I read this thru NetGalley. Absolutely enjoyed it, finished it in two days. This is my first time reading Rachel Hawkins work and I will definitely pick up another one of her works after reading The Villa. The Villa was perfectly paced, making me wanting to read "just one more chapter". She creates a story within a story and keeps the reader guessing until the very end.

Two friends embark on the summer of a lifetime in The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. Emily, a mystery writer, is going through a harrowing divorce and recovering from a mysterious illness. When her best friend, famous self-help guru Chess Chandler, suggests that she come with her to Italy for a summer of sun and relaxation, Emily decides it will help get her motivated to move on with her life and rejuvenate her flagging career as a serial mystery writer. But Villa Aestas comes with secrets and is haunted by a murder that took place in 1974.

The story flips back and forth from present day where Emily and Chess explore the Italian countryside and to 1974, when a motley bunch of bohemian artists group together. All the while, you're wondering about the murder. What happened? Could it have been prevented? Are the ghosts still lurking about the home?

I preferred the 1974 story because the characters were way more interesting. Sisters Mari and Lara take off with Mari's married musician boyfriend Pierce and hole up with a famous rock star and his strange companion. It makes you think of Fleetwood Mac and how the album Rumors came about and could be a good companion book to Sister Stardust by Jane Green and Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (coming out on Amazon Prime in March 2023, BTW). In fact, Mari writes a wildly popular horror novel while Lara writes her groundbreaking album during their time there.

The present day storyline is more of a domestic thriller and a clash of secrets being revealed. The problem is, most of those secrets stay hidden until the last few chapters, so some parts of this story feel sluggish. And it doesn't feel like the most solid or heartwarming friendship. I feel like this part of the book could have been more fleshed out. And it didn't read like a thriller at all, so if you're looking for suspense, this may not satisfy you.

Plus, the ending of the present day tale could have been way more suspenseful. More explanations were needed to strengthen this side of the story. It fell a little flat to me.

So, if you're looking for a twisty thriller, this may not be it, but I enjoyed the 1970s era story. I wish the author focused more on that part and went into more detail with those characters and their storylines. Either way, this book held my interest--enough so that I ran out to get The Wife Upstairs by the same author.

I could not put down this one down! I loved the dual timelines and perspectives, and the plot of a mysterious house where dark things keep happening. There's some hilarious commentary on rock stars and influencers, and two suspenseful stories that have you constantly guessing what happened. If you love atmospheric European vacation locations, shady friend groups and scandalous murder, add this to your list right now!

Loved the set up of this- two “frenemies “ go on a luxe writing retreat in Italy. It just so happens to be the site of an infamous murder years ago. I liked the present day POV much more than the flashbacks, and thought the setting was underused. So much missed potential. Overall, a fast read but pretty forgettable.

Another wonderful novel by Hawkins! Excellent multi layered story that seamlessly takes you between several timelines. When Chess invites her best friend Emily to a beautiful Italian villa she accepts the offer. While they were very close as kids they weren’t as close as they got older. Emily is recovering from a mysterious illness and a failed marriage and has hopes of finishing a novel that is past due to her publisher and reconnecting with Chess. While at the villa Emily researches it’s mysterious origins which include murder, a best selling classic horror novel, and a record that has been deemed one of he best ever. Beautifully written story full of mystery and twists. Highly recommend.

A slow-burn story set in two different timelines in the same Italian villa. I enjoyed both timelines up until close to the end. I was expecting an intense, exciting ending in line with the references in the plot to the horrors that had gone on in the villa in the earlier timeline. However, the endings of both timelines fell flat for me which was a shame as I had enjoyed the story up until that point. This was labelled as gothic suspense but it was more of a story about friendships, love, betrayal, and female empowerment with some mystery thrown in. Rounded up to 3.25 as i did enjoy most of the story.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley & St Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
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I went into reading this book thinking it would be a light, easy, vacation read and boyyyyy was I pleasantly wrong! The Villa is mysterious & thrilling. Emily & her best friend Chess are both authors, who were inseparable best friends as young girls, who decide to reconnect as professional adults and take a vacation to Italy for the summer. Here - Emily finds inspiration for writing from the history of the villa they are vacationing in…there may be more to the story of the summer of 1974 “sex, drugs, & rock and roll tragedy...” and in comes the jealousy and tension between Em & Chess… as Chess finds the same inspiration. Slowly come to realize there are many comparisons between Lara/Mari and Emily/Chess 😳
…Houses Remember…
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I quickly became fully absorbed into all the different relationships and story lines in this book - not knowing what was going to happen next. Hence this book being a thriller! 😂 Also just to mention - the cover of this book is so cute! 🍋
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Overall 4/5 ✨
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This book is set to be published January 3rd and I recommend getting yourself a copy once available!

This is the third book that I have read by Rachel Hawkins so I was super excited to review it.

This is a book set in 2 different timelines, the first is set in the past in 1974 that centers around a group of friends on a trip to Orvieto, Italy to Villa Rosato and among them are 2 Musicians Noel and Piece, and Noel’s girlfriend Mari and her step sister Lara. There is also a fifth friend Johnny with the group as well. The second is the present day which centers around Emily and her best friend Chess. Emily is facing a divorce and health issues and at the same time she is under pressure to write a new book. Her best friend Chess, who is also a writer, invited her on an extended trip to the Villa Aestas (formerly Rosato) to get away from it all and try to get their creative juices flowing and also help rebuild their friendship as over the years it has drifted apart. I definitely preferred the present timeline over the past timeline which really slowed my reading progress down as I do not really connect with the rock star lifestyle, nor do I understand how people were/are so easily influenced by it either and in general, I relate more and enjoy present timelines in most fiction novels.

A lot of this book focuses on tragic events unfolding in 1974, and then in the present day Emily uncovers pieces of a book and notes that Mari wrote that details the tragic events that happened in the Villa from Mari’s perspective and it shifted to some challenging events in the present day that could lead people staying in a Villa with a dark past down a dark path. I will say the Villa’s past added to the air of mystery and I think it helped build the tension and highlight the fractures of the present day relationship between Emily and Chess and it guided Emily towards unfolding current situations that threaten her wellbeing and her relationships include her relationship with her Husband.

I thought that because I like the books I previously read by Rachel Hawkins, The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls, that I would breeze through this book but it actually took me quite a while to get through it and it was definitely a slow burner. I wasn’t really a fan of the two story lines and how long it dragged out because not a lot was happening for the majority of the book, and then, for as long as this book dragged out, the ending was very accelerated and underwhelming at the same time. I felt like I was just getting into it and it was starting to build up to something big, and it ended. I do not feel like I connected with the characters like I normally do. Emily was the closest but I ended up not liking her or anyone else by the end of the book.

Thank you St, Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing a copy to review. I still plan to check out the next novel Rachel spins up, because 2 out of 3 ain't bad and I do enjoy her writing style which is why I still give this 3 stars! In the future, I will stick to the Audiobooks for stories with multiple timelines. It really does help me.

I enjoyed this slow burn mystery. I would not qualify this one as a thriller. It reads more like contemporary/historical fiction with a little mystery thrown in. I thought the beginning was very slow burn, and it took me to about the halfway point to feel invested in the story. The end was a minor surprise but not shocking. Overall I enjoyed the book, but it did not wow me.

#thevilla:⁣
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“…I find extremely annoying given that you’re already young and beautiful. Being talented on top of that just isn’t fair.”⁣
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Thank you @stmartinspress @macmillan.audio @librofm for the gifted copy!⁣
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This book has it all! You have a book within a book, a podcast insert with some hilarious commentary, a beautiful and heartbreaking album, unfinished business between childhood besties, a [bit of a stretch but] vacation gone wrong, I mean let’s just check every box we need to get this shit done!⁣
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The audio is amazing. Julia Whelan, of course, killed it. There are different types of media in the book and how that played on audio is phenomenal. Kimberly M. Wetherell and⁣ Shiromi Arserio also read The Villa and both knocked it out of the park. I highly highly highly highly highly recommend the audio. ⁣
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Overall, another solid Rachel Hawkins read. I felt the beginning truly pulled me in, the middle was just a middle, and the ending had me gripped! I love when reality is blurred and this was a wonderful (and super toxic) read.⁣
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Thank you again @stmartinspress @macmillan.audio @librofm for the gifted copies! The Villa is out 1/3!

A very interesting concept and take on a classic thriller. Really loved the juxtaposition between present conflict and past, unrelated conflict. Also really liked the way the villa was such an integral part to both stories and had its own secrets. My biggest complaint was, again, the resolution just moved way too fast and felt quite unfinished and confusing.

I’d like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Rachel Hawkins’ novel and I saw quite a few good reviews before I cracked it open.
The story is dual time line. It’s primary focus is current with Emily and Chess and their attempt to reconnect with each other and their writing at an Italian Villa. It also concentrates on Mari in 1974 and the fast lifestyle she lived.
See full review via Instagram @kels_shelf
Neither timeline was great.
Moreover, I was slightly disappointed in this read. The synopsis and cover were enticing, but I didn’t find myself caring about the story or characters at all.
2.5/5 (I rated 2 on Goodreads just because they don’t have .5 ratings).

This book was not what I expected and that surprise alone made it a truly satisfying read. Told through duel timelines of writers staying the same villa forty years apart, both looking for inspiration to get back into writing, both caught up in complex relationships with their closest friends, The Villa is a slow-burn suspense where the twists are all but plainly written on the wall. But the true story is one of ambition and creation and the roots of art, more than about who killed who and why.

Yes, there are still twists and surprises, but unlike other thrillers, they feel beside the point. The point the book makes about muses and artists and women is much juicer than any murder mystery.

I both liked and disliked this book. I struggled with the rating on this one. The story didn’t feel like a ‘thriller’ to me. I didn’t find any aspects of it to be suspenseful, it just felt like a novel with some mild mysteries to it.

My least favorite part of the book were the two main characters, Emily and Chess. They have gone to stay in an Italian villa for the summer to reconnect their friendship, but throughout the book it makes no sense why they would want to remain friends, as it is pretty clear neither of them like each other. I didn’t find their bits in the story interesting at all. Neither of them were likable characters, one was whiny and the other bratty and that made for an annoying combo. By the end neither of them had a redeemable character arc to make me root for them, and the conclusion to their part of the story was disappointing.

The part of the book that kept me intrigued were the flashbacks to the summer of 1974. The group of characters staying in the villa at this time were complex and had interesting dynamics between each other. I think the book would have been fantastic if it had solely focused on the 1974 plotline.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I think I’ve found a new auto-buy author. I liked The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls, but I LOVED The Villa! With this thriller, I think the author has really hit her stride.

Told in two alternating perspectives, we follow two friends in present time and another group from the past. They all visit The Villa, this gorgeous yet unsettling mansion set into a gorgeous Italian mountainside. Slowly, the plot reveals increasingly haunting occurrences we start to see reflected in the present.

Once I started this one, I couldn’t put it down. I finished it only a couple days (fast for me! I average a book per week), and was dying to find out how it would all come together in the end.

Thank you to @netgalley @stmartinspress @ladyhawkins for this early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

✨ The Villa ✨⁣
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⁣Rachel Hawkins is back again with another addicting thriller! I enjoyed her last two books and was excited to read The Villa. This book follows to childhood best friends, Emily and Chess, who travel to Italy to spend the summer writing at a beautiful villa. The villa was the location of a horrible murder in 1972 and Emily finds herself investigating the event.⁣
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⁣I enjoyed this book- especially the modern day storyline. I’m always a fan of the “rich behaving badly” troupe. The 1974 timeline was a little bit stilted and I found my mind wondered a bit. ⁣
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⁣Word’s I’d use to describe this book: multilayered, smart, twisty, absorbing and suspenseful. ⁣
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⁣I really enjoyed the audiobook! It is extremely well done.⁣
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⁣Four stars! ⁣
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⁣Thank you to @netgally and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of The Villa in exchange for my honest review. This one publishes on January 3, 2023.

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is a great page-turner that keeps you guessing throughout the book.
The Villa is a dual time-line book. It follows two groups of friends. Emily and Chess go on a month long vacation to a Villa in Italy. The house they are staying at has a past. While staying at the house Emily and Chess find some things out and end up working on a project together. The other time line is what actually happened at the house the first time.
This book is a good read for those rainy days. The story is fast paced and you just want to know what is going to happen. I would highly recommend this book to lovers of a good thriller.

The Villa was 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.

What appealed to you in this story?

I really loved the premise and idea of staying at a “murder house.”

“It’s not like anything I’ve ever written before, but there’s something there, I’m sure of it…I seemed excited about writing again.”

The above quote was taken from the story, and I’m wondering if it pertains to Hawkin’s herself in any way. I feel like this book was a departure from her previous works and she was possibly working her way through a writer’s block.

How many storylines are in this story?

The Villa has three storylines: Mari’s point of view from the past, Emily’s from the present day, and Mari’s manuscript from her book she wrote while staying at the villa in the 70s.

Was this a thriller?

I did not find that this story had any thrills or suspense. Instead, it was a gothic noir style story. The plot, characters, pacing and lack of suspense and twists didn’t really hold my interest, especially since nothing of much interest happened. To me it felt like the book had a lot of filler, and I was just following along as everyone went through the motions.

How was the pace?

This was a slow burn gothic noir style story. I’m thinking that the audiobook may be the way to go for this one, because adding voice to the story may bring it more to life and increase the pace and impact of the story. Plus, Julia Whelan is one of the narrators and she is phenomenal.

Do you recommend this book?

Overall, I think this will come down to the individual reader. As for me, this was a decent read and pretty predictable for the most part. Possibly worth reading, but not remarkable.

I read this with Kaley, and we both had our opinions and were surprised that this was a direction Hawkin’s decided to take.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for this gifted ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Emily is a cozy mystery writer who is just recuperating from a long illness and her husband leaving her. Chess was her best friend in high school who found success as a wellness/self help writer. They haven’t been close for a while, but Chess decides to invite Emily to spend the summer with her at an Italian villa.
The villa is a famous one because a murder occurred there in 1974: a couple of musicians and a writer were spending the summer there, and one of them turned up dead. From then on, the story is told in two different timelines: 1974 and present day.
The goal of this trip was to rekindle their friendship, but Emily and Chess find more and more things separating them, and some ugly truths will come to the surface.

I half read and half listened to this one, and I must say the narrator does an amazing job bringing these characters to life. I particularly enjoyed the 1974 timeline with all the complicated characters and intricate stories, but I can’t say the same for the present-day protagonists, who were both extremely annoying and immature. I could not understand Emily and Chess’ choices, and I absolutely did not buy their reasoning.

I don’t want to spoil anything, so I will only say that although this was not much of a thriller, it still would’ve worked great with a plausible present-day story. As it was, I will only give it 3 out of 5 stars, but I will continue reading what this author writes next!

First of all, I loved the atmosphere of this book. The setting was perfect and enjoyable to read about. I also really enjoyed the narration of The Villa. It has a large cast and was done really well. The present storyline I really liked as well - it captivated me from page 1 and I was excited to see where it was going. The past storyline, however I found distracting and a bit confusing. I understand the reasoning behind it and I think it’s quite clever, however it just didn’t work for me personally. Overall, I found myself bored with this plot and disinterested with where the story was going. I have yet to find a Rachel Hawkins book that is a page turner for me, so again this is just my personal opinion.