Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this advance copy of this novel, The Villa. This was a good read and a page turner but I was not as found of the 70's section. The book will keep you reading to find out all the twist that keep on appearing. There is not a lot to say about this book without giving it away but if you like the author's writing style you will like this,

A fun page turner with dual timelines. It was easy to get into and fun to the very last page. The writing was immersive and the mystery fun to figure out. I liked the 197os rock n roll narrative and seeing it get solved in present day. Overall, a fast, fun read.

4 Stars

In The Villa, we follow two storylines. The first is set in the present day and follows Emily in a low point of her life. She’s going through a divorce after being cheated on by her husband and falling mysteriously ill. She catches up with her now famous childhood bestie, Chess, who pitches the idea that the two women spend their summer in an idyllic Italian villa where they can both work on their latest book projects. While there, Emily starts becoming obsessed with a murder that took place in this exact villa in the 70s. The second storyline follows Mari as she’s invited to the villa with her boyfriend and stepsister. This is the story of the murder that Emily is so invested in, and the two storylines parallel one another and are also interspersed with article snippets and email chains.

This is a book that needs to be discussed! It would make a great book club candidate, honestly. The reason for this is because I feel like every name and every date has an importance to it, and there’s still an air of mystery even after you finish the novel. It sort of demands a second read through if you want to have all the answers, which is definitely doable considering it’s a short read but I do find that aspect of the story unsatisfying. I also did not like the explanation behind Emily’s illness that doctors could never diagnose.

The only other novel I’ve read by Hawkins was Reckless Girls, and I saw a lot of similarities between the two. Both take place in utopia-esque settings with sinister backstories. Both feature a group cast with people you can’t quite trust, even those closest to you. Emily and Lux had a lot of similarities for me personality wise. It wasn’t until past the halfway point I felt this book take its own unique stride.

Still, I enjoyed this more than Reckless Girls. The plot twist at the end was surprising, but also reminded me of a different and very popular thriller twist by Hoover. I can’t deny the fun I had while reading this, the anger I felt during certain betrayals, and the fact that I’m still thinking about this book days after reading it. Take a trip to Villa Aestas, I don’t think you’ll regret it.

This book was good it moved very slow and is very different than the wife upstairs. With this one I loved the story and even the back story to every thing it just felt there was a lot of story missing and left me wanting more

This dual-timeline story flew by for me! Rachel Hawkins has a way of developing complex yet flawed female leads, where you're not sure how you feel as a reader.

But to be honest, The Villa is the main character here. I loved how immersive it felt as a setting for both the group in the 70s and the present day besties. Chess was every bit as cringey as her name, but I'm pretty sure that is intentional. I appreciated the attention to detail infused throughout, like podcasts, articles, excerpts from Lilith Rising or Lara's lyrics.

While some plot elements were predictable, I did really like the final twist, that was an unexpected way to end it for me! I read this but bet it would be GREAT on audio as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy and the opportunity to share my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First off Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Rachel Hawkins for allowing me to read this book.

It was a very quick and fast paced story told in dual timelines and dual POV. It definitely keeps you on your toes trying to figure out what happened and then it twists and twists again. The characters are at times problematic but also hard not to empathize with. A very strong female presence is also present as well as men that feed off of power and manipulation. All in all it was a well written and easy story that keeps you engaged and delivers that Rachel Hawkins twist.

The Villa is a modern Gothic which tells two parallel stories. Emily and Chess have been friends since elementary school, but life has set them on different paths. Emily writes cozy mysteries and Chess is a social media star with a string of successful self-help books. After Emily goes through a mysterious illness which causes her husband to leave her and demand divorce, Chess suggests that they spend the summer in Italy at a villa which was once the scene of a murder.

Paralleling the present story is one written by Mari in 1974 as she recounts her time at the villa which results in her writing one of the best-selling horror novels of all time, her stepsister Lara writing a major Grammy winning album, and her boyfriend Pierce being brutally murdered.

At first, it looks like the girls were just hangers-on. Noel Gordon was a rock star looking for some new music to revitalize his career. He thinks Pierce might give him the spark he needs. It was a summer of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll, but Mari still found the time to write the novel that made her famous with its own parallels to things that happened that summer.

Emily becomes intrigued with Mari's story and the events of the long-ago summer. Her latest cozy gets set off to the side as she begins to write her own version of that story, but Chess has a wrench to throw in. She wants to get away from her self-help image and co-write the story with Emily.

I enjoyed the twists and turns of this wonderful story. It was filled with lots of surprises and parallels and secrets and intrigue.

This was a unique story, taking place at the same villa during different time periods. There were a couple of twists and the twists at the end got me the most, I'm still thinking about them.
I liked how the main characters are writers and the idea of mixing the truth with stories.
This is my 2nd book by this author and I like her writing style a lot, I will definitely read more of her books and recommend this one to people that like a mystery with lots of character development.
I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of this book for my honest review thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press.

Rachel Hawkins’ “The Villa” has gotten a LOT of buzz on #bookstagram and #Goodreads. I am skeptical when the buzz is THAT good, but the description is intriguing and the reviews have been exciting. Therefore, I was very glad to get an ARC to read.

I read. And read. I could NOT. PUT. IT. DOWN. It’s worthy of the buzz.

“The Villa” is told as a dual timeline story with BFFs Emily and Chess in the present day and a cast of rock and roll stars, wannabees, and others trying to find their way in the 1970s. Both timelines take place at an atmospheric villa in Italy. Emily, a cozy mysteries writer, is trying to cope with a messy divorce while Chess is looking for space to finish her latest best-selling self-help book. While at the villa, Emily and Chess learn more about the murder that took place there on a stormy night in 1974. As they get closer to finding out what really happened that night, long-simmering tensions build to a boiling point between the two friends.

This is not JUST a dual timeline story. It is a story within a story that keeps the reader engaged and lulled into a sense of security until…WHAM!...something unexpected happens. I can’t say much more because I am in mortal fear of giving something away!

This book would be fantastic for fans of thrillers and mysteries. Do not delay. Get a copy as soon as it hits shelves.

Thanks #NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are my own. “The Villa” will be on shelves in early January.

Rachel Hawkins has done it again!! The Villa might be my favorite (so far ). Told in the past and present in a beautiful and maybe haunted Villa. Em and Chess spend a summer away to write and reconnect. Houses Remember… I literally devoured this book. Artists stayed in the house in the 70s and someone was murdered. Os it the plot for a new book of will history repeat itself

“The Villa” is a tale of two stories, of the past and the present, that have one thing in common: the mysterious Italian villa where our characters were all guests at one time. The lives of these six individuals were shrouded with jealousy, love and untimely deaths. The past invades the present and the villa is the catalyst that would forever bind them together because it grasps onto all that enters and never lets them go.

No one knows if the villa was cursed back in 1974 when Mari, Lara, Pierce and Noel arrived to create beautiful music, but it certainly was when they left. The peaceful and picturesque setting was the host for this troubled group who were searching for musical stardom, personal happiness and for one of them, the chance to finally chase away the nightmares from her past. Their days were filled with sunshine, sight-seeing and a drug induced haze that clouded their judgment. Were any of them really happy or were they just getting by, one day and one dream filled night at a time?

As we fast forward to the present, we meet Emily and Chess, childhood friends, who had recently grown apart until Chess proposed a trip to Italy for a six week stay at a beautiful and secluded villa that held secrets that were dying to get out. Both women are successful authors who thought a change of scenery would reignite their writing. Emily, especially, was looking for a sign as to who or what she should write about. The villa, with all of its sordid and scandalous history, was just the place for Emily to create a masterpiece that would change both of their lives forever.

“Houses remember.” ✨

Title: The Villa
Author: Rachel Hawkins
*pub date: January 3, 2023

This was unlike any other thriller I’ve read - I really enjoyed the dual POVs/timelines and how they were separated by 40 years. The news articles, podcasts, and magazine snippets were great additions to the story telling. 👏🏼

The first 30%ish of the book was a little slow for me, but it definitely picked up and turned into a good page turner! I didn’t think the twists were super surprising, but I also felt like the plot might not have really needed those! Also, is it really a thriller if most of the characters aren’t unlikeable lol?! 😅

I’m hoping there will be a second book to come that follows what happens in the villa, because the book truly does leave the end of our MCs story up for interpretation 🤔

If you are a true crime & thriller lover, then this book is 100% for you! 🙌🏼

read if you like:
- historical thrillers 🕵🏼‍♀️
- slow burn thrillers 🔥
- horror 🔪
- dual POV 👥
- dual timelines ⏳
- books about books 📖
- suspenseful writing ✍🏼
- domestic suspense 🫦

Rating: ☀️☀️☀️💫/5

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book!

Oh where do I start- this book was great! It hooked me in from the beginning, and kept twisting as the plot lines grows. This book feels like a mix of Daisy Jones & the Six and Verity, two books with their own set of drama. I would recommend this for anyone looking for a domestic thriller with a historical twist thrown in.
Set in Italy, the book follows two friends/authors who spend the summer in a villa that was once the scene of a murder in the 70s. The book bounces back between present day and the summer of 1974 when a group of up and coming rockers take over the place for the summer. There were a variety of plot twists, some that I predicted as I read the book, and others that I did not see coming. The rock n' roll backstory seemed quite similar to DJ & the S, and the "which book/journal version is the accurate one?" + the main character being an author had Verity undertones in it.
My only flaw with the book was one of the plot twists with the modern day story- it just sort of happened without much detail given to how it happened.
Overall a book that I would recommend- Rachel Hawkins has become one of my go to authors, and in my opinion this is her best novel yet!

@mysistermademereadit: The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is a mystery/thriller about two very complicated female relationships. Set in a gorgeous Italian villa, the story switches back and forth between the modern day friendship of Emily and Chess and the sibling relationship/friendship of Mari and Lara and a murder that occurred while the sisters stayed in the villa in the 1970s. Rachel Hawkins excels at setting a mood and fleshing out the complicated relationships of women. The book seamlessly weaves back and forth between the past and the present (although I would have liked to read a chapter or two from Chess and Lara’s perspective). I enjoyed the book overall, but really felt like there was one chapter too many in the Mari/Lara story and one chapter too few in the Emily/Chess story. Overall, I would recommend this book; heck, the setting alone was worth it!

A very big thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

#bookstagram #sistergram #thevilla #rachelhawkins #netgalley #bookreviews #bookstagrammer #booklover #instagramreads #readersofinstagram

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this thriller that takes place in the lush countryside of Italy, but with shadows of the past encroaching on the present.

Dwellings take on the auras of those who stay inside of them. Artists have an aura that is creative and leave that kind of aura. Corporate types emit an almost unhappy atmosphere, a we will never be happy no matter how many baths we have, leaving a sterile, incomplete feeling. Some families make a house a home, others just a lodging. Acts that happen inside the walls both loving and murderous can radiate for years, affecting all that enter, making a young woman doubt herself, her family and the truth that she was told about events in the past. The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is a story set now about events in the past and how these events permeate the walls and people's minds.

Emily and Chess were close as children but find that time, life and life choices have created a distance between them. Emily is a mystery writer of the cozy sort, who has had a rough patch with writer's block caused from her recent divorce. Chess is a social influencer, who has invited Emily on a trip to Italy, which Emily accepts hoping for a change of scene, and a chance to reconnect. They plan to stay in a villa that was used by a rock star almost 50 years earlier, also to get past a creative block and work on a new album. Invited were 3 other people, one who became a bestselling author, and another a hit artist. There was a also a murder. As Emily looks into the affair, she finds that Chess is not happy with her investigations. And that that things might not be how they were told.

A big thrill ride with lots of twists, turns and a lot of influences. Frankenstein, a famous poet or two, strange relationships, and more appear in the novel. There is some time jumping which can be a little tough to follow in the beginning, but by the mid point the story has really kicked in and readers won't notice. The characters are interesting, with a narrator or two that might not be the most trustworthy, but that is to be expected. The plot moves well, with a few red herrings tossed in, but mostly the author plays fair, with a few big scares and a big surprise or two. Recommended for fans of Hawkins, and for readers who like a lot of big ideas, and cleaver influences in their story.

This duel timeline was incredibly interesting. I haven't read a book like this yet!

Overall, I enjoyed the book but there were some parts where I wasn't impressed/almost DNF'd.

The past sections were difficult to read and I found myself confused by what I needed to pay attention to vs what was just fluff.

The present day parts kept me interested and wanting more.

Overall, 3 stars. Thank you netgalley for the eARC!

This is a must read! Both stories are equally enticing, first I was very into the present time. I wanted Emily to make sure her ex would not take advantage of her and I never knew if Chess was trustworthy....but then, I got lost on Mari's drama with Pierce and everything going on at the Villa in the past.

Cleverly written, it throws your suspicious out the window, it's like Rachel Hawkins lead us to develop some suspicions and then, told us how wrong we are! I love how both stories are intertwined.

Thank you so much to Rachel Hawkins, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this awesome ARC!!

Rachel Hawkins writes some of the most bingeable thrillers out there. Are they earth shattering and completely blow you away?? No! But they are highly addicting and quick page turners. This one is no different. I loved the dual timelines and enjoyed solving the mystery. Overall, it was a little on the predictable side, but a winner nonetheless.

This book was such a pleasant surprise for me, as I really didn't know what to expect going in, nor was I super invested during the first few chapters. However, it continued to get more and more interesting as I kept reading. I truly enjoyed this dual-timeline mystery/thriller set in the present day, and the 70's at......the same Italian villa. I enjoyed both stories and seeing how things all tied together in the end. The Villa seems to be getting some mixed reviews thus far, but having gone into reading it with an almost blind synopsis, I found it super engaging and couldn't put it down. I also found it to be so much better than The Wife Upstairs, which means I will give more of Rachel Hawkins books a try!

The Villa is a dual timeline between the 70s of rock and roll, sex, drugs and current day. Our MC is a soft murder mystery writer struggling with writers block and whisked away to Italy with her social media and writing geru best friend. Having the advantage of being at the site of a murder that happened during the 70s that revolves around a famous horror novel and album written after the events, this is the opening door of writing something completely different while uncovering a tragic truth.

The Villa was not what I expected and that is what fell flat for me. I wanted more suspense, thrill, possible ghost story along with the murder. But it was more domestic drama from both timelines. The revelations towards the end was a trope I just did not care for and felt could have been written so much better. This was a book I just read through so I could know the ending and hoped for a strong finale.

If your looking for a very suspenseful story, this is not it. A more domestic drama, then this is for you.