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!

This was kinda meh for me. Not what I’ve come to expect from Rachel Hawkins. I think there was just too much going on. Dual timelines, multiple storylines, unlikeable characters throughout, and what should be a great plot involving rock and roll in the 70s that just falls flat. I forced myself to finish hoping for a great ending but I was disappointed.

The Villa is definitely Rachel Hawkins’s best book yet. There was so much depth and story packed in to one book with the two story lines. I was fascinated by the parallels between the past and present story lines. The book read like a true story and I wanted to learn more! This is the perfect book for anyone in a reading rut because it pulls you in immediately.

Thank you to Rachel Hawkins, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another good novel by Rachel Hawkins.

The Villa is narrated by two characters: Mari in 1974 and Emily in the present.

Emily and Chess have been friends since they were kids. Through the years, they have stayed in touch but they haven't been able to spend quality time together in a long time.

Emily is a writer of cozy mysteries. Her series' love interest is based on her ex-husband and because of it, she is having a hard time starting her next book without killing the character. On the other hand, Chess has become a very famous and successful self-help writer. When Chess invites Emily to spend a few weeks in Orvieto, Italy, Emily decides to go. Not long after arriving in Italy, Emily becomes quite intrigued by Villa Aestas' history. She learns the house has been the site of a murder in 1974. Emily starts thinking that a book and an album might have clues about what really happened that fateful day.

In the 1970s, Villa Aestas was known as Villa Rosato. Here a famous singer Noel Gordon stayed with Pierce Sheldon, his girlfriend Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. After Pierce is murdered, Mary writes the greatest horror novel of all time and Lara will compose a platinum album that everybody has heard and most own.

The question is:

Is the person who killed Pierce really the man accused of the crime or perhaps there is more to the story?

I enjoyed the two timelines and the two main characters. I liked how the story progressed. We are able to learn how things occurred in 1974 although when you think you know everything, you really don't.

I've been a fan of Rachel Hawkins since her Hex Hall series and now I'm a fan of her thrillers.

Lastly, if someone from Netflix is reading this review, I think the Villa could be a great movie!

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by St. Martin's Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've been reading Rachel Hawkins for a long time, all the way back to her Hex Hall days which, I might add, remains one of my YA favorites to this day. For all those who haven't read the series should definitely do so. It is excellent!

Rachel Hawkins does it again. This has the tropes of an old Agatha Christie novel and the author has done a fantastic retelling if I can use that word.
There is an isolated setting where everyone has a secret and everyone is lying.

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. Perhaps Pierce's murder wasn't just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but something more sinister might have occurred and there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.

I mean Secrets! Lies! A Gorgeous tropical island with a sinister vibe? What is not to love?
If you enjoy supremely flawed characters with a fast-paced twisty plot, give this one a read!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What would you do if you found yourself on vacation and staying in a beautiful villa...that was previously the crime scene! Would your imagination get the best of you?

Emily and Chess are old best friends who have grown apart as they have gotten older. Emily had a seemingly happy and comfortable life: married and fairly successfully writing a cozy murder mystery series. That is, until she comes down with a mysterious illness, gets writers block, and gets into a messy divorce. Chess is an insanely successful (and famous) self-help guru, writing books, appearing on talk shows, and everything that goes along with that. Their lives are very different, so it isn't that shocking that they aren't as close as they used to be.

So after months of illness and shortly after she is starting to feel like herself again, Emily is super surprised when Chess calls her up and invites her to an all-expenses paid summer in Italy. Since they both need to work on their respective new books, what better place to hunker down and focus than Orvieto. And who would turn that down?! Except that this all expenses paid Villa has a dark past, and it takes Emily approximately 10 minutes to start digging into it. And the more she digs into it, the more Emily finds that she needs to get to the bottom of what happened in this Villa back in July of 1974 that left one man dead.

Although it took me a bit to get used to the pacing, I ended up really enjoying the way @ladyhawkins used multiple timelines to tell this story and keep us on our toes the entire time! It was super creative and more complex than most non-linear stories! I also really enjoyed the ending and the bit of twist we get from Mari at the very very end. Well done!

Thank you @netgalley for the advanced e-copy of this book!

It is out now and I highly recommend this read!
#netgalley #rachelhawkins #thevilla #mystery #suspensebooks #italy

Unfortunately this wasn’t for me. I found it really slow for the first half and by the end I wasn’t interested.

The Villa has parallel stories of Mari and her summer in the 70s and Emily in present day. Emily is in the middle of a divorce when her best friend, Chess, offers her a summer in Italy at the same villa where a murder occurred. Emily is a cozy mystery writer and takes Chess up on the offer to see if she can get her mind off the divorce and back into writing. While there, she gets sucked into Mari’s world by reading the late author’s book that was published after the tragedy.

I loved the double story telling. As the 70s murder mystery unraveled, Emily’s story got built up and up. I suspected some twists but didn’t see others coming. I will say that my biggest letdown was that Mari’s story was much more exciting, the climax was strong, and the ending intriguing. Emily and Chess’ story fell a little flat and didn’t seem to have as fleshed out of an ending as the other story. Other than that, the story was great. I loved diving into the murder mystery while trying to figure out the best friends’ dynamic.

This book is unlike any I’ve read recently. It had the atmospheric glow of an Italian summer but is still very thriller-heavy. We are not skipping down cobblestones eating gelato, we are taking cautious steps and trying not to get caught in lies. It is perfect for anyone wanting something immersive or for fans of duel timelines. I’m really happy to have had the chance to read this!

(I still have so many thoughts and questions and I wish that book reviews could just be filled with spoilers so I could unleash everything. But this is where I say “read The Villa!” instead.)

The Villa was a lesson in how sometimes reconnecting with a childhood best friends might not turn out the way you expect. I found this book somewhat lacking in thrills. With a title like The Villa, I expected the house to have more of a sinister past or influence on the outcome of the novel, but it was more of just a location for the setting of the rivalry between two friends competing to write a better novel.

The description of the house, in both the past and present, made it seem like a sunny and lively house with a dark incident in its past.

A fun read but not a thriller like I was expecting.