wonderful job examining relationships and the act of creation. The characters are three dimensional, there were great twists and the setting was breathtaking in it's beauty, a stark contrast to the ugliness taking place there.

oh wow that is an intricate story that had me totally engrossed from the start. Switching between different viewpoints kept me intrigued as the plot gradually deepened and twisted.

i have tried reviewing in goodreads but it cannot be accessed yet.

I love Rachel Hawkins and everything she writes! The Villa was no different. The writing flows so well, the story was suspenseful and entertaining. I really loved this book! It was definitely be another hit.

The Villa came out of the gate strong! The ending, however, left me with a lot of open ended or just flat unanswered questions. I will have to give absolute props for the character development, though! This was very fast paced and a pretty quick and easy read. Overall, I felt the book was pretty middle of the road compared to other mystery/thrillers out there- and especially compared to Rachel Hawkin's other writing. If you are familiar with her work, I would rate this title somewhere in between The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review.

Houses remember......

What a perfect line to interweave two stories together. It had me invested from the very beginning. This was a definite page burner, gripping from start to finish. I oftentimes found myself thinking about the story when I put it down and I love that in a book! I could understand how Em was relatable to Mari and Chess to Lara, these characters were crafted with such feeling to one another that it gave the story even more depth and intrigue. The story within a story was a great touch and made it even better than expected! For me, it lost a star because I would've loved to have more of an atmospheric description than a detailed description of the love scenes, otherwise it was an awesome book that I'll be handing out to everybody who loves mystery and thrillers alike. Solid read to immerse yourself in!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

I absolutely loved this book! It was more of a slow burn than a fast-paced thriller, but the characters and storyline were interesting enough that I read the book in only 2 days! I love the parallels between the dual-timelines and how the love triangles reflected one another in so many ways. Also- the vibes of the Italian villa and the 70s-era musicians are IMMACULATE.

I also love how Chess and Emily ~allegedly~ killing Matt coincided with their (believed) assumption that they were echoing what happened in the villa 50 years before. However, based on that 1993 chapter, Mari was not actually the one to kill Pierce. The last chapter was a Verity-like plot twist where the whole reality of the book was turned on its head! But was that 1993-written last chapter kept from Emily? It was my understanding that Emily was aware of the 1993 chapter and did not tell Chess, because she wanted to convince Chess to help her kill Matt. But at the same time-- did Emily even know about the 19/93 chapter??? Was it even included in the journal found in the villa, or was that chapter only known by the reader? I believe that this book is going to be a hit - readers will be debating about it for years. I have already ranted about the ending to my husband for over an hour.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Rachel Hawkins for the ARC! I had never read Rachel Hawkins before, but I am now a fan for sure!

This is my favorite of Hawkin's novels! I lived for the gothic vibes and nothing makes me love a book more than a story in a story. The twists were fantastic and I can't wait to have this beautiful cover on my shelves. I am also a huge fan of the Ex Hex stories and I loved to see more of the spooky gothic vibes from this autobuy author!

4.5 stars
I've been a HUGE fan of Rachel Hawkins since The Wife Upstairs, and once again, this did not disappoint. I loved the story and the multiple POVs. It's hard to adequately write a review without giving too much away so I will just say this - OMG THE ENDING! The book was well-crafted and interesting, and I flew through it in less than a day. I could not put it down. I'm still thinking about it 2 days later, so that tells you something.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC!

I have read other books by this author and wasn't impressed but this book I think is her best so far. It has a lot more layers than her others and they story is much more evolved. The characters were a little one dimensional but still believable. Also, the cover is beautiful! .

I really enjoyed this one. I appreciated the different perspectives and loved the setting in Italy even though there wasn’t a lot of focus on the villa itself. The modern day storyline definitely took a while to build up but I got into it more at the end as it picked up but I didn’t love Chess and Emily’s relationship. I enjoyed Mari’s story significantly more but did find it a bit difficult to follow as the story jumped from Mari’s timeline back to Emily’s. Overall, I enjoyed the book!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Rachel Hawkins and NetGalley for this ARC!

***3.75***

I would like to start off that I absolutely love all things Rachel Hawkins. That obsession started back in high school when I read the Hex Hall series. I will die on the hill of saying that it was one of the best series ever, no one can change my mind. The cover is beautiful! The plot intriguing!

However, this one was very hard for me to get into. It wasn’t until about the 40%-50% mark that I was able to breeze through it.

The Villa follows two different story lines 50 years apart. Emily and her best friend Jessica “Chess” in current day. They are both authors. Chess mainly focuses on non-fiction self help books and has become very successful. While Emily has focused on fiction mystery novels and her life is spiraling out of control. Her career is on the edge, her marriage is in shambles, she is very sick, etc. Chess decides they should take a vacation to Italy and visit a famous Villa where a murder occurred 50 years ago.

In the 1970s there is Mari and her stepsister Lara, both 19. Mari is dating a musician Pierce Sheldon. Lara gets involved with a famous musician Noel Gordon and they all go to the Villa - Rosato for the summer in Italy with Noel’s friend Johnnie. With the theme of sex, love, and rock and roll, I found this time line much more like-able and interesting than Emily and Chess.

I’ll start off with stating that Chess had to be one of the most ANNOYING characters I have ever read in a book. From her preppy attitude at all times, to being condescending to Emily, trying to steal Emily’s ideas, and let’s not forget the whole affair with Emily’s husband that she tried to claim she did to help Emily realize he was making her sick?? Like Chess are you okay in the head?? No I don’t think so. You might need to read your own self help books for advice. Emily is not much more like-able. But the story is told from her point of view so her inner monologue is much better than her portrayal of Chess.

Mari and Lara’s timeline was much more like-able and interesting being that it followed the 70s sex, love and rock and roll vibes. Noel was by far my favorite character because he was unapologetically himself. While Mari was too scared to be her true self because of pierce and she was still having a hard time with the death of their child. Meanwhile Pierce married to a whole other woman that he just walked out on to be with Mari. Lara is a whiner. Nothing ever goes her way and she complains about it all. Everyone loves Mari. No one loves her. However, I am very proud of her taking time to develop her own music and not just be a Groupie to Noel. Johnnie could have been much more developed and like-able. I feel like he was thrown in there to blame the murder on tbh. I would have liked to see him and Mari get together and that be the reason Pierce was murdered. Not over Lara’s pregnancy might being Pierce’s vs Noel’s.

Overall. I liked the addition of podcasts, news articles, etc at the end of the chapters. But I would have preferred that the POVs be separated by chapters. Mari and her time line in one chapter and Emily and her timeline in another chapter.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley for giving me this advanced opportunity!

Really liked this book! Great pace and enjoyed the dual timelines. And had twists that I didn’t see coming! Would have liked more unpacking of Chess and Em at the end.


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4908940254

Love Rachel Hawkins and her 3rd book didn't dissappoint! Perfect getaway or vacation read. Loved the setting and characters and the twists, good lord!! So good! Highly recommend! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC