Fantastic book!! I've never read anything by Rachel Hawkins before, but you can bet your butt I'll be on the lookout for more of her books.
I read this from cover to cover in one day (thank you Net Galley ) I was on the edge of my seat. Loved the dual point of view and the references to the famous Villa Diodati event. I loved most of the characters in the novel. It was easy to read, and the ending just floored me!
A well written, gothic style tale that was fun to read.

A delicious thriller that really evokes a feeling of summer in Italy (who wouldn't want that?) while slowly layer and a sense of disquiet about what is really happening. I liked the book until the first big "reveal," and then looooved the twists and turns that came after!

This book is fantastic. It’s hard to describe without giving the story away but I thoroughly enjoyed it, full of depth and feeling with great characters. What I really enjoyed was the plot's twists and turns, and the way Hawkins folds in stories that are within the overarching theme. I throughly enjoyed turning page after page to discover the ultimate outcome.

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of The Villa to review. All opinions are my own.

Dang. What the heck is going on? I am not loving my go to thriller authors this year? I mean. I didn't hate The Villa. I didn't feel like putting it down while reading....but I was not overwhelmed. Maybe it is me? Maybe my expectations need to be checked at the door? Prolly. Okay. Let's talk The Villa.

*I loved the mystery/story within the story better than the focused story if that makes sense?
*The idea of a house holding memories. Ummmm, yes please.
*Italy. Italy. Nuff said.
*The idea that gothic does not have to be dark. It can be light and creepy....is that creepier? Maybe.

Rachel Hawkins is an author I will continue back to. Girl can write. This particular title...not my favorite.

Somerton house has historical charm, yet holds bad memories. Chess and Emily are summer vacationing in this Italian villa for six weeks. The villa is well known because a famous person was murdered in the house in 1974.

Back in 1974 Mari visited the villa in the summer with her step sister Lara and famous boyfriend Pierce. The past is woven between the same chapters as Emily and Chess’s visit. Mari Godwick is the author of Lilith Rising, a famous horror fiction novel published in 1976. It’s about a girl named Victoria Stuart who kills her family in the middle of the day.

From the beginning, it’s a complex and complicated read. Setting the story to reflect both periods of time was challenging in the early chapters. Once I gained footing on what Emily stumbled upon I transitioned easily into the story.

What I took from the premise didn’t quite measure up with what I envisioned. After delving into the pages I found myself immersed in history about a horror novel written by Mari and an album performed by Lara. As Emily discovers both of these historical pieces she blends the two as some sort of treasure hunt. There were times the connecting pieces weren’t locking into place as Rachel Hawkins had intended. Eventually, Rachel ties it all up with a nice bow at the end.

Emily is under contract to write another Petal cozy mystery book. After the divorce to Matt she’s having writers block. When Chess invites her to Italy for the summer Emily agrees. Instead of writing another Petal book she writes a biography of Mari Godwick, part true crime dealing with the murder of Pierce Sheldon, and part personal narrative––my Italian summer, post-divorce.

I must admit I imagined a house of secrets with ghosts haunting each room, but that isn’t the case. When Chess and Emily stay in the villa it’s to fortify there friendship. Both of them are writers. Chess writes self help books while Emily writes cozy mysteries. Together they discover the album and book left behind by Mari and Lara. All in all Rachel created a unique and original story of betrayal and friendship within the same villa.

Rachel Hawkins is one of my new go-to authors so I was excited when NetGalley offered me this novel for early review. Hawkins has a talent for taking classic tropes and updating them with contemporary originality. I immediately recognized the 1816 Mary Shelley-Lord Byron summer house party as the inspiration for a 1970’s themed drugs and rock’n’roll tale of murder and relationship mayhem at an Italian villa. In the second story set in the present, two authors, competing for celebrity dominance, vacation at the same villa where the decades old drama took place and discover there’s a potential best seller waiting to be written.

When two consecutive stories are juggled in a novel, I usually find one of them lacking while favoring the other. This novel has two strong narratives and I was eager to get back to each of them. I was impressed by the strategic method Hawkins used to tie the two narratives together, which I didn’t see coming. What Chess’ and Em’s true crime story of the past is based on may not be reliable, but do we know for sure what really happened? Either way, the story they think they know blindly affects the choices they make and binds them in their own secrets and lies.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel.

Dark, twisted and a bit complicated. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this novel. I really liked the premise of the book but I couldn’t connect with the characters. Sometimes there are characters that you can’t stand but can relate to. This didn’t happen in The Villa for me.

The Villa is a delicious summer read. Mystery within a mystery. The plot turns and twists.
I really enjoy this author.

This was definitely more of a murder mystery than a thriller.

It’s not as good as Reckless Girls in my opinion but I did enjoy this one but I am more of a thriller girl.

Although the ending did feel somewhat rushed, I was still surprised by it.

If you love murder mysteries, then definitely read this one because chances are high that you will love it!

Many thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

Unfortunately this didn’t live up to The Wife Upstairs or Reckless Girls for me. I went back and forth on which POV I cared about.

I gave it three stars because it did hold my attention enough to finish in a day. But the story felt clunky at times. There were so obvious twists along the way, which I haven’t minded in her previous books, but for some reason it left me bored this time. I think the flashback POVs slowed the plot down a lot but I also realize there wasn’t much to explore in the present day since the women were just at this villa trying to work.

Overall I’m disappointed because I loved The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls, but The Villa missed the mark for me.

Rachel Hawkins has redeemed herself with The Villa! I didn’t care for Reckless Girls, but hot damn she came in strong with this one.

I loved the frenemies aspect of our two main characters and the dual, almost parallel timelines was a nice touch. At times I did think that the 1974 story line felt like it dragged on or stalled out, but I was still so invested and had to know how it all came together.

While various sub-plots were predictable, I never once felt like that was a bad thing at all. I enjoyed problem solving and finding the clues to the mystery and putting all the pieces together. I really liked the macabre and dark ways Hawkins wove the two timelines together.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy!

Great story with lots of twists

Best friends from childhood, both who have become successful authors (one more successful than the other) spend the summer in an Italian villa where a famous murder had taken place years ago. One of the women wrote "cozy" murders; the other self-help books. The characters and setting were wonderfully described and the plot was excellent.

There were lots of twists. I was sure I knew what some of them would be. i was only partially correct. And just when you think the book is over and everything is resolved, another twist comes.

The love-hate relationship of long-time friends was written very well. Also, the description of the villa was well-done. It may not exactly get people to want to move there like "Under the Tuscan Sun", but it was a good representation of the feel of an old Italian villa.

This was a really great book, Even thought I seldom re-read books, I may put this on my list to read again in a couple of years, once I forgot most of the book, I will definitely recommend it to my friends.

This is my first book by this popular author. I am so pleased that I can say I see what the fuss is about and that I got it from NetGalley. I love books with a gothic feel to them and The Villa certainly has that, this one blends it with a bit of historical backstory, not to mention the Italian villa setting...which is a bucket list destination for me. The book was also very suspenseful and really creepy at times, I read this last night after a night shift at work and it made me scared of the dark! It is a fairly short book at just 217 pages on my tablet so I was able to read it in a single sitting. I think that the shortness of the book helped ramp up the tension and made the book hard to put down. I love a good dual timeline story and I'm not gonna lie, the mystery/reveal surprised me...I had no idea where it was going. I am going to have to add some of this author's backlog to my ever-growing to-read pile and that is the biggest compliment I can give.

Imagine a beautiful villa in the Italian countryside of Umbria that your best friend has rented for a summer. Both of you are authors (Emily and Chess) and you can post great Instagram/Facebook pics (hopefully making your ex jealous) and take the time to write. Except, oops, it’s a “Murder House” — made infamous by an incident in the 70s involving sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll that also spawned a hugely successful horror novel. Of course that makes you curious.

The book has two main POVs — Emily, a cozy mystery author, and Mari, the horror novelist of the 70s story. Emily, intrigued with the mystery of the villa, wants to explore the connection of real events and Mari’s book.

If you’re familiar with the creation of one of the very first female written horror classics, then it’s obvious that the characters of the past narrative are the not-so-subtle 1970s versions of the 1880s Frankenstein crowd who also gathered at a villa:
Pierce Sheldon/Percy Shelley/Colin in Mari’s book
Mari Godwick, daughter of William Godwick and Marianne Wolsley/Mary Godwin, daughter of William Godwiin and Mary Wollstonecraft/Victoria in “Lilith Rising”
Lara, formerly Janet, Larchmont/Claire, formerly Jane, Clairmont
Neil Gordon, son of an earl/Lord George Gordon Byron
Johnnie Dorchester/Dr.John Polidori

There’s also the book within the book, “Lilith Rising” (not quite “Frankenstein”) that adds another sort of POV as Mari tells another version of the events of 1974. A present day podcast, a Rolling Stone article and a true crime blog also retell the ‘70s story as it supposedly happened to clue the readers in.

Both Emily and Chess are both intrigued; both have writers’s block, and there’s tension in their long relationship — but not quite like the 1970s group or real life Shelley stories (both where men played a role). There’s also a theme of female creativity and empowerment and how it sometimes comes at great costs. 5 stars. The layering of multiple stories had me enthralled to the end. And what an ending!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Bestie Chess has green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): MAYBE Sunflowers usually bloom everywhere in July, not June in that gardening zone, when Chess says there’s a whole field of them behind the villa. However, close enough to be forgivable.

The Villa tells the story of Emily and her best friend, Chess. The two women are spending the summer at an infamous Italian villa...both to work on their respective writing careers and to repair their strained friendship. The Villa was the scene of a murder in the 1970s and has secrets of its own to uncover.

I enjoyed this book very much. At some points I felt like it the plot was predictable, but not in a bad way. The ending was shocking, though. I thought the use of the alternating timelines was smart and really fleshed out the story.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

This hooked me from the beginning!! I actually finished it in one sitting as I couldn't put it down! I loved the dual time lines and both stories were excellent. I usually like one time frame over another but both were fascinating.
Fast paced and I did not predict the ending but it worked PERFECTLY!

I will definitely recommend this book when it is released!

Hawkins is working pretty hard to cement her status as a must-read-anything-she-breathes-near author, and it's completely working. One star deducted because the ending felt rushed, which, actually, might have just been me wanting it to keep going.

This is by far my favorite of Rachel Hawkins' books. She took three different narratives and wove them together in a way that told one complete, layered, tragic story. In books with multiple perspectives, I often find that one pulls focus. In this case, all were equally compelling and well-written. (Also, can we please get an IRL Aestas album!)

I agree with other reviewers who noted that at times the different characters and plots felt muddy and hard to keep track of. I think that part of this was because the ARC formatting didn't always clearly distinguish the transitions between narratives. However, I do think the author could have done a little more to clarify this.

There was also one tiny plot point where one of the characters realized where something was hidden -- and it felt like that hiding place was never fully revealed to the audience. (I reread multiple times to try and piece it together. If readers are supposed to come to this conclusion, please make it easier for us to find!)

Another hit from Rachel Hawkins is on the horizon!

Rock stars, best friends, love triangles and a beautiful Italian Villa, added to together it makes for two tragic, mysterious stories; and you won’t want to miss either one.

Thank you to the publisher for my advanced copy via NetGalley.

A gothic Italian villa murder mystery - YES PLEASE!! I really enjoyed this dual-timeline thriller about two contemporary friends, Em & Chess, who visit an Italian "murder house" on vacay & dig into the past when there was much more going on at the Villa Aestas/Rosato, back when it was a haven for 60's & 70s rock stars & all the excesses that entailed. The older timeline was well-written & in the spirit of the day and the murder mystery was well-done! Recommend this one! My sincere thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for the complimentary DRC, the exchange of which did not affect my opinions.