This was enjoyable at the beginning but about 2/3 of the way through I lost interest. I liked the present storyline a lot more than the past, so I think if it had been from Emily's point of view the whole time I would've liked it more. The writing isn't bad and I'd probably pick up Hawkins' next book because I think her plots are more creative than most thrillers.

Thank you to Rachel Hawkins, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an ebook copy of The Villa for me to read and review. This book had an interesting plot and unique characters that showed good growth and development throughout the book. I had high hopes for this book and while I found the story interesting, this book didn't truly draw me in until the final 20% which was disappointing. I saw a number of the twists coming and there was one detail in particular that I really wanted to know but was never fully revealed. I was glad that the story got more intriguing at the end, but I would have liked to see that earlier.

The Villa 3.5 stars
I’ve hear the following comparisons to The Villa by Rachel Hawkins: Fleetwood Mac meets The Manson murders meets the writing of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (by the author herself), and Daisy Jones and The Six meets Verity meets White Lotus. I wholeheartedly agree with the second comparison!
This book is told in 2 storylines: the first storyline is about Mari and Lara, stepsisters and kinda friends, who “follow the band” to a Villa in Italy in 1974. The second storyline takes place in current day with Chess and her best “frenemy” Emily, both writers, who have grown apart who have decided to reconnect by renting a Villa in Italy for the summer. The same Villa that Mari and Lara were at, and that is now marked as a “Murder House.”
As the story unfolds, the reader is immersed in the 2 storylines, the first in 1974 leading up to a murder, and the second one leading to either reconciliation of the friends or ruination of their relationships.
I enjoyed the storylines. The storyline set in 1974 was really interesting to me. I liked the time period, and especially that there was no modern day technology available to the characters. Mari is writing (handwriting) a book while at the Villa. There are no cell phones interrupting the characters throughout the day. When the go out to tour the town, they are in the moment, not being distracted by technology.
For the current day storyline, I enjoyed the references to self-help books, I liked that the women wrote separate and different genre’s. I also enjoyed how the storylines weren’t exactly similar, but there were enough similarities to ensure a creepiness to the book.
I would have liked more of the Italian atmosphere. The Villa is set in a medieval town of Orvieto, Italy, but other than one scene where the characters go into town and visit a well, they could have been anywhere as the story primarily takes place in The Villa.
Thank you to #Netgalley and #StMartinsPress for the advanced e-copy of #TheVilla.

This story explores the relationships between friends in a dual timeline setting. I love the sister relationships in both timelines between the female characters. I also like the way the two timelines are related to one another throughout the story. Rachel Hawkins is great at creating an interwoven story and revealing the plot twists in ways that I have never seen before. Her writing is very easy to binge.

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Ok so I was really hoping this one was going to be better than her last and It was not to me. I ended up DNF'ing it.
I am at the point where this author is just not for me.
I do not enjoy her writing; The stories are just silly, and I just cannot do it

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC! Wow - I heard that this book was a mix of Daisy Jones and the Six, Verity, and White Lotus S2 and I'd say that is pretty accurate. This book is told in two timelines - both of which kept me guessing as to what was about to happen next. A true jaw-dropping, twisty ending.

“𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐’𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.”

The last two years I have started off my new year in reading Rachel Hawkins’ The Wife Upstairs and then Reckless Girls. 2023 was no exception - I am liking this yearly tradition!

First, Hawkins’ covers are always SO GORGEOUS. I love how all three of her thriller books go together so well, art-wise. I know there have been mixed reviews of this book but I really enjoyed this tale of deception. Told in two timelines, one is present day and one in 1974, Hawkins weaves a page turning narrative that is easy to read. I will admit, I was more intrigued in the seventies storyline - the mix of seduction, really interesting characters and tension felt like a race towards the inventible end (which we get previews of throughout). The present day storyline built a lot of uncertainty - I wasn’t sure if it was a cat-and-mouse-game or just Emily and Chess’ rocky friendship. Hawkins knows how to build page turners, and the opulent Italian Villa with a haunted history made for the perfect location. I really loved the excepts of different texts between chapters (books, podcast transcripts, letters, song lyrics) which gave a lot of dimension and some neat flashforwards. The characters were unlikeable in many ways, but I found them more interesting than in Reckless Girls (which also focused around a group of unlikeable people!). The ending will be divisive; some will love the final twist and chapter, and others will wish it had been left off.

The Villa is a story of writing, sisterhood, doubt, power and betrayal. It emphasizes that the person telling a story is integral to how it is told. It would make for a very intriguing movie adaptation (the setting alone would be gorgeous, much like season 2 of The White Lotus). Hawkins continues to write entertaining popcorn thrillers that are perfect to curl up at the beach, poolside, or fireside. Thank you to MacMillan for the ARC!

Why can’t Rachel Hawkins write an ending that doesn’t suck? I was really enjoying this popcorn thriller with its gothic novel vibes and dual timelines. But the ending of both timelines was so disappointing. It feels like a cop-out disguised as a twist. There were also a couple of things that didn’t seem to be fleshed out - maybe they were meant to be red herrings but they really felt unnecessary. I think this was a really cool idea but could have been executed so much better.

Quick and Dirty⁣
-dual timeline, dual POV⁣
-story within a story⁣
-70s rock vibes⁣
-author story ⁣
⁣
Synopsis⁣
Emily’s life is a hot mess, a literal dumpster fire. The man she loved and married is holding her future hostage. She hasn’t had any motivation to write even though her next novel is overdue. Her health has improved, but she still has no idea what’s been wrong with her for the past several months. Chess, her best friend of over 30 years, might be a huge fake, but she’s all Emily has left. And she’s thrown Emily a lifeline in the form of a summer at an Italian Villa. Interestingly enough, it happens to be famous as the home to the infamous slaying of a 70s musician and the birth of two of the greatest works of contemporary art. Emily's hopeful she'll finally get inspired to finish her book. She'll find more than she's bargained for. ⁣
⁣
Musings⁣
I was absolutely absorbed in this book! Dark and atmospheric, The Villa read much more like a gothic novel than a thriller/murder mystery. I rather enjoyed the story within the story aspects of the novel, and the frienemy storyline of Chess and Emily. While the twists were a bit predictable, the other elements of the story kept me intrigued and flipping pages! Overall, this is strong showing in the thriller space (at least for this thriller novice 😂). If you're a fan of 70s rock culture and female creator stories, then this will be a fun read!

THE VILLA
___
Well everyone, A NEW BOMBSHELL HAS ENTERED THE VILLA.

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, is a dual time line and dual POV story told between Emily and Mari; Emily in present day and Mari in 1974. Mari spends her time at THE VILLA writing her novel when the murder of her musician boyfriend concludes the trip. Emily in present day is also writing her novel at THE VILLA and comes across something that may reveal whatever happened in 1974…might not be the truth. THE VILLA hooked me in immediately. I was thoroughly absorbed with the way Hawkins chose to write both plots into the lives of both main characters. The pace of this book made for an amazing ending when everything comes together, both present and past, to remind us that…

…houses remember.

Highly encourage you to go grab this today. This will definitely help kick start your new reading year! You can count on Hawkins to deliver a suspenseful story with beautiful book covers.

Liked but didn’t love! I thought the Italian setting should have been utilized more. Settings are so often used as a character and I felt like there was such an opportunity to do this here. Really enjoyed the realness if the characters!

"Houses, remember..." and so will I. This book was like a train wreck. You can't look away. I started off by reading this and got halfway. Then, I got my hands on the audiobook and finished the second half in one day. The audiobook made it so much easier to pallette. There's just so many stories going on and so many toxic relationships. I love the idea of this book and how the storylines come together. There's twists and turns, and I did lots of head scratching. If you pick this one up, listen to it!

I’ve been holding onto this ARC for a couple months, but I realized publication day was last week, so I figured I’d better get at it! I’m not a fan of haunted house/ghost stories, which is why I kept passing it by, but I don’t think I’d call this a ghost story. It’s really three stories in one…

In 1974, a fledgling writer named Mari, her upcoming musician boyfriend Pierce, and her stepsister Lara go to Villa Rosato in Orvieto, Italy. When they get there, they meet the famous musician, Noel Gordon, and his drug dealer, Johnnie. Throughout their summer, Mari writes a bestselling horror book, “Lilith Rising” loosely based on their time there. Lara also records a best-selling album, “Aestas”, after Pierce died at The Villa. His death, along with a lot of sexcapades, drugs and fights, made it a summer to remember.

Since the death of a man who was hanging out with a famous musician, Villa Rosato became an even more famous getaway for people like Emily, a once-successful but now struggling author, and her best friend, Chess, a successful self-help writer and online influencer. Emily is in the middle of a divorce with her cheating husband, Matt, so when Chess asks Emily to come with her to Italy for the summer, it wasn’t a tough decision to make. Soon, the two ladies are driving with the top down in Italy, free as birds.

Once at the villa, Emily keeps trying to write, but she’s stuck on her line of cozy mystery novels, and the new atmosphere isn’t giving her the inspiration she hoped it would. She instead decides to read “Lilith Rising”, and is pulled into not only the dark horror, but the events that took place in the ‘70s. That’s when she starts writing her own book about the villa, which starts to strain her friendship and brings a third story into this novel.

Overall, this was definitely like one of those cozy mysteries that Emily writes, because it was slow and played things safe. It did start to pick up towards the end, and I did like the ending, but this probably isn’t one I’d read again. I’m late on the train, but giving this a 3.5 star rating.

(Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Rachel Hawkins, and
NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

This was the first book from Rachel Hawkins that I’ve read (How, I have no idea), and I’ll definitely be reading more. But, I do want to preface this review by saying that generally speaking I do not gravitate towards thrillers, and when I do I prefer them to be less in your face, and more of a slow build which this definitely was. If you are a diehard thriller fan, looking for something in-your-face, with twists at ever turn of the page, then this may not be for you. But for someone dabbling in mystery/thriller this may be great option for you. The slower build of suspense allowed me to sit back and really dig in. That’s not to say it wasn’t a quick read, because it was! It just didn’t have a super fast, twisty plot.

I also loved that I finally found a dual storyline book that actually worked for me. They usually don’t, and I find myself preferring one storyline over the other, but that just wasn’t the case here. I found both storylines to be engrossing, and necessary to the plot. I did identify a few plot points that felt unresolved, or under-explained (especially with the current day storyline), but those holes weren’t distracting to me.

I liked that I was making guesses throughout the book, and while I came close, I never completely figured it out until the reveal towards the end. That’s always a hallmark of a good mystery/thriller in my opinion. .

Lastly, I loved the setting. But that’s just a personal preference, as I’ll read almost anything that’s set in Italy.

Overall, this was a fun, and quick read!

*Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital review copy in exchange for my honest review.

I had a hard time getting into this one honestly and I'm disappointed. I just didn't find the characters super compelling. BUT I think the writing and the plot were very interesting. So check this one out and see what you think!

Jessica (Chess) and Emily have been best friends for years. As adults, they have both become published authors and while maybe Chess is significantly more successful than Emily, well, they make it work. Sort of. When Chess suggests spending a summer in Italy together, Emily is surprised, to say the least. They haven’t been as close as they used to be and Emily has had a bit of a rough year - think cheating husband, recently divorced, mystery illness. But, Emily knows she has to get her cozy mystery written and when Chess reminds her how inspiring the Italian countryside might be, Emily relents.

I enjoyed the book. Hawkins did a great job telling the story of not only Emily and Chess, but also of Mari and Lara - two step-sisters who witnessed a murder in the same Italian villa back in the 70s. The two stories intersect in a unique way that kept me interested throughout the novel. The ending was especially well done.

Definitely recommend picking this up for a road trip or vaca read.

Thanks to Rachel Hawkins, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this ARC in return for my honest review.

I thought this was a fun read. The setting was great and the flashback sections were particularly engrossing. I did have some questions about how things worked out in the modern section regarding Matthew, but was able to get over that with a little suspension of disbelief. I would recommend this book to others.

I still don’t know how I feel about this one. I even had to google what gothic fiction is 😂 but it was a quick (only 288 pages) and interesting read.

On one hand, I loved the plot of the book. It was a unique story that tied the past and present together in a really cool way. On the other hand, I disliked all the characters (especially the ones from the last timeline).

I enjoyed the present timeline with Emily and Chess trying to reconnect as BFFs, all while Emily digs into the history of the vacation house and the murder that happened there. The past timeline slowed the pace down for me as it plays out the events that lead up to the murder.

You also get snippets of Mari’s manuscript, Lara’s songs, and articles about the rockstars & murder. It didn’t add anything extra to the story for me, and it made the flow feel choppy as you transitioned from one POV to the other.

Overall, I do think I would still recommend this to because of the storyline.

This book was a roller coaster for me. Firstly, I really enjoyed the historical side of it. I loved the flashbacks through the decades, and how a good part of the book took place in the 70’s. I also enjoyed the parallels between the group in the 70’s and Chess and Emily’s relationship. I spent a good amount of the book assuming the wrong characters were against the main protagonist, I truly did not know how it would end.
Which brings me to THE ENDING…….. the book had a great ending. But then it didn’t end there. The good ending was a pseudo-ending. I was unhappy with the ending.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC.