The Villa is a dual timeline thriller. Emily is a soon to be divorced barely successful author going through some personal crisis, and her best friend Chess, a super famous author and influencer, invites her for a summer at a villa in Italy. It turns out the villa was the site of a drug-fueled murder in the seventies involving some famous rock stars, and Emily's story is contrasted with the diary of one of the people who stayed in the house. The story seemed kind of basic at first and then got more interesting toward the end. There were some interesting themes between the two timelines. I won't give anything away, but it all wraps up pretty neatly.

Rachel Hawkins has redeemed herself with The Villa! I didn’t care for Reckless Girls, but hot damn she came in strong with this one.

The Villa tells the story of Emily and her best friend, Chess. The two women are spending the summer at an infamous Italian villa...both to work on their respective writing careers and to repair their strained friendship. The Villa was the scene of a murder in the 1970s and has secrets of its own to uncover.

I enjoyed this book very much. At some points, I felt like the plot was predictable, but not in a bad way. The ending was shocking, though. I thought the use of the alternating timelines was smart and really fleshed out the story.

All opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

I enjoyed this new novel from Rachel Hawkins. It’s more of a slow burn, “light” thriller that deals with the dynamics among friends. I enjoyed the dual time line and it was nice to see the parallels happening throughout. Twists along the way, especially at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This book is not a thriller and should not be marketed as such. I’m disappointed in myself that I keep reading Rachel Hawkins books thinking that they will be twisty and mysterious. The story was honestly just so straightforward and nothing much happened, so whenever we got to the end and found out various “twists” they just felt off the mark to me. I didn’t enjoy this one and don’t think I’d recommend it. There are much better thrillers on the market.

This is Rachel Hawkins' best novel yet. If you are a fan of Mary Shelley and know your history of Romanticism (Byron, Keats, Coleridge, etc.) and rock n roll, and appreciate complex characters, then this is the novel for you, My feminist heart was happy to see a narrative that focused on a more nuanced connection between women all with the backdrop of Mary Wollstonecraft's haunting the pages of the novel. This was a fun read.

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is a slow burning thriller about a murder from the past that comes back to the present. Best friend's chess and Emily spend the summer in an old Italian Villa. This Villa is where a murder of a rock star happened in the 1970s. While chess and Emily stay at the villa and work on their upcoming books, they start to go against each other. They also start investigating the old murder case and this leads to consequences.

Thanks you NetGalley for my ARC. The Villa pulled me in from the start. Told from two different points of views and two different time frames but woven together into a captivating novel. If you are a fan of mystery and suspense, this is the perfect read for you!

The Villa by @ladyhawkins was the perfect beach read for my Myrtle Beach vacation! Twists and turns galore right to the end- if you like suspense and mystery, this is the book for you 😍 You can pre-order now! Thanks to @NetGalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC!

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is a story within a story . In the present day story we have Emily, who is going through a divorce, and gets the chance to go on a trip of a lifetime and spend the summer in an Italian villa with her best friend Chess. Chess and Emily have been friends since they were young, and both have become published writers, Emily of cozy mysteries and Chess is a mega-famous self help guru. Emily and Chess will be spending their trip at the famous Villa Aestas, which was home to a famous murder in the 1970's. A famous rock star and some friends had been spending a summer there when a murder happened. As Emily spends more time in the villa she begins to learn more and more about Mari, one of the women involved in the 1970s murder and ends up finding parts of a story she wrote throughout the house. I went back and forth with which timeline I was more interested in, but ended up needing to know what was going on with Emily and Chess in the present day which really drove me to finish the story. Overall, definitely a slower paced thriller, but the dual timelines made it more interesting and layered than many of the thrillers out today.

I have so many good things to say about The Villa! I was able to connect with all of the characters both past and present. I have to admit that I connected with Em the most, like her I could also use a hard reset at a Villa in Italy, just maybe not one that is nicknamed the "Murder House".
The Villa definitely had me pulled in from beginning to end. I couldn't put it down, ended up finishing in 2 sittings.
Before reading ask yourself if you would stay in a "Murder House" to try and reset your live after having a very hard couple of years? Then after finishing the book ask yourself the same question.

Rachel Hawkins is an auto-buy for me at this point. The authors writing is breezy and I love the themes within her thrillers. At first, I felt like the inspiration (the trip Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein on) was too similar to the story but I came to enjoy its uniqueness. I loved the the Villa itself and honestly want to hear the album and read the novels created within the pages. All in all, this story had some serious meta aspects and I'm wondering when the movie for it will come out. Aside from a few minor discrepancies among the historical characters, The Villa by Rachel Hawkins was a delightfully dark read with gray women protagonists which I fully enjoyed and would love to see more of!

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is a slow-burn thriller and drama. While most slow burns are suspenseful and time their information just right, this one had me putting the book down several times throughout the first third of the book. The book not only alternates between different narrators but also past and present. Throughout the book I found Emily not relatable and very dull. Her storyline was confusing and dull. I found myself skipping her parts. Mari's storyline had me engaged and wanting to know more and find those secrets. It was almost as if two different authors were writing the book.

Enjoyed this novel written with duel perspectives from the present and past. Loved how there was a story within a story. This was more non-fiction with some suspense. Focused more on relationships and how much they impact peoples choices and how far control and obsession can go. Enjoyed it overall but the ending was a little too good to be true and tying everything up. Almost a mirror image of the past.

When I think of mystery, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the thrills. This is a perfect book to snuggle up with on any day.

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 pulled me in from the start. Told from two different points of views and two different time frames but woven together into a great novel. While I really loved the book, I felt a bit let down by the ending.

Emily’s life has been full of struggles recently between going through a divorce, suffering with writer’s block, and a mysterious illness. When she has the opportunity to join her friend Chess at an Italian villa for the summer, how could she say no? And this isn’t just any villa- this villa has a history of murder and tragedy.

I was SO excited for this book based on the plot and I really enjoyed the dual timelines. Unfortunately, I found the pacing to be off and the ending quite abrupt. I had to actually look back to check and make sure I hadn’t accidentally skipped a chapter because the ending was so quick and seemingly random. I also wouldn’t say this was particularly suspenseful. I loved the concept of this book, but unfortunately the pacing had me wishing for a more developed plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest review!

THE VILLA follows two points of view and timelines: the first is Emily, a writer in the near future who travels to a villa in Italy with her best friend Chess while trying to finish her cozy mystery novel, and the second is Mari, a writer in 1974 who traveled to thr same Italian villa with her boyfriend and sister while trying to write what would become a legendary horror novel. The blurb reveals that someone from 1974 was murdered (I wish we didn't know who) at the villa and now, Emily feels a connection to the author who spent the summer there before her and begins to try to unravel what might have really inspired Mari to write her best-selling book.

I would classify this as more of a light thriller or even a domestic thriller, bordering on contemporar fiction, as it doesn't elicit many feelings of anxiety or fear, and is really more about the complex friendship vetween Emily and Chess. Regardless of genre, THE VILLA had me hooked from the start - I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next and finished the novel in two days. I enjoyed reading about the friendship between Emily and Chess. I found myself relating to parts of their friendship and Emily's character - we share an alma mater! - and I loved that they were from Asheville, where I recently visited. Some of the chapters were bit long for my taste (only 15 chapters make up the entire book) and I found parts of the story a little predictable, but overall I really like Hawkins writing, was entertained by the plot, and enjoyed the beautiful Italian setting.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What a fantastic book. I loved the dual plotline, the gothic feel when we went back to the 70's. I love all the twists, the writing was fantastic, I could picture the villa so vividly. Highly recommend!

An incredibly compelling read from Rachel Hawkins - with a disappointing ending. Longtime (yet estranged) friends Chess and Emily take a summer vacation to a villa in Italy with a storied past - which intrigues both of them, as writers. As Emily discovers more about the villa and the deadly events which took place there in the 70s, we the readers are treated to a thrilling backstory involving a rockstar, his protégé, and the two women sharing their lives. Tensions boil to the surface as Emily and Chess hash out their problems with each other in the present and the residents of the villa come to blows in the past. While I thoroughly enjoyed the lead up and back story, I don’t feel Hawkins treats her present-day characters as fairly as she should by the time the book is over. Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an advanced copy!