BOOK REVIEW: The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
2023 Publication Date: January 3

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T.I.M.E. BOOK REVIEW:
An Exciting and Thrilling Read
Are you in search of the best thrillers and gothic suspense crime novels to read? If so, The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is a perfect choice. With its mysterious setting and captivating characters, this book is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Let's explore further what makes this novel such a captivating read...

Atmospheric Setting
The Villa takes place in Orvieto, Italy – a small town that has been host to some "interesting" events in its past. In 1974, the villa was infamous as the setting of a murder involving sex, drugs, and celebrity-status rock and roll.

This mysterious past provides an exciting backdrop to the present-day story of Emily and Chess’ trip away together. They are both writers and become intrigued with the story.

To make matters even more gripping, Rachel Hawkins states this crime fiction novel was inspired by Fleetwood Mac and Percy Shelley’s summer spent with Lord Byron – making it clear why readers would be so entranced by this book!

Engaging Characters
The two main characters are Emily and Chess who have been best friends since childhood but have gradually grown apart as adults. This means that their reunion is all the more special... and full of layers, personal history, and trust issues.

Emily and Chess are well-developed characters who will draw readers in from page one. We learn about their pasts through flashbacks that reveal startling truths about their relationship — and every revelation brings us closer to understanding why they act the way they do now.

Readers will be able to empathize with them as they attempt to recapture the bond they once had as children while navigating the emotional landmines adulthood has nurtured.

Hawkins further fleshes out her story by introducing secondary characters who help them unravel Orvieto’s mysteries, providing insight into local culture, and hinting at something sinister lurking beneath the surface of the cursed villa.

Furthermore, the multi-dimensional characters from the villa's history keep readers on their toes throughout. Often I felt as if I was being hypnotized into the experience of the story!

Fascinating Plot
As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable friends. Now in their thirties, they have drifted apart due to the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girl's trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend — and what better way to do it than by staying at one of Italy’s most luxurious holiday homes!

The plot of The Villa follows Emily and Chess on their journey as they explore Orvieto together. However, there is much more behind what initially meets the eye.

The villa holds many secrets from its past which both Emily and Chess soon become embroiled in — each dark secret they uncover leads to another until it culminates into an exciting climax that readers won't be able to tear themselves away from!

The Writing Style
Told through alternating perspectives between the present day and 1974, The Villa masterfully builds suspense as it reveals each character’s secrets and motivations.

Rachel Hawkins repeatedly lands on The New York Times bestseller lists for good reason. Hawkins’ writing style is incredibly engaging.

She deftly weaves together the two timelines that both feel immediate and urgent. Her vivid descriptions of the Italian landscape are beautifully written and bring the story to life, while her dialogue is realistic yet poignant.

Hawkins also captures certain nuances related to female friendship that is often overlooked in stories with male protagonists — such as how these relationships ebb and flow over time.

In addition to being entertaining, The Villa is an ode to women’s strength when facing difficult obstacles together... or on their own. It is up to you whether you find this story to reveal it as inspirational... or cautionary.

What is the theme of The Villa?
The overarching theme of The Villa is that of secrets, deception, and consequences — as well as friendship and strength in the face of adversity. It examines the choices we make and the secrets we keep — with the inevitable effect they have on setting subsequent actions in motion.

Perfect for thriller fans looking for the best thrillers that will transport them away from reality into a world full of secrets and surprises — Look no further than The Villa!

The Villa is a thrilling gothic suspense novel full of unexpected twists and turns... Its' compelling storyline is accompanied by vivid descriptions of Italy's countryside and complex characters that will immerse you quickly into both timelines — keeping you enthralled until its very last page. Add this page-turner to your must-read books list...✨😎✨

Pages: 288
Genre: Best Thriller Books | Best Thriller Novels
Sub-Genre: Crime Fiction | Crime Novels
Time Period: 1974 thru Present Day
Location: Orvieto (Italy)
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

IF YOU LIKE THIS BOOK THEN TRY…
Book: The It Girl by Ruth Ware ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Movie: Mary Shelley

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
A deliciously wicked gothic suspense set at an Italian villa with a dark history...

The Villa follows Emily and Chess, two friends who have been estranged for some time. When Chess suggests a girl's trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend. They arrive at Villa Aestas in Orvieto, an estate with a dark past — it was once the site of a terrible crime... An infamous murder tale involving sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

As Emily and Chess explore their new surroundings, they find themselves drawn deeper into the villa’s deadly legacy.

For thriller fans of Gone Girl or books by Lucy Foley or Ruth Ware.

A perfect Gothic Suspense for book lovers looking for suspenseful thriller novels full of unpredictable twists and turns...

BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION:
• Suspenseful Thriller - Full of unexpected twists and turns, making it a must-read for those who love thrillers.
• Women’s Strength - This story showcases the power of female friendship and strength when facing difficult obstacles together.
• Secrets and Consequences - Examines the choices we make and how their consequences shape our future.

BOOK QUOTE:
"Another universe of might-have-beens... That's how stories should work..." — The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

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All my book reviews can be seen at This Is My Everybody | Simple Living | Denise Wilbanks at thisismyeverybody.com/blog/what-book-should-i-read

♡ Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

I quite enjoyed this book, which is unusual for me seeing as I normally don't enjoy stories with multiple time lines. . I like the author's writing style and it's always fun to read a book within a book, so those were pros; on the con side, a lot of the characters were just plain unlikeable and the plot (including the whole set up to how they all ended up at the Villa seemed implausible. I thought the Villa would have more of a play in the book (Does it remember? Is it evil?) and was disappointed when it didn't. I think the author was trying for a feminist read, but the relationship between all the women seemed sterotypical and not at all empowering. I didn't like the end of the Emily / Chess storyline (I think one of them was more involved in the other's situation than was let on) but I was OK-ish with the resolution to the Mari / Lara storyline. I am still thinking if I liked scenario one or scenario two better, so the fact that this book is still in my head after finishing it must mean something.

This book was so good and combined so many elements I love to read. It was set mostly in Italy in a beautiful villa. It involved famous people with a mysterious murder. There were excerpts from songs and books and news stories. There were dynamic family and friend relationships. So much in this book and it all worked so well together. The end left me a little confused, but I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend.

What fun it is to sit, or lie in bed, with a read leaning/sitting/suspended above you by your boytoy at your preferred angle, and just submerge into a story. It must needs be a hefty stew, a thick and savory amalgam of tastes powerful and subtle, to get through the fog of quotidian tedium we're all settling back into in the wintry northern hemisphere. Remember it for August reading, global southerners!

Rachel Hawkins delivers a big, full bowl of it all. The middle-escent quondam besties who, in the present, are surprising themselves when they decide to spend girl-time together at one of those fabulously gorgeous rentable family seats in gloriously scenic Italy. Each woman, trying to gin up something to fulfill a publishing contract, is finding that she just is not feeling the love for anything she's got at that moment. The mystery writer's cozy series is sour for her now that her soon-to-be-ex husband is suing her for a chunk of her future royalties because she, in a moment of candor, told an interviewer that her series' most beloved character was based on him. The self-help writer's having an existential crisis because she's been fleecing desperate people by ladling out craptastic nostrums knowing full well that a trip to the Hallmark card shop would give them the same level of help and insight into their problems.

Oh dear! Silly me, saying what I really think about things again. Strike that! Of course, she's simply seeking something to afford her fresh insights and, well, what better than a friend in the middle of a rancorous divorce? (I don't in all honesty see how that's better but I'm not here to judge.) (Well, only the story I'm being told, not the realities of publishing.)

Em and Chess, in the present day, are going through the middle-escent crisis of "is this it?" and need to make their eyes see past the same-old same-old surfaces. At their gorgeous holiday Villa Aestas, they learn to listen to themselves more carefully as the delicious herbal remedy of being in Italy brings up things neither was ever planning to work through, or even acknowledge...admit. That stew has tough cuts of meat that just about break your jaw muscles to chew....

Their motivation to do that tough work is the fifty-years-gone history of Villa Aestas. Golden-boy rocker, two teenaged girls in love with his fame and poetry, a Svengali older man...all of twenty-six!...who guides the group into a Byron-and-Shelley creative ferment that he uses to elicit full-body responses to the sexual tensions inevitable in this situation. Tell me how any writer of anything at all could resist poking this spiritual sore tooth! And the existence of a memoir-by-novel about it, telling a story so soppily romantic that you just know a teenager wrote it. Should they, and we, trust the story we're told here, the story in front of us? Emily, she of the murder-mystery instincts, doesn't seem to question Mari's published version of the 1974 events until present-day events make her think carefully for once in a long, foggy, unhappy time.

But writers, you know, writers aren't simple little souls ready to take dictation from their imaginary friends the voices. Writers (of murder mysteries, of books about changing your life) need to be ruthless and "kill their darlings." Success can breed jealousy as always, but so can a lifetime of coming up short when comparing yourself to someone else...and poets (as songwriters insist they are) are doubly susceptible to this. Add in a hefty libido and a sense of entitlement and, well....

What Author Hawkins does is not something unexpected. But what she accomplishes by bringing all the strands...the two parties visiting Villa Aestas and the book that Mari, the central voice in 1974's strands, writes...into one bundle is to scrape away the grease she's been applying to the ropes of the plot so they won't rub too hard together and weaken each other. The bare ropes of the meanings and emotions scrape and snarl and burn each other as they are suddenly and forcefully made to change the story's velocity and angle. No tangles, some fraying...I think Mari's book got just a hair (heh) more time in the spotlight than it merited...but supporting structure of the thriller parts of the story suspend their scenery and allow you to scrape your stew-bowl clean without feeling like you need to rush before it all comes crashing down. I heard some creaking from behind the scenes but, crucially, felt that this was not the ropes complaining as they got overworked in moving the parts. It was a quiet invitation from Author Hawkins to consider the thriller you've seen in its intended configuration and perspective.

And question if, just maybe, there had not been a last-minute change of plans, well laid to achieve one result, to achieve instead another result entirely.

This elevated a solid three-and-a-half stars entertainment to a four-star puzzle (despite some eye-rolling but period-appropriate homophobia). Definitely recommended to thriller fans and to the small corps of remaining lovers still thrilling to the wonderful Cary Grant did-he-or-didn't-he films of the 1940s.

This is my third book by the author so of course I could not wait to dive in. The Villa is about a woman who is in the process of divorce and decides to take a trip to Italy with her best friend from childhood. Upon traveling to Italy she discovers that a murder has occurred in the villa that they are staying in.

The book alternates between present day and the 70's and 80's where you receive the POV of Mari who stayed in the same villa with her boyfriend, step sister and two other men.

This book had me up late at night turning the pages! Rachel Hawkins writing is 100% propulsive in that way. What I had a hard time with was the two stories and overlap between both which fell just a tad bit flat for me. I would have liked to see those interconnect in a different way. That being said, I still really enjoyed the story. This would make a great vacation book!

A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read an early copy!

The blurb for this book says it was inspired by Fleetwood Mac and the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle–the birthplace of Frankenstein-
and it’s as good as that sounds!
I loved Reckless Girls but I think I love this one even more- especially the 1974 storyline.
Two lifelong best friends, both writers, head to Italy for a summer of relaxing and writing. But the villa they’re staying at is a “murder house” and the story goes back and forth between the brutal murder in the ‘70s and present day. Things aren’t as they seem in either timeline, and there were some great twists that I didn’t see coming. Loved it!

I had originally read the synopsis for this book, however, by the time I was ready to read it, I had forgotten the specifics. I was pretty much going into this blind. I was ready to dive into a twisty, suspenseful thriller full of intrigue and questions. Unfortunately, that isn't what I got.

Often talked about as a thriller, I was disappointed with how slow this book felt. I didn't feel like I was reading a thriller - or book of suspense - until at least the 60% mark. If then, even. I saw a review that stated this felt more like a women's fiction with some suspense thrown in, and that's exactly how I felt while reading this book.

Without giving away too many spoilers, knowing that the Italian villa the two friends were staying in was a previous "murder house," I kept waiting for something big to happen. But what I expected didn't happen until the end of the book, and that event felt like an afterthought to me, leaving me with way too many questions that weren't answered.

I didn't care for the two characters, although I loved the idea of two old friends going to Italy for a vacation together. That is until the betrayal was revealed. Then I was kind of done, personally.

The dual time line of this book was a good addition as it helped to write the backstory of the house more, however, it felt like it was leading to more happening that didn't. I began this book by listening to the audiobook, but I was having trouble getting interested in it. I'm glad I switched over to read the book instead. It was a much easier read for me. This was a short, quick read that you can finish in no time. Overall, I didn't hate this book, I was just disappointed in the events.

Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review:

Let’s start with the positives. I really liked the character development and felt as though all of the characters from BOTH timelines were really well fleshed out, which is an impressive thing to do! This was definitely a page Turner and I really enjoyed the past story line about Mari a lot.

The ending just really fell flat to me. I felt like we had built up this really great story arch just to reach.. that ending. I wanted something else, but I couldn’t tell you exactly what, so maybe the author managed exactly what she was going for!

I think I really wanted to like this book more than I did. But it was a fast read and I found myself binging it, which says a lot about the writing. I felt connected to the characters, which is probably why the ending felt disappointing to me.

this was my first of her thrillers & it took me for a ride!! i am not the biggest thriller/mystery reader, but here’s some of my thoughts 👇👇

WHAT I LIKED:
🌴the destination setting
👯‍♀️questionable friendships between characters
✍️the story within the story
🤫unraveling the truth
✌️the interconnected, dual timelines

WHAT I WANTED MORE OF:
😱thrill factor
⭐️stand-out, aha moments
🔚a more eerie, murky ending

As always, Rachel Hawkins delivered a quick and captivating read. The premise was SO good and had me so excited. I could feel anxiety building as I got further and further into the story and the sense that something wasn't right (especially in Chess and Emily's chapters) was palpable. In the end, I was pretty surprised by the big twist and I think it made the modern story even more twisted ultimately. All in all, still a big fan of Rachel Hawkins. Thanks for the ARC, Netgalley!

Emily and Chess have been friends (or frenemies) since they were kids. Now that they’re 30, they don’t see each other as much as they used to and Emily’s life isn’t going so well so, when Chess suggests a trip to Italy for the Summer, Emily accepts.

They are going to stay at a beautiful Villa in Orvieto but then Emily discovers that in the 70s a group of friends that included aspiring authors and musicians spent the summer in that same villa and that, after lots of sex, drugs and rock n roll, a mysterious murder occurred. Emily is an author, so she wants to use this time in Italy to write her next book, but then she finds some things that may have belonged to these people in the 70s, and becomes obsessed with discovering what really happened that summer.

The story is told in dual timelines, alternating between the present and the 70s. Both storylines are very intriguing and suspenseful. I enjoyed the parallels between them. I loved the mysterious Italian Villa, it’s gothic elements and dark past. It was very interesting to read about Hawkins’ inspiration for the novel too.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook. It’s narrated by @shiromi.arserio, @justjuliawhelan, and @voxkimberly and they all did a great job. This was my first book by Rachel Hawkins (even though I’ve read other 2 by Erin Sterling) and I’m already looking forward to reading her next one!

Whew! First pick of 2023 and am really THRILLed with it ;-P
I'm new to reading Rachel Hawkins and: I GET IT NOW!
I pride myself on rounding out my tastes as much as possible and I was long overdue for a thriller, THE VILLA delivered in a major way.
Maybe because I had just binged White Lotus season 2 and was hungry for more Italy, more affluent arseholes, more empowered women living outside their societal bounds but, I give this new novel an A+
The audiobook was fantastic--the performances were dynamic and had me riveted!
Now I find myself fully sated and ready for more--my neighbor is going to lend me another Hawkins book, for fans of hers which do you suggest: Reckless Girls or The Wife Upstairs?
Happy 2023 kick off book, LFG!!

I am glad I finally have a favorite Rachel Hawkins book. I've read all books she has published under the thriller genre and this is the first one that truly blew me away. The atmosphere here was great, very tense and eerie. I loved the setting of the Italian Villa, and the parallels between the two timelines and what the characters were going through. I did not see the ending coming, and was surprised by the plot twist, in a good way. I will definitely be recommending this one!

The Villa, by Rachel Hawkins, is more murder mystery than horror. Set in a Tuscan villa, the story is told in two intertwined timelines. The earliest is set in the 1970's, when two musicians, a friend, one girlfriend and her stepsister all holiday at the villa. The visit ends in tragedy. The second timeline is set in the present, when two "best" friends, both writers, spend summer at the same Villa. The relationships in both time periods are confused and troubled. No character is what they seem, and all of them are vulnerable to each other and their own wants. Hawkins is a master at the slow revelation of who, what, where and why. Each new detail propelled me to read further.

The Villa indeed is a character in the story. Hawkins endows it with detail and atmosphere that changes with the time of day and the chameleon moods of its visitors. Her human characters vary in nuance and dimension, with none of them demonstrating much fortitude. This was a quick and enjoyable read. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read a digital ARC.

I had a lot of mixed feelings on this one.

I enjoyed the setting and really felt like I was in the Italian countryside. I also enjoyed the dual timelines. I felt like the story would have been more one dimensional without the plot in the past.

On the other side, I felt that the ending was rushed and you had to just go with it rather than try to figure out the details. I also felt like the twist was predictable and a lot of the plot points had been done before but more effectively.

Overall, I liked the idea of this but it was a bit bland and forgettable.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story! It’s based on best frenemies that travel to Italy to spend the Summer writing their respective books in a villa where trade gym has struck in the past. I really enjoyed how the story jumped back and forth in the times lines and characters! The only reason it wasn’t a five star read for me was because of the speed in which the story wrapped up. There was a lot of build up and twists that I felt led to what I wished was actually spoken about from Emily and Chess’s point of views. I would definitely recommend to anyone interested in mysteries and thrillers!

I am a huge fan of Rachael Hawkins and her books just keep getting better and better! The Villa was an excellent book encompassing all the best of elements of a thriller with an added layer of mystery. The dual timeline and two sets of characters was interesting and well-developed. I thought the transitions between the two different stories was seamless. I am a huge fan of books about writers, so that was an extra bonus in my perspective! Such a good book - I am already anticipating her next!

Two childhood friends decided to take a trip to Villa Aestas, in Italy. Chess is working on a self help book, and Emily is trying to finish writing her latest novel and get away from drama dealing with her soon to be ex husband. The Villa they are staying at is not just an ordinary Villa, but a famous one. Tragedy struck down on it a few decades before....

Told in an alternative timeline, in 1974 five people went to stay in the Villa....one person didn't make it out alive. Thanks to the stay a famous book came out of it. Which ties into the present day timeline. Emily finds it and decides to dig deeper into what happened so many years ago.

I was so excited going into this book...but it fell flat to me. I don't want to get into all the reasons why and ruin the book, but how some of the female characters acted, is just too much. I want more thrillers with badass FMC. I just couldn't really connect with any of the characters, it was hard to care for any of them. I also called a few of the twists.

I listened and read the book. The audio was great. Once again Julia Whelan hit it out of the park. She is such an amazing narrator. If you read the book, I suggest listening to it!

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the ebook, and Libro.FM for the audio! This is my first Rachel Hawkins book, but it won't be my last.

The Villa is without a doubt my favorite Rachel Hawkins thriller to-date, which is saying a lot, because she was already one of my must-buy and must-binge authors! The sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll culture of the 1970s is the perfect contrast to the present-day girls' holiday vibe of Emily and Chess. There's normally one period I like better than the other in dual timelines, but this one is perfect. They're both addictive and engaging, and they tie together perfectly! Thanks so much for the chance to read early!!

I can say with all honesty that The Villa was an atmospheric journey from start to finish. A journey to the Italian countryside in a gorgeous Villa should have brought a sense of peace and relaxation to our main characters. Instead, it brought forward secret desires and dread. On one hand, we have our characters of the past, an experienced rocker, an aspiring rockstar, the pushed aside friend, and two sisters, all of whom are hoping to find the answer to what comes next in their life. In the present, we have two old friends who are trying to navigate the changes within their own lives. It was fascinating to watch as the past and the present intertwined with and inside the Villa and postulate where the suspense would end up.

The buildup of suspense and tension was steady throughout the entire book. While it was wonderful to see and feel the atmosphere build, it was relatively slower moving for the plot on a whole. This sluggishness of the plot allowed for there to be a stronger focus on pieces of the puzzle and other clues that would be connected eventually. It was slow enough for the plot to breathe, but not so slow that I lost interest. In fact, my interest was not pushed forward by the actual plot but rather by my intense need to figure out the mystery, which definitely says something about the intrigue of this novel. I managed to ignore most other responsibilities in the name of being wrapped up in a story.

This was definitely not the most thrilling of thrillers. While it was interesting, there was never a moment that made my heart stop. I appreciated the twists and the slow burn of the mystery, but there was never a peak of tension for me where I was stressed about what was coming next.

This book is great for anyone who is looking for an easy read thriller. Make sure to check for trigger warnings as well, there are some intense subjects involved in the storyline. ⅘ stars

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.