I was so excited to read The Villa, after having loved The Reckless Girls by the same author. This book started out slow and I was interested in the two different POV and the articles between the chapters from various newspapers and podcasts. I was expecting it to pick up a little and to have a little bit of suspense. But it never really did. This book was a very slow burn that had a surprising twist, that I found myself to not really care about. I felt that the chapters were long and drawn out, and the characters were not very likeable in my opinion. I ended up listening to this one as an audio and did enjoy the performance of the narrators. The audio definitely helped me get through this book faster than if I had read it.

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and Rachel Hawkins for providing me with this gifted ebook and audio in exchange for my honest review.

BOOK REVIEW: THE VILLA

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Drink rec: Aperol Spritz

Lemme start off by saying I was OBSESSED with the setting- a gothic house in Italy with a dark past?! I’m here for it! This story features childhood besties Emily and Chess who go to this Italian Villa for a girls trip to reconnect after they had fallen out of touch.

There’s also a dual storyline that goes into what happened in the villa in the ‘70s featuring a rockstar, his love interest, and their group of friends whose time in the house ended when someone was murdered.

Pick this one up if you’re looking for:
🔍Mystery
🔀Dual storylines
⁉️Twisty ending
🏚Atmospheric setting

Overall, this was a fun binge read (or listen in my case!) and I’d recommend it if you are looking for something that will hook you in! It comes out on January 3rd! Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for my gifted copies!

When two friends take a month long trip to Italy to stay in the rumored Murder House what could go wrong?

Em's best friend Jessica (aka Chess) and fellow writer has invited her on a month long trip to stay in a Villa in Italy to reconnect as friends and to help work on their respective pieces they are writing. Dealing with her divorce and recent health problems Em agrees to go and starts to research more about the house they are staying in, what the town calls the Murder House.

Is this trip really what the two friends need or will the history the house holds and Em's ex husband tear the two friends apart??

I enjoyed the two timelines between Em and Chess and the past with Mary and her time at the Villa. The multiple readers also helped keep whose timeline you were in straight (I always enjoy multiple readers when it involves more that one timeline or character perspective). This was definitely an easy listen that I got through in a day.

The Villa is a dual timeline novel that will suck you right in from page one. Emily and Chess are best friends since childhood, but haven’t spent as much time together since Chess’s self help career has taken off. Her golden advice has landed her book at the top of the charts and her hiney on Oprah’s couch, while Emily’s book career feels stagnant and her marriage is falling apart. In an attempt to reconnect, the two women spend a summer at Villa Aestas, a home with a storied past, in Italy. Here they hope each can work on their respective book deadlines and when they aren’t writing spend time exploring nearby Orvieto.

In 1974 Villa Aestas was known as Villa Rosato, a name it lost after a fateful summer. Noel Gordon rents the villa for the summer to reignite is musical career, inviting up and comer Pierce Sheldon to join him. Pierce is stoked to work with Noel and brings his girlfriend Mari along, who also brings her sister Lara in tow. The group, along with an assistant, spend the summer jamming and drinking the summer away until one stormy night everything comes to a head. Pierce ends up dead on the living room floor and no one really knows what happened.

That fateful summer of ’74 inspired the women in the villa for certain. Mari ended up writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, and Lara to wrote her best selling album Aestas. Emily bored of her current novel, one of many in a series wants to know what happened in the home she is staying in and how much of Mari’s book and Lara’s album can help her to find out.

The Villa is a twisty thriller that finds a way to intertwine the past and the present in so many ways, but will the future mirror the past too much? Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and of course Rachel Hawkins for the advanced copy of the audiobook. The Villa is out on January 3rd. All opinions are my own.

This book follows two separate timelines at the Villa, one in modern time and the other in the 1970s. The timelines tell of separate tragedies a summer at the estate brings. I thoroughly enjoyed the dual timeline as it kept me engaged. The plot was easy to follow without being predictable. As a long time Hawkins fan you won’t be disappointed in this book!

I just finished listening to The Villa. I LOVE Julia Whalen as a reader. Her voice is distinctive and has such good inflection for humor and seriousness. The Villa was a great story and really kept my attention. My husband and I listened to it on our 13 hour drive to Houston TX. I'd stop it now and then for breaks to make sure we were on the right highway and my husband was always wanting me to start the audiobook because he was so engrossed in the story! That's the sign of a good book!!

Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins.

I have a very hit and miss relationship with Hawkins, one of my reviews was a 4 star, one of them was a 2 star. Well, I'm getting closer to a bingo, because this was a solid 3 stars.

Chess has been Emily's best friend for years, but Chess has also launched her career into orbit, earning her a lot of wealth and fame. Emily, not so much. After being sick with an unknown illness for some time, she is now coming down from a divorce. But even with the busy demands of their lives, Chess suggests a trip to Italy at a beautiful and luxurious Villa. Emily loves the idea of Italy, but she knows about the history of that certain Villa and isn't certain that she's ready to stay at a place where a murder happened.

It doesn't take long into the trip for the friendship to start feeling a strain. Emily is obsessed with the events that took place where they are staying. On top of that, she's starting to suspect that Chess hasn't really been as good of a friend as she thought she was...

As weird as it sounds, I could have done without the story in the 70's. I know that the whole story was centered around uncovering those secrets, but I just never cared. I really only cared about the friendship between Emily and Chess, and even that was lukewarm at best. The ending was not reassuring, and none of it was all that believable.

This was a fun quick read for me. Did I like the characters? Well, not so much, but Hawkins kept the story within a story moving right along and I was hooked. Plus, “ Houses Remember”. I’m always a sucker for a story set in a beautiful old house ( Trained by Nancy Drew 🤣).
Recommended for Hawkins fans.

Rachel Hawkins has done it again. She knows how to take you on a journey with so many twists and turns. There are two different stories happening at two different time periods that intertwine beautifully. The narrator tells this story so beautifully, the perfect narrator for this book. This is a must listen for any fan of suspense, highly recommend.

I love audiobooks and The Villa by Rachel Hawkins does not disappoint! This book was twisty and full of mystery. It pulled me in right away. I listened for hours at the time because the narration was excellent and I HAD to know what happened next.

Best friend drama, plot twist, gothic twist, secrets, luscious Italian villa,...this book will have you stopping along the way asking....wait, what? Holy moly did that just happen?

The book is super fast paced. If you are looking for a book that will grab your attention and take you on a twisty ride, this one is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this ALC.

This book was amazing, I can’t believe my friend who also had an ARC said she didn’t care for it! I can’t wait for it to come out so my book club can read it. Rachel Hawkins does it again!

I've been ITCHING to read this one since Hawkins always knocks it out of the park. Personally, this one fell a little short than her other novels. Though I did like it, it is not my favorite of hers. The audio book is hard to follow as it switches back and forth between timelines (though they have different accents to help), but I will add a disclaimer that I am not an audiobook person!

The story with Emily and Chess was infuriating because Chess is. I grew more and more irritated and wanted to smack her. This made me that much more invested in Emily's story though. Kept trying to guess how her story would unfold and I was wrong every time. Hawkins keeps you guessing until LITERALLY the last page.

The time jumps were interesting. Hawkins gives you just enough of the respective stories to keep you switching the page. Mari and Laura were similar to Emily and Chess. One seems to have everything while the other has "nothing". The dynamic between the characters in the 1974 timeline were......wow. It was cool to see that side compared to the current timeline and how different society is.

Though it's not my favorite Hawkins book, I still recommend reading! Like i said, it likely fell short for me due to it being an audio version (I'm a sucker for a physical book)

Emily and Chess were nearly conjoined as kids. Both wanting to be writers and even thinking of writing a book together As with many of us, they grew apart as they grew older. Emily married and wrote a cozy mystery series. Chess went on to become a self help pied piper with great success and the income that comes with that. The two reconnect when Chess is in town for a book signing, While Emily is going through a difficult and financially devastating divorce, Chess is riding high. Much to Emily's surprise, Chess invites Emily to come to Italy for the summer with her, Emily thinks this may be what she needs to help her focus on delivering the overdue next volume of her series.
They are staying at the fabulous Villa Aestas, a luxurious holiday rental in Orvieto.. It is also an infamous property where, in 1974, a notorious, but fading rock star, Noel Gordon, came in search of his own musical inspiration. To that end he invited a a talented musician whose star was on the rise, Pierce Sheldon, to join him. Pierce brought his girlfriend, Mary and her stepsister, Lara.. It is during this tumultuous stay that lovers' trysts, drugs, music and writing had it's crescendo in the Mary's writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composed a beloved platinum album, Aestos, and Pierce was brutally murdered..
Emily is intrigued by the history of the house and begins to delve into the story,. She becomes obsessed with the Aestos album as well as Mary's book., looking for clues into what she believes is more than a sex, drugs and rock and roll story. gone awry,. She believes something more malevolent was behind the evens of that fateful summer.
As Emily became more and more enveloped in the mystery, things with Chess became more strained. She was suspicious of Chess's motivation in inviting her here and annoyed with the unsolicited advice that Chess was giving her regarding her pending divorce. She also felt judged by her old friend, as if her books were not as worthy as those Chess wrote.
Is history repeating itself at the villa?
The story is told in two timelines, 1974 and the present. I did need to go back and listen to some parts twice to be sure I was keeping all the characters straight, but I think it would not be a problem when reading the book.. I think the breadcrumbs that the author leaves tips her hand on the plot a little too soon, but that does not diminish the suspense or the story.. There is a great twist at the end which readers will enjoy.
I look forward to the next Rachel Hawkins novel!

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book.

"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."

Told from Emily's point of view in current day and flashing back to Mari's from 1974, this book was a wild ride. Both Emily and Mari came to Villa Aestas to work on their writing, and both end up writing something other than they originally intended. Emily finds herself obsessed with Mari's story and what truly happened in 1974, and the more she digs into the mystery, the stranger that Chess behaves. What is Chess up to? What happened that summer in 1974? Does a house remember?
This book was twisty and full of mystery. I was pulled into the story from page one and couldn't stop listening. While I don't think that the twists and turns were big surprises, they were interesting and fun to follow along. The book is super fast paced and the audiobook is well done. If you're looking for a book that will grab your attention from page one and take you on a twisty ride, this one is for you.


Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC.
Schedule Release Date: January 3, 2023.

I listened to this book on audio and man, it was a ride. At first, this book made me want to call up my best friend and suggest a 6 week getaway in Italy but then it took a creepy turn. It had dual timelines and I loved the connection the two main characters, Emily (present) and Mari (1974), shared. I normally pass on audios that contain two or more narrators because it can get confusing, but the MCs did a fantastic job separating the two timelines and I was never guessing whose narration I was listening to. Overall, I enjoyed this book but think I would have liked reading it in print better.

I thought this would be a typical thriller where the woman was an alcoholic and dealing with an abusive man. I'm glad that it was a little deeper than that. The twist at the end was interesting, though I thought the present day part was wrapped up a little too quickly. I personally could never get into the past part of the book, but that is just me. Narrators were good. I'm glad I gave Rachel Hawkins a try.

4 stars!

I really enjoyed The Villa. I like the past and present pint of views so that we can see how the story of the past unfolds and leads to certain “mishaps” in the present. There were times the women in this book were annoying and I wanted to scream at all of them lol. More so Mari, Lara & Chess more than Emily. But all in all they were good friends/sisters. But overall it wasn’t a put off for me, I still liked the story.

This audio was great, the narrators did a fabulous job. And I look forward to reading more books by Rachel Hawkins, she never disappoints!!

Creepy, twisty, and sexy! Two best friends travel to a villa in Italy to reconnect- but secrets from the past start to come to light and their longtime friendship is threatened. This book has a book within a book… one of the greatest horror novels of all time, and it’s connection to the murder of a rockstar in 1974.

Emily begins to dig into the villa’s history, finding more to the story of that summer. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll make their mark on the Villa, where clues are still left to be discovered. The timeline moves between the summer of 1974 and modern day, revealing secrets and betrayals from the past and the present.

I loved the interconnected stories and timelines, which are blended masterfully! I read this one in a day, and loved the audio. The accents added depth to the story. This was perfect for my car trip!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced audio version. I loved it!

This book had me guessing the whole time! By the end I didn't know what or who to believe. This is one of those great stories within stories with many layers. Travel locations are perfect for Under the Tuscan Sun fans. The mystery is perfect for fans of Verity by Colleen Hoover and anything by Ruth Ware. I will be recommending this to customers and friends.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫🎧 (to be published January 3rd)

“Houses Remember.” This is how the story starts. When Emily and her bff Chess rent a house in Orvieto, Italy for the summer to focus on their writing it takes a dark turn as an infamous murder had taken place there 40 years earlier. And yet to survivors of this murder produced to great pieces of art: one literature and one musical. During this summer Emily becomes immersed in the house’s dark past and discovers links between the murder and the novel written by a survivor and begins investigating the question: was there more to this infamous murder.

Dark and gothic within the bright sunshine of Italy, clues and symbolism are everywhere. This is an excellent read or listen. Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for this advanced copy of the audiobook. I was captivated.

Themes: 👯‍♀️, 🏠, 🇮🇹, ☠️, 🗣️dual pov, 🔁 past and present

My feelings: 😀😳😱🥸😱🫣🫠

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