I love a beautiful house with a mysterious rock and roll history and this one has a murderous tale to tell. Set in two different time periods there are twists and turns, betrayals, and damaging secrets that come to light in both storylines. The characters are very interesting, though not always likeable, and I enjoyed the slow burn tension while finding out the truth. It read more like a suspense novel to me than a thriller, and I loved the Gothic mystery vibes. The audiobook is a delight and the narrators did a fantastic job.

“The house that changed the course of her life. All of their lives, forever.”

The Villa is a slow burn thriller that follows Emily and Chess as they write and spark creativity… but the longer they spend together and in the villa, the more tension arises. Soon an intense rivalry sparks… what happens when tensions build all under one roof? It can be deadly.

I enjoyed my read of The Villa, but I believe I could have enjoyed it more had I known what I would be reading. Somehow I got the idea this would be a haunted house type thriller, so I kept waiting for events to amp up, but it never happened. This is a perfectly nice story about two friends, both writers, whose old bonds of friendship are being tested. Chess has inexplicably found great success as a self help guru/writer. Meanwhile, Emily's marriage has crumbled and she is finding her next cozy mystery impossible to write.

Chess offers Emily the opportunity to accompany her on a summer writing sojourn at a beautiful villa in Italy. As it happens, this villa was the site of some rock and roll mayhem and murder some fifty years before. A famous musician had rented the villa and asked four other friends to accompany him there. Three are musicians, one is a want-to-be musician, and one, Mari, writes a cult favorite horror story during her time at the villa. Emily is captivated by the history, and rereads the book, Lilith Rising, that was written at the Villa. She finds clues in the story to help explain what actually happened the night of the murder. This encourages Emily to start a book, and as she begins to write, her gut tells her she has a winner.

This is an interesting story told in two viewpoints, Emily's in modern times, and Mari's in the 1970s. At first I was less interested in Mari's story, but gradually they evened out for me. There is plenty of intrigue in the story. Does Chess have ulterior motives for inviting Emily to Italy? Will Emily's ex-husband quit harassing her? Will Emily solve the mystery of what really happened at Villa Rosata the night of the murders? There are a couple of surprises towards the end of the book. But if you're expected full on, first-person horror drama, you're in for a letdown. It's as if a gauzy curtain has been placed over the villa. Terrible events are hinted at, but they are softened and told from afar, not up close and nitty-gritty. At first I was disappointed by this. The story was less gripping than I expected. But after awhile, I realized this style did serve the way the author was relaying the story.

So at the end of the read, I have mixed feelings. The Villa certainly kept me interested and intrigued and I finished it much more quickly than I have been finishing books recently. But I was slightly let down by the distance I felt from both the characters and the plot line. I think had I gone into it knowing it was (in my opinoin) more literary fiction and less thriller, I would have appreciated it more. It's a 3.5 for me, but I'm rounding up as I think the writing was good and the plotline was interesting. Overall, an enjoyable read!

This is my second Rachael Hawkins book and there is something unique about her books. The Villa is a dual timeline story with lots of twist and turns.

I feel like I need to be careful what I say so I do not give anything away but this is a story you need to read and make sure you pay attention to all aspects! There are connections throughout the whole book.

One think Rachael Hawkins is great at is taking a beautiful place you want to visit and absolutely making it horrifying and dark. In this case the beautiful house in Italy which sounds like a dream until it is turned in a nightmare.

I want to thank Netgalley and St. Martins Press for my honest review

Another striking cover, another incredible setting, so much of this was actually working SO WELL and yet…once we get to the 60% mark or so, it’s a hard record scratch moment that this just truly never recovered from.

I thought Emily’s disaster dumpster fire life was interesting, even her friendship with Chess was interesting because it does mimic those toxic friendships we’ve all had. Once they get to the Villa and we see how the dual timelines intersect at the same place, it was super engaging and i was in full detective mode. While the past timeline was never that interesting on its own, i liked the way it fueled Emily in the present timeline.

Where this really just nosedived was when the tension between Chess and Emily reaches a high point only for the past timeline to take hold. That switch over from the deliciously mean girls-esque drama happening in the present killed the momentum. Not to mention that shift to the past is filled with so much dry, boring detail that didn’t add anything to the mystery.

Once we finally get back to the present timeline, that tension just doesnt pick up where it left off the way it should have and ultimately the ending was more tame than I expected. This isn’t the female empowerment journey you expect, and ultimately I feel like one character in particular skated by with too much. I don’t think friendship like that, that destructive and vindictive, even if it is between two women, trumps all.

Sadly, this is likely my last from Hawkins, if a popcorn thriller like this ultimately can’t give me a deliciously fun ending at least, what is even the point?

Rating: 2.5/5, rating up to 3.

I loved the premise of this novel and was looking forward to being transported off the page by a thriller within a thriller. Initially, the novel didn't disappoint. Chess and Em made intriguing best friends even if it seemed unlikely that they'd stay friends for so long. The past story was also intriguing at first, but as the intertwining stories progressed, they both got silly in their shallow obviousness. I guessed the ending about halfway through and the only reason I kept on reading was to see if I had guessed right -- and I had. Sigh.

Having said that, many people will like this book. A Hawkins thriller is a quick read. This would be a good choice for a long flight or sitting in a slow waiting room.

I had high expectations for The Villa, but unfortunately they fell flat. I enjoyed the time hops, but had a hard time finding any connection to the characters. The "big murder" was incredibly anticlimactic and left me wondering why I should even care. The Villa won't dissuade me from reading any of Ms. Hawkins future books, but I may not rush to get to them.

I read an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are my own and no reflection of receiving an ARC.

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins - Short Review

- Mystery & Thriller

- A Breezy Fiction

- Story of two sisters, 1974

- Story of two best friends, 2022

- Super easy to listen if you are listen to the Audiobook

- Solid Twists at the end!



Glad that I heard the audiobook instead of reading the paperback and liked the dramatic narration. Have you read the book or planning to?



Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

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 ⁣
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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. ⁣
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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!