I was lucky to receive an advance copy of The Villa from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This book looked like a psychological thriller from the cover and description however I found this book to be quite sad. I typically love books by Clare Boyd but I have to say this wasn't one of my favorites.

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Villa’ written by Clare Boyd in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Nora takes her daughters Libby and Emma and their families to Nice for a two-week holiday in an expensive villa. But Nora has a reason behind her generosity as she has something to tell them that they might not want to hear.

I always look forward to reading Clare Boyd’s novels and although I flew through the first half of ‘The Villa’ I thought the story slowed down somewhat from this point on. I found it hard to empathise with any of the characters, apart from Emma’s young son Eliot who copes with his stress by swimming, and Nora was annoying by being just that bit too theatrical and calling everyone ‘darling’. This is a family drama that covers love and betrayal, adultery and assisted suicide, it’s well-written with a fair and reasonable ending, and I enjoyed it although some parts were hard to read.

Nora has rented the perfect villa. She takes her daughters Libby and Emma. Their husbands and children for a get away in the sun. The girls have never stayed anywhere so perfect. It’s also so unlike Nora to do such a thing. As the holiday progresses we begin to see the dynamics of the family. How fragile the strings that hold them together really are.
Then Nora gathers them together for her big reveal. The family take the news in different ways. Will the holiday end the way Mora hoped.
A brilliant read of family emotions.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an ARC

I love a good family drama and THE VILLA is the definition of family drama! Nora whisks her grown daughters, son in laws, and grandchildren to a villa in the south of France. Everyone is so pleased and surprised by this treat from their mother, but when Nora reveals a secret she has been harboring the family drama ensues.

I absolutely loved the French setting in this book. Clare Boyd's descriptions of the villa and France itself were detailed enough to make me feel like I was there. I wish I could say that I loved these characters as much as I did the setting, but that was not the case. I just couldn't connect with any of them and found most of them to be unlikable. While I sympathized with some of their situations and hardships, my overall distaste of them made it difficult for me to flow through the story.

I have really enjoyed this book about three generations having their last holiday in France. It is beautifully written and the characters are very well developed with all all their complexities and secrets that slowly get revealed keeping a reader on one's toes! Their relationships are very realistic and relatable and the tensions are very palpable and enough history is shown in order for a reader to be invested in the characters despite their flaws.

The only two things that annoyed me was Libby's choice in a father of her children. To choose to have an absent partner is one thing but to have children with him is another. It was never mentioned but the fact that their father was rather having "holidays" in exotic places than living with his family must have been devastating to the daughters. Lastly, the final chapter was not my favorite. I guess a closure is difficult to write and the circumstances required it.

Thanks Netgalley for the free copy in exchange of an honest review.

This family drama took me a while to get into, and for my own personal preference, it was a bit of a slow burner and failed to reel me in immediately. However, this was worth sticking with as the plot thickens with a handful of twists and secrets being revealed in the second half.

I enjoyed getting to know Nora, Libby and Emma, and their perspectives of everything that had gone on and is unravelling before them. There are a few scenes that did pull on my heart strings and the emotional writing style by this author was definitely a bonus.

The conclusion lets this book down. I was expecting something else entirely, however this may be appealing to other readers. I haven't been put off reading more by this author in the future, and it is still worth the read.

This was a very rounded three star read for me and would appeal to anyone who likes to analyse family relationship over generations.

I have to say that I found this book to be very uncomfortable reading. There was just too much illness and horrible family disharmony for it to be really interesting.
There was one point when I felt I could not go on with it, but I am duty bound to write a review.
My feelings are probably as strong as this as my mother died from cancer, so it was just too emotive for me. I probably should not have chosen it.
It was well written and the holiday idea was lovely …but not for me.
Review will be posted with Waterstones

Nora has terminal cancer and decides to take her two daughters and their families on one last family holiday to a Villa in France. Here, she reveals to her family about her cancer and also a terrible secret, a decision that impacts her entire family. Other secrets about Nora also come to light.

The Villa is an emotional family drama. Nora is such an unlikeable character that at times I had a hard time continuing. I did not agree with her decisions or actions but at the same time she was clearly human. This novel explores mother-daughter relationships, terminal illness, child abuse and suicide.

Fluff & Buff! 😳🥺

First, I need to say that even though this has claimed to be a thriller, it really isn't. I'd say this is more family drama / contemporary. While that did disappoint me for the book not being the genre it claimed, I still thoroughly enjoyed it, surprisingly!
Nora is a mother to her two daughters, Emma & Libby, with her grandchildren. She decides to plan, pay & invite them to a villa in France for two whole weeks. However, she has ulterior motives for this vacationing indulgent trip of good food, great views, & succulent atmosphere. There's something she has to tell her daughters. But soon Emma finds out there's another secret that Nora didn't intend for any of them to know. How far does a mother go to protect her children regardless the pain & repercussions? This family will be brought together, pulled apart, knitted together again all in the sake of love.
Be prepared for tears, the heartbreak and emotions galore with this one! Motherhood is never easy & sometimes being selfish in certain circumstances, is perhaps best. Get ready for ALLLL the feels with this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.
Release date: March 17, 2022

I give this 4 / 5 Bouquets! 💐

I enjoyed this book because I love family drama/family dynamic stories and The Villa delivered that! Nora brings her family (daughters, their spouses, and children) on a vacation to deliver some pretty big news and once she does, everything changes. I thought the book had an interesting family dynamic and the author did a good job with creating unique characters to fit the dynamic she wanted to achieve for the story.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

While this could have been an excellent story, the slow-moving plot and unlikeable characters kept me from providing a high review. I really wanted to like this one more, but it just didn't have the buy-in for me.

Nora is providing a two-week getaway in the South of France for her entire family. Things have been hard. Relationships are on the rocks, and it's time for the family to finally heal. What they face instead is a vacation of sickness, anger, and adultery.

Clare Boyd tests the boundaries of fiction genres with her addictive family drama-suspense, 'The Villa'. Instantly, Boyd depicts the tension and banter between sisters, Emma and Libby, and their tempestuous mother, Nora. The very unique relationship that each daughter has with Nora is obvious without requiring an extensive backstory, which was so well done. While alternating chapters view Emma's and Libby's experiences in the third-person, Nora allows readers to witness her experiences in the first-person which made for an incredible opportunity to gauge her demeanor from that perspective. Nora is a challenging character through this entire book – her narcissistic behavior is palpable, but there is something so manipulatively engaging about her that I couldn't bring myself to definitively hate her. Boyd constructed such relatable and plausible relationships between all of the characters in this family that their messy, affectionate repartee felt very real.

'The Villa' treats its readers to a delectable array of food, excursions, and midnight swims while luring them into the clouded secrets that wedge their way into the already jaded cracks in this family. I devoured this book for all of its captivating elements; the lies, conflicts, surprises, and shocking moments pulled at every emotion. If my heart wasn't racing with anxiety, it was pounding with anger, and during the final chapters I was reading through tears.

I loved this book. I loved how Boyd wrote her characters and their interactions with one another; Libby ruffles up her nephew Eliot's hair during an exchange at the beach and in that single moment their relationship with each other is so clear. I loved the timing of the layered lies and secrets as they were revealed to me and to the characters. I loved the journey these characters embarked on as a family and individually. There is so much to say, but this book will speak for itself. I'll be enjoying 'The Villa' again and am excited to seek out more by Clare Boyd.

I appreciate both the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for approving my request to enjoy an electronic Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

I thought I would enjoy this book but the characters were very unlikable and I didn’t like any of them but the plot and story line I did enjoy.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book

All thoughts and opinions and my own and aren’t influenced by anyone else

A family vacation is torn apart by a mother’s news, her daughter’s upset and anger, and the grief she causes her grandchildren. The family turmoil is disquieting, the edges of sadness leaking from the pages. There can be no happy ending unless all the parties can come to terms with the news and with each other.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have to admit I am a bit disappointed with this one. There was not a character I ever felt anything for and as much as I was expecting family drama, this was just pure dumb drama. No mystery or relishing moment I’m dying to get to. It was a lot of lies, a lot of ugly character moments, and then it ends with some sort of circle of life that just made me want to scream SERIOUSLY?! I can’t give away too much but I know there was the whole overall picture of family and how much is too much and boundaries etc etc but this just did not work for me.

Nora is the mother to Emma and Libby. She takes them to this beautiful villa as well as the spouses and grandchildren to give them this big news she has. Once she gets it out it’s a shit show family hot mess and never really gets it back together.

Thank you Bookouture and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book is about a severely dysfunctional family whose matriarch books a family vacation to a gorgeous French villa to deliver bad news. The Mom is a horrible person and all of her secrets are revealed to the family, which have devastating consequences. I recommend this book if you love dysfunctional family dramas or watching Bravo t.v. shows!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

What a beautiful setting for a book, especially to find out that something goes wrong within the family. It turns out, something has been going wrong for quite some time. Traveling abroad is what will either make or break this family, especially between the two sisters and their mother. A great read!

I wish I had realized this was more of a family drama and not a mystery / thriller. I waited and waited for the "thriller" part of the book to start, and it just never really did. I think I would've liked this way more if it had been advertised more as contemporary fiction. If you go in knowing it's not a thriller, you'll probably enjoy it much more than I did. For others who didn't like Apples Never Fall, this probably will also not be your cup of tea.

Personally, I felt this book was more of a Contemporary Fiction/Drama. I didn't exactly fit into what I would categorize as a thriller. However, that did not hinder my opinion of this book. It was overall a very enjoyable read. I loved the "vacation gone wrong" setting. I was so intrigued by the luxurious atmosphere of the villa and how it quickly turned into a nightmare. This made for many shocking twists throughout, which I loved. As I got deeper into the book, I was so confident I had it figured out but I was continuously shocked and surprised.

I also really appreciated the multiple points of view. I feel this really promotes individual characters and allows me to better grasp the plot.

Overall, this was a good read that I would recommend to anyone who is looking for a slow-burn thriller surrounding family drama!

A family with secrets and tensions that go back decades. When Nora invites her daughters on a trip to the south of France, it sounds too good to be true. Nora has a secret that will rock the family for generations to come.
I didn’t much care for Nora’s character and found her to be a little too much to take.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so you will have to read it for yourself to find out the big secret!