Thank you to @netgalley and @Stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @macmillian.audio for a free download of the audiobook.

I really enjoy the stories and thrill from @ladyhawkins novels. Even better, I have been to Ovierto, Italy. I could picture the narrow streets and the majesty of the cathedral in the center of town.

Emily and Chess make a summer getaway to Villa Aestas to enjoy Italy and both work on their current manuscripts. Emily is in the process of divorce and Chess has been come a national bestselling author. While Chess is making headway on her book, Emily is not inspired, so chooses to spend time digging into the history of the Villa. She cannot get enough of the story or the death that occurred here in the 70s.

I couldn’t put this book down and was glad to keep the story going with the audio when I couldn’t read. I recommend picking this one up!

4 stars

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I wasn't sure how I felt about this one throughout most of the story, but I think the fact that I couldn't put it down says a lot about how I felt about this story.

This was a mystery within a mystery and I actually loved that both timelines were more about relationships between women than any romance. In the present, Emily and Chess have a very complicated friendship where Emily both hates and loves her friend. As the story progresses, I can understand why.

Emily and Chess decided to spend a summer in a house in Italy to focus on their respective books. This house was the scene of a murder years ago and that brings us to the mystery within a mystery.

There was a mystery happening with Emily and Chess and as Emily gets more intrigued by the murder that happened in the 70's, there are a lot of parallels between Emily and Chess's relationship and Mari and Lara's. It was a very intriguing mystery and I loved the Italian setting. The end also showed how complex the story was and it was very surprising.

Great read by this author!

This story was riveting, I read it in one sitting! I read this somewhere else but it actually has some Helter Skelter/Mary Shelley vibes all set under the Umbrian sun. Rachel Hawkins is a clever thriller writer, all of her stories are so unique and surprising. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next! Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book released January 3, 2023 and is available now.

Wasn’t a huge fan of half of the ending (likeable characters or at least a happy ending without an unlikeable character is important), but overall it kept me reading to the very end. Loved the dual timeline, the fact that it is set in Italy, and most importantly, the suspense. Very well-written novel, will definitely recommend to others.

Houses remember.

Wow, this book was fantastic! I loved the paralleling stories of Chess and Em writing books in this beautiful house outside of Orvieto and Mari writing Lilith Rising! The author does a brilliant job of weaving the past and present storylines!

The house and scenery are described so beautifully! While reading the book I had a slow burning and simmering nervousness wondering what will happen to the characters. So many scenarios running through my head! And in the end all my theories were wrong!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the digital advanced readers copy!! Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The ending of the book was great! The twist I didn’t see coming!
The relationship of Emily and Chess was just kind of odd throughout the whole book, but I did enjoy the dual storylines.
It felt a little long and drawn out, with some information that wasn’t really needed in my opinion.

The weaving of Chess and Emily’s story with Mari’s story was done well. It took my a few chapters to fully grasp all the characters, but then the story started flowing.

Overall, I enjoyed Emily and Mari’s stories and how they weaved together. The twists and turns were unpredictable, which kept it fun.

Rachel Hawkins keeps getting better with every book she writes.

3.5 stars rounded up. I thought the back and forth of the series was interesting, especially the flashbacks . However I really ✨hated✨ the best friend character and it was hard to get past.

Estranged best friends spend the summer together in Italy each working on their writing. Em and Chess use this time to relax, rebuild their friendship and see how much the “house remembers “. Hawkins has a great writing style that draws the reader in and keeps the pages turning.

Duel time lines always get me. I’m a huge history buff and love to see what happened in the past. The characters were all lovable except for Chess. She in my opinion was the unreliable narrator. She proved that multiple times before the end of the book.

The setting was so easy to picture in both time frames. The house at times when I visualized it was a mixture of modern day and ancient architecture.

Lara and Chess I feel were the same person just in different timelines. Same with Mari and Em. Pierce and Em ex husband were the same and gave little hints to what the big twists were

4.5/5

Rachel Hawkins wow. What a read. This is totally different than what I thought I Was getting into. This story jumps back and forth in time. Between Mari lara pierce and Noel then to chess and Emma. Who are in current time and enjoying a nice vacation. Emma is fixated by the book Mari wrote and digs for clues as to what really happened the night Pierce died.
Houses remember. Can Emma find out what has really gone on?

This book will have you hooked. It's an easy read and it's not very long. I loved the ladies in this book. Except maybe chess but you'll see why.

I really loved the ending of this book and the fact we find out what really happened that night. I must admit I will think about this ending for awhile yet.

Thank you to netgalley and St martins press for this ARC. I really enjoyed it!

My new Rachel Hawkins favorite.

I listened to the audiobook version. This did not affect my opinion of the book, it made the reading experience even better.

Love the Then-Now POV in books. The Villa was not the exception. It was a fast-paced, interesting, dark, and suspenseful story. The descriptions of The Villa were fascinating as well.

Thank you to the Publisher St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the Advanced Free Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is my fourth book by Hawkins, and while I didn’t love it as much as Reckless Girls, I think it was still a really great thriller. She is so good at setting the scene, and truly making you feel like you are in the pages with the characters. I can’t wait to see what she writes next!!!

It turned out that this book was not a good fit for me - but that's on me. I have difficulty keeping a story straight when there are multiple points of view. Add to that the fact that the Villa, scene of a past murder from the 1970's, didn't have the focus I think would have made it better (again, that's my take on it). The pace was a little slow until about the halfway point and then it picked up. As for the main characters of Mari and Emily (the two points of view) they weren't women I wanted to hang out with as they are not all that likable. Overall I'm glad I stuck with it. This is only the second book I have read by Rachel Hawkins and I will be inclined to pick up the next book.
My thanks to the publisher St. Martin's and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to @netgalley for the advanced reader copy of The Villa. I loved The Wife Upstairs and enjoyed Reckless Girls so I was very excited to be able to read and review this one!

I’ve seen mixed reviews but I am here for Hawkins’ ability to twist a mystery. The whole story inside of a story and dual timelines was a fun way to discovery the mystery. It was an east read and a great book to read while traveling. If you’re looking for a fun popcorn thriller, pick this one up!

Emily and Chess have been friends for years. Both are authors but Emily is dry in her writing. Chess invites her to stay in this beautiful villa.
This is a story inside a story inside a story. I loved this book. It was intriquing and I could not put it down.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC and to St. Martin"s Press.

I really enjoyed this from beginning to end. It felt like a creepy mix of Daisy Jones, Verity, and the Manson murders. I like the dynamic of Em and Chess’ friendship and never being able to quite tell if they were friends or enemies. It kept me guessing and honestly I’m still not really sure. I didn’t find any of the characters to be very likable, but I don’t mind that in a thriller. They all seemed a little twisted and slightly unhinged and I loved it. My heart was definitely racing toward the end and I couldn’t wait to find out how it would all unfold. I did love the ending but my only critique is that it felt a little rushed.

This is told in dual timelines and also some other “articles” mixed in, which at first I wasn’t sure I would like or I thought would be confusing. But by the end of the first chapter I was completely hooked and flying through the pages. Also the chapters are pretty long which I normally loathe but these read so fast!

What was this book? I’m a huge fan of Rachel Hawkins previous books, as well as her Erin Sterling books, but this one felt more like a comedy than a thriller. Every twist was wildly and blatantly obvious right from the beginning. The characters were quite insufferable. The two POV and timelines were a little bit confusing and hard to follow, adding in the reading of the novel as well, it just felt super jumbled and couldn’t really keep track of everything.

The overall ending was confusing and left too many loose ends, but at the same time really underwhelming. This was really easy to binge, maybe that’s why I was so confused at times.. but I don’t think so. The audio I will say was great because of Julia Whelan and her accents, which did make it better and probably why I’m giving this 2 stars. Hopefully the next one will be a hit like the rest of Hawkin’s work. Can’t win them all!

I think it is safe to say, I have enjoyed each Rachel Hawkins book more than the one before. The Villa is my favorite for sure.

The Villa follows two timelines... First, Mari in 1974 staying at the Villa Rosato with her partner, musician Pierce, famous rockstar, Noel, her stepsister, Lara and Johnnie, Noel's friend/dealer. The villa becomes known as the murder house after someone dies there during that fateful summer trip. But from the villa comes forth two popular works of art, including Mari's novel, Lilith Rising, written during her trip that summer.

The second timeline follows Em and her friend Chess, during their summer trip to the villa, now known as Villa Aestas. Em is a writer of cozy mysteries, and is in a rut writing the next one, partially because she is divorcing her husband and he think he deserves half of her profits since he was in her life the entire time she was writing. Chess has branded herself as a self-help guru and the two decide to spend their summer writing in Italy. Em is fascinated by the story of that summer of 1974 and reads a copy of Lilith Rising during her time there. She starts writing a new book, one inspired by Mari, Lilith Rising and the house.

The story also injects with pieces of newspaper articles, lyrics of songs, excerpts from Lilith Rising and other books on the summer of 1974.

The story was completely unexpected. I wasn't sure who I liked, who I didn't, who I trusted and who was lying. It wasn't super dark and twisty, but still kept me on the edge of my seat.

This book reads like Taylor Jenkins Read and Lucy Foley had a baby. Not as good as either of their individual stories but an interesting and compelling mash up. Fans of the author's previous works will definitely find it hard to put down!