This was a solid story that intertwines the past and present very effectively. The story centers around two best friends, Emily and Chess. The years have strained their relationship as has their very different lives. Chess suggests a girls trip to reconnect at a luxurious villa in Italy. Emily jumps as the chance for a much needed vacation and time to get her writing back on track.
The Villa has a dark history. During the mid 70’s a famous rock star, Noel, invites another wannabe rock star, Pierce, to the Villa in order to spark his creativity. Pierce brings along his girlfriend Mari, and her stepsister Lara. Tragedy strikes but from this tragedy inspires one of the best horror books ever written and a multi-platinum album. Emily becomes obsessed with the history of the Villa and the events that led up to the murder.
The story progresses and the past and present begin to mirror each other as jealousy, revenge and paranoia take over.
Smartly written story that has all of the ingredients for a a great thriller with just the right amount of twist. Great pacing, great narration. Very enjoyable!!
4 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley #RachelHawkins #TheVilla.

Rachel Hawkins has super creative ideas that always hook me, so I was excited to give The Villa a try!

I found it really interesting, and definitely bingeable. The portrayal of friendship caught me by surprise and in a good way! Full of suspense and turns, I found this a really fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

A more nuanced thriller with slower pacing to create the atmosphere needed to bring the reader to The Villa. Set in dual time settings, the past setting up the present with Emily the blocked writer and Chess the wealthy media influencer, friends from childhood, now vacationing at the infamous Villa.
Secrets from both the past and the women's current lives collide to bring about a denouement that will leave the reader satisfied.
The audiobook is richly enhanced with three narrators.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for my early copy of the audiobook. All opinions are mine.

I just.......I honestly don't know what to think or even say. I got the audiobook via Netgalley and this didn't keep my attention at all. 80% of the book nothing happens in my opinion. Once the twist was revealed I wasn't shocked or like "oh no" 🤷‍♀️ this one wasn't for me

I found this book to be very interesting and I really enjoyed the parallel stories. I thought that there was going to be another twist and was waiting for it to appear. Because of this, the end was a bit anticlimactic.

Thank you to both Libro.fm and Macmillan Audio/NetGalley for advanced audio copies.
Emily and Chess are the best of friends, they have each become authors, but different genres. On a whim Chess suggests a summer in Italy, at a Villa with quite the past.
I loved the setting and a dual timeline. In 1974 there was rock n roll and a murder, mysteries and lots of gossip as you can imagine. Emily becomes obsessed with finding the truth, and she learns much about herself and Chess, and her ex-husband
Narration is done by three people, Julia Whelan the most notable and I find her work so easy to listen to, just perfect.

I didn't figure out any of the secrets in this book, which I love, I enjoyed the surprise and was really aghast at the end. So very good. Grab this one up and prepare for a journey.

This story takes place at an Italian Villa but in two different time periods.

Previous day, we follow a famous musician and 4 others who are looking for their break in the artist scene. They are staying at the Italian villa for a summer of fun and inspiration but their story ends in tragedy

Current day, Emily and Chess are long time friends with an on and off again history who are both successful authors. Chess invites Emily on a once in a lifetime trip to Italy where they can both work on their novels. Once there, Emily becomes fascinated by the murder that took place at the Villa in 1974.

However, as old and new issues come up will Emily and Chess, will their stay also add to the Villas infamous legacy

I did enjoy The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins so was excited to read this book! I’ll admit that I was disinterested in the beginning because I don’t find any of the characters particularly likable. I felt like the story did pick up about halfway through though.

“Houses Remember”

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC

Chess and Emily used to be inseperable until their adult life came between them. When Chess suggests a girls trip to a villa in Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to spend 6 weeks rekindling their friendship. The women discover that in 1974, four famous people stayed in the house, and a chain of events lead to the murder of a young musician. As Emily finds inspiration for her next novel, she digs deeper into the Villa and its many secrets.

I stinking loved this! Apparently Rachel Hawkins' adult books are my jam, since I keep giving them 5 stars. The story is told in alternating timelines of the past and present. I think I found the 'past' chapters much more interesting as you as the reader are trying to piece together the tragic events that occurred at the Villa. I loved how the stories were interwoven with one another and almost mirrored one another. None of these characters are particularly likeable, but I think that is a staple in Hawkin's books at this point. The friendship between Emily and Chess was so toxic... I would have punched Chess out long ago if I were Em. I really enjoyed the audiobook and had a great time listening to it! I thought the inclusion of the quotations from other books, and the transcripts from podcasts about the 1970s characters was really cool and added a little extra to the book as well.

Overall, definitely recommend Rachel Hawkins as an author, I just find her books so entertaining!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

I’ve read several books this year that have been told from different time periods, but this hands down is the best one.
Two groups of friends stay in the same villa about 50 years apart in Italy.
It starts in present day with Emily and Chess who have been best friends since they were kids. Both are well known writers in their own right.
The second timeline is 1974, Mari her stepsister, Laura Mari’s boyfriend, Pierce follow rockstar, Noel Gordon to Italy to write new music.
The story flip-flops back-and-forth between each group of friends, and the things that are going on in their lives. Mary and Laura are both very young and have run off from home and are both very trapped with these two men. Emily who is going through a divorce is finding out just how horrible her husband has been during their marriage. Tragedy strikes both groups of friends and changes their lives forever.
It’s definitely one of those books that’s gonna stick with me for quite a while.

3.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and LibroFM for allowing me to listen to this book early! I enjoyed this book, but it was missing something for me. This is a story told in 2 timelines. Present day, our main character Emily is invited by her famous writer friend Chess to go to a villa in Italy for the summer. The other timeline is of a group of friends that stayed in that villa in 1974. In 1974 it was 2 musicians (Noel and Pierce) as well as Pierce's girlfriend, Mari and her sister Laura. One of them dies and one of them writes a potentially true horror novel about it. In present day, Emily is a cozy mystery author who is intrigued by the story of 1974 and wants to write something more hard hitting and discover hidden secrets. However, there is a lot of hidden tension between her and Chess and secrets come out that change her trajectory. I was definitely more interested in the present timeline than the past, and I think that comes down to character development. I think this book could've used 50 more pages to get the characters and storyline of the best developed more and to create more tension. This book felt to me like a mixture of Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard and Verity by Colleen Hoover. It has a somewhat ambiguous ending which I am not a fan of, but overall this was an entertaining read that just needed a little more oomph.

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins has an interesting premise, a well loved narrator for the audiobook, and a beautiful cover. However, I had to make the decision not to finish this book pretty early on as the characters seemed extremely one dimensional and I had basically already guessed where this was going at around 7% into the book. The main two characters grated on me for being quite annoying and immature. I think that those who enjoy Rachel Hawkins' other thriller novels will also enjoy this one as the writing style and premise seem to align with her typical work.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio!

I am going to start with this, I love Rachel Hawkins. Several of her books have been five stars. I give The Villa these two stars with a heavy heart. I had such high hopes for this one, and it just fell flat for me. The entire story felt rushed which made it difficult for me to connect or appreciate the story line. I still remain optimistic and hopeful for her future works.

Emily and Chess were best friends as kids but as their adult lives take them in different directions, their friendship isn't as strong. Until one day they meet for lunch and Chess invites Emily to join her at a villa in Italy, so they can both work on their writing. Back in 1974 this villa had a murder among friends who were in the world of rock music. Noel invites his friend Pierce to the villa to write songs. With a group of friends working on their music, one of them, Mari, is writing a murder mystery. As tensions build, Pierce is murdered. For Emily and Chess, their tensions are building as well and some buried secrets between them come out. The two stories have some similarities and some buried secrets. I read & listened to this book in a day! My thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Goodreads for an early copy of the e-book, audio, and paperback. A beautiful cover to set the mood at a lovely Italian villa....that holds secrets only the house remembers. The audio was well done with three narrators. Highly recommend!

I truly loved this dual timeline mystery! It was riveting to listen to both stories unfold in the same villa 40 years apart. The narrator was amazing and kept me hanging on every word and the twist at the end was everything I wanted in this book. Definitely recommend this audio for anyone who loves a good thriller! Such a fun listen!!

This was a terrible read. I kept waiting for a twist and it never came. I felt so let down. The characters weren’t good and the story line(s) weren’t intriguing and didn’t hold my attention.

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins was such a smart, claustrophobic, suspenseful ball of fun and a really enjoyable read. We are following two different timelines here and tension is built expertly by Rachel Hawkins leaving you wanting more of each storyline at the end of every chapter. This made the pacing of the book, in my opinion, excellent and results in a dynamic and quick read. The friendships and relationships in this book are so layered and add so much depth to the characters in a fairly short book. I didn't see the twists coming and that is always nice when reading a thriller that has you suspecting everyone and questioning everything.

The audiobook was an absolute pleasure to listen to and Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell and Shiromi Arserio lend their talent and absolutely add to the atmosphere and setting which is really a character of its own. Overall, I would recommend this to mystery lovers and if you can get your hands on the audiobook it is a great way to experience the story!

"Houses remember..." 🍋

I listened to the audiobook version of this book and I thought it was done really well. I appreciated the different narrators for the main characters. That definitely helps keeps the story straight with multiple POVs and alternating timelines. I enjoyed each narrator, however I enjoyed the present day storyline a lot more than the one set in the 70s. I thought this book was well written and interesting too, but it was definitely slower than I was expecting and I did find my mind wandering quite a bit. I loved the premise of this book. It had all of the things I love in a book, but the execution and ending could have used a little more in my opinion. Overall, a decent, intriguing, mystery that I think many people will enjoy!

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮:
• multiple POVs
• alternating timelines
• beautiful settings
• slow paced mystery
• story within a story
• different narrators (audiobook)

𝙇𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝: 7h 57m
𝙋𝙪𝙗 𝘿𝙖𝙮: 1/3/23
𝙋𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧: Macmillan Audio
𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧s: Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell and Shiromi Arserio

Thank you Macmillan Audio for my gifted ALC!

3.5⭐

Really enjoyed this latest novel (coming out in a few days - January 3, 2023!) by Rachel Hawkins.

The novel centers around the Villa Aestas, and Ms. Hawkins uses dual narratives to tell the story. In the present, Emily is struggling trying to write her latest novel while going through a divorce from her husband. She agrees to go to Italy with her best friend Chess and stay at the Villa where a notorious murder happened in the 1970s. The second narrative is that of Mari, and that infamous summer of 1974.

As the pages turn, the two narratives weave back and forth and the Villa almost becomes its own character. I liked the gothic vibe and the way the two timelines worked together, I just didn’t want to stop listening. Ms. Hawkins throws twists in throughout, and just when you think you’ve got things figured out, another one comes right along.

The audiobook is narrated by Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell, and Shiromi Arserio; they are all fantastic. Having different narrators makes it much easier to keep track of the dual narratives as you are listening as well.

Pick this one up - it’s a fun book to kick off the new year, and one of my favorite reads of 2022!

I found both of the main characters pretty unlikeable so it was hard for me to root for either of them! It was extremely well written and I loved the dual timelines.

It took me a little bit to get into The Villa, I wasn't loving the story or characters. It's very much a slow burn and more of drama than thriller. I was pulled in near the ending but I was really hoping for more.

The narrators were fantastic, they gave great performances and really brought everything to life. I definitely enjoyed listening to this over reading it.