The Villa
by Rachel Hawkins
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ve looking forward for Rachel Hawkins’ books every year since I read “The Wife Upstairs”. There are two stories going on here. One in the past and one in the present. And both happen in the same house: Villa Aestas in Italy which is a high-end holiday home now but back in 1974 when it was known as Villa Rosato, bad things happened.

1974. Villa Rosato in a small town in Italy, notorious rock star, Noel Gordon rents a house for summer and invites the musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. Lots of things happen in that summer, but what marked it was Pierce’s death, Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time and Lara composing a platinum album.

Then book tells the story of Emily and Chess. They used to be best friends as kids but now that they’re adults other things have gotten in the way. Emily got married and writes cozy mysteries and Chess is famous and a self-help guru. Chess invites Emily to spend 6 weeks at the Villa, to get inspired and run away from the world for a bit. But as Emily learns more about the history of the house, she starts digging some secrets and betrayals between her and Chess.

This was a great book! Page turning and gripping. My favorite character was Mari. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins was truly a page-turner! I read it in one sitting. I am a sucker for dual-timelines and the anticipation of when they finally merge. On one hand you have the 1970s storyline with the musicians, love triangles, and murder. Then the present day storyline features a female writer going through a messy divorce off to stay with her best friend in a seemingly exquisite villa in Italy. It just happens to be the same villa that a murder took place in the 1970s. I truly love the gothic aspects in Hawkins’ writing. This is my third book I have read by her and definitely won’t be my last!

This is the second book that I've read by Rachel Hawkins. I loved her book 'Reckless Girls', but I didn't enjoy 'The Villa'. I found this book to be very confusing and all over the place. I almost DNF this book, but I wanted to get to the ending. I was hoping that it would get better, but it didn't for me.

I was confused by the constant time shifts and character shifts. By the end, I don't know what actually happened in the story. There were a lot of twists and turns and misdirects, and I feel confused about this book.

I loved the premise of it, but the execution wasn't there for me. I was really hoping for a dark mystery book, but this isn't what I found in 'The Villa'.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book.

3.25🌟 we are following two sets of visitors to an italian villa, one in seventies and one in present day. the storyline from the seventies was reminiscent of a Daisy Jones-type story, as we followed three up-and-coming musicians and a novelist on a deadly summer vacation. the present storyline follows Emily and Chess, "best friends" that go for an italian summer to reconnect and work on their own novels. Emily decides to dive further into the lore of the house and discovers that there may be more to the story than is publicly known.

this book was just fine for me. i didn't feel super connected to any of the characters and the twists were unsurprising. I also don't know if this functions as a "suspense" or "thriller" as billed; it comes off more as a domestic drama. i did enjoy the dual timelines, because it added a lot of necessary texture to the story and to the villa's history. the exploration of complex and borderline toxic relationships was also interesting, since oftentimes thriller-type novels neglect deeper relationship development. this overall was not a super memorable read, but i still found myself wanting to keep reading as we got deeper into the story.

thank you netgalley, libro.fm & st. martin's press for the eARC!

Thank you @libro.fm @netgalley for a copy of The Villa. I enjoyed the setting of a beautiful Italian villa that Chess and Emily spend the time to both write their books. I enjoyed the story within the story aspect and how it complicated Chess and Emily's relationship.

I enjoyed the 3 POV of Chess and Emily and Mari in the past. All 3 of the narrators did a great job. I wasn't a fan of the ending of the story but overall I enjoyed seeing how Chess and Emily's relationship played out.

Thank you NetGallery and Ms. Hawkins for giving my the opportunity to review "The Villa." This is the second book that I have read by Hawkins and she never fails to give her readers an exciting book. At first, I believed that I knew what was going to happen, but boy was I wrong. Hawkins fills this book with twists and turns. Two story lines entwine as one and Hawkins keeps the reader guessing. Highly recommended.

I want to thank Net Galley and St. Matin's press for the opportunity to read this book. The blurb for the book referenced several cultural/pop cultural milestones of the 70's- Fleetwood Mac, The Charles Manson Murders, as well as a much older reference- the summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein. While I do not recall the Percy/Mary/Lord Byron summer with much (or really any ) clarity, one of the timelines is set in 1974, a time I do remember well! I was 20, and quite frankly I have noticed a disturbing trend of books set in the 60-70's with real and fictionalized rock stars being presented as historical fiction.To me, well it was the summer before I got married:) Anyway, enough of me and on to the book. I will go along with some resemblance to Fleetwood Mac, but not so much to Manson. I did see some flashes to Brian Jones , of the Rolling Stones, and musically to Carole King's Tapestry( a work that is referenced several times).
The book is set in 2 timelines. Book timelines are focused on a Villa just outside of Orvieto , Italy. I have been to Orvieto and was delighted to see this lovely town well represented. The first timeline is set in 1974.Mari, her boyfriend Pierce Sheldon and Mari's stepsister Lara are joined by Rock Star Noel Gordon, Lara's boyfriend. They are also joined by Johnnie, Noel's friend . Pierce is a musician who is excited at the prospect of making music with Noel. Lara is also making music that summer, and as we are told early on, will make an album that will be wildly successful. Mari is an aspiring writer , and as we are also told at the outset, she writes a gothic horror book while in Orvieto that will be extremely successful. We are also told that there was a murder that summer, and some people in the area consider the Villa to be cursed.
The second timeline is present day. Emily and Chess were best friends in grade school. While their friendship has waxed and waned at times, Chess reaches out to Emily to spend the summer in Orvieto. Chess is a writer of self help , self empowerment books. She is extremely successful and wealthy. Now she wants to help Emily. Emily is also a writer . She has written a successful series of "cozy " mysteries. While she is not wealthy, she is well respected and popular. However, Emily is going through a bad time. She and her husband are divorcing, there are money problems and she has been sick, with an illness that no doctor has been able to diagnose. She is also suffering from writers block.She hopes that a summer away will help her.
While in Italy, Emily becomes fascinated with the story of the murder in the villa, and the people involved. She begins to think of writing about this story, rather than her mysteries. Chess is also working on a book, but seems more interested in Emily's work. And Emily's ex husband keeps calling and trying to find out more about Emily's progress in writing.
The 1974 timeline is told through Mari's eyes, as she becomes more independent and more aware of what she wants from life. She begins to see her life unfolding in a new direction, and spends more time writing the book that will become the horror best seller she publishes a few years later.
The present day timeline is seen through Emily's viewpoint. She has been hurt badly by someone she loved and is reaching out to an old friend to try to find her way.
This is a very well written book. The 2 time lines work well together. In addition to the 2 narratives, there are snippets of "articles and podcasts" relating to the characters in both timelines.It is intriguing and thought provoking. The characters are well written. I really enjoyed this book.

3.5 stars. This book was just ok for me... The first half was very slow, and I didn't think there was enough plot action to keep my attention. I kept going because I love Rachel Hawkins, but I left the book feeling underwhelmed. I had predicted where the story was going, which didn't leave much room to be surprised or shocked. I am definitely disappointed that Rachel Hawkins hasn't delivered something as stellar as The Wife Upstairs since its publication, though I am open to continuing to give her a try...

This may be Rachel Hawkins best title yet!! I loved the multiple story lines developing around the villa itself, with a link to the past tying itself to the future. There were a few alternative formats that crept in, like a podcast and some emails and that is always fun in a book. The story kept me engaged from the first page all the way through to the end!! I wasn’t ready for it to end!!

Whether writing romcoms under a pen name or bingeable thrillers Rachel Hawkins always delivers! I've read everything she's written and have been a fan of them all! Fans of the author won't want to miss this brand new stunning thriller!

My favorite thing about Rachel Hawkins’ books is the setting. It feels like a mini vacation. Now, it’s also my immense privilege that I’ve been to Italy so I could picture the villa and walking around the town and remember how wonderful it was to be there.

I’m getting ahead of myself. The Villa is a dual timeline thriller that follows present day author, Emily, who visits Villa Aestas in Orvieto, Italy, with her best friend, Chess. (Chess Chandler is inspired by Rachel Hollis in that girlboss advice writer energy.) Emily is in the middle of a divorce and has just recovered from a long and unknown illness, and is working on her very late cozy mystery. Our second timeline also follows an author - Mari - who stayed at the same villa in the 70s and wrote one of the greatest horror novels of all time.

I love a good, juicy, rock and roll 70s mess like Mari was living in. I also love a story within a story - getting glimpses of the horror novel that Mari wrote and seeing the connections between the timelines.

You know what I don’t love? Thrillers. I mean, I tend to like them when I do read them but…I don’t read a lot of them. I think I would have liked this book more if there was no murder. Or less murder. Or maybe more murder? I don’t have the nuance of a dedicated thriller reader to put my finger on what it was, but I loved the first 75% of this book and did not love the last 25%.

Overall, I liked it and I really enjoyed the narrators. Thank you @librofm and @stmartinspress for the review copy.

Houses remember. This was such a gripping first line, both for The Villa and the book within the book, Lilith Rising. I really enjoyed the two different storylines in this book; two pairs of chosen sisters finding themselves while on vacation in Italy. Chess and Emily in the present, Lara and Mari in 1974. We know that Lara and Mari's time at the Villa ends in tragedy but will Chess and Emily's stay end similarly?

I really enjoyed the writing in the novel, how we jump in time from Emily's point of view in the present to Mari's point of view in 1974. There was enough suspense that kept me guessing (what are Chess's motives? Did Johnnie really kill Pierce?) but the draw for me was the story of the women. Both Mari and Emily are working to come out of the shadow of the men in their lives. Their love of writing is what helps them find their escape but is it also what leads to their self-imposed doom?

The twists at the end of both stories were great, adding such an interesting dynamic to the story I want to go back and reread the book knowing what I know now.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. This should be a must read for 2023!

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!
The Villa is a thriller by one of my favorite authors, Rachel Hawkins.
The books intertwines the stories of two different women: Emily, an American author with some writers block due to challenges in her life, and Mari, the girlfriend of a rock artist who has her own story to tell. Both women stay at the same Italian villa, decades apart. This villa is the source of murder, mystery, and inspiration for both women.
I found the dual timelines pretty easy to follow along for most of the book, and I love her writing style so found the plot intriguing. I will say there was twist after twist at the end, and I did have to go back and reread a page here and there to make sure I was keeping up with each twist. Overall this was a great thriller, and I would recommend it!

I really enjoyed this book! 10/10 will buy a hard copy of it to add to my collection. After reading Reckless Girls, I was hooked and thankful for an early entry to read on here. It has an Italian setting that really captivates you!

Chess and Emily were best friends as kids, but have drifted a bit over the years. After her husband leaves her, and she struggles to finish her latest novel, when Chess suggests they head to Italy for the summer, Emily just can’t say no. When Emily arrives however, she finds out that the house was the location of several murders. Suddenly Emilys writer block is broken, but not with the book she should be working on.She is determined to figure out what happened in the past. As she gets closer to \what happened in the past, the present with Chess is becoming more and more uncomfortable.

I did this one on audio and listened to it in a single day. I mean, we have @justjuliawhelan how could I not do the audio for this one?! I was immediately drawn to the idea of Emily and Chess taking this trip together. I think we all have friends that over time we have changed in different directions, but our pasts keep our friendship alive. While Chess made me really mad at times, I still loved the look at their friendship through the years. I preferred the present day storyline, but the past was fascinating as well. I just wanted to know what had happened that summer and if Emily would ever find the truth. Also, Matt was the biggest douche canoe ever, and I hated him. That is all!

After The Wife Upstairs (which I loved) and Reckless Girls (not my favorite), I was excited to read the Villa to see what Rachel Hawkins had in store. The description had me intrigued with influences from Manson and Mary Shelley, and I can truly see the resemblance in this well thought out new mystery.

"Houses remember". The opening line says it all. Told in dual timelines, a murder from the past eerily creeps into the present-day vacation of Emily and her childhood best friend Chess as these writers are hoping for a getaway and inspiration for their next novel. Emily finds her inspiration in Lilith Rising, a novel written in the '70's after Mari and her friends stay at the villa, only not all of them leave alive. Truths of the past come literally colliding with the present as Emily seeks answers. Tensions rise as Chess' true intentions are questioned, putting pressure on Emily to discover the truth while it's still in her hands.

I really enjoyed this, it felt like pieces of a puzzle coming together as answers were revealed one by one. Reading Mari's description from the past as Emily tries to reconcile with it in the present was entirely engaging throughout. The characters and the writing style really drew me in, and I found that this one I could not put down.

While I was entirely engaged and enjoyed it from beginning to end, the ending did feel a bit rushed for me. It felt like things were coming together in a slightly unbelievable way, and some pieces were confusing. Without spoiling too much, I was a bit confused and did not entirely trust Chess' revelation (although I'm not sure we were meant to), and Mari's was a bit confusing as well. However, I was quite surprised and did appreciate the irony of it all. Might just be one of those books that had so much well thought out detail that I should read it again to catch it all!

Overall, definitely my favorite Rachel Hawkins and a thriller that should be on any thriller lover's TBR this upcoming January!

If you love sex, drugs and rock stars this may be for you!!

This was a DNF for me at 60%!! For me the story within a story in this book didn't work for me. I liked the present storyline better but didn't like the characters enough in either story to continue.

This was a buddy read with Jan and Marialyce and none of us liked it, I made it a bit farther but in the end I just didn't care about what happened to these characters!

Since I did not finish the book I will not review it on any purchasing sites. Thanks for the opportunity to try this one!

The Villa takes you into the past and present where nothing is as it seems. It’s two different worlds colliding into one. The story takes place in Italy where two best friends Emily and Chess decide to spend a few weeks decompressing from their work pressure. Both writers one more successful then the other they are looking for their next book. Emily is going thru a divorce which is putting more pressure to succeed. The Villa they are staying has a past that won’t let go. In the seventies four friends were staying there and only three left. Clues to the past are found in corners which gives Emily inspiration. But does she need to be careful with her BFF? Is she trying to steal her ideals?
What I love about this book is that it keeps you guessing time after time. You are never sure who is guilty or innocent. Like a quilt each story is woven piece by piece until the real story emerges past and present with a satisfying ending.

This book holds true to everything we expect from the author. I have loved all her other books but this one topped with intensity and suspense. An absolute page turner
When you expect one thing, it's something different. This book had me glued to it and I didn't want to put ot down!
While I was at first a little confused on who is who in the story and what time frame, it became clear quickly and all tied together. The only "bad" thing about this book, the ending came way too fast. I would have liked to keep reading and reading. Highly recommend this book!