The Villa has all the elements I love in a novel. Exotic setting, suspense, and in the skilled hands of Rachel Hawkins, a story within a story.

Chess and Emily have been best friends since childhood and were inseparable. After college they go their separate ways without contact. Independently they become published authors. Chess is extremely successful writing self-help books. Chess had the idea of them staying at an exclusive villa in Italy. The villa is charming, secluded, and holds a mysterious history. This is the perfect getaway. Emily is reluctant to take the offer, but ultimately decides to rekindle their friendship and use the time to reflect after her recent divorce and write the next installment of her series. She is captivated at the idea that a famous musician stayed at the villa and there is speculation that a murder occurred. Her writing has suddenly taken off in a new direction and Chess is too interested in Emily's new project. Secrets begin to emerge, and relationships begin to fray, but at what cost?

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early release copy.

Thank you so much for the advance copy, j was so excited to get my hands on this after enjoying her previous works! The setting was so well written and I was easily able to picture myself there. I enjoyed the twists and was not able to predict all of them. I did enjoy the present day story more than the flashbacks. Overall a great read and another solid thriller from this author. I would recommend this book!

I'm always up for reading anything Rachel Hawkins writes. I loved the dual timeline of this story, but was especially drawn to the story from the past and found myself anxious to hurry and get through the present day story and back to the past story. So I definitely had a preference for the historical fiction part of this book, but as the two timelines started to connect, I couldn't put it down. Excellent character development, although many of the characters were very unlikable - they were unlikable in their own unique ways. The description of the setting and scenery was fantastic - I could picture myself right there. I did alternate between the e-copy and the audiobook and the narrator of the audiobook was great. I had no difficulty switching between the two and for me, when I hear the narrator's voice in my hear while reading the book, I know they're a good narrator, and that was the case here. If you're a fan of Rachel Hawkins other books, or just a fan of mysteries, give this a try.

Wow! This book held me captive from the start and each time I thought I had it figured out, it would twist. Rachel Hawkins does it again!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the privilege of reading this in advance!

I flew through this book! I've seen it labeled as a thriller but I'd look at it more as a fast-faced mystery. What I really liked about it was the Italian villa setting, the exploration of friendship and sisterhood, and that even though the storyline jumped between characters in the present and the past, they were all so interesting and it really kept my attention. What I didn't really love was the way some "secrets" were revealed at the end. Sometimes I think when an author lays an intricate storyline, the ending can seem a little too unbelievable and I felt that was the case here. I still very much enjoyed reading the book, and I would still recommend it because the multiple storylines really fleshed the story out, but the ending wasn't my favorite.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book. It's always such a joy to be able to read a book before it's release!

Rachel Hawkins has done it again! This is a great novel that had me guessing the entire time! I would definitely recommend this for anyone this winter who's curling up in front of the fire and wanting a good heart-pounding thriller!

"The Villa" was the perfect novel to break me out of a new year reading slump. It has everything a reader could want in a thriller. We have frenemies, we have a murder house, we have a greedy money hungry soon-to-be ex-husband, we have dual timelines, and we have women rising from the ashes of tragedy to become queens of their chosen fields.

1974- When her stepsister Lara comes home flaunting a summer-long invitation to a romantic Italian villa, Mari is skeptical. When she reveals that the invitation is at the behest of rockstar Noel Gordon, Mari realizes that this trip could be just the ticket to helping her small-time musician boyfriend, Pierce, realize his full potential and bust them out of the borderline poverty they've been living in. In her wildest dreams, she could not imagine how productive (and how life-altering) the summer would be for her. She will walk away from the summer having penned one of the preeminent horror novels of all time, "Lillith Rising," Lara will walk away having written one of the defining albums of a generation, and Pierce, unfortunately, won't be walking away at all.

Present day- Childhood besties, Chess Chandler and Emily Sheridan have decided to spend the summer together on a girls-only writing retreat/vacation in Italy. Chess is coming off the release of an uber-popular self-help book (think "Girl, Wash Your Face") and Emily is picking up the pieces from a failed marriage and a divorce battle that has turned brutal. As Emily basks in the beautiful and atmospheric Villa Aestas, she can't believe the home was the site of the brutal murder of Pierce Sheldon. As she digs into the mystery, she finds herself drawn away from her safe, bland life as an author of cozy mysteries, and into a connection with the reclusive author, Mari Godwick. Tensions rise as Emily throws herself into this new project, and she isn't sure just what will happen when Chess realizes Emily has always had the potential to outshine her. Will history repeat itself? Or will two friends rekindle a lifelong friendship that had fallen to the wayside?

"The Villa" has the potential to be the standout thriller of the year. Fans of the genre will not want to miss what might be Hawkins' greatest novel yet. A thriller that will have readers on the edge of their seats as they fly through both timelines, desperate not only to see what really happened in the summer of 1974 but also to see how jealousy and success might make history repeat itself once more. Special thanks to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for providing an Advanced Reader's Copy of "The Villa" in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is hard for me to rate because the beginning was intriguing, then slow, then the ending I absolutely loved. Rachel Hawkins knows how to write characters you kind of hate, but also sometimes love or at least like a bit more. I love her unreliable narrator and characters and how sometimes the plot may seem predictable, but then there is a twist that uses that idea and changes it in such a way that is so enjoyable (and hard to describe). I enjoyed how this book had two POVs, along with interludes of articles, crime podcast transcripts, and excerpts from fictional books. This was a slow burn, with just enough juice to keep you turning the pages, but nothing that had your heart racing. I enjoyed this book even though I didn't like most of the characters, which is usually a turn off for me.

I really wanted to love this book but I just couldn't. It started off interesting with the story being told in the past tense and the present. How could Em be such a pushover with not just her BFF Chess but with her husband or rather soon to be ex husband, for that matter.
Chess didn't care for anyone but herself. She didn't care that she ruined Ems trust by sleeping with her husband to "prove a point" or to use her in her book as a loser sort of speak. Then Em for not standing up to her asshole of a husband or her supposedly BFF Chess. Like what the hell happened to make her feel like she owed Chess anything? Why did she put up with it all? Then we got like we got 0 detail as to why they both came to share their "BIG secret".
What was the point? Did they want to be like Mary and Laura from the past? Who's idea was it? Why did it happen and how?
Then the random "truth" from the past of Pierces death? So damn random! I have so many questions left and no answers. It felt sort of rushed at the end for me with no real closure.

Rachel Hawkins is a marvelous storyteller, and the tale she weaves in The Villa sucked me in right away and had me turning pages well into the night. Two friends reconnect in a beautiful Italian villa made famous by a gruesome murder and a novel written there during that summer in the 70s. Told as a story within a story within a story, the reader is pulled in to the mystery of the fateful night of the murder, as well as the suspicious friendship between Emily and Chess. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, Hawkins pulled a fast one on me and left my head spinning. Such a fun read.

Thank you to Net Galley, St. Martin’s Press and Rachel Hawkins for an advance copy for my honest review.

Hawkins is a successful American author of "The Wife Upstairs" and of many YA novels including the Hex Hall and Rebel Belle series. This new release is another suspense thriller. Emily is going through a divorce and trying to write her tenth cozy mystery in a series that has proven moderately popular. When her childhood friend and now a successful self-help author, Chess, invites her to spend the summer with her at a villa in Italy for some bonding and to finish their latest books, she jumps at the chance. Emily soon realizes that the villa was the location of the murder of a famous rock star in 1974. She quickly gets distracted from her cozy mystery and starts to write a book about the murder. Told in two timelines the story jumps back and forth from 1974 to the present, each time revealing more secrets about the lives of the characters. The story has suspense, friendship, romance with a small dose of "sex, drugs and rock & roll' and is a great recommendation for customers looking for a fun read, with some flawed characters

I’ll start out by saying, I was fully engaged the entire time! Two sisters, who haven’t had it easy, are in love with men who only see them as muses. They all spend an entire summer in a beautiful villa in Italy to live the Rock & Roll life style (we all know the one). But things definitely don’t go as planned.

This is a dual timeline story bouncing between the sisters in the villa to two best friends spending their summer in the same villa many years later. How much can a house remember?

I wanted to know what happened and who was involved and how everything ended. It was an engaging book and well written. I just had a really hard time with the characters. I didn’t like a single person. I wasn’t rooting for the MC or hoping for all to be resolved. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that while reading.

I really enjoyed the storyline, the dual timeline, and the setting made me want to hop on a plane and spend the summer in Italy! It was overall an entertaining read but it didn’t rock my world.

“Boy, don’t you know? The brightest stars that lit your sky, were the ones you couldn’t see.”

The Villa is a slow-burn thriller that at some points felt more like a combination of mystery and historical-fiction with a heavy interpersonal relationship focus. There are dual timelines/storylines that mirror each other throughout the book, which I actually really enjoyed. I personally had a little bit more interest in the storyline set in the 70s but overall, I think they went well together.

Pros:
- Loved the build in paranoia in both timelines
- The parallels between Mari and Mary Shelley
- I loved the creepy house vibe
- The complexity of Mari and Laura’s relationship

Cons
- I do wish the house or the community played a little more of an active role in unraveling the story than it did at points
- Emily and Chess’ relationship. I did not care about them staying friends throughout the book, which I do think hurt my interest in that timeline
- This is a bit of a slow-burn and the pacing at the end is a bit quick, so the final twist can get a little muddled

I was intrigued when I heard the premise for this story! The Italian countryside made a good setting for this Gothic story. I enjoyed how the two stories were told throughout this story, giving background to the history of the house. They both kept me turning the pages to see how each would come to a resolution and about who was telling the truth! I found myself rooting for Emily the whole way! The details about music writing and story writing give me insight into both of these crafts but not too detail heavy that it distracted. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Rachel Hawkins (@ladyhawkins) has done it again! With 2021’s The Wife Upstairs and 2022’s Reckless Girls, the author is making a name for herself in the thriller genre.

The Villa (published today) is a captivating story of two childhood friends, Chess and Emily, who spend a summer at a villa in the Italian countryside while working on their latest novels (and on mending their friendship).

During the summer of 1974, stepsisters Mari and Lara stayed at the same villa while working on their own creative outlets that went on to become famous (a sensational horror book and a folk album that rivals Carole King’s Tapestry). Equally as famous is the murder of a musician (Mari’s boyfriend) during that summer at the villa. “Everyone knows the story. It was one of rock music’s biggest scandals, a dark and lurid tale of sex, drugs, and murder involving one of the most famous men…”

When Emily reads Mari’s masterpiece written years ago, it inspires her to start writing a new novel about the tragedy at the villa. Her research leads her to new information found within the house. Can she trust Chess with it? By the end of the summer, another death will take place.

I loved the glimpses and stories behind Mari writing her famous novel in one timeline and being read and questioned in the current timeline. I was equally interested in both storylines and thoroughly enjoyed the writing and attention to detail by the author. There’s a lot going on in all the stories which brings the characters to life and makes you question everything!

Newspaper articles, song lyrics, and a bit of a podcast episode are sprinkled throughout the novel. I started listening to the audiobook and found myself a little confused, so I switched to the ebook.

Likes:
🍋Dual Timelines
🍋Interesting Setting
🍋Gothic Thriller
🍋Well-crafted mystery
🍋Creative storytelling
🍋Stories within a story

The twists felt a bit underwhelming and yet I’m not complaining. I was still entertained and thought the story and approach was unique.

Man, did these pages turn quickly for me. This cat-and-mouse thriller was thoroughly enjoyable and highly intriguing. Although I did find it to be somewhat more drama than mystery/thriller, that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a well-done book well worth the read. Yes, there were twists and turns. And yes, if you like thrillers you’ll enjoy it. I’m starting to realize “cat-and-mouse” is kind of my thing.

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

2.5 stars rounded up. This book had a lot of potential but just fell flat unfortunately. I enjoyed the look into the past, but the mystery just didn’t live up to anything.

This book was pretty good. I liked it way more than Reckless girls. I normally don't love when we do flashbacks or other storylines in a book but this was done very well. I like how the author seems to be evolving in her writing for sure. Well done for sure.

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins was a slow burn of a mystery, where two friends (both writers) go stay at an Italian Villa, where a murder took place back in the seventies.

This was a quick read, but Mari and Chess weren’t particularly likeable and I questioned some of their actions and ended predictably.
I found this pretty meh, but it was a quick read at least.

3 stars

This book was a solid read. Nothing super exciting about it was kind of predictable, I enjoyed reading it, It was a good use of my time.

I liked the setting, and the characters were fine, I like Rachel Hawkins writing style. To be fair I honestly don't remember much about it at this point. There were two settings one in the present with Chess and Emily and one in the past that revolves around a murder in 1974.