2.5 stars
honestly I was quite bored for the first half and i couldn’t have cared less about the past timeline which i felt added very little to the story. Hawkins’s previous 2 thrillers were fun and fast paced, but this one was a bit slower even though it’s a pretty short read.
I also don’t understand why this book is releasing in January when it’s set in June-July and SCREAMS summertime pool read? weird publishing move

Villa is three dimensional, smart, claustrophobic, women empowerment story with creepy and intriguing plot. I read it in one sitting. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the complimentary copy.

Wow! What a fun read. I have read all of Rachel Hawkins books, and was so excited when I was granted the ARC to The Villa. Twisty, suspenseful, and I finished it in 24 hours - could not put it down.

At first the storylines were a little confusing, switching between Mari in 1974 and Emma in present day. Some of the “throwbacks” were unnecessary (the podcast transcript and song lyrics) but after I got used to the changing timelines I was engrossed in both girls stories.

Really fun to read, and exciting book that I will definitely be reading again when it’s released. Perfect for a book club!

Thank you SO much to St. Martins Press for the ARC - absolutely thrilled with this book. Can’t wait to see what Rachel Hawkins comes out with next!

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC.
I really enjoyed this book. It was well written and kept me guessing the whole time.
Absolutely loved the very unexpected ending too!
Definitely recommend this one!

Emily is a struggling writer in the middle of a divorce when her best friend, Chess, invites her to spend the summer in Italy together. They stay at Villa Aestas, which saw a murder of a musician back in 1974. Once there, Emily starts to investigate the murder and she writes a book about it, getting out of her writing funk. Along the way, she learns some secrets about her marriage.

Rachel Hawkins does it again! While this book isn’t of the same caliber of The Wife Upstairs, I did enjoy it. I especially liked the juxtaposition of the two stories: Mari in 1974, along with Emily in modern-day.

Probably two pieces of this book bothered me: 1) Chess is a VERY difficult person to like. I spent most of the book hoping their friendship would fall apart because I thought Emily could do better; and 2) I don’t think the explanation for Emily’s illness is good enough. It seemed a little unbelievable.

Overall, however, I’d recommend this book for something fun to read. It’s a very fast read and I especially enjoyed the twist at the end.

“ how often are we bright stars in someone else’s sky, but they couldn’t find us with a telescope, huh? And how do we not only find ourselves a new galaxy, but become supernovas?”

Synopsis: As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend. Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. The closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.

Personal review: 3 stars

Gothic suspense, an Italian Villa with a dark history. Hints of Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the summer Percy and Mary Shelly spend with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle, which is the actual birthplace of Frankenstein, yep- this book had deep historical connections! For fans of that free love 70’s vibe, friendship rivalry, historical Italian locations, podcasts, and murder mystery.

My qualms about this novel are that it was super confusing and a painfully slow burn. Between the timeline in the 70’s with Mari, current day with Emily, the interwoven novel Lilith Rising, the song lyrics and interviews by podcast, I had to go back and reread way more than I liked. I wasn’t super invested in the plot and felt like it didn’t give much information about the Villa, the murders, or the characters. The end of the modern day timeline was super rushed.

Very grateful for the early release, and was super into the summary, but this one fell flat for me. In the words of Elena “Errano tutti pazzi” They are all mad.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advanced review in exchange for my honest opinion.

Um… OKAY this was so fun and I couldn’t put it down! I was absolutely hooked from the beginning and stayed up far too late to finish it. There was mystery, deception, infidelity, drugs, rock & roll, and we can’t forget about the murder.

The twist at the end has me reeling. WHERE IS MARIS FINAL PART?

Ugh. This was great. 10/10 recommend. Thank you to NetGalley for this arc!

A little bit of heartbreak, a little bit of best friend rivalry, a little bit of betrayal, and a little bit of murder. Two best(ish) friends spend the summer in an Italian villa, the scene of a historic murder.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It's a mysterious book that leaves you wanting to know more with each chapter. It makes you want to go visit Italy and dig into true crime podcasts on your way. I enjoyed the mystery and being kept on my toes!

I enjoyed the dual timeline bouncing between the summer of the murder and present day but I would have preferred that there be a separate chapter for each timeline rather than both in the same. I really did not like Chess. She just rubbed me the wrong way and was very manipulative. She was a fairly good character for the book. Just not a fan personally.

I thought the book was really good and I quite enjoyed the story itself. I love this style of writing, where it tells the present (Emily and Chess) and the past (Mari and Lara).

I just thought characters personalities were kind of annoying.

3.5 stars. I had a hard time getting into this book at first. The switching back and forth between stories was confusing at times. It did pick up and start to get interesting, but then the ending fell a little flat for me. Overall, it wasn’t bad— it just wasn’t my favorite.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

"The Villa," appears to be an innocuous title for Rachel Hawkin's latest mesmerizing thriller. The villa refers to a historic home outside of Orvieto, Italy called Villa Aestas. When Emily Sheridan is invited by her friend, Chess, a very successful self-help author, on a six week vacation to Umbria, it's almost impossible for her to say no. Entangled in a messy divorce and suffering from writer's block on her latest installment of her cozy mystery series, Emily jumps at the chance of getting away for six weeks hoping she can climb out of her writer's slump.

Emily soon discovers that the villa has a sordid past. Back in the summer of 1974, one person was murdered amid swirling rumors of drugs, sex and rock and roll. The story is told between alternating time periods. In 1974 we are introduced to Mari, in a toxic relationship with her boyfriend, Pierce, a wannabe musician. Living with them is Mari's stepsister, Lara, who Mari suspects has a crush on Pierce. The three of them are invited to the villa by the famous rock star, Noel Gordon, under the pretense of him helping to jumpstart Pierce's career. Rounding out this unlikely cadre of friends, is Noel's friend, Johnnie, whose relationship with Noel is shrouded in mystery.

As the story unfolds, Emily starts to dig into the past murder back in 1974 and learns about Mari's wildly successful horror novel and Lara's iconic record album. What comes to light are unresolved interpersonal relationships in the past and the present. The reader will question whether history will repeat itself as an idyllic getaway in Italy starts to eerily parallel the summer of 1974.

As usual, Rachel Hawkins delivers another fast-paced mystery. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Betrayal. Guilt. Cursed. Horror. Sex. Drugs. Rock and roll. Murder. The Villa by Rachel Hawkins has it all and more. Split between 1974 and present day, the main characters are Mari (1974) and Emily (present day) staying as a guest at an Italian villa in Orvieto.

Present Day: Emily is getting over a health scare and divorce when her childhood best friend, Chess, invites her to come stay at a villa she’s rented for the summer. Desperately trying to find inspiration for her latest cozy mystery that her editor is pushing her to finish, Emily agrees that a change of scenery is what she needs. She comes to discover that the villa they are staying in was the site of a murder of up and coming rock star, Pierce Sheldon, in 1974. Not only did a murder happen in the villa in 1974, but a best selling horror novel was written and a much talked about and best selling music album by Mari and her stepsister Lara. Emily finds a much read copy of Mari’s best selling novel and reads it. She finds in the novel and the villa the inspiration she needs to overcome her writer’s block, but it isn’t for her newest cozy mystery. It’s a passion to write about what happened in the villa.

1974: Mari and her (married) boyfriend Pierce meet Noel Gordon through Lara. Noel and Pierce hit it off and Noel invites them to come to his rented villa in Italy so they can write music and put together an album. What Mari finds at the villa is a weird connection between all the people staying at the villa, which also includes Noel’s drug connection, Johnnie. Johnnie is fascinated by Mari, as is Noel. Mari finds inspiration of her own in writing what will become her best selling horror novel, Lilith Rising. Lara, who tries to convince the men of her own musical talents, writes soul wrenching songs that rival Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell.

The parallels that Hawkins demonstrates between Mari and Emily reach out to suck the reader into the story as the mystery of what really happened in 1974 develops over the course of the book. I felt it was a bit slow in the first part of the book, but once I got through the first third of the book, it took off - about the same time that Emily’s writing did the same. Without revealing spoilers, I would’ve liked a more detailed telling of the final twist in Italy before the book concluded. Fans of thrillers and Hawkins will enjoy this Italian delight of a story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy. Opinions expressed are my own.

#netgalley #arc #rachelhawkins #thevilla #stmartinspress

Okay! So this book started out on the slower side for me, bud sometimes we like a slow burn. Once all of the character intros got sorted, I really did enjoy this book. I loved the dual timeline, a classic in my opinion. I really enjoyed how the characters used art to express their trauma and I’d read Lilith Rising any day. And the ending was so much better than Reckless Girls, which I found to be too chaotic.

Now…. What I didn’t like, Chess. That’s it, I just could not stand her and felt like Emily needed a better friend.

Overall I really enjoyed the book. It kept me up late so I could finish it and we know that’s always a good sign!

College best friends, Emily and Chess, take a summer trip to Italy to reconnect and to focus on writing their new books. They soon find that the villa they are staying at has a dark and mysterious past. The book alternates between the present day and the sinister story of the villas past.
The first half of the book was slow, but the second half made up for it. Overall it was a quick, enjoyable read.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced digital
Copy! 3.5 stars for The Villa. This is a story, within a book, within a story so it was a little confusing to begin with. At first I had trouble settling into it. About the 40% mark though, I couldn’t put it down. The story of two female protagonists, one, Mari in the 1970s and the other Emily current day both visit the same Italian Villa and juicy chaos ensues. Mari struggles with a love/hate relationship with her sister and Emily goes through the same with her best friend Chess. I despised Chess by the way. Really wanted to punch her the whole entire book. Overall this is the trending feminist fiction done well and an addicting read. I didn’t like it as much as The Wife Upstairs but I liked it more than Reckless Girls. Rachel Hawkins is become an auto-read author for me for sure!

Rachel Hawkins is one of my favorite authors, and this book did not disappoint! The story was more of a mystery than a true thriller, but that did not stop me from being so immersed in the story quickly.

This book jumps between two POVs with multiple timelines. In the present day, Emily and Chess rented a villa in the Italian countryside of Umbria for the summer. Both are cozy mystery/horror authors and wanted to get away to cure their writer’s block. They discover that the villa is a murder house, and they are now curious about its past along with the people who vacationed there during that time. In 1974, a group of writers and musicians stayed there, and we hear Mari’s story about the tragic events that took place that summer.

I was immediately drawn in and felt a connection to both stories. I was eager to see how Emily and Meri’s stories unfold. I preferred the present-day timeline better, whereas the 1970’s timeline had a slower pace, but they were interwoven together beautifully. I also enjoyed the dark past of the villa and how it appears to be “haunted” by the people who vacationed there before, holding on to their memories. The story was fast-paced with captivating parallel storylines that had shocking twists about friendship and betrayal. .

Thank you to NetGallery and to St. Martin’s Press for giving me a copy of the book.

Rachel Hawkins does it again. She's official an auto-buy for me!

The gorgeous cover design. The plot that makes you unsure of everything the whole time. I felt off-kilter the entire time I was reading it in the best way possible.

This book features dual timelines, one being a house party in the seventies with famous authors and songwriters that ended in murder and two being two best friends who are writers in present day vacationing at the same house for the summer.

I loved reading the story from the perspective of Mari, who was at the original party and ended up writing a famous feminist gothic horror novel two years later (is there anything more badass than that?)

This book was a quick read and even though it was constantly moving through different time lines it never felt disjointed. I still had questions at the end! Perfect amount of spooky and thought provoking.

I wanted to like this story, I really did and I really tried. I just couldn’t get into it.

The story goes back in time with Chess and Em, two best friends staying at a famous villa in Italy and Mari, her sister, boyfriend, famous singer and drug dealer decades early when a murder took place.

Sounds riveting right? Maybe for some this story works but for me it fell flat. I didn’t care do any of the characters and the part of about Mari I found boring. Also toxic friendships are usually my jam but not in this book. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

This book was absolutely addictive. I loved the hearing the story from two different points of view- Mari’s in 1973/1974 and Emily in present day. Mari’s story is about a murder that occurred at an Italian villa. In a house full of artists, there is a ton of drama which ultimately leads to the murder.

In Emily’s story, she goes to the same Italian villa with her best friend for the summer. She’s a writer and her friend Chess (also a writer) tells her she needs the summer away to work on her writing and to escape from her divorce. Emily becomes fixated on Mari’s book, Lilith Rising, which was written while she was at the villa almost 50 years before. Lara, Mari’s stepsister, also wrote an album called Aestas while at the villa, which becomes an iconic album.

One of the things I didn’t like about the book was that there were so many perspectives. Of course we have Mari and Emily’s stories, but there is also excerpts from Lilith Rising, lyrics from Aestas, tons of random articles, and a podcast script . I think it was just too much..

Trigger warning- death of a child. What I hated about this book was the death of the child. The death could have totally been avoided, which may have been have been the author’s point.

I found the ending very hard to believe. If it wasn’t for the death of the child, I would have rated this book higher. 3.5 stars for me (rounded up to 4).

The Villa tells the story of Emily and her struggling book career and marriage. To attempt to revitalize her writing, she agrees to go on a 6 week vacation in Italy with her life-long best friend, Chess. Being in such close proximity with one person is bound to bring up secrets. Overall, this book was a quick read - I finished it in a day - and the story was captivating. I will say, the book started out on a 5 star trajectory, but ultimately ended with a solid 3.5-4 stars.