I really enjoyed The Villa! I loved the dual timelines, the slight nod to a Fleetwood Mac-ish vibe, the complicated female friendships, and never really knowing what the truth was. This was such a satisfying story because there was no one who was fully good and no one who was fully bad. I wasn’t sure if I wanted any of the characters to be happy but I also didn’t think any of them were villains. This wasn’t a thriller in the way that I maybe thought it would be, it was a fantastic mystery, and just a really enjoyable book. I will definitely be recommending it!

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance reader’s copy.

I've been trying to think what to say about this book, and I'm honestly still not entirely sure what to say. I didn't dislike it, per se, but I didn't really like it, either. All of the men were self-absorbed assholes and I honestly didn't care for the women, either. All in all it felt like there was just too much whining all around too much capitulating on the women's parts. And it really rubbed me the wrong way when at the end of the modern timeline, Em was still bitching about "being stuck with" someone. Like she had no agency in her life. Like she learned nothing. The whole "woe is me" attitude of so many (all?) of the characters was just a bit grating.

I thought both storylines had their interesting parts, including the lost diary entries, and I enjoyed how things kind of weaved back and forth - but for a "wickedly gothic suspense" I was expecting more twists and turns rather than weaving about.

At the end of the day the book just fell a bit flat for me. I don't think I would recommend this book.

MY THOUGHTS
🍋 I enjoyed the dual timelines and POVs throughout the book.
🍋 The plot was interesting, and once the characters got to the villa the book went fast.
🍋 The beginning is pretty slow and boring.
🍋 None of the characters are likable. Even the main character, Mari, wasn’t easy to like. All the other characters are honestly terrible.
🍋 I did not like how Mari and Chess handled their situation towards the end of the book. What they did just seemed so pointless.
🍋 I did enjoy the last 2% of the book with Mari.
🍋 Most of the plot twists were pretty predictable (except for the very end).

Overall, I feel pretty neutral about this book. I would give it 3 stars. There are things that I enjoyed, but also things that irritated me as I was reading.

As someone who doesn’t typically read thrillers, I do actually enjoy Rachel Hawkins’s writing. She writes thrillers that don’t feel like thrillers. This could be good if you are like me, but might be bad if you are someone who does love thrillers..

They say that not every author is your cup of tea and maybe they are right. However; Rachel Hawkins’s latest, The Villa, kept me reading until the end to figure out the mysterious twist.

The Villa is a dual timeline story that tells present day Chess and Emily on vacation at Villa Aestas and past group Noel, Pierce, Mari and Lara as they come up with music inspiration. Emily is invited to the holiday by her on again off again best friend, Chess and decides to attend for writing inspiration. But when Emily delves into what actually happened in 1974 to the other guests of the Villa, she may have gotten more than she bargained for. Digging into clues and reading Mari’s popular manuscript, she feels she may be able to crack the mysterious case.

Flashbacks into Mari’s point of view show that not everything is what it seems. Look behind the drapes of the Villa, stay awhile, and maybe you too will come up with outrageous ideas.

I read The Villa because of talk that there was a huge twist at the end of the story. However; this twist was not something that I didn’t see coming and rather thought was mediocre. Fans of Hawkins’s other novels may appreciate what she does with The Villa however; I am putting her in my book of do not try out again.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this newest book by Rachel Hawkins. Set in Italy with alternating timelines, this story follows Emily & Chess (present) and Mari (1973). Emily and Chess, best friends and writers, are staying in a villa in Italy that was the site of a gruesome murder in the 70s. Mari's timeline outlines the events of that fateful summer when she stayed at the Villa.

A little predictable at times, but a fun read.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have read Rachel Hawkins first book, The Wife Upstairs. It honestly left me a little disappointed. The Villa also let me feeling like I was missing something. I’m not entirely sure what it’s lacking but there was just something else it needed.

This was a well written novel and I would recommend others to read it. This would be a good summer read as most of it takes place in Italy in the summer.

Thank you to #NetGalley and St Martins Press for the for the ARC ebook.
“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.”
With a description like the one above, how could this not be a great read?! 1. Unlikeable character 2. Hurried plotlines 3. Unanswered/unresolved plot points
Two best friends, Emily and ‘Chess,’ have lost touch with their separate lives over the years. (I say ‘Chess’ because her name is Jessica, but she has gone by: Jessica, Jessica C, JC, Jayce, and now Chess). Chess is now a best-selling author while Emily is struggling to write the next book in her comfy mystery series and has been recently separated from her husband. When Chess reaches out to pay for a summer trip to a villa in Italy, Emily accepts and thinks it’s just what she needs to escape the hardships of her dissolving marriage and to give her the creative boost for her writing.
The villa in Italy is the site of a murder from 1974. A group of friends and artists, modeled after the group, Fleetwood Mac, spent their summer there with a cavalcade of sex and drugs. It ended in the murder of one of the musicians.
This story is told in two timelines: Emily and Chess (present day) & Mari and Lara (1974). The timelines become parallel and secrets from the past help uncover secrets in the future.
My grievances: 1. Every character in this book was unlikeable. For me, there weren’t any redeeming qualities for anyone – bad decision making, infidelity, pathological lying, and <spoiler> murder. </spoiler> 2. The author spends a lot of time going through unnecessary details about the lives of Emily, Chess, Mari, and Lara, but when the ending “twist” occurs, it is completely glossed over in 1 sentence! Big spoiler! <spoiler> Seriously – they kill Emily’s douchey cheating husband and it’s not even mentioned directly; it’s in a side bar news announcement that is inserted in the prose. </spoiler> 3. Emily has health issues throughout the book. These are never explained, although it is inferred that <spoiler> it is caused by her husband because she feels better when he’s not around. Although, one could also infer that he was poisoning her, and that Chess poisoned her while she was on the phone with him in Italy. I much prefer this latter idea because the idea that she was “allergic” to her husband is ridiculous.” </spoiler> The second plotline of the murder in 1974 did nothing to add to the book, it was simply a plot device for the present-day timeline.
I have enjoyed other books by Rachel Hawkins, but for me, this one just wasn’t it. And the 1974 timeline doesn’t do justice for the greatness that is Fleetwood Mac.

Very predictable, I saw the ending of Chess and Emily's story coming from the beginning. This entire book is basically if Gone Girl had a baby with Verity.
Chess is an absolute garbage best friend and the explanation for Emily's sickness is ridiculous. At least have Matt actually poisoning her or something interesting happening. And the fact we never actually find out where the final pages were hidden is complete rubbish.

This thriller, set in the Italian countryside, jumps between two timelines in the same villa. Writer best friends Em and Chess meet for a vacation in an Italian villa as Em is going through a nasty divorce and feels the pressure to finish writing her next cozy mystery. In the same villa, decades earlier, a violent murder occurred as a group of friends vacationed together. At first, it was difficult to keep up with the different timelines, but later the book comes together and I did not see the twists coming. The 1974 story was harder to follow than the present day, I think because the references between the two weren’t clearly explained. I did enjoy the book overall but I almost stopped reading at 40%. This was my first Rachel Hawkins book but I look forward to reading more.

Thanks to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and Rachel Hawkins for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love thrillers and I really liked this book. I loved the multiple storylines. I loved the friendship between Emily and Chess. This is a book that I will recommend.

Rachel Hawkins does it again! Highly recommend! What an amazing book! This book is about a villa in Italy that two groups of friends go to for holiday during the summer. It is told in two different time periods…one was in the 70s and then present day. They are artists, musicians, and writers and gain inspiration form staying in the villa. They have more in common than you realize. That’s all I want to say cause I don’t want to spoil this book for anyone. Loved this book !

The Villa is Rachel Hawkins' best thriller in recent years. Her previous work, Reckless Girls, was fun but over-stuffed with characters. The Villa keeps things more intimate, bringing best friends Emily and Chess together for an Italian vacation to end all vacations. As Emily digs into the villa’s sordid history, she begins to think there might be more to the story--and more to her relationship with Chess that meets the eye.

4.5 stars. It's a breezy, fun thriller, splitting perspectives between the villa's past and Emily's uncovering of the past. It's a story within a story done cleanly, where both POVs are given equal weight.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I feel really bad, but I am going to DNF this book. The jarring switch of characters only a chapter and a half into this book did not work for me. The first two characters were a little bland, but I would have wanted to know a little more about them. The 1974 characters did not interest me at all, and I lost interest in the story overall after it.

Wow. I love Rachel Hawkins. The Villa tells the story of two best friends/frienemies who travel on vacation to Italy. The home they’re staying at is the same home a famous musician was brutally murdered in, in the 70s. Despite that, the villa is gorgeous, and a dreamy summer unfolds — despite a super competitive friendship between Chess and Em.

What I LOVED was the story within the story. Throughout The Villa, we bounce to Mari’s perspective and her writing, and excerpts from magazines/articles - which was SUCH a fun addition to the read!

Without giving ANYTHING away, the twists within The Villa (and yes, that’s plural) were so well-placed. This is a must read for your 2023 reading list!

Please do not use this review against me but this book wasn't really worth it.

Mari's story was interesting but predictable.
Em and Chess were unlikable but I did appreciate the plot twist; but even their plot twist felt predictable.
I kind of wish this book gave more but it just felt like a lot of filler. I feel like there could've been more with Em & Chess's story, especially being in Italy. There could've been more.
Mari's story was predictable but confusing. I wish she had actually killed Pierce and it had not been Johnnie. Her story felt forced and the part with seeing Noel and hearing from Lara was also confusing because did she write it? Did it happen in her head? Or did it actually happen?

Pub day: 1-3-2023

A remote Italian setting will always work for me and this one, even with its extreme creepiness, had me wishing I could pack my bags and live in Italy for a summer!

There was a lot I liked about this one, I particularly found the transitions from intensity to normality and back again to be an excellent way of holding my attention. Having two timelines at the same Villa, present day and 1970s, also worked well and tied everything together easily.

In the synopsis it states that this story was “inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelly spent with Lord Byron at a lake Geneva castle—the birthplace of Frankenstein” and you can really see all of that as the story unfolds. I liked the 1970s character storyline a lot and found myself most looking forward to those sections.

In the digital version the abrupt changes from the past timeline to a podcast or the reading of a book was a little rough. Those sudden shifts would jar me out of the moment and take a bit to get back into the story. The only struggle I had was with the present day characters who were all a bit grating. Overall, I enjoyed my first book by Hawkins.

I really enjoyed THE VILLA! I thought the audio was done very well. I especially loved the alternating timelines.

This one will have readers really engaged and turning pages quickly! I personally loved the ending as well; there’s lots to discuss.

Emily and her best friend Chess take a vacation to Italy. Their rented house, Villa Aestas was known as Villa Rosato in 1974 when it was the scene of a terrible murder. Flashing back and forth from Emily and Chess to the circumstances of the murder in 1974, Emily tries to unravel the secrets the house holds.

"Houses remember" This was a fun, fast-paced thriller that keeps you guessing right to the end. Emily and Chess's relationship is strained and the similarities between them and the people in the house in 1974 are interesting. Emily's got a lot going on in her life, from her book series to her estranged husband to her distrust of Chess. Everything seems a little bit surreal.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Available January 3, 2023.

Thank you to @stmartinspress, @librofm and @netgalley for the #gifted copy of the book.

This book 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 which was the birthplace of Frankenstein.

I enjoyed listening to this on audio. The narration was very good.

Emily and Chess were close friends growing up. Life has gotten in the way over the years. Chess became a self-help author and Emily a cozy mystery author, recently separated from her husband after being ill. Her ex-husband is pushing her to finish her book series to pay him the money he believe he is due.

Chess invites Emily to spend some time with her in Italy and write. Emily thinks this is the break she needs, but little does she know she is in the middle of history and trying to figure out the murderer in a decades old murder mystery.

Overall, it was a good story, but it was a bit slow for me with the dual timelines. I did enjoy the final twist!

Authors Emily and Chess have been best friends for years, but their relationship is complicated; Chess seems to have it all, including a bestselling self-help book and subsequent pop empire, while Emily is struggling to crank out her next B-list mystery novel. When Chess invites Emily on a trip to Italy, Emily sees an escape from her impending divorce and a chance to work in relative peace. What she gets is far different: secrets revealed by both the best friend she thinks she knows and the Italian villa where they're staying. Rachel Hawkins writes a murder mystery/frenemies thriller with enough tension, betrayal, and intrigue to keep the reader on the edge of their seat the whole book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!