This is a slow burn thriller, told from the perspectives of Mari, mostly set in 1974, and Emily, in modern-day. Both stories explore the power and (sometimes) toxicity of sisterhood and female friendship.

The alternating perspectives were hard for me to connect at first, but the parallels became more clear as the novel went on. At first, I was much more invested in Emily's story than Mari's story, but by the end, I was firmly ensconced in Mari's story.

The parallels between Mari and Lara's relationship and Emily and Chess's relationship never quite fit for me. Mari and Lara seemed to genuinely love each other, but Emily and Chess had too much animosity to make their friendship believable. None of the characters were particularly likeable, but I empathized with all of them except Chess. She just had very few redeeming qualities and I never felt like we could trust her.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for an advanced reader's copy of this book.

This dual timeline weaves together two stories involving different people set in a in Italian villa. Childhood friends, Chess and Emily had different upbringings but as adults are both writers. One is successful and one is struggling but both have something to gain. They plan to spend an entire summer together abroad to work on their books but while there, they uncover a mysterious past involving a murder that happened many years ago in the villa they are renting. This mystery sparks an interest in writing a new book but which author will claim it?
I loved the way the author integrated the past and present t into this suspenseful plot! This is the 3rd book I’ve read by this author and my favorite!

I loved Hawkins’s last two novels, so no surprise that I loved this one. In fact, I think it’s the best of the bunch!

This was a complex story within a story. Actually, there are at least a half dozen stories in this novel, all seamlessly woven together, some more essential than others. The central story revolves around the friendship of Emily and Chess, best friends since childhood. Em is an author reeling from past illness and her divorce while Chess is thriving as an influencer. They vacation in Italy at a villa, the site of a murder among bohemians 50 years earlier. Of course, not all is as it seems.

Hawkins’s greatest charm is character development and dialogue. Sometimes the dialogue is so spot on, it made me laugh. Her characters seem to animate beyond the page.

Without revealing all the secrets, Hawkins ties most loose ends, purposely leaving the reader to imagine the rest.

If you enjoy a thriller where relationships are key, move this one to the top of your list.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Marin’s Publishing for the ARC. All opinions are entirely my own.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ebook of The Villa! All opinions in this review are my own.

Rachel Hawkins has done it once again. Her books never disappoint me and I look forward to reading the newest one each year. Just like Reckless Girls, I tore through The Villa. I finished it in under 24 hours because I couldn't put it down!

Things I Loved About The Villa:
🍋 set in a gorgeous Italian Villa
🍋 dual timelines
🍋 you know the horrible event is coming but you don't know the details surrounding it
🍋 main character writes cozy mysteries
🍋 a truly wild ending
🍋 eye-catching cover

The Villa is out January 3rd and I can't wait to own a physical copy!

One of my reads over the break was The Villa. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy on Netgalley as both an eARC and audiobook as well. I don’t always get approved for eARCs so when it’s a book I really want to read I request the audiobook which I sometimes have more success with.

I’m so glad I got the audio copy of this one! It’s co-narrated by my favourite narrator Julia Whelan - I could listen to her read anything! It really enhanced the story for me.

The Villa has a dual timeline with present day following two childhood friends Chess & Emily and the past following a rockstar, new musician + his girlfriend and stepsister.

Emily and Chess are both authors of very types of books. Emily was the first to publish but Chess’ career took off when she published her self help book. She rented the Villa Aestas for part of the summer and asks Emily to come along.

Once Emily realizes they’re staying in a former murder house, it’s all she can think about & wants to uncover what may have really happened.

You start to wonder if the house still carries the energy & if it’ll claim another person before the summer is up.

I will say, I started the ecopy and had a hard time at first getting into it even though I love dual timelines in thrillers. I would highly suggest this one on audio, I think the great narration makes it really engaging and hard for you to turn off.

This was a ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me & it comes out January 3rd!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, the author, Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the copies in exchange for my honest review.

was so excited to be sent a digital copy of this several months ago and then when The Literary Lovelies became eligible for the Gallery pick of the physical book we had to do it as a book club pick for sure. I really enjoyed this one but I thought it was very different from her last book Reckless Girls

Synopsis:

Emily and Chess were inseparable growing up. Now that they are older and both successful writers their friendship has been a little strained. Chess is now a successful self-help author while Emily settled in with cozy mysteries. Determined to rekindle their friendship Emily agrees to go away with Chess to Italy for the summer. Emily has had a rough go recently with her husband leaving her, becoming ill, and being late on her latest cozy mystery. Meanwhile Chess’s books have made her a household name. .The Villa they rent has a mysterious past.

Another writer Mari, stayed at the same Villa in 1974 with her step-sister Lara, her boyfriend Pierce who was an up-and coming musician and notorious rock star legend Noel Gordon. Mari an Lara produced great works of art after that summer when they were meant to be muses for their musician boyfriends. Instead Pierce ends up dead.

This book is inspired by Fleetwood Mac, The Manson murders and the infamous summer between Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva Castle. I want to do more research on both of these now.

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed that this book focused more on female friendships than romantic love. I liked the parallel between Emily and Chess and Mari and Lara. Both relationships were at times toxic and at other times inspiring. It was a little weird that both Chess and Emily were successful authors because that’s such a rarity. Overall though< I really enjoyed the book. The pacing was good, and it really kepy my interest. I did read this as an ALC from @libro.fm and was elated to hear my favorite narrator, Julia Whalen as the MC.

Rachel Hawkins writes unique thrillers that are page turners I don’t want to put down! The Villa is no exception. The book is told from Emily’s perspective in the present day, and Mari’s point of view in 1974.

Present day: Emily is a cozy mystery writer who after separating from her husband, decides to take a six week long vacation to a villa in Italy with her lifelong best friend, Chess. While there she discovers the villa is the scene of a brutal murder that took place 50 years before. Emily decides to focus on this story for her next book.

1974: Mari, her boyfriend Pierce, and her sister Lara, are invited to spend the summer at a villa in Italy so Pierce can work on his music career. We know that Pierce was murdered that summer, and one of the other guests at the villa committed the crime. We just don’t know why.

I really loved the dual timelines, especially Mari’s story. I couldn’t put the book down because I needed to know what really happened that summer. I liked how the two storylines were intertwined. I was able to figure out a few things, but there is a great twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. I loved the setting of this book and the atmospheric feelings the villa provided.

I had an eARC and ALC, and listened along as I read the story. Julia Whelan is my favorite narrator so I was very happy to hear her voicing Emily. The other narrators, Kimberly Wetherell and Shiromi Arserio, were great as well. The voices were different enough to know what timeline we were in, and who was speaking.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

The Villa flips between two story lines. The first, is about two childhood best friends, Emily and Chess, who have grown up taking two different paths, but somehow have remained friends. Both being authors have agreed to take a month long summer vacation together to Italy where they can reconnect and work on both of their latest projects.

The other story line is about several artists and their twisted and overlapping drama and relationships who spend time at the same Villa as Emily and Chess do but forty years prior. Based on a rapid chain of events that happen during their stay, one of the artists, Mari, writes one of the best horror books of all time.

To avoid her latest project and her personal drama, Emily dives into the history of the Villa and the truth about Mari's novel. As Emily starts to uncover the fascinating truth things start to escalate in her personal life that seem to somewhat parallel with what happened once before at the Villa.

Thank you, Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. I enjoyed the two storylines interweaving but found Mari's confusing and drug out. I found myself wanting to keep reading Emily's. It had a really slow start but I really liked the ending. 3/5 stars for me!

THE VILLA is a vacation mystery thriller that crosses timelines, and my soul was ready for it! When two best friend writers take a girls trip to Orvieto and visit the infamous villa where the murder of a rock star took place. As Emily and Chess and their relationship unfolds and their journey with their new and hopeful novels transpire within the present timeline, Mari shared the secrets that the villa still holds back from the 70s — sex, drugs, music, and of course, a murder.
Hawkins brought in so many accounts of information to allow the reader to gain insight and truly feel immersed into the events across timelines. I found myself constantly eager to find out what will happen next and was able to make my way through the novel quickly despite the long chapters!

I was nervous to read this one after not liking the authors book last year. She redeemed herself with this one though. It is much more interesting and kept me invested the whole time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First of all a HUGE thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of The Villa before its release. Seriously, SO dang cool.

I am terrible at writing reviews so I’m not going to try so I think all I need to say is DO NOT MISS OUT ON THIS! This book has it all. Love, betrayal, sisterhood, tragedy and triumph, murder, revenge. The list goes on.

I’ve LOVED all her books but this one is next level. 👑

Good storytelling of a villa where death has occurred. Flashing back between the 70s and the present kept my interest, and the relationships were fascinating in each era. Didn’t quite believe in the best friends in the present…I was always suspicious and still don’t believe the truth in the friendship but that makes my mind still trying to figure it out. Great twist in the ending ..

I really liked it. There I said it! ☺️

I went into the latest Hawkins book a bit skeptical, but hopeful nonetheless. I wasn’t a fan of Reckless Girls, despite all the hype it got this year. It was just not for me. So cheesy! But I’m a sucker for books set in Italy and who doesn’t want to read about 2 sisters uncovering a dark mystery in an old Italian villa?

This book is not a thriller. I have no idea why it’s marketed that way. Don’t go in expecting one. It’s more gothic mystery with a literary fiction slant. You don’t need a synopsis, so no need to go digging. Just know it’s got serious Ruth Ware vibes going on mixed in with some Daisy Jones 70’s rock and roll characters. I loved the setting and the overall feeling I got while reading. I could picture all of it. If you like mystery books about sisters, friendship, control, betrayal and a bit of a bloody mess, give this one a try.

Thank you to NetGalley and StMartinsPress for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought I had this book all figured out by chapter 4. I did guess a few twists, but there were others that I didn't expect.
The atmospheric aspect was spot on. It definitely gave a suspenseful, gothic mood and the 70's vibe with all the sex, drugs, and rock n roll had an authentic feel to it.

The dual timelines with song lyrics, book excerpts, magazine articles and podcasts sprinkled throughout left me a tad confused at times, especially in the beginning when we hadn't been introduced to some of the characters yet. Not a fan of the 15 super long chapters. I just felt there were too many ideas and that it was kind of all over the place. I liked the concept, I just didn't exactly like the execution.

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

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, for this free review copy.

I went into this book expecting it to be a page turner and a great thriller. I was… underwhelmed… I enjoyed some of her previous books, but this was was pretty eh. It took me a long time to read. I kept putting it down and forgetting about it, and finally told myself it was time to push through, while I was off work.

I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. I actually enjoyed the mystery within the story, a lot more than the actual story. 🙃

I still enjoy Hawkins writing and am excited to see what she comes up with next! The Villa is on sale January 3rd, 2023. Thanks again to NetGalley and the publishers, for this free review copy. All opinions are my own.

If you’re looking for a slow burn murder mystery vibe, this one is for you. I have always loved her thrillers and was so excited to read this one. I love a morally grey character and this bio was full of them, leaving me constantly questioning what’s going to happen? Who did it? It was a quick read and easy to binge. The only reason I knocked off a star is because some of the chapters were just repetitive.

This is my second Rachel Hawkins book (I still haven't read The Wife Upstairs yet) and it did not disappoint! I loved the different stories going on within the book and was sucked in right at the beginning. Rachel Hawkins is becoming one of my auto-read authors and cannot wait to see what she does next!

The Villa is, at its heart, the story of four young women, who of whom are living in the present day, while the other two have their story unfold in the summer of 1974.

First, we meet Emily and Chess, who were best friends as little kids. Emily, our main protagonist, is a writer working on her tenth cozy mystery in her series. These books don't inspire Emily, but they do pay the bills. She needs all the help she can get there, as she's going through a divorce after coming down with an undiagnosed illness that leaves her nauseous and unable to do much of anything. Chess was never a writer, but one day puts all the lessons she didn't learn from her mother into a self-help book, and voila, she's a famous author! These two ladies haven't seen each other much lately, but Emily cannot help but agree when Chess invites her to spend the summer at a villa in Italy. What better place to work on her next book? To make things more interesting, a murder took place in this villa back in 1974, which inspires Em to start writing something new, but can she trust Chess with it?

Then we skip to 1974, the summer of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. We learn about Mari, a young writer at only 19, who is having an affair with a married man and future rockstar, Pierce. She lives with him and her step-sister, Lara, who may or may not have feelings for Pierce, too. Mari is still processing the death of her son and is struggling to make ends meet, but lucky for her, Lara meets the worldwide rock phenomenon, Noel, and is invited to spend the summer at a villa in Italy. While there, the complicated nature of their relationships is put to a test, and it ends deadly for one member of the group.

Our main two protagonists, Em and Mari, are both writers inspired by the same villa and the mysteries it holds. I loved the world the author built up around each storyline and found all the characters well-developed and written. As each chapter progresses, I found the mystery of what happened, and what will happen, building and building. I enjoyed the tension, twists, feminism, and irony that this story held. I found myself immersed in their worlds, and couldn't wait to see how it would all turn out.

I give this book a solid 4.5/5!

Thank you very much to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins.

The Villa was suspenseful and interesting. I enjoyed the dual timeline, and thought the past and present were interwoven well. I didn’t want to put it down! I liked the extra twist at the end.

The Villa is a thriller by Rachel Hawkins that follows two parallel time periods, taking place almost 50 years apart at the same Italian villa. Emily and Chess are longtime best friends with a complicated relationship. They are both writers, and after Emily’s marriage falls apart and she feels stuck in her career as a cozy mystery writer, they decide to spend the summer together at an Italian villa. In 1974 at that same villa, a group of writers, musicians and artistic types with complicated relationships stayed there, and a murder occurred. Two of the houseguests present during the notorious murder went on to create a best selling album and horror novel.

Read this book, especially if you’re a fan of Rachel Hawkins, 1970s history and culture, and parallel storylines. I liked that both storylines had strong female characters that are able to overcome toxic men, similar to Reckless Girls. I found myself more intrigued by the present day story than the past thought. Also, there were a few aspects of the ending that left me unsatisfied. Perhaps this would be a good book club book because I would love to discuss a few points with someone! A sincere thank you to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.