Thank you to NetGalley for the audio of this story in exchange for an honest review.
This is the second book by this author that I have read. While not overly impressed by the story and it was just an okay story it was an easy one to listen to and read in a day.
This story follows two timelines one in present day and one in set in the 70s. Both timelines follow women who are being manipulated by men and other people in their lives. The story contained so much gaslighting and the main characters were so weak I was eye rolling for most of the story. The plot was definitely predictable and I guessed the twist/ending about 30% in.
However, I did find how the two stories intertwined to be entertaining. Overall I think I would recommend this story if you are looking for an easy book to read.

I devoured this book. I read it in one day. I have read other books by Rachel Hawkins so I knew this would be good. However, I was not prepared. This book is like Daisy Jones and the Six meets The Girl on the Train. The story follows a writer who is invited to an Italian villa with her long time best friend, another author but one who is significantly more successful than she. The story then switches between a murder that occurred at the villa when a group of young artists and musicians stayed there, and present day. The story was so engaging, well-written, and quick paced that I could not stop myself and stayed up WAY too late reading this in order to finish it even faster. I would recommend this book if you need something that will take your mind off things, or just to escape to a beautiful Italian villa and someone else's drama and intrigue for a while.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of The Villa in exchange for an honest review.

Emily and Chess have been best friends forever but lately they have grown apart as their lives and careers have diverged. Chess is a wildly successful and famous self-help author while Emily is recovering from a recent crippling illness, is broke, getting divorced and behind on delivering her new cozy murder mystery novel to her publisher. When Chess invites Emily to join her in Italy for the summer where she is working on her new book, Emily cant resist. The Villa is spectacular but the biggest draw back is that it was the scene of a grisly celebrity murder in the 1970s and Emily becomes fascinated with the story. She begins to dig into the history and try to piece together what really happened as she unravels clues written by one of the survivors.

Rachel Hawkins returns with a new slow-burn mystery. It is told from the perspective of the two main characters; Emily set today and Mari from 1974. I really loved the setting for the novel and the idea that two stories can intertwine through a house. I think I enjoyed the story of Mari and her friend group more than the toxic relationship between Emily and Chess. The ending of the current storyline was forced and a bit over the top. I have enjoyed Hawkins previous work and look forward for more to come.

A slow moving story where not much happens until the end but then the ending didn't really work for me. I wanted more from the characters, more from the setting and more from the ending. I know that lots of readers have really enjoyed this one so it seems to work better for others, just ok for me.

THE VILLA had not only an intriguing dual timeline, but multiple points of view, which made the past and present weave together in a captivating way. In 1974, Mari, her boyfriend and stepsister go to stay in an Italian villa with a famous rock star and his friend/drug dealer (IYKYK, I guess this is still unclear at the end). They are all young and trying to pursue their creative passions. When one of them is murdered, their notoriety peaks and the villa becomes infamous. In the present day timeline, Emily is working through a tough time in her life, and when her childhood best friend, Chess, suggests staying at this villa in an attempt to regroup, she agrees. Their stay reveals a lot of secrets, some maybe not what you think.
I really enjoyed the setting of this book and the contrast of beauty - ugly (or maybe dark). The parallels between the characters of the past and present was interesting, and I was invested in finding out how everything would come together. As the story progressed, I had some theories about how this was going to play out, but there were still some twists I didn't expect.
Thank you St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is my third Rachel Hawkins book and I’m definitely loving her style. Overall, I gave this 4 stars because the drama within the relationships just got to be too much and takeaway from the plot. I was not expecting the ending and thoroughly enjoyed it!

I really liked The Wife Upstairs by this author so I was really excited to get a chance to read an early copy of The Villa. Wow, just wow! I loved Emily and Chess’ story as well as Mari and Lara ‘s. The author did an excellent job weaving these two stories together and the twist at the end was totally unexpected. I highly recommend this one!

Rating: DNF (35%)

Yikes, this is another book that just did not work for me from this author. I don’t know what it is but I couldn’t connect to this story and was having a hard time paying attention. I really tried to give this one a fair chance but I ultimately ended up DNFing it. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator was doing a good job but I still found myself zoning out due to the writing and pacing. The main character instantly annoyed me from the first chapter and I think that was the point? But either way, I couldn’t get past it. The pacing seemed to be going up and down. I don’t think this is a horrible book but it’s not a book I wanted to waste my time on. I know this author is very popular so I say give it a try if it sounds intriguing to you.

Thank you so much @macmillan.audio for the gifted copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

Read this if you like suspense with historical and muscial undertones

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. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.

Yet 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.

Out on January 3

The Villa is a thriller that takes place in Italy with dual timelines - switching between a Fleetwood Mac inspired group in the 70s, and a pair of lifelong friends in the present. The setting is very timely with the recent seasons of the White Lotus and From Scratch also being set in Italy. In fact, imagine this as White Lotus S2 meets Daisy Jones and the Six. Theres a book within a book (Lilith Rising) and I found myself wishing Lilith Rising and the album Aestas were real. I really enjoy this author's voice and writing, but do always feel like her thrillers leave something to be desired for me. I found the wrap up to the present storyline to be both unbelievable and not twisty enough, which is hard to explain without spoilers. I will definitely be reading this author in the future, but will probably be skipping her thrillers from now on.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

I really liked how well this book was done! I felt like the characters were well developed, the plot was interesting, it was believable, and the little twist at the end I wouldn't have guessed! I really like this author and her previous stuff has always been good! I did feel like I wanted more of a twist at the end, but it was something. Just not as dramatic I guess as I would have wished but that's my own preference. Overall a great one that I will recommend to all my friends!!

From my blog: Always With a Book

I have been a fan of Rachel Hawkins since discovering her first thriller, The Wife Upstairs. This latest one is a gothic inspired mystery that I really enjoyed and I had the pleasure of doing a listenalong with the great folks from TandemCollective and a super fun bunch of bookstagrammers. You can see more about this over on my Instagram page.

This was such a binge-able story, one that once you really get into it, you find it hard to put down. I am a big fan of dual narratives, no matter the genre and I loved how it worked here. The added use of the podcasts and newspaper clippings give another perspective that I really appreciated. At times a slow burn, especially the past timeline – though still really engaging – I loved how the villa is what connects both timelines. A common refrain was repeated quite often throughout the story, “a house remembers,” and I felt that to be so hauntingly accurate the further we got into this story, especially as the dark past of the villa was revealed. The sense of setting was really fantastic.

This book is incredibly suspenseful as it pieces together what really happened in the past, but there is also the suspense of what is going on in the present. The girls’ friendship is questionable at times – are they truly friends or they frenemies? And what really happened to make Emily so sick?

I loved how twisty and dark this one was. The blurb says this is based on the Manson murders and since I really don’t know much about those, you know I’ll be heading down a rabbit hole to read up on them. But even without having that background knowledge, this is still a fun, entertaining read and I definitely recommend you add it to your list when it comes out in January!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, the author, and NetGalley for the free gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am going to preface this review with if I was reading as a book instead of listening to an audiobook I may not have wanted to finish as much, so this review is based on both those factors.

The plot had SO much potential but the author kind of dragged it out in a super slow way and the twists at the end were so predictable. I was like wait that was it after all that build-up?

The history intertwined with a fictional novel with the novel we were reading had so much potential but it just did not land.

The narrator truly saved this audiobook because it had me into the story, and based on most people's good reads reviews everyone had the same feelings I did.

The Villa was a really interesting read that had me hooked from the start. I really enjoy books where there's two main characters in different timelines and the chapters jump back and forth between their stories and how they are connected. I really liked that the author wrote a mild horror book about how people can truly just be monstrous. I also like the Italian villa setting but wish the author would have gone into more descriptions so that the readers had a better visual. What I really loved though was the twist at the end I never saw coming and how we shouldn't always assume things for what they are. It was a really interesting dynamic to go from 70's rock and roll drama and horror to present day writers dealing with their own drama and how the past leads them to discover horrible secrets and do terrible things. I think readers are really going to like The Villa with it's mild horror and violent vibes entwined with past and present drama and secrets and of course a twist.

I don't usually enjoy books that employ the flashbacks as a way to tell a story but this adds so much build up. I loved the way the female relationships were framed with love and competitiveness. It almost puts real housewives to shame. It's like if a Daisy Jones and the Six meets a darker, gothic thriller. It took a while to get to the point with characters that were not likeable and then it quickly turned into a nail biter. I loved the twisty story framing, who really knows what is the truth at the end and it made for two cruel summers that mirror each other. This is my favorite of the Rachel Hawkins book and finally all plot points meshed well and even though the characters weren't always likeable you still liked them.

This novel is the perfect combination for those that enjoy thrillers, historical fiction, and true crime. Growing up, Emily and Chess were the best of friends. As with most childhood friendships, adulthood tends to put a strain on those connections. Emily and Chess have a chance to reconnect at a villa in Italy where an infamous murder of a rock star took place in 1974. Emily begins delving into the history of the villa and uncovers secrets that may claim another victim. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced e-galley.

Once again, a book finds it's way to me at just the right time. I'm dealing with a death in my family and I've been able to lose myself in THE VILLA while grieving. Maybe that's not the healthiest way to handle things right now, but this book was a nice escape for a bit.

I don't know if many people know but Rachel Hawkins also wrote the Hex Hall young adult series. I SO WISH she'd continue that series, but she's made a big pivot into the mystery/thriller genre. She's written another popcorn thriller winner with the THE VILLA.

The story gives us a book within a book, a plot involving writer Emily and her bestie childhood friend Chess (who is a famous self-help guru) and a separate plot featuring five people who stayed in the villa in the 70s.

THE VILLA rotates timelines of those three subplots, one of which involves a murder at the villa.

I loved the characters in the novel who were aspiring writers and then successful authors. It was a nice behind-the-scenes look at writer's block. And, of course, the mystery of who died and whodunit is fascinating.

Rachel does a fine job of intersecting all three plots at the end. My only caveat is because of the three plots (including the book within a book) it was hard, at times, to figure out which timeline or plot was the focus of certain chapters. It took a while for me to get into the rhythm of it, but well worth it!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-copy of THE VILLA to review.

I rate THE VILLA four out of five stars.

Dare I say, Daisy Jones meets Verity in this thriller that mixes authors and manuscripts with a group of sex, drugs and rock and rollers in the 70’s?

This is a dual timeline POV that takes place in the same Italian Villa — one timeline in the 70’s and one current day. I was really drawn to the characters in both timelines, which captivated me right away and kept me turning the pages.

Themes I loved…
- complexity of female friendships
- big secrets
- questionable truths

I don’t want to give anything away so I’m just going to say I really loved the twistiness of the ending and how it all comes together. DM me if you’ve read it and want chat more.

This is my favorite Rachel Hawkins book to date, and I’m looking forward to whatever she comes up with next.

I received a advanced copy of the Villa for my honest review. Emily and Chess are life long friends. Both writers. Emily's life is pivoting on a different path and so Chess books a trip to Italy. ... but then Emily gets snippets of Chess she can't shake..... can she trust her?
Recommend!

Growing up Chess and Emily were best friends, but as the years progressed their friendship has waned. Emily has found herself stuck after her husband has left her and her next cozy mystery is way over due. When Chess storms into her life once again and suggests a summer to remember in a villa in Italy, Emily didn’t have to think very hard before making her decision. The villa ends up having a dark history and as Emily becomes more and more intrigued her cozy mystery suffers even more. As Emily digs deeper into the villas’s mysterious past, she decides to write about it, but Chess is interested too, will they be able to work together or will Chess take everything away from Emily. As the summer progresses things from their past come to light and, once again, the summer ends with a tragedy at the villa! Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC and ALC of this book.