The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
I’ll be honest this book took me a bit to get into. There is present and past stories going on simultaneously so you have to really pay attention. Present story is about Emily, an almost divorced mediocre author and her over achiever self help guru best friend, Chess. Chess invites Emily to stay the summer with her at beautiful yet morbidly famous villa in Italy. Past story is about a famous musician and four friends that stayed there too in the 70s. One of them was also murdered there. Eventually the two stories intertwine and that’s when things get really interesting. A very good read.

This story was semi-engaging and I did not figure out the final twists of the novel. I was much more invested on what was occurring with the present-day best friends than the flashbacks to Mari and crew. It took me in and out of the novel, as a result, but overall three stars. Thank you to netgalley, Rachel Hawkins, and publisher for my copy!

Rachel Hawkins is a must read/must buy author for me. I think this is one of the best she has had in the last few years. I loved the switching between the past and the present and the two different perspectives. This one kept me on my toes until the end, even when I thought I knew what might happen. A great summer thriller!

This was a fantastic slow burn suspense/thriller, up until the very end, where I felt the author fumbled the landing.

But I was enthralled in both timelines, and related to Emily in many ways that had me feeling viscerally attached to her and her tumultuous friendship with Chess.

This was a great, quick, summer read for any others looking for a great balance of suspense and mystery that will keep you turning the page until the very end.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced read copy.

I wasn't really expecting the direction this book took but I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to more by this author.

This was a great story. I loved the sort of gothic setting and the alternate timelines. The main characters were great, and I thought I knew where the story was going but I was wrong, there were plenty of twists to change and evolved the story. I could not put this one down and I have read all the author's books and I believe this is my favorite one hers yet.

This was a fantastic book, full of twists and turns in the storyline. The house and history were fascinating.

This book is loved by a lot of people but it was not loved by me... I love Rachel Hawkins as an author... But This gives off Daisy Jones and the Six vibes but the execution was just... Not great.

I have loved all of Rachel Hawkins thrillers and this one is right up there!

The setting and characters in this story sucked me in IMMEDIATELY. Sometimes multiple timelines frustrate me in thrillers because there is always one that I want to get back to, but I was very invested in both timelines in this book.

The twist and then the twist of the twist?! I gasped at the second reveal I was so not ready for that.

At first I really didn't know where this book was going to take me but wow was I surprised. Rachel does a great job of painting these characters and makes you want to know more of theirs stories and how they got to the point to where they are in their lives. I throughly enjoyed this book and would recommend this to other people

I only have great things to say about The Villa - it is such a fantastic read! I really liked the character developments of Mari and Em, but I wish I would've seen more of Lara and Chess. I think Chess was a really fascinating character, and, towards the end, I wish I would've seen more about her history with Em while she was married to Matt. The ending was so good, but I was disappointed that it ended on a final cliff hanger. Overall, it was still a fun, exciting read! I'm a huge fan of Rachel Hawkins.

Set in dual perspective and dual timeline (one in the 70’s and one present day), both surrounding their own trials and tribulations.

This is essentially a story within a story, similar character plots, but in different happenstances. We read along as the story unfurls slowly, each page giving more detail, more insight. Some storyline is predictable, but that seems intentional. Some of the storyline twists, but not in a jarring way that leaves you shocked to your core…it’s more the kind that makes you sit back and go, “who woulda thunk? That’s actually fitting and kinda brilliant”. I enjoyed it and didn’t find this slow at all.

I gave this four stars because it was decently good, but it didn’t leave me breathless. It was a journey with scenery kind of a read, one that I really enjoyed.

If you want a smooth read while highlighting the struggles of different relationships, sprinkled with intrigue, this’ll do it. It’s not what I’d call a slow burn, but it’s not a fast paced suspense novel either, it neatly lies just in between.

I read this book right after finishing season 2 of white lotus and the vibe carried on. The secret affair, the stolen ideas, and then the past story of the history of the musician at the villa. It kept me hooked even though it didnt blow me away.

The main character of this novel, Emily, the author of a cozy mystery series, is in trouble. She's been sick for months with a mysterious illness. Her husband has cheated on her, and they are in the midst of a divorce. Her best friend, Chess, a popular non-fiction self-help author, wants to help her. She suggests a summer away at a villa in Italy. Emily wants to go but becomes hesitant after learning that the villa was the scene of a murder that took place in the 1970's of a musician who stayed there with his girlfriend and some friends..Despite Emily's concerns, she takes the trip.

At the villa, Emily researches the murder. She becomes so wrapped up in it that she starts to write another book based on her findings and puts aside the cozy mystery she's late in submitting to her publisher. When Chess learns what Emily is working on, she offers to co-write the book. Emily doesn't want her to do that.

As Emily makes further discoveries into that old murder and sees similarities between her and Mari Godwin, the woman whose boyfriend was killed and who wrote a bestselling book after the murder, she believes the book Mari wrote holds a clue to what really happened that summer night at the villa.

Further revelations serve as plot twists to the novel which features flashbacks to the time of the murder. I felt the main plot of this gothic-like tale focused more on the friendship between Emily and Chess and how staying at the villa changes them. Without revealing the ending and the twists, the story kept me intrigued but seemed to lack the punch I expected. I'd still recommend it as a read for those who enjoy books that include flashbacks and eerie settings. I also found the descriptions of the authors and their writing process interesting because I write both cozy mysteries and other genres.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Netgalley, and Rachel Hawkins for the eARC of The Villa coming out January 3, 2023.

The Villa is almost three stories in one.
The current story about Emily, Chess, and Matt.
Then you have the stories from 1974 about Mari, Pierce, Noel, Lara, and Johnny and their stay at the villa through Maris journal entries.
To top it all off you get snippets from Maris book Lilian Rising.

Now, it sounds like a lot. But this author does a really good job at melding the three works together to make them blend seamlessly and complete. There were parts of the book where I didn’t want the story to switch focus from Emily to Mari but over all the melding of the stories was an enjoyable experience.

I enjoyed the twists and turns in this book. I enjoyed that some things were implied but not fully dived into, including what happened to Matt. But I was also waiting for more to happen almost. Like with Emily’s strange sickness, I was half expecting it to come out that Chess had really been the one making her sick or something, maybe as a ploy to get what she wanted. The answers to me never felt trying flushed out.

I will be reading more from this author and I’m excited to see what Rachel creates next.

Would I recommend this book? Yes
Will I read more books by this author? Yes

Excellent read, good pacing and plotting, strong recommendation for fans of true crime podcasts. Read-alike to Ruth Ware.

Fast-paced book that kept me engaged the whole way through the story! I love the different perspectives.

The Villa uniquely intertwines stories from the past and present. During her time at The Villa Emily becomes engrossed with discovering the mystery behind the death of a musician who visited The Villa years ago. She uncovers clues in an old book, and through those clues, unearths long lost diary pages which tell secrets from long ago. Emily was a determined and likeable character. On the other hand, Chess was a challenging character to like, for it was forever difficult to decide whether she was a part of the problem or part of the solution, a friend or an enemy. Even after the story ends, you still do not know.

I was a little hesitant about starting The Villa. Dual timeline books rarely work for me because I usually find myself only invested in one of the storylines. However, both of the stories from Mari and Emily held my interest. I did find the murder mystery in the 1970s slightly more of a page-turner at first but I really ended up liking Emily's tale by the halfway point. I thought I had both stories figured out, but there was a huge twist I didn't see coming. It was enough of a surprise that I think the book is worth a reread. The beginning is slow because the author is setting up two different stories, but definitely stick with this one.

The Villa is my favorite Rachel Hawkins book. Not only did she mention Victoria Holt, but I loved how storyline seemed to echo Mary Shelley's life and the creation of Frankenstein. The book within the book within the book was a fun, creepy way to tell the story, and I've been recommending this title to everyone.