4.5 stars rounded up. I loved the dual story/timelines and the switch from Emily's story to newspaper articles, podcast transcript, and Mari's diary really helped make this a fast paced mystery/thriller for me. The Villa felt immersive and kept my attention the whole way through. While I did see many plot points/twists coming, I definitely did not anticipate the ending. I loved this book and can't wait to see what Rachel Hawkins writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really struggled to get into this book. I love the chapter about Emily and Chess but found myself not caring about Mari. The chapters were so drawn out and I quickly lost interest. I have really love Rachel Hawkins books in the past but this one did not draw me in.

This book very much so reads like a Rachel Hawkins thriller — and with that comes the good and the bad. There is that trademark relatable, only partially likeable narrator that drives the story forth and makes the book a unique kind of thriller for the millennial audience. However, some of the misses of Hawkins’ previous books recur in this one as well, mainly an unfulfilling ending (for the modern day timeline) that is clearly intending to be feminist but instead feels ungratifying, taints parts of the book in hindsight, and seems anything but empowering to the female main character.
This book features a modern day timeline as well as a past timeline. For me the past timeline was much stronger and more engrossing, and was a really fascinating reimagining of already interesting historical events. The parallels between the two timelines are clear, notably with Lara and Chess acting as mirrors of eachother. However, while Lara still managed to be realistically flawed and sympathetic, for me Chess just read as one-dimensional and frustrating, all the more so when there was no real resolution for her actions.
Many of the twists were predictable but the twist of the past timeline still made it a shocking and fascinating read, even if the modern timeline created more frustration than it did empowering, as it appears was the author’s intention.

Oh my gosh. I just finished this and my head is still spinning. There were so many twists and turns, and Rachel Hawkins covered every scope of emotion possible in one book. One I started, I couldn’t stop!

“Houses remember” Emma is a cozy mystery writer who is behind on her latest book. She can’t write the latest in the series because the MMC is as based on her husband, who just happened to leave her (while she was extremely sick, no less) She hears from her best friend from 4th grade, Chess, who happens to be a super famous self help guru now. Chess suggests they go off to Italy and stay in an amazing Villa, her treat.

As Emma discovers herself there, she also starts to be pulled in a new direction by the history of the house. In the 70’s it was the scene of a terrible tragedy, and Emma is hooked on trying to figure out what really happened. She is writing again, but definitely not what she has been. It is told in two timelines, the first from the 1970s, and the second present day. They glide along through the summer, 1970s full of drugs, sex, rock n roll, and a murder while the present day is full of mystery, anger, and betrayal. Rachel Hawkins used the two timelines brilliantly, and had me staying up to finish it.

Great story! Appreciate the two intertwining stories that come to a surprising and satisfying conclusion! Only my second Rachel Hawkins but will read the rest. Wonderful Italian setting and solid character development. Must read'

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this book! For a thriller I expected something a little more immersed in a current mystery so I was surprised to realize that the plot focuses more on unearthing a past mystery and connecting it to creative works of art; but I found this idea to be much more refreshing and inspiring than what I was originally expecting. The pace was also slower than I expected for a thriller, but it didn’t bother me because I felt the pace worked fell with the setting being an Italian villa, in the sense that a summer morning on a vacation can be a relaxed slow burn.

The characters weren’t necessarily likable (god I hated Chess) but relatable nonetheless. I especially loooved the parallel timelines (I am such a sucker for books that do this). There were a lot of similarities and convergences between Mari and Emily and it was really fascinating to volley their perspectives back and forth, but to also see Emily’s perspective in relation to Mari’s. The media snippets were also fascinating and really reminiscent of TJR’s books, but I enjoyed them in this book more than I did in TJR’s..

A really quick read that also explores the idea of what it means to support women’s independence and creativity when that creativity stems directly from something so brutal and morally debatable (but nonetheless supporting the women anyway because all the men in this book were awful). The back to back twists near the end genuinely surprised me and I wickedly love the idea of Emily believing she discovered the truth of what happened that night, when really the truth died along with everyone in that house. 4.5 stars rounded to 5 because why not!

The Villa was an excellent captivating read. I loved everything from the creepy setting to the flashbacks into the past and the excerpts of “Lilith Rising.” The writing was excellent and the characters were fascinating. Rachel Hawkins is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and I can’t wait to read more from her.

"Houses Remember"

Love this author. Loved the cover.

The storyline was intriguing and I did enjoy reading it. But the amount of characters and different time lines kept me from not fully embracing either storyline fully. The characters were dynamic and the setting inspiring-I wanted more of the actual setting. It was an interesting mystery that combined toxic friendships and a gothic setting.

This is not my favorite of her books, but overall I enjoyed it and will read her others. She is a great writer.

Oh holy shit - this book!! The Villa pulled me in immediately, demanding my attention and time due to the writing and the terrific pacing of the story.

This is two stories in one book, a dual timeline and both timelines are equally compelling. I am notoriously picky when it comes to books like this, and I so very greatly enjoyed my reading of this that I am wholeheartedly recommending it, and hoping you like it as much as I did. Because, wow - I didn’t want to stop reading this one and kept thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it. I finished this over a weekend and really just can’t say enough about it. It was a seriously fun domestic drama.

Okay, Em and Chess’s ending? It fell a bit flat for me, which was a little disappointing but I stand by my absolute recommendation of this one because it’s compulsively readable.

Another great beach read this summer! It follows the story of Emily, a writer, who, after months of illness and in the midst of a divorce, joins her best friend Chess in Italy for a summer at Villa Aestas. The story alternates between her story and that of Mari’s, who vacationed in the same villa in the 1970s, with her musician boyfriend and her stepsister, as guest of a famous rockstar.

Emily is consumed by Mari’s story, and the wild summer that led to murder. She is soon inspired by the lurid events and as she delves deeper into the mysteries held by the villa,, she comes to not only understand its history, but also, the betrayals which have taken over her own life..

A compelling read, although with a bit of a disappointing ending as it speeds to a wild conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

I enjoyed the dual timelines of The Villa, and how the author connected them. I especially liked the 1970s timeline and getting to know the characters. In both past and present, I liked the atmosphere of the setting and I could picture myself at the villa. However, I felt that this book was not as suspenseful as it could have been, especially for being marketed as a Gothic suspense-style novel.

I had a hard time getting into the book for the first few chapters. Part of it was keeping up with changers in characters and time. After that, I really enjoyed the book. Kept you in suspense as to what was happening and guessing until the end.

Despite reading the synopsis I didn't know what to expect from this book. I wondered if it would end up feeling like a juvenile fluffy read. Thankfully I was off base with my pessimism. I really enjoyed this book! The layers of the story flashing back to the original murder in the house and narrator Mari was my preferred storyline as I've found a soft spot for writing about the 70's, especially within rock 'n roll. Mari was a well written character, her flaws of being young and immature but still having her head on straighter than Pierce and his crew made me care about her well-being. Plus I could relate easily to her relationship with her stepsister Lara and having her around all of the time and the romantic competitiveness.

As for Emily, it was hard to get a handle on her persona with the illness and maybe that was the point, as the story picks up in the middle of the hardest times in her life. Going through a divorce isn't easy and to add an illness makes it more crappy. Then adding in a friendship from childhood, you go through so much with friendships of that longevity. It makes it a deeper friendship but also gives you more years of grievances built up as well. I felt for both Emily and Chess at different points. I then could sense some of what would be revealed later in the book.

I will say, I was impressed with the twist towards the end. I love that history ends up inevitably repeating itself in a way, especially if we don't learn our lesson the first time. Or is it all easier to blame on a house? Great book, would definitely recommend!

Rachel Hawkins has an amazing knack for taking some real life mysteries and modernizing them into page-turning thrillers. In this case, our 70s time period chapters feel based on the Mansons, the Shelleys, and some classic 70s rock stars, with our modern day frenemy authors staying in the same Villa where a murder happened in those rock and roll days. As our writers find out more than anyone has ever known about the old murder, they need to figure out if they trust each other with what they've learned, and what they will do with the knowledge.

Another great book by Rachel Hawkins!
Inhaled this book in one day. She never disappoints. Had a good twisted ending.

We can always count on Rachel Hawkins to provide a good mystery thriller, so I was incredibly excited to dive into The Villa and I was hooked at the first line: "Houses Remember". Dual timelines are always iffy for me however I absolutely loved the different POVs and found myself entranced in each groups story. This book has a wide cast of characters who are all easy to love (aka Emily, Mari) or easy to hate (aka Chess, Pierce, Noel). I really enjoyed so many aspects of this book: the setting (who doesn't love Italy?), the deadly house legacy, the frenemy dynamic between both Emily and Chess and Mari and Lara, watching Mari and Emily's writing process for both The Villa Book and Lilith Rising- everything in this book came together so well. Fast paced, intriguing, and inspired by real life people and events, I'd definitely recommend this book to any Hawkins fans or fans of mysteries in general!

I loved, loved The Villa.

I feel so blessed to have received an ARC from the author and publisher.

Without giving anything away this story was a mystery within a mystery. The book went back and forth between Emily in the present day and Mari in 1974. Both women spent the summer in the same Villa and both women are going through turbulent personal and romantic issues at the time.

The Villa has just the right amount of thriller and drama mix.

Loved the book and can't wait to see how well it does when it's released in January.

I absolutely loved this book! Two friends spend a summer in Italy at a villa that has a dark past. One is a best selling self help author and the other is going through a divorce while trying to write another book to her cozy mystery series. The story goes back to the 1970's when another group of friends spent their summer at the same villa. The story intertwines both time periods and makes for a very intriguing story. Rachel Hawkins is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.

Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll reign supreme in Rachel Hawkins' latest mystery novel.

First off, one should not expect a suspenseful thriller like Hawkins' previous few novels, as this one is more gothic and the pace is more relaxed. The book follows friends Emily and Chess as they travel to an Italian villa to write their respective books in progress. There, they learn more about a murder that took place in the 1970's and Emily really gets into it. But the more she learns, the worse the tensions get between her and Chess.

This book is an onion (sorry for the cliche!). I'm so impressed with the way Hawkins was able to craft so many individual narratives and weave them all together. The characterization here is particularly amazing. As we read about Em (an inspirational self-help writer) and Chess (a cozy mystery writer), we also read about Mari, one of the visitors in the 1970's, her relationship with writing, and the dynamics of the group she's with. We also get a little glimpse into the horror novel Mari is trying to write. Chapters alternate between POVs and the suspense does build towards the end of the book as Em and Chess really get into it. I do wish the book was a little more twisty (the twists were a bit gentle to me) but what we have overall is a very solid piece of fiction and a story I really enjoyed.

According to the Goodreads page, this book was partly inspired by "the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––" Another infamous gothic summer? I'll have to look that up. As to The Villa, it's a fantastic novel that is so well structured and intriguing, I would recommend it to any fan of mysteries.

Big thanks to St. Martin's and Netgalley for providing an ARC, though that didn't affect my opinions about the book which are entirely my own. The book is due out January 2, 2023 so add it to your shopping list!

Emily has had a really tough couple of years. Not only has she been struggling with undiagnosable health issues for at least a year, but during this time, her husband decided to divorce her—and to take as much money from her as he could while he was at it. Now Emily’s best friend and self-help guru, Chess, is going to Italy for the summer where she’ll be working on her latest book and getting some R&R while staying at a very famous (or, in this case, infamous) villa and she’s invited Emily to come along. It’s during this “trip of a lifetime” that Emily starts to dig into the history of the villa, finding some explanations to what happened all those years ago while she also unravels what has happened in her own life. Another book where I couldn’t wait to dive into it at the end of the day, ignoring favorite tv shows and social media in exchange for getting through a few more chapters. I couldn’t put this book down, and the ending did not disappoint—I’m happily adding this author to my list to watch!

Special Note: Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.