*Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced audiobook copy*

Rachel Hawkins novels are always interesting and original. She writes her settings and characters with a uniqueness that instantly appeals to me. 
The Villa is no different, considering that it won't be released until 2023 and I've already finished reading an advance copy of it. The Villa is less of a thriller and more of a moody, atmospheric thriller which is different from her prior thrillers. Think of Ruth Ware's novel The Turn of the Key.

The story's narrative includes a story within a story as well as a number of various time periods of focus. Childhood best friends Emily and Chess have drifted apart, but when Chess intends to revive their friendship on a writing retreat to Italy, Emily resolves to do the same.

Chess convinces Emily to go to Villa Aestas with her. As authors, they will use this lovely apartment as a getaway to unwind, get some writing done, and strengthen their friendship. However, Villa Aestas has a highly troubled past that is just now starting to come to light.

The Manson Murders, Fleetwood Mac, and the setting of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein served as inspiration for this work. We learn about the villa across the two timelines (both the present and the 1970s), and the house has a distinct personality. More than Hawkins' earlier works, the novel is incredibly engrossing and atmospheric, and really changes up her tone with this one in a great way. However, it did drag on a bit and the ending wasn't as twisty as I was expecting. However, I feel that was intentional as this book is very different from Hawkins' previous work

The narration was excellent. Different narrators capture the atmospheric bits well and present-day narration was on point. Great pacing and tone add an extra dimension to the narrative.

3.5 stars

In this newest installment, Hawkins relies on a tried-and-true technique: a woman m.c. who is impacted by location, creepy dudes, and a pivotal moment in her life.

Emily, the m.c., is the one who fits the aforementioned bill. Though Emily is an intriguing character in her own right - a published author, a woman struggling in the middle of a less-than-pleasant divorce, and a person experiencing some challenging health issues - one of the most noteworthy aspects of Emily is her childhood friend, Chess. Chess, who started as Jessica, has had about as many refreshes as her first name, and she's become something of a touchstone in women-centric nonfiction. She has enough fame to be recognized and to - most importantly for this novel - be able to foot the bill for these two BFFs to vacay in an Italian villa. It's much clearer to readers than to the two characters that there's something afoot in their relationship and finding out exactly what that means is a lot of the fun here.

Though I was hooked quickly after just the first chapter, I struggled often to connect with the past storyline. By the end, I was relatively engaged in this, too, and it is fun to see how both timelines intertwine, but I wish that engagement and interest had happened much sooner.

I'm all for some suspend disbelief material in any piece of literature, but there are some details that seemed so wild to me that I just kept cracking up at them, and I'm not convinced that was the intended result. I wish there had been some different plot related choices, especially near the end, but this remained an entertaining and quick read despite the minor challenges. Oh, and the narration in the Karen and Georgia parody? It's spot on. Go for the audiobook because the narration is solid but ESPECIALLY if you're a murderino. This part will make you laugh.

Author: Rachel Hawkins
Narrators: Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell,
Shiromi Arserio

I got this audiobook as an ARC (advanced reader copy) from Netgalley

This book is unlike any others I’ve ever read. It is simply brilliant! The main premise is that two women, best friends since childhood, decide to go to Italy to work on their respective writing. While there they learn about a gruesome murder that took place and the events that led up to it.

This book has lively, vibrant characters from both the past and present. The world building is simply phenomenal.

I recommend this book to lovers of mysteries, thrillers, and true crime.

I think it’s important to note that I listened to this book in less than a day’s time. I could barely put it down!!

Emily & Chess. Best friends since childhood. Sometimes a rocky relationship, but the love is there - they are more like sisters.

Emily writes cozy mystery books but she's definitely in a writing slump. This could be caused by the divorce she's going through with her cheating ex. Or her health issues. Or the fact that's demanding his share on books she writes even after the divorce. Regardless, Emily is struggling.

Chess is a best selling self help author. She sees Emily's struggles and calls her with an offer of a lifetime. Chess wants them to spend summer together at Villa Aestas in Orieto, Italy. She hopes the wine, the food and being in Italy will get both their creative juices flowing while they get in some best friend time.

Even in Italy, Emily struggles to write. She starts digging into the history of Villa Aestas and the murder there in the '70's when the villa was called Villa Rosato, AKA The Murder House.

Now we have dual timelines going on. We still have Emily and Chess. We also have Mari, girlfriend to the murdered musician, and what went on when five young creative people, very into sex, drugs and rock and roll, mix and mingle.

As bits are revealed in both storylines, I was sucked into the storyline even more. And there wer a couple twists in each that made the story even more interesting!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for both and ARC and ALC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I loved this book! It was just the right amount of thriller and mystery. The audiobook was also narrated by my favorite - Julia Whelan which probably added to how much I enjoyed it. Any book involving sex, drugs and rock and roll mixed with Italy is a winner for me.

This is my third book by this author. I loved the first one, didn't care for the second one, and loved this one. I'm glad I didn't give up on her. Definitely for fans of a story within a story. The readers did a great job on this audiobook. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is what friends are for.

Emily, a cozy mystery author, and Chess. a self-help author and influencer, are long-time best friends. Emily is going through it. She is in the middle of a nasty divorce and has writer's block. Luckily, Chess invites Emily to stay in a Villa in Italy for 6 weeks. This is just the kind of thing Emily needs to get back on track.

Emily finds out from her friend Google that this villa has quite the history. A group of creatives- rock stars, writers, etc. stayed there in the 70's and an infamous murder occurred. Emily becomes engrossed in the story and wants to write about it instead of her usual book. Chess seems a bit jealous by this so Emily is keeping her information under wraps.

One of the 70's occupants was Mary, who went on to write what is widely considered one of the best feminist horrors of all time. Emily starts to wonder if Mary left easter eggs about what happened in the book, and perhaps even the villa. Is there a confession?

This novel ultimately is about female relationships and how much pressure they can withstand. It didn't drag on, it had a satisfying ending, and the narration was wonderful. Julia Whelan primarily narrates as Emily but we also hear news clips, podcast, snippets, and the voice of Mary from the past. It's sort of like Daisy Jones and the Six, but much darker and with murder. Add to that an air of mystery at a beautiful villa and you've got yourself a great tale of Gothic suspense!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the chance to read, listen, and review!

3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the story within a story within a story within a story concept and was super invested throughout. The Emily/Chess/Matt storyline felt unfinished to me, though. Lots of buildup with no payoff in the end. I was convinced I knew what was going on when their storyline abruptly ended. To any future readers, I definitely recommend the audiobook, narrated by the wonderful Julia Whelan. There's an excerpt from a fictional true crime podcast and she NAILS that stereotypical podcaster voice.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's press for providing an advanced copy.

"Houses remember."
As kids, Chess, best-selling self-help writer, and Emily, cozy mystery writer, were inseparable. But in their 30s, they are pulled apart by life. So when Chess suggest a summer trip to Italy, Emily, whose health is finally better and on the verge of a divorce, jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend, and they both decide to take this time away to write. But the villa Chess has rented is well known because it's where a murder took place there decades ago. As Emily digs into the villa's, Mari's, Noel's and Pierce's history, she thinks there might be more to it. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more the tension grows between her and Chess, who would love to co-write a book with her, but Emily wants to keep this story for herself.
This was a slow-paced thriller told in a dual POV/timeline that was easy to follow. I did however prefer the Emily-Chess-present timeline, outlining the complex friendship between the women. The twists were no big surprise, but I enjoyed the ride. I read the ebook and listened to the audio book, and I enjoyed them both (great job on the narration!). I read it in one sitting, I simply couldn't put it down!
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Engaging, but I kind of wanted it to end differently. So, overall, decent but not stellar.


Review copy provided by publisher.

2.5 stars

We have two main stories, both happening in this beautiful villa in Italy. One story is in the past of two minor sisters that go have a good time with a couple of notorious rock stars. And a somehow similar story in the present where two best friends that are also well renown writers take some time off to create their next best seller book.

Initially the story in the present with Emily, the victim of an insensible and cheating husband, was pretty intriguing. Until the end when she made some choices that made no sense to me.

The narrator of the story in the past and more specifically Mary hasn't been the best choice in my opinion. And due to this fact, i felt that I didn't care at all for Mary's story.

The ending was a bit farfetched for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this book!

Chess and Emily have been forever friends since early childhood and with Emily having marital issues in her early 30's, Chess offers her the chance to spend time at an Italian villa in Orvieto.  This is a great opportunity for the two friends to enjoy Italian history, and its ambiance, and maybe even learn more about the gothic and dark history of the villa. 

The dual timeline of Hawkins' suspenseful novel was easy for me to follow with the excellent narration of Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell, and Shiromi Arserio.  I do believe that their narration is what helped raise a 3.5 to the 4-star rating I have given it.

This novel has plenty of flawed characters, actually, I will say they were all flawed.  I couldn't name one that I would want to have a coffee date with.  Each of them had their own agenda, each of them lied, and each of them had secrets they wanted to hide. 

I did enjoy watching the toxic relationship between Em and Chess.  For the life of me, I can't imagine how Em could even remain at the Villa with Chess after Em learned about what Chess had done.  If I were reading this in paperback, I would have flung it on the floor due to my being so upset with Em for having no backbone.  This is what a good book does, it takes you on a roller coaster of emotions, no matter what they may be. 

All in all, I enjoyed this audiobook. 

My thanks to #NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for the ARC.  This opinion is my own.

"Houses remember!"

Two estranged childhood best friends reconnect on a girl's trip to Italy. Their summer adventure consists of staying at Villa Aestas in Orvieto, a high-end holiday vacation spot., In 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, which was rented by a famous musician and friends. The summer of 1974 consisted of sex, love, rock and roll, and all forms of creative expression until things suddenly ended in a brutal murder. The story is told from a double perspective of Mari's account of past occurrences and Emily's present-day adventure as she digs into the complex history of the house to see just what it remembers.

The Villa was a solid average read for me. I preferred the audio version to the kindle ARC. I struggled to engage with the story at first, but I am glad I continued reading. I originally connected more with Emily's story, but my interest in Mari's story grew by the middle of the book. There are some mildly suspenseful moments. However, this is more of a fictional drama than a thriller like I had expected. I enjoyed the pacing, storyline, and especially liked the ending. The Wife Upstairs remains my favorite book by Rachel Hawkins, but The Villa earns 3.8 stars from me.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide a review of The Villa.

I read the book AND listened to the audio. I actually think I enjoyed the audible experience a lot more. The narrator did a great job conveying all emotions and making the character seem relatable. I would definitely listen to this again.

I absolutely loved this book, it may be my favorite of Rachel Hawkins yet! I thought the premise was clever, the uncovering of the real story of the "murder house" Italian villa and the exploration of the experiences of present day writers Emily and Chess with the two women who spent the summer of 1974 in the same villa. This book is part psychological thriller, part feminist manifesto, part exploration of the arts and what it takes to create, and what the cost of that art can be. It was smart, quick, and interesting. As always, the voice of Julia Whelan is warm honey to my ears. This was very well performed, as Whelan was joined by Kimberly M. Wetherell,, and Shiromi Arserio.
Highly recommend!

I had the pleasure of hearing this author speak about her writing process and her books. What a wonderful time was had by all. I love the woman upstairs and thoroughly enjoyed the parallel story lines in the murder house! Will recommend to my fans of Liv Constantine.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance audiobook copy of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins in exchange for an honest review. This was my second book by Rachel Hawkins and the more I read, the more I enjoy them. This was an intricate story about women and the chains that keep us from being free. With flashbacks to Mary and Laurel and their summer at the Italian villa in the 70's, then to Em and Chess now at the same villa. The parallels and history repeating itself are woven through a fascinating story of discovery and creativity. I really got hooked and listened to the whole book in one day.

4.5 Stars

I finished this book a few days ago and I still can’t stop thinking about it…and the ending and just ugh the whole thing. I love when a book makes you question everything you thought you knew about the story as it unfolded, and this is definitely one of those books.

The Villa is loosely inspired by the summer in Villa Diodati (where Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as part of Lord Byron’s ghost story competition). This story is broken up into flashbacks of “The Summer” at the villa in the 70s where an infamous murder happened amongst an artistic group of people and modern day, where our main character is trying to get over her writer block and happens to unravel the truth of that summer in the 70s.

At first the timeline switches were hard for my brain to keep up with, but it all blended together beautifully by the end and I became fully invested in both storylines.

The summer at the villa was all based on the original summer with Mary Godwin (soon to be Shelley) and the Villa Diodati houseguests and I loved how Hawkins translated that real life summer into her fictional world. It was steeped in rock-n-roll and feminism and finding one’s self leading to destruction and art. Mari is our Mary Godwin stand-in and her step-sister Laura is Clair (Mary’s IRL stepsister) and both are struggling for love and independence and discovering who they are and what their art is.

The modern storyline gave a true suspenseful vibe. You didn’t know who to trust or why and felt on the edge of you r seat, yet no crime had even occurred. Yet. Emily is our main character in this portion of the storyline, and she is at the same villa trying to overcome writers block and staying with her childhood friend Chess. Chess is our modern day influencer inspiration holistic #bossbitch full of affirmations etc and Em and Chess have some tension there. It was an interesting exploration of sisterhood and friendship and female relationships, all while Emily was unraveling the summer of the villa from before, with her life often paralleling with Mari and Laura’s.

I’m sure my review is just a mess at this point, but it’s as if my brain is still reeling from the story and the different layers and ugh, I just adored it. The audiobook was so well done and i highly recommend it!

Rachel Hawkins has a way of taking some of my favorite classics (or in this case, real life events from famous classic authors) and spinning them in a refreshing way for modern readers. They truly stand on their own and are so inspired and I cannot wait to read when she writes next!

Loved! I finished this almost 8 hour audio book in about 12 hours because I could not stop listening. I wanted to know the end.

Told in dual timelines, with multiple narrators, The Villa is a suspense book which understands suspense. The present-day timeline features two 30 something lifelong friends, Chess and Emily. Their friendship felt authentic - friends but also frenemies. There is clearly a love/hate/competitive nature to their relationship and a 6 week girls trip to an Italian villa, which was home to a mysterious murder in the 1970s, provides a genuine tension which the reader feels.

The second timeline features a group of young folks, including a famous musician, who are also in the villa, with lots of drugs, alcohol, sex and murrrrderrrr.

To be honest, I preferred the current timeline and especially the character Emily. Chess made me mad. That's a good thing - the author did her job.

I always appreciate multiple narrators, and The Villa uses three voice actors, Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell and Shiromi Arserio. All gave solid performances and moved the story along effectively while not getting in the way of the words. You don't realize the importance of a good narrator until you've heard a really bad one. The bad ones can destroy a good book. These actors knew the assignment.

Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for allowing me to listen in advance of the January 3, 2023 release date.

Thanks NetGalley for the advance audiobook copy.

The audiobook narrator‘s were great. However as far as the story, it left me wanting more. I enjoyed the current chapters and dislike the past chapters.