Rating: 4/5 Stars

Emily & Chess have been best friends since childhood. When Chess suggests that Emily accompany her on a summer long vacation to Italy, it seems like the perfect time for Emily to reboot her writing career and get some distance and perspective from her contentious divorce proceedings.

Staying at Villa Aestas in Orvieto, Italy, Emily is quickly pulled into the story of the villa’s inhabitants in the summer of 1974 - where a group of beatnik musicians and writers stay ended in a brutal murder just down the hall from her bedroom.

Told between 1974 and present day, Rachel Hawkins delivers a twisting tale of danger and self discovery for both her characters stuck in the past and those living in the future.

I enjoyed this one - but I don’t really feel like it was a thriller as some of Hawkin’s other books are marketed. While this was definitely suspenseful and a page turner - there isn’t really any big “secret reveal” or gotcha moment - but rather a slow burn of self-discovery and how far people will go to find peace for themselves.

Thanks to Net Galley, St. Martin’s Press, and Rachel Hawkins for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Read if you like:

+ Malibu Rising & Evelyn Hugo
+ Toxic Friendship Trope
+ Parallel Story Lines

Such a fantastic and complex thriller that kept me turning the pages! I am such a huge fan of Rachel Hawkins, and am happy to report that after her second novel left me underwhelmed, this one was an absolute delight. The writing is very atmospheric, and I loved the different feels of current day vs. the scenes from the 1970s. Highly recommended. Thank you to St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was so entertaining!
We have two alternate timelines taking place at the same villa;
a present day one: two best friends (a lifestyle influencer and an author) trying to find inspiration for their careers
a past one: a group of 5 artists (musicians and writers) trying to get away for a summer and enhance their creativity with lots of drugs, sex and alcohol
There is murder, secrets, love triangles, a book within a book, feminists themes, just so many fun aspects. This book had me hooked until the end! I had the best time reading this!

This was too much of a slowborn for me - I wanted more Italian villa setting, but overall I just felt like not much happened and this was not a "thriller".

I enjoyed this two stories in one book. Emily and Chess in today's timeline and Mari in 1974 (actually reminded me a little of Diasy Jones). I've read all of Rachel's books and always look forward to the next one.

I really enjoyed this tale within a tale by Rachel Hawkins. I admit to a bit of burnout on the nested story/flashback format that has been in wider use in modern fiction, BUT this is an excellent use of the same. The parallels are compelling and additive to the plot. This is my favorite book so far by the author.
I received a free copy to review from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion of the book.

I liked it but definitely didn’t love it. Honestly I think I’ll forget it tomorrow. I loved loved loved the wife upstairs so I was really looking forward to this one but I just didn’t hit for me.
There definitely were some great parts where I was sucked into the book, but a lot of it I was zoning out and wasn’t all that interested. I kept waiting for something bigger to happen.

Hawkins does it again! Different for her, this book does revolve around a murder mystery. It also explores difficult relationships and the importance of art and creation as a method of autonomy, especially in women. I will be honest here and say that the relationship between Emily and Chess reminded me so much of an unhealthy relationship I had in my own life until I was in my mid-twenties - it was almost disconcerting. The frenemy dynamic is one that we all relate to (I think) but is rarely communicated about well. This book examined the love/hate relationship that often (but not always) accompanies our oldest friendships. I really enjoyed the author’s acknowledgements in which she promises that none of her real friends were the inspiration for Chess!

Emily and Chess were best friends who have lost touch and haven't spent much time together lately.
Chess gets the idea to have a girls getaway at a Villa in Italy.
While digging into the Villa's history, Emily has uncovered a murder, while doing so, something is happening with Chess and her friendship.
Betrayals galore!!!


I just reviewed The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. #NetGalley

Thank you to St. Martins Press, Netgalley, and Rachel Hawkins for an advance copy of The Villa in exchange for an honest review. This was an interesting and atmospheric story told in dual timelines with both timelines focusing on A Villa in Italy. I felt like this was a very character driven story with a very slow burn. It was interesting to me to see the dynamics in Chess and Emilys friendship but it also was just so toxic to me, which turned me off from wanting to get to know the characters more. I didnt see the twist coming which is always a readers dream and I was happy with the ending. I think Im chasing the readers high I felt when reading this Authors first novel so this one just fell a little flat for me. This one is available now! 3.5 stars!

I went into this book blind and I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that it involved authors.
Two long time best friends go to a Villa to get away from life’s stressors and spend the time writing together as they did during school.
Told from two POVs and different times, this was a great read.

I enjoyed this as a good beachside thriller to read on my vacay. Was it literary genius. No. Was it entertaining.. yes. I liked the dual timeline story with Em and Chess escaping to Italy as Em goes through a divorce and they both have writing deadlines to meet. I enjoyed the sort of book within a book and the parallels drawn from the old and new story.

I’ll read a Hawkins thriller any day. Pick this up for an easy thrill.

Fairly predictable. The Villa has two contrasting timelines: a present-day timeline with Jessica “Chess” and Emily “Em” and a 1970’s timeline with rockstars, Pierce and Noel who bring along stepsisters Mari and Lara. Even though there are few characters, the different timelines made it kind of difficult to remember who was connected to who. A few plot holes, and too much unnecessary info dumping also made this a mediocre read for me.

Predictable, full of plot holes, I expected a better storyline with....more. It felt like a giant info dump that I didn't care about.

I’d read The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls before and wasn’t wowed by either of them. I went into this with low expectations and was actually surprised because it ended up being my favorite of the three. I loved the setting and the jumps between Emily and Mari and seeing the connections. It wasn’t groundbreaking and I wouldn’t read it again but I enjoyed it as a lighter fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in return for an honest review

I really liked this one! It was fun and twisty and had just enough Daisy Jones- vibes in the 70’s timeline. I loved the character of Mari & the setting of the book.

The way the book was written was so smart- the snippets of podcasts, album lyrics, and Lillith Rising, combined with the back & forth timelines, made a relatively short book really pack a punch. Great on audio!

Don’t hate me but this book was not it for me. I really didn’t enjoy this one and it’s so rare that I only give 2 stars, but it had to be done.

I was super bummed because I enjoyed The Wife Upstairs but I found this plot so boring. I did not care about a single character nor was I dying to know what happened. It actually was a struggle to get through the whole book.

Is there a book you’ve read recently that you’ve been disappointed by?

Thank you to Netgalley and Libro.Fm for the books!

I really liked this book. This was my first by this author, and I thought it was twisted, in a fun way, and a really fun audiobook. I loved how it switched back and forth between the seemingly fictional story and present day.

This one was entertaining. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. I enjoyed the timeline swaps and the different POVs. I just felt the story overall lacked that spark that I need to just HAVE to read the story. I wasn’t especially impressed with the ending, but it wasn’t the worst either. Overall just an okay read.

Wow! I loved everything about this book! The dual time lines keep you guessing until the end with their multilayered twists and turns.

I read this in one sitting and now feel I want to start all over again to find all the little clues I might have over looked the first time.

Great read!