This is my favorite Rachel Hawkins novel so far. The Villa is told in dual timelines. In the present, best friends, both writers, spend the summer in Italy trying to reconnect and to write. Their vacation home has a history of murder and intrigue. I think it started out a little slowly, but still grabbed my interest as each character’s story emerged. There are plenty of twists and turns and shady characters to keep you up all night reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to review this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. #TheVilla #NetGalley

I love what Rachel Hawkins is doing with her thrillers. I love the retelling/reimagining of classic tales and events. I love the storytelling in this book. It winds around and has you guessing at every turn. Very fun and imaginative.

“The Villa” was my introduction to Rachel Hawkins, an author of thrillers including “Reckless Girls,” which has been on my TBR pile for way too long.

Here, we meet two former best friends, Jessica and Emily, who, like many BFFs, have grown apart. Emily, newly divorced, asks her old pal Jessica (Chess) to travel with her to Italy and stay at a villa so that the women can catch up and focus on their writing—Emily writes mysteries while Chess writes self-help. But behind the villa’s walls are secrets, including a death, and it’s up to the women to prevent history from repeating itself.

The novel switches from Emily’s perspective in the present to Mari’s in the past. Scarred by the events that happened at that time, Mari ended up writing a shocking horror novel and her stepsister, Lara composing a platinum album.

I thought the events of the two timelines were woven in together in a way that was not too jarring. There were some predictable parts, and I preferred the present storyline to the one in the past, but it was an enjoyable read. How can you beat a setting in Italy? Plus, I am always interested in novels about writers and what can make them tick.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to give this novel an early read.

#TheVilla #NetGalley
CLEVERLY PLOTTED. 5 ⭐
FINISHED IT TODAY. And omg what a rollercoaster ride it was. I loved this book so so much. Here's what I think about it :-
Two authors and best friends, Emily and Chess decoder to spend sometime together after Chess's suggestion that they should go to Italy, Villa Aestas in Orvieto which is a cool place. It's a perfect place for holiday, drugs and murder.
In summer 1974 something terrible happened there. Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder
But the story is not that simple as it seems because when Emily started digging deeper, present deceptions came into light and maybe her best friend has something to hide.
This was a fabulous read from the queen of gothic psychological thrillers. I loved her The Wife Upstairs and now this. It was creepy and intriguing at the same time.
MY FINAL VERDICT :-
A must read. Pre order your copy today and share this book with everyone. I'm going to share with everyone I know.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me an advance copy.

Nothing is ever as it seems, at least in the latest book by Rachel Hawkins (and also my favorite one so far). The Villa tells not only the tale of Emily and her best friend Chess, but also the tale of Mari and her stepsister Lara, two previous occupants of a villa in Orvieto, Italy. Both pairs have a complicated and imperfect relationship, and both pairs discover secrets during their stay at the infamous villa. I adore the way Hawkins goes back and forth, wea ing the stories together.

Read number 69 of 2022 is another great one care of @netgalley. If you liked Rachel Hawkins’ other books, I think that you’ll like this one. It’s a story within a story that gives you a final twist to go with the twist. There are some very unlikeable characters, a few you’ll love to hate, and a couple that you can’t help but care about. Some of the content is disturbing, but this book is a great example of storytelling. It was a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 read for me, and one I found very hard to put down.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles. I really not the opportunity!

I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

I LOVED this book! I couldn’t put it down. The Villa is a fast paced mystery with an amazing story. The setting was perfect, historical and intriguing but not ghostly; the characters were so well thought out, I just loved it! This is my first Rachel Hawkins, I now need to read all of her books.

Emily and Chess have been best friends forever. Emily is struggling with work, her marriage, her health. Chess suggests they go to Italy for the summer.

A murder took place in the house they are renting. Emily is determined to find out the truth about the past. She will also learn the secret that Chess has been hiding from her.

I liked the strong female friendship between Chess and Emily. I liked the mystery behind the house. I liked that they were both writers and ended up writing a book together.

Thank you so much to St Martins Press for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.


Holy crap this book was fantastic. we have dual timelines and we have this dark story full of resentment, murder, sex etc and let me tell you I finished this in one sitting. These characters are each so unlikeable in different ways you can’t help but almost root for them to be a better person. . I couldn’t put this down.

3.5/5

!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!

I thought this book started to get interesting and finally have momentum at around the 50% mark, more specifically when Chess read Emily's book draft without her permission. The beginning felt a bit repetitive to me. Also, there were some moments that I thought were predictable (but that just may be the detective in me LOL). I did like how the past and present were intertwined very well. I did like the storyline and the ending because it gave me closure with Emily's ex-husband's death. However, I just felt underwhelmed for some reason.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

I thought this book was great! It's told by alternating between the present, where our main character Emily and her lifelong friend Chess are staying in a villa in Orvieto to write their respective books, and the past, where our other main character Mari along with her step-sister, rock and roll boyfriend, and two other rock n roll guys stay in that same villa in 1974 where there was a tragic murder. Emily spends the summer unraveling Mari's story of what happened that summer while unraveling her own story between her and her best friend.

I definitely thought the story was super interesting. The book was definitely slow at times, but it's possible that that helped with the suspense of the novel.

I loved how the present and the past timelines mirrored each other, but also diverged in unique ways, telling the same stories that are very different... or different stories that are completely the same.

Despite all this, I'm left unsatisfied with the ending of the book. Emily and Chess's relationship felt unfinished and off. The relationships between the group of 1974 were confusing. I felt like the book ended abruptly and left some things unfinished.

Overall 3.5 stars

(thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Rachel Hawkins for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)

Unsure whether or not to round up my rating, but it teeters somewhere between 4 and 4.5 ⭐️

I was so excited to get my hands on this ARC because I loved The Wife Upstairs, and after not really loving The Reckless Girls, I was hoping that this novel would be where Hawkins redeemed herself. And, redeem herself she did!

The Villa will transport you to Italy and make you long for your next vacation to be a summer away at an Italian Villa. I found the writing style of this novel to be most unique, splitting between different view points and eras within each chapter. The main character, Emily, was also very likable and I found myself rooting for her the whole time. Mari and Emily’s parallel stories were also fun to read and the writing allowed me to set the scenes in my mind.

While this was an entertaining read that I flew through, any “twists” that were meant to occur were very predictable. I was also left wondering about some pieces of the ending, questioning whether or not I like the direction things went in. I also think that some areas weren’t explained very well and were wrapped up quickly.

Overall, I was continuously drawn back to reading this book and was anxious to see Mari and Emily’s stories unfold.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

First and foremost, thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this early review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story, halved into alternating timelines between the 1970s and present day, showcases a friendship-based tale of horror and mystery surrounding a villa in the gorgeous Italian countryside.

This book held a lot of promise for me, particularly with some things I love: vacation stories abroad, complicated friendships, elements of mystery, and historical ties.

I struggled a bit in the middle section of this book and felt it dragged a bit. Honestly, I was just not all that connected to Mari or the characters from the 70s and longed to get back to the present-day tale.

I think Hawkins really found her stride here, though, in her writing. This reads very polished (in a good way) and I enjoyed the narrative and particularly the ending tremendously.

Is it the best of Hawkins’ work? Not for me. But it is superior to last summer’s Reckless Girls and I think she will have a hit on her hands with The Villa.

3.5 stars

This was one I could not put down! Two female protagonists in the present have their stories entertwined with the two female leads from the 1980's. The writing was so clear and compelling and the stories urged you on to the finish. Somehow the ending isn't as important as the getting there. Compelling is the best descri[tion I can give. This is definitely for anyone who loves stories about people. You won'r regret it.
#TheVilla#NetGalley

This novel will be a raging best seller. Paula Hawkins is a talented writer who weaves a complicated but absorbing thriller. There are two stories, one that originally took place in the 70’s in England and the contemporary one in the United States. What connects them is a gorgeous Italian villa in Orvieto where the narratives overlap. It takes a few chapters to get all the characters straight and discern the relationships, but when the reader does, the book soars. It is an extremely clever plot and if there is a weakness, it is the last few chapters. I found myself confused about the details of the original storyline vis a vis the current one. There is definitely a correlation between the two women in both narratives and the author threads their lives into a brilliant juxtaposition of facts and fibs However when she concludes the novel, I found myself unsure about the final denouement. I think if the timeline of the last few chapters was adjusted, it would clear things up. Not wanting to give away the plot, I hope my comments are helpful. I truly loved the book. Bravissimo! The Italian word is intended!

Villa is three dimensional, smart, claustrophobic, women empowerment story with creepy and intriguing plot!

Two stepsisters in 19 marked this place! Mari created her the most scariest gothic novel: Lilith Rising and Lara; the most popular album ( moms’ favorite) at the same eccentric place they’ve been inspired. The place is actually gorgeous, homey villa located in Orvieto: a small town in Italy. It is called Aestas just like Lara’s name of the album. But this place is not known by inspirational sources for newbie artists. It is known as a MURDER HOUSE . Mari and Lara accompanied by Mari’s musician boyfriend Pierce to be guests of famous rock star Noel Gordon and his bestie, dealer Johnnie boy! During their stay, things got escalated and somebody died, one of them was sent to prison!
Those events took place in 1974. But the events and people’s energies already tainted the place. The VILLA is only place really knows what happened behind the closed doors: toxic relationships, lies, raising charm of insanity, pain of creativity, numbness of drugs! HOUSE REMEMBERS !

Now two best friends since their childhood came here to spend six weeks at the villa to get inspired for their next novels and taking break from everything they’re dealing with!

Emily and Chess were inseparable friends till Emily gets married with Matt, becoming popular with her YA cozy mysteries and Chess moved to the big city, being social butterfly and finally making her big turn by becoming self help guru with her bestselling nonfictions!

Things didn’t go well for Emily as expected. She is dealing with overwhelming divorce case: her husband demands royalties from her novels because he thinks she couldn’t write them without his support! She struggled with an unknown disease for a long time that made her dizzy and dysfunctional!

When Chess invites her to spend a holiday in Italy, she sees this opportunity to get rid of her recent writer’s block!

As soon as they arrive, she gets affected by the eerie energy of murder house which pushes her learn more about house’s history but her investigation will reveal more ugly secrets about her own life!

Overall: I loved the idea of murder house and Emily’s searching for the truth but I think the revelations are not satisfying enough! I didn’t like how both two stories unfolded. I was expecting something more sinister instead of spiritual. In my opinion this is women’s fiction with feminism vibes but the characters were not the great examples to represent girl power! I think there are so many trust issues they have to work on!

Mystery about the house wasn’t a twisty enough. The setting and plot line were great but the execution and ending could be so much better. So I decided to give three solid stars! It was still gripping, fast pacing read but I was expecting something more surprising, gothic, effective!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

This mystery was such a fun read! With two stories wrapped up in one, I could not put this book down! Rachel Hawkins is one of my favorite authors and this novel did not disappoint. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

Super excited to receive an advance review copy of #TheVilla from #Netgalley. I love the cover, and a "deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history"? YES, please! Unfortunately, I was a bit underwhelmed. Didn't really care for any of the characters and found some of the plot points to be a bit contrived. Still, read over two days and can't say I didn't enjoy.

P.S. Thanks to #Netgalley for the ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ARC! This book was labeled as a gothic suspense/thriller but I personally would label it more as a mystery with gothic tones.


What I loved:

-Strong and interesting start to the book which caused me to be immediately drawn in and want more

-The past and present timelines were written parallel to each other perfectly and I was equally interested in both stories (sometimes I find myself favoring one over the other)

-I loved that the book incorporated snippets of news articles, documentaries, podcasts, and chapters of books to give insight to the characters rise to fame and the work and mystery that developed post-1974 villa murder (kind of felt like breaking the fourth wall to me)


Tropes that I really enjoyed in this book: childhood to adult frenemies trope, the idea of a house holding memories

TBH the only thing I didn’t really love was that the ending seemed a bit abrupt for all the time the author took to establish and grow characters throughout.

This is definitely my favorite Rachel Hawkins book so far! (compared to the Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls). Keep your eye out for this one (and this author)! Publish date is 1/3/23