Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book. I did not enjoy Hawkins’ last novel, Reckless Girls, and unfortunately I didn’t like this one very much either.

This book alternates between a group of bohemian friends in 1974 staying at a beautiful Italian villa & then 2 best friends (Emily and Chess) staying at the same villa in the present day. In the past, one of the young women, Mari, also writes a horror novel so we also read parts of that novel.

In the present day, Emily is also a writer and after reading Mari’s novel, becomes interested in the book and the events that took place in the 70’s which led to a tragedy.

The beginning/middle of the book were actually pretty good, the atmosphere and surroundings were really evocative. However, the last third of the book is ridiculous. There is a MAJOR event that takes place that is so out of character but it’s just glossed over, and the “twists” at the end seem like a cop out rather than a fun and interesting plot twist. I’d skip this one.

This was not my favorite book by Rachel Hawkins but I did love the twists and turns!! I also love the cover, it fits in well with her other books!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Wow- this lady is just getting better and better! Her books are weird and wacky and I love it. Dark lady shit.

A story within a story within a story ...
Reading this is like descending down the rabbit hole--completely addictive!
Just like with the book's fictional authors, this is definitely the author's best work yet.
Too bad that this book is expected to be published in January '23--it's the perfect summer read!

With great thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for this e-ARC!

A bail-biting dual timeline novel about a rock and roll band visiting an Italian billa and then two present day modern authors who happen to be best friends visiting the same villa with a lurid past. Keeps readers on edge.

I love the way her books always make me feel!! I thought this book was pretty predictable but there were some twists and turns that I didn’t catch. I think there are some loose ends that should have been tied. I haven’t decided if I liked the ending or not. I read this in two sittings and I felt fully immersed in the story! I absolutely love how complicated Chess/Em and Lara/Mari were. Overall, a good story!

This was such a great novel. I loved The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls by Hawkins so I was really excited to start her new release. I have to say this exceeded my expectations! There are several different timelines in this novel. Present day, Chess and Emily are longtime best friends and both successful writes. The more successful of the two, Chess, invites Emily to come to a Villa in Italy that she rented for the summer. They learn the history of the place involving the murder of a young man who stayed there in the 70’s. The story jumps to the past timeline when a group of writers and musicians stayed at the Villa. We hear Mari’s story of the summer of 74 and the disturbing and tragic events that took place. Switching back and forth between timelines, the two stories blend together with equal amounts of deception, passion and greed. This was an exceptional story with an extremely satisfying end. Solid 5 stars for me.









https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4832082065

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 ☆ rounded up for The Villa by Rachel Hawkins.

Set in Italy, this book tells the story of Emily and Chess, best friends who decided to spend weeks at a summer house. But this house isn't like any other: in the 70s, a horrifying murder took place, to which the details are still unclear. And readers, don't forget - houses remember.

I know this book isn't necessarily a Feminine Rage story per se, but it gave me such strong vibes. The writing was amazing and I devoured it in 24h.
But I must say, although I generally enjoyed it, I could see some of the plot twists coming from a while away. Nonetheless, this was such an entertaining read and I reckon would make an amazing movie/series.

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins will be published in Jan, 2023.

It seems like 2022/23 is the era of Italy-- everyone I know is or has been vacationing there, and I've read at least 3 books that have chosen the country as their settings. Am I a tiny bit bitter that I'm not posted up in Positano while reading this? Mmmmaybe.

The Villa is a quick, enjoyable read. It has great pacing and manages not to get bogged down in too many flowery descriptions of the magnificent views, as I find is often the case with these types of travel novels. Hawkins understands the assignment: we are reading because we want character building (of morally ambiguous/devious women, specifically) and a mysterious plot, not a literary portrait of the Italian countryside. I also quite liked the events and characters in both timelines, which is not always the case in dual-timeline stories.

My favorite thing about this book was the ending-- it's not a jaw-on-the-floor twist, but it's clever and thought-provoking in a way that really makes you question the 'truth' of all stories. The lines between fiction and memoir are blurry at best, as we are all constantly crafting our own narratives.

Yessss, this book! I loved it. Perfect blend of mystery and suspense. I’ll recommend this one for sure.

Fans of Rachel Hawkins will be extremely disappointed when they realize that this book will not be released until January 2023. Those who were lucky enough to receive an advance copy will most likely agree that THE VILLA is her best book to-date. I read it in one day because I literally couldn’t put it down.

W-what?! What did I just read? Well, the queen of mystery does it again. Chess Chandler, self-help guru, and Emily Sheridan née McCrae, cozy mystery writer extraordinaire, have been best friends forever. So when Chess suggests a summer vacation to Italy, Emily’s ready to leave her shit show of a life in the dust. Staying at a proper murder villa, the location of an infamous murder in the 70s, the two writers reconnect and are reminded of why their friendship has lasted for decades.

I absolutely loved the two-in-one story of Mari’s Lilith Rising mixed with Emily’s story. At one point I actually Googled to see if Mari was an actual author (sadly, she’s fictional). The ending was superb and, as always, completely caught me off guard. I loved every minute of it!

Rachel Hawkins new novel, The Villa hits all the right notes.

Chess and Rachel have been friends forever. Both writers, Chess is riding high on the success of her nonfiction books, and Rachel is trying to write the next in her cozy book series. Rachel is going through a divorce, and slowly recovering from health issues. When Chess suggests going away to a villa in Italy, and spending time together, Rachel decides it's just what she needs to hit reset on her life.

The villa is beautiful, but has a dark past. There was a murder there, and some mystery still swirls around it. Told from multiple POV's, from the 1970's, and today, the story flows well, and both timelines are brought together seamlessly by the end of the book.

Very enjoyable, smart, and surprising, a definite read. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this ARC!

I received this book as an ARC and I was so excited to get it early. I have been looking forward to it for a while now.

Emily and Chess are two best friends who have lost the connection over the years. When Chess mentions staying at a Villa in Italy for the summer, Emily jumps on the chance. Hopefully to forget about her impending divorce and failures as a writer. Little did Chess and Emily know that a murder took place at the Villa. As Emily dives into the truth of the murder, her creative juices start flowing and a new book has come to light through all of it. Chess starts to get a little jealous and wants in on this deal. Will Emily let her? Even with her soon to be ex husband getting royalties from all the books she has written..why should Chess get a bit of it too?

Emily is a wonderful character and Chess eventually had me convinced she was a good person too...but the little twist at the end has me questioning...what were Chess's true intentions? Was she actually as successful as everyone made her out to be? There seems to be a missing puzzle piece and I wanted more!

Sally Hawkins' newest thriller offers a compellingly dark story featuring dual timelines, multiple POVs and a story within a story. The result is a delicious Gothic mystery and fascinating characters all around.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

THE VILLA
BY: RACHEL HAWKINS

"Houses Remember".

"The Villa," written by Rachel Hawkins is the latest psychological thriller by this very talented Author, whose novels for me are always addictive and also page turners. I read this in one sitting and I was intrigued enough not to want to put this psychological thriller down. This latest offering by an Author whose previous novels I have really enjoyed didn't disappoint me.

The format of this delicious thriller reminded me of the Russian nesting dolls called Matryoshka-which you find dolls of different sizes ranging from the largest doll containing a smaller doll nestled inside of it descending in size. In other words this is a story within a story about a Villa in Italy that seems to be cursed with death taking place at different time periods. Its setting takes place in a seemingly cozy vacation spot featuring lemon sun and cerulean sky and water. It appears harmless. Do you think that houses remember what happens there throughout the ages? Particularly bad things like people being murdered there?

Don't worry though this is very easy to follow. Chess and Emily have been best friends since an early age but perhaps during adulthood they have drifted somewhat apart. They are both writers who decide to take a vacation in this beautifully large Villa to get away from their hectic lives in North Carolina. Chess is a self help guru who writes columns and has a large following and it is her idea to pay for their stay. Emily is going through a difficult divorce and she writes cozy mysteries where lately she has had a rough time of coming up with more material to write a series that is under contract. Their vacation takes place in the present.

Mari and her stepsister Lara decide to travel to this same Villa in Italy with Mari's boyfriend who is a musician who hopes to take his career to a new level by gaining inspiration from a famous musician named Noel during the 1970's. Mari and her boyfriend have had a baby together who died. Her boyfriend is still married, but left his wife for Mari.

What took place during the 1970s very much became known to Emily and Chess. I won't say anymore as not to spoil it for those who decide to read this, but I promise you that what you'll discover is intriguing and it links both timelines together in a cleverly plotted thriller. In my humble opinion this was a five star reading experience that is very easy to follow despite the number of characters. This is a unique chiller that I highly recommend. Rachel Hawkins is an auto by for me.

Publication Date: 01-03-2023

Thank you to Net Galley, Rachel Hawkins and St. Martin's Press for generously sharing this wonderful ARC with me in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheVilla #RachelHawkins #StMartinsPress #NetGalley

I loved receiving an ARC for this book!

This was atmospheric and moody and historical and modern all rolled into one.

It's important to remember that houses remember.

It takes place in a mysterious villa in Italy where a murder had occurred with famous people in the 70s. Now it's the 2020s, and two best friends go on a work/vacation to stay in the villa for the summer.

This book moves between the perspective of the modern woman and a woman who was on the trip in the 70s. There are multiple mysteries and curious bits throughout it. These kept me interested and made it difficult to put down for me.

I loved it! I'm not sure if everyone I know will love it as much as me, but there's something about this author's writing that always gets me hooked.

This is a good psychological thriller and a somewhat slow-moving character reveal. Two best friends decide to holiday in an Italian villa to escape their hectic, stressful lives….but is there more to the story than meets the eye?….are they really the “friends” they profess to be?…and are they manipulating each other or being manipulated by the past? I enjoyed this book even though I really didn’t like Chess, one of the main characters, who just rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this free, advance copy.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book! Honestly, I was a little confused at first by the different story lines (one present, one past, and an excerpts from an additional non fiction book written by one of the main characters) but once I figured out what was going on, I was hooked! I could not put this book down and I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it because I had to know how it ended.
I really enjoyed how it was kind of a book inside of a book with several authors as characters and two separate mysteries (and all the twists!) I actually googled whether the villa was a real house because this book made me want to go there! 10/10 highly recommend this book.
I would love a sequel because I need to know what happens with Em and Chess. Do they write another book together? Does Em find a way to get a life separate from Chess?

This book sucked me in from then beginning. It was well written and the story was easy to follow. Was hard to take breaks because I wanted to know what would happen next.