Already a fan of Rachel Hawkins I was super pumped to dive into The Villa. At first glance I thought it was pretty easy to see what was going to happen. Nope, nope, nope. There were definitely a few twists that got me. I loved how the story was structured, with dual timelines centering around a summer house in Italy, and the book tying the two stories together was a lot of fun.

Summary:

Chess and Emily have been best friends for over 30 years, but due to some life changing events, the friendship has been strained.

Emily is going through a recent breakup with her husband after a mysterious illness. Chess has quickly became a famous author.

Chess invites Emily to a villa in Italy with her to rekindle their friendship. This particular villa named Villa Rosato has a long history of a murder back in 1974.

In 1974, Mari and her stepsister, Laura, travel to Villa Rosato to follow her boyfriend who is a musician. That summer her boyfriend is murdered. This murder resulted in Mari writing a bestselling horror novel, and her sister also wrote a bestselling album. The details of that summer with the rock band filled with drugs and sex was never detailed.

Emily becomes deeply invested in the story of Mari, and she hopes it will inspire her to get out of her writing slump.

The storyline bounces back and forth from 1974 to current day with many parallels becoming truly evident.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this book even more than Reckless Girls! I enjoyed the characterization and the details of the summer and the villa.

Hawkins does an excellent job of writing these parallel plots. It was really well done!

I wouldn’t necessarily call this a thriller-it is more of a dramatic suspense mystery. The first portion was slower, but it was definitely needed in order to set up the storyline and provide the background info about Mari and Laura.

I gave The Villa 4 out of 5 stars.

The Villa will be available in January 2023.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Villa!

I have never read a Rachel Hawkins book but devoured it in like a day! I really enjoyed this book. I like the different timelines of current day and the 70’s. I also liked the mirroring and parallels between Mari and Lara and Emily and Chess. It was also not that long of a book so it was really easy to get into. The twists were pretty good. And also what was the truth and what wasn’t. I wish Aestas and Lilith rising were real to be even more immersed with the book. All in all a pretty good read.

Thank you Netgalley for my ARC copy of The Villa!
This book is told in 2 timelines, one in present time told from Emily’s perspective and the second one from Mari’s perspective in the past time. I have to say, I enjoyed Mari’s story a bit more than Emily’s, it had some Mary Shelly’s vibes and kept me very interested throughout the book… and that ending, wow! This is the first Hawkins’ book I read and it will for sure not be the last one. I enjoyed the plot twists as well, If you are into suspense novels with dark twists, make sure you pick up this book! It will be out on January 2023.

There was nothing overly thrilling or suspenseful about this book and honestly, the twist was a bit confusing.

The friendship between Emily and Chess was super toxic. The relationship between Mari, Lara and Pierce was tumultuous. The characters were hot messes and I found it agitating living in their world.

I don’t necessarily hate it but it’s a far cry from Reckless Girls. Now that book was a wild ride!

I was so excited to give Rachel Hawkins a try and I’m sad to say that book was so slow and lackluster. I felt that there was no thrill and it was so drawn out. I was expecting some twists and turns but it was a SLOW-burning mystery with a predictable ending. I did enjoy the atmospheric setting and the dual timeline.

If you are into slow-burner reads, then this book might be right for you!

***** Many thanks to St Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, Rachel Hawkins, and NetGalley for the #gifted copy as it was provided to me in turn for my honest opinion.

Rating this 2.5 stars but rounding up to 3 stars on Goodreads.

I thought this book could be similar to other thrillers I have read, but it is nothing like other thrillers. It is more of a captivating slow burn that is part drama and part thriller alternating between the current and past.

The novel was interesting right away. We are introduced to Emily, who was in the process of a messy divorce, ends up going to Italy with her childhood best friend, Chess. They weren’t as close as children as it happens growing up, so this trip was a good opportunity to reconnect at an Italian villa. Emily hopes to find inspiration for a novel she is working on, and it ends up coming in unexpected ways at the villa. The novel continues to flips back to the 1970s where a murder happened at the villa. While more is unraveled with that tale, more drama is unfolded between Emily’s estranged husband and her friend Chess. I was interested in both stories and without spoiling anything, the author did a great job intersecting the two. There was a few times I thought I knew what was going to happen, but was blind sighted when I was not expecting it. I was very satisfied with the ending.

Overall, this book was filled with plenty of drama and mystery with twists and turns along the way. This was not my first book by Rachel Hawkins, and it hopefully won’t be my last.


Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Rachel Hawkins, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced reader’s copy.

The Villa is a classic Rachel Hawkins novel. Many twists and turns and well written unlikable characters along the way. I did find this book a little more confusing than her others, it wasn’t a book that you could listen to, or read, while focusing on anything else, it definitely required complete attention. I had to look at other reviews to understand what was going on at points, but I did read some very interesting theories that I wish Hawkins could have included in the book. Based on the theories I’ve read, I already want to reread this book because it definitely opened to many interpretations.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy reading Rachel hawkins! Her books are always fast-paced and emotional. I really enjoyed this book I wish there was a little bit more of a twist but overall it was a really good read. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this

Houses remember.

What a great, great line. Unfortunately, because of this line, I was expecting something that I didn't get. I was expecting the house to be a central character, to be a bit haunted. While the story alternates between the past and present (with some rather interesting parallels), the house really isn't all that important. That being said, I did enjoy this book overall, and in fact, it may be my favorite by Hawkins. The real focus of the story is the relationships between the characters, both hidden and seen. I loved getting tidbits of the book Mari was writing- I love books within books. Honestly, I want to read Lilith Rising- sounds fascinating!


Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for the opportunity.

Rachel Hawkins has very quickly become an author I will instantly pick up whenever she has a new novel. I am impressed with how each of her books can be totally different but have that same creepy, thrillery feel. The Villa is no different. But what it unique is that it is set in Italy in- as you might have guessed- a Villa. Except the Villa was the place of a murder years before. Better yet- the second narrative of our novel was present at that murder.

What I loved: the quick pace, I was very intrigued from the get-go and that lasted through the entire novel.

What I didn't: I was expecting more of a plot twist. I think there could have been more for the build up we had of the murder house and the friends who vacationed there afterward.

Overall 4 stars!

I am very thankful for getting to read this early copy of The Villa through NetGalley. Overall, I thought this book was really good! Mysterious and emotional. I really liked how the two stories intertwined from past to present. I thought it was a little slow at first but had a good ending. I would definitely recommend to others.

Thanks to the Publisher & NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of the Villa in exchange for an honest review.. Two things I love the most are mysteries & stories told in alternating time periods, so The Villa did not disappoint!! I finished this book in just a few days.. Highly recommend this book.. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫stars for The Villa!!

3.5 stars

I have mixed feelings on this one! I enjoyed reading it but I couldn’t have cared less about the backstory POV in the 70s. There were too many characters that we didn’t get to know enough, flowery music & writing drama that I didn’t care about, and too much romantic drama that was annoying. If that hadn’t been in the book and the mystery was pure research by Emily, I would have liked it a LOT better.

I did like the ending but in a sort of toxic best friend way. It reminded me a bit of a favorite movie but is referencing that movie a spoiler because of what happens? Probably. Anyway, loved that part!

I always enjoy the writing style but I just didn’t care about the flashbacks, like at all. I had a hard time paying attention to them until later and meh, it wasn’t worth it. Cut all those and make it more wild between the two friends and I would have been all for it. There were some dark holes to dive down that we didn’t and that could have been awesome.

The titular villa itself also could have been this cool, creepy, gothic character in itself and it just wasn't.... anything. It was barely described except for a few locations which ended up being important to the plot and there wasn't much of anything that really gave you good *vibes* to really pull you into the story.

Ultimately, I feel like this was pulled in too many different directions. The setting didn't get a good description going, the main characters were slightly under-developed, the backstory wasn't deep enough for me to care, there were random bits of song and podcast but they were exactly that: random. It was a little of this, a little of that. Cut all the "extra" stuff and focus on the core of the story and it could have been really awesome. It just left me underwhelmed in that sense.

Houses Remember” - the opening lines to Lilith Rising.

This book centers around two separate timelines, one from the past and one from the present.

In the past, Mari, Lara, Pierce, Noel, and Johnnie spend the summer of 1974 in an Italian Villa, Villa Rosato. Noel is a famous musician who has invited musician Pierce, his girlfriend Mari, and her stepsister Lara to spend the summer with him at an Italian villa. Relationships are already fairly tumultuous before the summer at the Villa begins and grow to be even more complicated throughout the summer. The happenings of the summer inspire a horror novel entitled Lilith Rising written by Mari and a famous album entitled Aestas written by Lara.

The present day focuses on Chess and Emily, two women who have been friends since elementary school. Emily is having relationship problems and her self-help guru friend Chess invites her to spend the summer with her in the same Italian Villa, now renamed Villa Aestas. Emily and Chess are both authors and hope that the summer away will inspire their creativity. Little do they know, they are about to write the story of a lifetime.

This novel was a bit of a slow burn, but kept me interested the entire time! I absolutely loved the premise of it and would highly recommend it. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

2.5

Ehhhhh ... Unfortunately, I didn't find this enjoyable.

I liked the setting in which the story took place, Italy, that is about it. Even then, I didn't really find 'The Villa' the girls were staying in to be creepy whatsoever and it totally lacked giving me those 'atmospheric vibes'. The murder mystery that took place in the past wasn't very thrilling and I found everything to be extremely predictable until the tiny twist in the last chapter that didn't affect me or my outlook on the story whatsoever.

This was my very first Rachel Hawkins book. I'm still willing to give her others a try at this point, but this one definitely missed the mark for me!

Meh, oh well, moving on!

I really enjoyed this story in regards to the atmosphere of The Villa and a vacation. I feel like this could be a great read for those summer beach days. Sneaky, entertaining, catty, with an intriguing plot .The story started off a bit slow but reading it as a mix of audio/physical felt like it went by much quicker. It was entertaining and I liked the mix of timelines, podcasts clips, and stories. I did find this predictable and the ending was not my favorite due to the open lines. Will there be another book or are we left with a meh ending? Loved the murder house idea. Great character introductions (although, none were likeable for me and that’s okay!) Overall would recommend but did not love how both the stories were wrapped up.

This was a fun read. I admit that I expected it to be a little more gothic, and it’s not that. The vibe was more like a breezy thriller, but that’s fine. I could see this as a Netflix film (with Blake Lively and a nerdy but still beautiful brunette as the main characters). I enjoyed the different timelines, particularly how the characters pieced together what happened before. I thought it was fairly well-plotted and paced; it kept my interest. I just didn’t connect to any of the characters; I more wanted to see what happened. I wish this system had .5 stars, as this was a solid 3.5 for me, but I’ll round up. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy for this unbiased review.

👏🏼 I’m a fan!! I have had Rachel Hawkins books on my TBR for awhile now & thank to NetGalley I got to read an ARC of The Villa!
I’m so happy I did. I don’t want to give much away, this is a book you want to go into somewhat blind. You’ll really enjoy the characters, their development, the mystery, the similarities to true crimes. I had a lot of fun reading this! Grab a copy January 2023.

Halfway through and loving this book, will be posting final review on the audio arc I received.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.