"Houses remember"

I'm not a big reader of gothic novels but I am a fan of suspense novels and Rachel Hawkins so I thought I might enjoy this gothic suspense novel.

I did!

I had a review copy of the e-book as well as the audiobook for this novel which was really nice. Sometimes I really wish I could have both for all books. The narration for the audiobook was excellent!

A gripping storyline with many well developed characters.

Rachel Hawkins is definitely on my must read list and I can't wait to see what she writes next!

I'd like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

I voluntarily listened to an advanced audiobook of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC

First, I want to commend the narrator for doing an amazing job. She brought both the past and present story arcs to life. Making the two POVs distinctive without extreme voice changes. I really enjoyed listening to her voice as she read the book.

This story kept me invested despite my dislike for many of the characters. Almost everyone showed a level of selfishness that kept me shaking my head. Despite not liking the life choices of most of the characters, I became invested in finding out what happens in the end. Surprisingly the story didn't go as dark as I was expecting, but I left still satisfied. I might have liked the current story arc to be a bit creepier, but that is my one complaint. I give The Villa a solid 4/5 stars. Especially if you want something a bit edgier than a cozy mystery but not super graphic.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For the most part I enjoyed this book. I thought the dual storyline kept it interesting. I really only liked one character in the book and she often got in my nerves. But, the story was unique.

3.5

I loved The Villa. This was my first by Rachel Hawkins, after not finding the plots to The Wife Upstairs and Reckless Girls too compelling. But the influences here, Fleetwood Mac, Mary Shelly, the Manson murders... sign me up.

I had the audio version of this book and I really enjoyed the narrators and the way the story was delivered. The dual timelines were both interesting which is a plus because in a lot of books with multiple timelines, I'm more engaged in one versus the other and just itching to get back to the "main" story. But with The Villa, I wanted to learn so much more about Mari and Lara each time we went back to 1974.

The conclusion... I loved it. That's what pushes the rating up for me. Usually, I'm loving a story right up until the end where the author almost never leaves me feeling fully satisfied. The Villa delivered.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillian audio for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the plot-within-a-plot in this book. The British narrator has an incredible voice and delivery! I liked it but didn't love it.

Book inside of book. Is this a cold case or is there a new murder expcetate. With Rachel Hawkins you never know.

This book was good. The idea that "houses remember" is a concept that I haven't seen done before. Houses definitely have stories to tell and the Villa is a house with a deadly saga. The alternate timelines between the modern day and the past were exciting and fun to listen to. There were some chapters that had websites or podcasts as "sources" which made it confusing at times since I was listening to them. If you were physically reading the book, it would be different.
I did have some questions left at the end but overall the story wraps nicely. I wouldn't say it is a thriller/horror but definitely has a mysterious aspect to it.

The Villa is a book that keeps you entertained right from the beginning. It feels like an adventure park ride where you start out a little slow to build up and then move quite quickly to the pinnacle and then slow down for the turns along the way. The audio was wonderfully narrated and was glued to my ears until the end. The past, the present and a little podcast thrown in for good measure definitely kept me on my feet. I had to know what was going to come of the "besties", Emily and Chess.

Rachel Hawkins wrote a creepy, cool story about friends who are writers while setting them up in a villa that had a past. A past that included murder. While I liked the history of the villa that the women were staying at, I found myself not connecting with the characters of the past. I was intrigued with the story of how the murder came to be, but Mari and Lara just didn't connect with me. I don't know what it was, but I almost didn't need their story but for the bit that came back toward the end. It was the present I was interested in and the friendship between Emily and Chess. It was one of those friendships that wasn't all roses and was held together with a bit of manipulation. But it was them and their story that intrigued me. The way two BFFs became writers and had different levels of success and how they ultimately found their happiness. How they looked at one another through rose-tinted glasses. It definitely was a cool take on a summer trip with a friend in Italy.

Overall, I really liked Emily and the way she told her story. Of her ex and what she was battling. How she really focused on the villa and the history of what happened there and the way her friendship with Chess/Jessica changed over the years. She was the person I was rooting for throughout and did see a few things coming. The twist toward the end? Not what I expected, but it gave it that vibe it needed. One thing that surprised me while listening to the audio was the sudden addition of the podcast in the middle of the chapter. While I did like that the podcast was added to the story about the past murder at the Villa, it was the sudden change in the narration that drew me out for a minute. I had to rewind and refocus on the new tone. It was almost comedic and a little play on 'My Favorite Murder'. But it didn't feel completely cohesive the first time it came through.

With all the said, this is a quick read/listen that is perfect for these winter days. Not a scary thriller, but all about the setting and characters that have to figure out who to trust. With great narration that brought the story alive, I'm rounding up my 3.5 stars because of the narrators and their performance.

Sex, drugs, rock and roll, and murder abound in "The Villa" in the 1970s. Fifty years later when modern wellness guru (think Gwyneth Paltrow on steroids) and her childhood best frenemy go to the villa on a relaxing writing retreat they uncover secrets they never could have imagined. I liked the dual timeline aspect of the story as well as the mixed media (there are podcast snippets and excepts from news stories as well). The vibe of this book is definitely more creepy than scary. with loads of clearly flawed characters thrown together in a house that doesn't forget. If you've enjoyed Rachel Hawkins books in the past, you will probably like this one as well! This one didn't particularly stand out to me but I definitely enjoyed both reading it and listening to it on audio. 3.5/5 (bumped up a half point for fantastic narration!!)

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is a fun and compulsively readable mystery set in a gorgeous Italian mansion in the 1970s and 2020s. The 1970s story follows, Mari, a young English writer who is in Italy with her musician boyfriend, her stepsister, and her boyfriend's bandmates. The relationships are fluid and free, but not without complications. Their trip to Italy ends in tragedy with one of them being brutally murdered with an infamous trial following it. The 2020s story is about two best friends, Emily and Chess, both successful writers to varying degrees. They decide to spend the summer together at the infamous villa where the murder was committed in 1974, committing to a creative pursuit of their own writing projects.

I really enjoyed the parallels between the sisters and friends from each time period and the mysteries that were teased out in the past and present day. It is frustrating to see how the sisters are overlooked as creators in a house with male rock musicians. Hawkins has a way of writing that makes you want to consume it all in a short time. I listened to the audiobook, which was well-narrated by Julia Whelan, Kimberly M. Wetherell, and Shiromi Arserio. The only downside to the audiobook is that it can get a little confusing as there are excerpts, quotes, and interviews included without setup. I don't believe this would be an issue in the context of reading the physical book/ebook. Recommend if you're looking for something salacious and fast-moving!

Thank you St. Martin's Press / Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing this ebook/audiobook ARC.

Review of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins (12/23/22)

This is a dual timeline gothic suspense by the author of The Younger Wife, Rachel Hawkins. I was excited and nervous to read it…hoping that I would love it as much as her others and she did not disappoint.

This book provided a perfect balance of deeply developed characters and a well-paced story arc that moved through both timelines smoothly and without confusing the reader. There were well-placed excerpts from newspapers and blogs, reporting the fictional news of both 1974 and the present that broke up the story and gave it almost a crime nonfiction vibe.

At first, I was worried that the author was going to make Emily pathetic and hard to like, but Rachel Hawkins really allowed the reader to watch her grow in her confidence and independence. And, while her counterpart, Chess, seemed too good to be true at the start, we were allowed to see the cracks that were in her life as well. Theirs is a story of friendship that stems from time, but continues through necessity. Emily’s connections with Mari were also interesting and developed without seeming contrived.

The setting was another winner! This village in Italy is real and I found myself seeking out if it was true to the book and it seems to be. Although fiction, there were so many parts of this that felt real because the author wrote it so convincingly.

Both timelines take place primarily in Orvieto, Italy. The first timeline, taking place in present day, is the story of two best friends. Chess and Emily have been best friends since they were children, but life has taken them on slightly different paths. Chess is a best-selling author and wellness guru, seemingly living her best carefree life. Emily is an author of cozy mysteries who has just been left by her husband at the lowest point of her life. Chess calls with a proposition. She wants Emily to join her at Villa Aestas in Orvieto, Italy to spend the summer writing and reconnecting. No distractions, except for the fact that a murder took place there in 1974. Emily takes a leap of faith and agrees to go. Right away, Emily knows things are going to be different. As she digs into the Villa’s dark past, her writing takes off and her life begins to change.

The second timeline also takes place at Villa Aestas (then called Villa Rosato) in 1974. Rented by rockstar Noel Gordon, he invites fellow musician Pierce Shledon to help him spark his song writing. Pierce brings along his girlfriend Mari and her half-sister Lara. During what ends as a horrific summer, Mari ends up writing one of the most well-known horror novels and Lara composes a platinum album. But, their summer ends with Pierce’s brutal murder.

Put off as a murder caused by the “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” summer they enjoyed together, everyone else goes on with their lives. But, years later, Emily finds connections that emerge from both Mari’s book and Lara’s album that lead to the discovery of what really happened during that summer of 1974.

This was a wonderful book and I enjoyed being allowed to be a part of this before it came out to the general public!

Review of the audiobook narration:

I thought Juliar Whelan's adaptation of The Villa was one of the better audiobooks I've heard. She was animated enough without being melodramatic and her varying characterizations of the characters made it easy to follow along, which was super helpful as this book changes timelines and has several stories within the story. She was really good at adding mystery into the way the lines were spoken. Although the story was a bit of a miss for me, I'll definitely be on the lookout for other audiobooks narrated by Whelan.


Review of the story:

I've been trying to think what to say about this book, and I'm honestly still not entirely sure what to say. I didn't dislike it, per se, but I didn't really like it, either. All of the men were self-absorbed assholes and I honestly didn't care for the women, either. All in all it felt like there was just too much whining all around too much capitulating on the women's parts. And it really rubbed me the wrong way when at the end of the modern timeline, Em was still bitching about "being stuck with" someone. Like she had no agency in her life. Like she learned nothing. The whole "woe is me" attitude of so many (all?) of the characters was just a bit grating.

I thought both storylines had their interesting parts, including the lost diary entries, and I enjoyed how things kind of weaved back and forth - but for a "wickedly gothic suspense" I was expecting more twists and turns rather than weaving about.

At the end of the day the book just fell a bit flat for me. I don't think I would recommend this book.

Fast paced and easy transitions from past to present. This book gave me the feels. I very much enjoyed it. Rachel never lets me down.

Thank you to #NetGalley and St Martins Press for the for the ARC audiobook.
“Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.”
With a description like the one above, how could this not be a great read?! 1. Unlikeable character 2. Hurried plotlines 3. Unanswered/unresolved plot points
Two best friends, Emily and ‘Chess,’ have lost touch with their separate lives over the years. (I say ‘Chess’ because her name is Jessica, but she has gone by: Jessica, Jessica C, JC, Jayce, and now Chess). Chess is now a best-selling author while Emily is struggling to write the next book in her comfy mystery series and has been recently separated from her husband. When Chess reaches out to pay for a summer trip to a villa in Italy, Emily accepts and thinks it’s just what she needs to escape the hardships of her dissolving marriage and to give her the creative boost for her writing.
The villa in Italy is the site of a murder from 1974. A group of friends and artists, modeled after the group, Fleetwood Mac, spent their summer there with a cavalcade of sex and drugs. It ended in the murder of one of the musicians.
This story is told in two timelines: Emily and Chess (present day) & Mari and Lara (1974). The timelines become parallel and secrets from the past help uncover secrets in the future.
My grievances: 1. Every character in this book was unlikeable. For me, there weren’t any redeeming qualities for anyone – bad decision making, infidelity, pathological lying, and <spoiler> murder. </spoiler> 2. The author spends a lot of time going through unnecessary details about the lives of Emily, Chess, Mari, and Lara, but when the ending “twist” occurs, it is completely glossed over in 1 sentence! Big spoiler! <spoiler> Seriously – they kill Emily’s douchey cheating husband and it’s not even mentioned directly; it’s in a side bar news announcement that is inserted in the prose. </spoiler> 3. Emily has health issues throughout the book. These are never explained, although it is inferred that <spoiler> it is caused by her husband because she feels better when he’s not around. Although, one could also infer that he was poisoning her, and that Chess poisoned her while she was on the phone with him in Italy. I much prefer this latter idea because the idea that she was “allergic” to her husband is ridiculous.” </spoiler> The second plotline of the murder in 1974 did nothing to add to the book, it was simply a plot device for the present-day timeline.
I have enjoyed other books by Rachel Hawkins, but for me, this one just wasn’t it. And the 1974 timeline doesn’t do justice for the greatness that is Fleetwood Mac.

Things I liked about this book:
-Set in Italy
-FMC is a writer
-Past/Present POV
-Unsolved Murder/Mystery
-The narrator(s)
-The ending!!!

I really loved how fast paced Rachel’s other book, Reckless Girls, was but didn’t feel the same about The Wife Upstairs. I was really pleased that The Villa mirrored the energy, mystery, and pace of “Reckless Girls.” It sucked me in from the start!

The audiobook version was narrated by I Julia Whalen who I just love. Her voice and pacing is perfect for these types of books! The additional narrators voices provided a see less way to tell the characters apart.

I enjoyed the story being told from the past/present point of views and from two different narrators. Although some of the twists were predictable, I was surprised how the author decided to end the story! Rachel Hawkins did an amazing job at delivering another fast-paced, thrilling read that I finished in one sitting!

When Julia Whelan narrates, i don't really care what book it is and the book she reads are always the good ones.

I like 2 setting stories and this book did a good job weaving it.
There are some parts that I thought were rushed but i still find it entertaining. One of the best ones I have listened to this 2022!


Now I need to get some limoncello!

First of all, I love Julia Whelan and will probably listen to everything she narrates. Earlier this year when I read reckless girls, I was very much on the fence about Rachel Hawkins writing. But I've liked her books in the past so I wanted to give it another shot.
I really did like this book. I don't know if I would have liked it half as much if it weren't for Julia Whelan being the narrator, but it was a good story and a good plot. Granted it's a story with many layers and it took me a bit to figure out what was going on, but when I finally settled into the story I really liked it. I only wish the ending would have been different.

Emily's life is falling apart - she fell ill with a mysterious sickness, her husband cheated on her and left her, her writing inspiration dried up, and she cannot get herself back together. Her life-long bff, Chess, is a positivity guru brimming with success. When Chess invites Emily for a summer at an Italian villa to help get her mojo back Emily finds more than a new muse. Decades before there was a murder at the Villa with the two women present both being launched to super stardom after the dust settled. Emily is drawn in to what really happened which puts her on a path of discovery, about the past and her present. With an explosive ending reminiscent of Reckless Girls, we find what women can really be capable of.

This novel is told in alternating timeliness from Emily's present POV and Mari's experience at the Italian villa the stories are weaved together perfectly to release bits of information at just the right time to make an impact. I listened to this on audiobook and I liked how the narration was different for each POV which helped me keep everything straight. This book was exciting and at times heartbreaking. There were more than a few times where I wanted to punch Chess in the throat and had a white hot rage against her character only rivaled by my feelings towards Dolores Umbridge. I liked how Mari's story wrapped up but wish Emily's had gone differently. The ending reminded me a lot of another one of Hawkins' books, Reckless Girls. Twisty and turning, I will read whatever Rachel Hawkins writes.

The Villa is the story of a recent divorcee and cozy mystery-writer, Emily. She joins her childhood best friend Chess, now a self-help guru, on a 6-week trip to a gorgeous villa in Italy - but it has a history. Emily finds herself swept up in the mystery of a murder in the same villa in the 1970s, all while uncovering some strange new information about her own life.

I love the narrators of this audiobook and was immediately swept up in the story. I enjoyed the '70s timeline much more than the present-day story, which felt contrived and rushed. Unfortunately, my initial enjoyment didn't last. The premise is fantastic, but in the end, this one just didn't do it for me.

I received an ARC of this audiobook from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I received this as an audio galley to listen to for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for giving me access.

This was not the first Rachel Hawkins book for me. She has a way of creating a story that you predict but be both wrong and right at the same time.

Some of my predictions came to pass, but not in the way I thought and the story ended on a completely different note that I didn’t see coming. IYKYK. It wasn’t a shocking end, rather one that took a left turn when you felt it should go right.

I definitely recommend giving this one a read if you enjoy cozy mysteries but want to dip your toe into thrillers/true crime but aren’t ready for that full psychological damage.