I really liked The Wife Upstairs & Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins but The Villa is definitely my favourite read from her. It started off strong & immediately had my attention. The writing in this book was incredible. The past & present timelines weave together perfectly & I liked both of the main characters. I loved that they were both authors & we got to experience them work through the writing process. I wish I could read the books, especially Lilith Rising!

I totally want to visit the murder house, Villa Aestas. It’s creepy & intriguing at the same time - plus who doesn’t want to visit Italy! I had my suspicions throughout the book & I’m pleased to say I was wrong. The story twists totally rocked me & they were even better than I could’ve imagined. That ending was everything & this book gets an easy 5 stars from me 👏🏼

A little predictable. I wish it went in a slightly different direction but it was so fun and quick to read. A perfect summer/poolside read! Loved the true crime aspect and 70s vibes that came along with the beautiful atmosphere of The Villa. I will definitely be adding a physical copy of The Villa to my library with the rest of my Rachel Hawkins books!

I loved The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls, so I had high expectations for The Villa. Unfortunately it fell a little short for me. The ending was super confusing and i had to go back over it a couple of times to work it out. I found Mari and Lara’s story more interesting than Chess and Emma’s, but it was a good read nonetheless.

When I saw this book I immediately requested it as I am a fan of Rachel Hawkins and the premise of the book was incredibly intriguing!! Overall I enjoyed this but the last 20% or so became quite confusing and the two different storylines didn't really seem to converge. Personally it felt like there were just way too many ideas all crammed into one book. I do enjoy the writing of Rachel Hawkins and the description of Villa Aestas/Rosato felt very authentic, I only wish there was more about Italy that would have made for more of an immersive experience. Thank you to Rachel Hawkins, St Martins Press and NetGalley for this arc to review.

Book synopsis:
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.

Having just read Hawkins’ The Wife Upstairs, I was hoping The Villa would be just as twisty. But unfortunately, this novel fell a little short for me. I struggled with the 1974 storyline, not sure of how the two timelines lined up together. I also kept expecting something big to happen, and by the time it finally did, I had figured it out. Hawkins’ writing is great, and her pacing helped move the story along - I just wanted to care more about the characters and what happened to them.

Another excellent read from Rachel Hawkins! Emily and her friend Chess take a summer vacation to Italy following Emily’s messy divorce. They both plan to relax and finish the books they are writing and get away from their normal lives. Emily notices the Villa they are staying at has some “baggage” and the book follows her investigation. 5/5 stars. I finished it within 2 days! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

The Villa stars Emily, an author fresh off the breakup of her marriage. At the invitation of her frenemy, Chess, she takes a summer vacation at a beautiful Italian villa famous for a shocking 1970s murder involving a group of celebrities (though some would reach their fame after their visit).

As Emily starts researching the events that took place over 50 years ago, she begins to suspect that, if possible, something more sinister than just a murder occurred at this villa. And as tensions between her and Chess simmer and a betrayal is exposed, maybe the house is ready to claim yet another victim.

I very much enjoyed Hawkins’s previous book, Reckless Girls, and the premise of The Villa sounded too good to pass up. It’s a great example of characters I really didn’t like, but didn’t need too—I was drawn to the writing and the story enough so that I could overlook how awful this lot behaved (though I will say, Emily and Lara were fairly sympathetic). I liked how the past was woven together with Emily and Chess’s present narrative and thought the two tied nicely together.

The only thing I found a bit awkward (for lack of a better word) was how quickly Emily fixed her “problem” (I don’t want to give anything away here). The book had been nicely drawn out and prior consequences explored and expanded, but then it’s a bit unsettling—we get to the big explosion and everyone just wipes their hands and moves on with life. And I began to question how sympathetic Emily really was…

All in all a satisfying read and I’ll be looking forward to more from this author.

Thanks so much to St. Martin’s Press for inviting me to read this book through NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I just reviewed The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published January 3, 2023.

I enjoyed the plot line with Emily and Chess, childhood friends who have both become authors and who spend 6 weeks together one summer in an Italian Villa.

But I was completely bored by the back-story of the murder that happened at that same Villa decades earlier.

The plot did pick up at the end when history repeats itself and there is another murder at The Villa. It wasn’t the page-turner I was hoping for.

4.25⭐️

Houses remember...

The Villa tells the story of two best friends in present day and two stepsisters in 1974 as they spend one summer in the same Italian villa, Villa Aestas. This was a twisty psychological thriller that kept me on my toes the whole way through.

Emily and Chess are childhood best friends who have drifted apart in adulthood, but after a really tough year, Emily jumps at the chance to spend the summer in Italy at Villa Aestas with Chess. She's hopeful that this is the fresh start she needs and that her and Chess can revitalize their friendship. At the same time back in 1974, Mari and Lara are lured to Villa Aestas by rockstar Noel Gordon, along with Mari's boyfriend Pierce. Both sets of woman are irrevocably changed by what happens during their summers in Italy and their time in this house... and that's all I say about that!

I'll admit that I had a hard time getting into the story, but I was hooked by about the 40% mark and then I couldn't put it down. I did guess a couple of the plot points, but then Rachel Hawkins went and threw in twists on top of twists that I definitely didn't see coming! This was my first book by this author and I'm definitely planning on reading more of her backlist.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Villa is Rachel Hawkins's newest grip-lit offering.

Em and Chess are definitely bffs... but is that best friends forever or best frenemies forever? Chess's writing career has really taken off. Em's seems stalled, just like her marriage. Chess invites Em to spend the summer with her in an Italian villa as a way for them to reconnect, with each other and with their writing. However, the villa has a history. It was once the temporary home of Mari Godwick, the author of an acclaimed classic horror novel. It was also the scene of an infamous murder. As the summer goes on, Em can't tell what is more twisted -- Mari's book, the decades-old murder, or her friendship with Chess.

The Villa is a fun, fast-paced read, but not necessarily one I will remember for years to come. Filled with twists, it will keep you turning the pages.

NetGalley provided me with an advanced copy of The Villa in exchange for my honest opinion.

Emmy’s life wasn’t going great. With an impending divorce and her ex threatening to extract royalties from her popular book series, she was more than happy to jump at a summer in Italy with her childhood best friend at a private villa. Dubbed the murder house; a tragic night in the 1970’s left one person with a famous book, another with an infamous album, and yet another dead. As Em begins finding out more about that fateful night, she begins writing their story in fury, falling deeper down the rabbit hole as she goes. Even to the anger of her friend Chess who is already a famous author when she refuses to let her co-author her new book.
This story twists A LOT. Jumping between Em’s story in present and Mari in the 70’s. On top of these stories there’s all Em’s research towards that night; so there’s podcasts, newspaper and magazine articles, book excerpts. The book became overwhelming at moments and hopefully the transitions play out in the physical book better than my phone. The story itself is solid with one final twist at the end.

I already knew this book would be good. Rachel Hawkins writes amazing books! I would give this more than 5 stars if that was an option. This novel was dark but not too dark. It was suspenseful and thrilling. I was reeled in by the first few pages! You do not want to miss this one!

The Villa blends a past murder with present events in a suspenseful tale of love, friendship and loss. Emily and Chess, lifelong friends and writers spend the summer in a villa located in Orvieto, Italy where a murder had happened in the 1970s. Houses remember. Emily discovers a notebook written by Mari who had been present the summer of the murders. She and Chess decide to write a novel of their own. Two stories are told, Mari's and Emily's culminating in another murder.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I loved Hawkins last book, I was worried this one may not meet my expectations, but I was wrong! This was a great read with twists as you would expect. This time we follow Emily and Chess, childhood friends, both who end up becoming successful writers. Yet one, Chess has become very famous, while the other Emily has battled health issues, her husband left her and is now trying to go after her money. Chess and Emily decide to go to Italy for the summer to escape their troubles and to focus on writing. The villa they are staying out is a well know location due to its history of murder and musicians. We experience flashbacks from the murder and previous guests all while Emily questions Chess's motive. I thought I had it all figured out, but things change at the very end. I highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 4
Pace: 3
Plot development: 3
Characters: 3
Enjoyability: 3
Ease of Reading: 3

Overall rating: 3 out of 5

Houses remember. Great opening line. And we took off! Rachel Hawkins is now on auto-buy with this one. Really liked her previous two books, but this one is like, WOW!! I could not put it down at all, except for work. This is an author who gets consistently better, I think, with each book. Besties Emily and Chess are staying in an Italian Villa where a famous sex, drugs and rock and roll murder happened years before. I really enjoyed the characters of Emily, Chess, Mari, Lara, Pierce, Johnnie and Noel, but it was all the extras that really got me! Those were the book excerpts, articles, songs and podcasts revealing snippets from the past and what really happened way back when. Excellent job on the atmosphere also. I really felt transported to a beautiful Italian villa in Orvieto. I did wish for a little different spin on the ending but loved how it all wrapped up. Can't wait for more from this author!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Rachel Hawkins and #StMartinsPress for this ARC! All my opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC, release date Jan 2023. A unique & interesting multi layered book, not just sex, drugs & rock n roll. The first few chapters were a bit of a slog for me, but then I was hooked. It is not a haunted house story, but much deeper where people might behave differently and do things they would not normally do while they are staying there. The dual timelines were interesting as you could see the correlations taking shape. Both timelines dealt with fame, artistic talent, jealousy, love, loyalty and trust issues. There is a subtle twist, that I still wonder about. So far, the best I’ve ever read from Rachel Hawkins!

Rachel Hawkins is an auto-buy author for me, I usually LOVE her books and I liked this one a lot, aside from the ending (which felt rushed to me).

Two friends stay at an Italian villa for the summer. One is a writer of cozy mysteries, the other is a lifestyle expert (think Gwyneth). The villa is famous for a murder that happened back in the 70’s when a group of musicians stayed there during the summer. This book is one of those that are written like a book within a book, but more than that, it’s a story about women surviving crappy things that men to do them and how friendships sometimes are the real loves of our life.

“What if the house holds the bad memories inside with the good? What does that mean for whoever lives there?”

Emily’s life has suddenly started collapsing. Her career as a cozy mystery author has stalled, she is having unexplainable health issues, and her husband, Matt, has left her after seven happy years of marriage. Alternatively, Emily’s lifelong best friend, Chess, has a thriving career writing self-help books and being a social media influencer. While Emily is floundering, Chess extends an invitation for the two of them to spend the summer together in Italy at the luxurious Villa Aestas. Emily sees this as an opportunity to get her life back on track and complete the next book in her Petal Bloom series. When she arrives, she is quickly swept up in the mystery of a murder that occurred in the villa during 1974. Determined to learn more about the villa’s dark past, Emily begins digging and finds surprises that she could have never seen coming. As tensions at the villa increase between Emily and Chess, Emily must decide what concessions she is willing to make and if their friendship is worth continuing.

In 1974, rockstar Noel Gordon and his “friend” Johnnie are staying at Villa Rosato (name later changed to Aestas) for the summer. Noel is hoping to spend his summer creating new and inspired music. Noel also invites his current flame, Lara to spend the summer and allows her to bring two guests with her to the villa – Mari, Lara’s stepsister and Pierce, Mari’s boyfriend. Pierce is also a musician who is hoping to jumpstart his career by spending the summer working with Noel. While the men seem to be able to get no work done at the villa, Mari and Lara are busy working on creative projects that will soon become massive successes. For Mari, she writes Lilith Rising, a massively successful horror novel. Lara writes a famous album, Aestas, which goes platinum. While spending the summer in such close quarters, hostilities begin to form between almost everyone in the house which culminate in Pierce’s murder but who is responsible for his death?

The story is told from the point of view of Emily (present) and Mari (past). It also contains passages from Lilith Rising, Aestas lyrics, and excerpts from true crime podcasts / articles which I found to be a very fun way to fill in the backstory. I struggled with Mari’s point of view a little to start but that changed very quickly and I soon found myself having a hard time putting this book down. I felt like both characters were so relatable and I was rooting for them the entire time. My one gripe of the book is Chess! I hated her so much at times and can’t believe that Emily could put up with her crap! It was a pleasure to read this book and Rachel Hawkins will definitely remain on my always read list :) Plus, how cute is this book’s cover!?

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