Thank you to Macmillan Audio, Netgalley, and Rachel Hawkins for an advance copy of The Villa in exchange for an honest review. This was an interesting and atmospheric story told in dual timelines with both timelines focusing on A Villa in Italy. I felt like this was a very character driven story with a very slow burn. It was interesting to me to see the dynamics in Chess and Emilys friendship but it also was just so toxic to me, which turned me off from wanting to get to know the characters more. I didnt see the twist coming which is always a readers dream and I was happy with the ending. I think Im chasing the readers high I felt when reading this Authors first novel so this one just fell a little flat for me. I will say that the narrator was fantastic and kept my attention which is always a plus! This one is available now! 3.5 stars!

The Villa starts off with two childhood friends, Chess and Emily, who are reconnecting in their 30s.

Both are writers, yet Chess is much more famous. Emily makes a great living, but she's goung through a divorce and has writer's block. And she's on a deadline.

On a whim, Chess invites Emily to stay with her at a Villa in Italy for 6 weeks. (Turns out the mansion has been haunted since the 70s).

Then the plot takes a turn to 1974 and brings four new characters into the picture. Noel is from a band in London and invites his rocker friend, Pierce, to join him at a Villa for the summer. Pierce's girlfriend and her stepsister, Lara, join them.

Every other chapter goes back and forth with these two groups.

Will Noel and Emily break out of their creative ruts?

What other betrayals are in store?

How haunted is this mansion and what clues are uncovered by Emily + Chess?

Well, all I can say is that, thank goodness, this is a short, easy read. It's good. But not great.

Unfortunately, it didn't give me Daisy Jones rocker vibes whatsoever.

It wasn't an edge-of-your-seat whodunit thriller, either.

In fact, the ending was pretty lackluster...


Thanks to Macmillan Audio for an advanced listener copy via the NetGalley app.I appreciate the opportunity to listen to Julia Whelan narrate quite a bit of this audiobook. She's always a fan favorite!

This was enjoyable at the beginning but about 2/3 of the way through I lost interest. I liked the present storyline a lot more than the past, so I think if it had been from Emily's point of view the whole time I would've liked it more. The writing isn't bad and I'd probably pick up Hawkins' next book because I think her plots are more creative than most thrillers.

Still looking for the book that will break my reading slump :(

This twisted suspense has two timelines, and the one from 1974 focused on music was right up my alley since I was a teen then and am a big music junkie.
Both story timelines, the current one with Em and Chess, and the one in 1974 with Mari and her step-sister, Lara (and the "rock stars") were filled with who-can-you-trust twists and kept me invested in the story to figure out what REALLY happened in 1974, and how things would play out between Em and Chess, and had twists right up to the end. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an audiobook (great narrators!) of this book.

Escape the gray skies of February to a mysterious villa in Italy with the audiobook The Villa. There’s a lot going on at the historic villa where a rock star was murdered in the 70s. Best friends, Emily & Chess, take a girls trip to escape the stresses of life and rekindle their friendship. Emily distracts herself from her struggling marriage and career by seeking out answers to the murder of the rockstar while on holiday with his own friend group years ago. High maintenance Chess reminds Emily why their relationship has always been filled with turmoil. As the mystery from the 70s unravels, so does the complex friendship between Chess and Emily. Secrets and lies are revealed. The alternating timeline is easy to follow on audio. The accents pulled me in and made me want to reach out and slap Chess!

I really liked the dual timelines in this book, but I feel like I enjoyed the supplemental story more than the main story.

Unfortunately I DNF’d this book as the dual storylines were just not gripping me. Really cool setting, interesting characters, but just not what I typically look for in a thriller.

This book was extraordinary, Rachel, Hawkins never disappoints!! I loved that one of the main characters was a writer. Personally, I was a soft spot for Italy so I like that the book setting took place in Italy. Chess was definitely one those characters that you never really like and I think that was the author’s intent. plot twist of the end was unexpected. I could see this going into a sequel personally based off of how it ended! I definitely would read a sequel to this story

Thank you, NetGalley, for an audio-ARC of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins, narrated by Julia Whelan and Kimberly M. Wetherell.
I was excited to read a book written by Rachel Hawkins and narrated by Julia Whelan! However, this book just did not work for me. I felt that Hawkins created a plot that could support plot twists and a big surprise, but instead she just did not come through. The ending was weak and the mystery blah. Hopefully Hawkins next book will hit the mark.

I was first confused with the POV but the more I read, it became easier to differentiate who was the one narrating. The audiobook was good and I can definitely recommend it but I would have rather read the book because some parts made me wanna go back and listen to again because I felt I missed some parts. The ending was a surprise.

3.5 rounded to 4. Thank you @stmartinspress @macmillianaudio and @netgalley for an #advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

"Not Better, Just easier. The Simplest words I've ever heard. And they cut me to the quick like only she can-- a silk glove on an iron hand."

🍋This was my first book by Rachel Hawkins, and while it wasn't my favorite thriller, I will definitely be reading more !!

This book is told in first person POV by Emily in a present day timeline, and Mary in 1974. While Mary and Emily were very different, they also had alot in common and I really enjoyed the similarities - they were both writers, both recovering from tragic events and trying to escape their realities in Italy.

I found myself enjoying the past timeline more than the present day one. i loved learning about the things Emily was finding out about, but from Marys perspective. Emily and Mary were my favorite characters... all the other characters were a little annoying, but they all had so much in common between the timelines. I also really loved the mixed media- podcasts, interviews, articles, etc. and the setting of Italy was just amazing !!! Overall, the story was good, but it felt a little unfinished to me. I will definitely be reading more of Rachel Hawkins books in the future !

Set at a villa in Italy, across a few timelines, The Villa is a slow-burn story highlighting some female relationships that stand the test of time and the true power of a secret. Rachel Hawkins is always good for a fun read, but I enjoyed the departure to something more gothic and dark for this one. The modern timeline was the tale of two best friends who feel disconnected and each needs some time away. They start to dig into the sordid history of the villa, which was the site of some murdery action in the 70s. From the ashes of the deaths came a very spooky horror novel and a bestselling album every feminist has in their music collection.

I liked the interlocking stories and the switch between timelines. For me, this book struggled with the same thing that every book with two timelines struggles with -- one timeline was more interesting than the other. I think this is probably an issue that is nearly impossible to avoid. All in all, this book was fun and interesting and I enjoyed it. Was it groundbreaking? Not really, but it was a fun read and I liked it. It would make a wonderful beach read.

The narration on this one was fabulous. The voice acting really helped to tell the story, and I loved that it was easy to tell the difference between all of the many female voices in this story. The musical interludes between sections were enjoyable as well.

“Houses remember.”
This theme gets interwoven from the past to the present in The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. I so enjoyed the moody setting of Villa Aestas (previously Villa Rosato).in Orvieto, Italy. Why the change in name? Why, due to notorious murder of rockstar Pierce Sheldon in 1974. The how, why, and whodunnit of the murder is juxtaposed through alternate timelines, Mari in the past and Emily in the present day. I raced through this book, so eager to get to the bottom of Pierce’s murder and understand what was truly going on with present day guest Emily uncomfortable relationship with her self-help guru bestie Chess. I adored the atmosphere, the mystery, and the troubled characters, not to mention the ending that had me guessing as well as finally understanding how, “Houses Remember.”

Big thank you to St. Martins Press and the author for the audio copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own!
Thank gosh for audio books! I recently started a new job and audiobooks have been saving me as far as keeping up with my reading and reviews!
This is a duel time line, women empowerment, mystery thriller. This was very much a "good for her" sort of book. And the women's empowerment was a nice element to see in a book.
However, even as someone who doesn't read many thrillers, I unfortunately found this very predictable and therefore a little disappointing. I did appreciate the play on the readers predictions though. It does keep you guessing and going back and forth a little!
I didn't really like the way our main characters treated each other as two people who are suppose to be "best friends." I would have loved to see a good female/ female friendship represented here. I think this book would have been the perfect opportunity for that. That in my opinion was a missed opportunity...
Other than that I don't really know what to say? This wasn't a fantastic book nor was it a terrible book. Just one of those where you have nothing neither necessarily good nor bad to say about it. It was just kind of meh. 🤷🏼‍♀️
The narrator for the audiobook was fantastic though!

This audiobook was wonderfully performed, the writing was enjoyable, but this plot fell a little flat for me. I loved the Villa setting and this book gave me a bit of Daisy & the Six vibes, but in the end, I gave it 4 stars. I’d still recommend it for atmosphere but for plot and reveals, not so much.

Review of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

I was super excited to get approved for this title and it did not disappoint. I remain a huge fan of this author and she is an auto buy for me. My favorite things about this one was the setting (an Italian Villa!) and the dual timelines. I couldn’t figure out where it was all going but throughly enjoyed the ride.

Quick synopsis: Emily is excited when her long time friend Chess invites her to spend several weeks in an Italian villa. It’s a little bit vacation and a little but work as they are both authors on a deadline. The Villa was the site of a brutal death decades before when some musicians lived there. Emily finds herself intrigued by this and the story unravels in both timelines

Special thanks to MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for the digital version of this book.

I loved this book sooo much I got an ARC and also in Audio. I don't know which one I loved more. I'm stumped. I got the ARC first, then in audio and tried to listen as I went through the pages, but it didn't work for me.

So I wound up listening first on audio, than reading it because I wanted to savor it. I don't want to say, but it ruined the next 2 books for me that weren't up to par.

Highly recommended in either version.

This book was 5/5 and do was the Audiobook. Hawkins pulls you in and keeps you guessing the entire time! The audio really brings the thrills alive in this one. A must listen!!!

The Villa gives us a great gothic atmosphere that really had me dreaming of an Italian vacation. Rachel Hawkins always provides a great escape in a good “popcorn” thriller! We are first introduced to Emily and Chess who are best friends that have lost their connection over the past few years. Chess sets up a summer trip to a villa in Italy for the two of them to reconnect and work on their respective new books. As they are there Emily finds herself digging into the past of Villa Aestas where they are staying. We are then split into timelines of discovering the tragic past of the Villa and how uncovering this impacts the present. I found parts of these split timelines a bit disjointed and I was overwhelming always more drawn to the past timeline. I constantly found myself wanting to get back to that timeline and slowly would get more annoyed by Emily and the decisions she was making.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of The Villa

At once haunting and addictive, The Villa will leave readers spellbound and positively stunned.

Lauded as one part murder house, one part Fleetwood Mac, loosely inspired by the Manson Murders and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron. Enough said!