A great psychological thriller about a widow filled with secrets and twists. A true page-turner, that I couldn't put down. I love anything related to horoscope and this story incorporates horoscope into the plot. There are two mysteries intertwined and I loved that I was always kept on my toes. The characters are interesting and the book is very well written.

In "The Unraveling of Julia," Lisa Scottoline presents a gripping narrative filled with mystery and self-discovery. Julia, having endured significant loss, finds her life upended once more when she loses her husband in a tragic event. Alone in Brooklyn, her world shifts dramatically upon receiving a letter informing her of an unexpected inheritance: a villa and vineyard in Tuscany from a mysterious benefactor. Eager for a fresh start, Julia embraces this opportunity and travels to Italy, where she learns that Emilia Rossi, her benefactor, claims descent from the Renaissance figure Duchess Caterina Sforza and bears a striking resemblance to Julia. As Julia delves into the histories of Emilia and Caterina, she discovers unsettling parallels with her own life. However, her quest for answers places her and those she cares about in jeopardy, as she uncovers a conspiracy that threatens her existence and reveals the truth about her identity.

My experience with "The Unraveling of Julia" was thoroughly engaging, as the novel's dual mysteries surrounding the Tuscan villa and Julia's biological family kept me eagerly turning the pages. Scottoline masterfully delivers surprises and plot twists that are both well-executed and satisfyingly unpredictable. After witnessing her husband's brutal murder, Julia's transformation from a recluse in Brooklyn to a determined seeker of truth in Tuscany is both compelling and believable. The book stands out with its innovative storyline, captivating plot, and well-developed characters, allowing readers to connect deeply with Julia's journey. Overall, I found "The Unraveling of Julia" to be a captivating read, deserving a solid four-star rating for its ability to weave a complex and thrilling tale that held my attention from start to finish.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I recently had the pleasure of reading this, and I have to say, it exceeded my expectations in so many ways. From the very first page, I was hooked by the engaging style and the intriguing characters. The author does an excellent job of building a world that feels both immersive and believable, making it easy to get lost in the story. The plot was full of twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. Just when I thought I had it figured out, the story would surprise me with something unexpected. I highly recommend this and all their work.

The Unraveling of Julia is a combination of psychological thriller, paranormal, historical fiction, and women's fiction. It has a little bit of everything.

Julia witnesses her husband's brutal murder and then secludes herself in fear of being attacked herself. Both of her adoptive parents are no longer living and her only outlet is talking to her best friend, Courtney. Months after her husband's death, Julia finds out she has inherited a villa in Tuscany from a woman she has never heard of, Emilia Rossi. She wonders if Emilia could be her biological grandmother. She overcomes her fears and travels to Tuscany to search for answers. She has inherited a villa, 40 acres and millions of dollars. While there, it's apparent the people do not want her there and she does not know who to trust. She wonders if her husband's murder and her experiences in Tuscany are related. While reading, the paranormal was a miss for me, but after continuing it all unfolded and made sense. The ending comes together nicely and no question is left unanswered. Well done! 4.5 stars

This book made me want to pour a glass of Chianti and eat Italian cuisine.

Julia is recovering from the murder of her husband when she learns that she has inherited some money and a villa from someone she doesn't know. She travels to Italy in order to try to figure out what the deal is. Could this be her bio family, as she was adopted.

This story added in some astrology as well as some supernatural things that really just seemed to confuse things a bit.

All in all it was an interesting read.

Julie thinks her life is over after the horrific murder of her husband. She then receives a letter informing her that she has been bequeathed a large sum of money and a villa in Italy. Having been adopted, Julia often wonders about her birth mother and considers if the owner of the villa is somehow related biologically to her. Only one way to get her answers, travel to Tuscany and investigate.

Drawn in from the beginning, I read it in two days. Murder, astrology, premonition, and visions, are woven throughout this psychological thriller. Scottoline is a master storyteller in her development of the characters and the scenes in Italy. Who hasn't felt uneasy and questions their reality? Scottoline uses her own birthday to authenticate Julia's astrological connections/info. Highly recommend for Book Clubs, many discussion points. Fans of hers will not be disappointed, prepare to do nothing else once you start reading.

Lisa Scottoline is an exceptional writer. As with every one of her titles that I've previously read, The Unraveling of Julia is rich with beautifully described settings, deeply developed characters, and a moving plot.

The story has just the right number of characters and they interrelate so well. The novel moves along nicely; I appreciate the length of the chapters - not too long, yet not so short as to seem choppy. The story unfolds smoothly in that chapters build on each other rather than transition to and from different places or times.

Reading The Unraveling of Julia is a virtual visit to the Tuscan countryside - the novel is replete with the sights, sounds, and culture of this beautiful region. Each of the Italian characters contributes to this sensation, pulling the reader in with local dialect and the mannerisms expected from residents of this area.

One character - the protagonist's best friend Courtney - uses quite a bit of colorful language including several f-words. Personally, I'm nto at all a fan of this in any books I read, yet I acknowledge that it won't bother many. Still, in my opinion, the characters would have retained her feisty streetwise nature and the reading experience would have been better without the language.

Fans of astrology, the supernatural, and the mystical will adore this book. Although those areas are not within my typical reading interests, I decided to "just go with it", since this is, after all, fiction.

The conclusion of the story made my rating a solid 4. It is loaded with emotions of all kinds, so much so that I couldn't put the book down. Have tissues at the ready as you read the final chapters.

I'm very grateful to Grand Central Publishing and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read a prepublication edition of this novel; all comments offered here are strictly my own, unbiased opinions.

The Unraveling of Julia presents a mystery and story of self-discovery set against the backdrop of Tuscany. Julie Pritzker, is a woman in her mid-thirties, who is grappling with the traumatic loss of her husband, brutally murdered in front of her eyes. This harrowing event leaves Julie fearful and agoraphobic, leading a reclusive life.

When Julie receives an unexpected letter from an Italian lawyer, she is shocked. The letter informs her of an inheritance—a villa in Tuscany—from a stranger named Emilia Rossi. This news propels Julie into a journey to uncover her biological roots and the truth behind this mysterious bequest. Upon her arrival, she encounters hostility from locals, cryptic responses from the lawyer, and unsettling visions of Caterina Sforza, hinting at a possible ancestral connection.​

Scottoline creates a gothic atmosphere, intertwining Julie's present experiences with historical intrigue.
While the narrative is rich with twists and turns and the majority of plot threads are satisfactorily resolved.
In essence, this is a captivating read that masterfully combines elements of suspense, history, and personal discovery. #grandcentralpublishing #theunravelingofjulia #lisascottoline

Julia inherits an Italian villa and fortune from a woman she doesn't know. Trying to recover from her husband's murder, she decides to travel to Tuscany to find out why she is in a stranger's will. Strange visions; people following her wherever she goes; unfriendly villagers; what is happening? Great story of intrigue and mystery!

Lisa Scottoline is one of my go-to authors. I'll read anything she writes. I did not like Julia. I really couldn't stand her. As an empath, I felt sorry for her, but the shallowness of the character development otherwise didn't endear her to me. The storyline was interesting, but it could lose the supernatural stuff (caused by hallucinogens or not) and been a much better book in my opinion. The setting almost redeemed the novel. I'll always read a book set in Tuscany.

The unraveling of Julia. This is a haunting, ghost story. Julia has lost her husband to a murder robbery that she witnessed. Now she has inherited an Italian castle from someone she doesn’t know. This place is haunted by an evil ghost

Lisa Scottoline is an auto buy author for me. Her latest, The Unraveling of Julia, was a five star read for me!

I wanted so much to love this book, but 33% of the way in, I was hoping it was almost over. The main character was difficult to connect with, and the way she interacted with the other characters felt aggressive and over the top. Her expecting everyone to just drop what they were doing and investigate based on nothing was annoying and happened more than once throughout the story. While it was a psychological thriller with super natural tendencies woven throughout, each new reveal made it feel too ridiculous for even this type of book. Would not recommend unfortunately.

I'm with Julia's best friend Courtney. I don't believe in ghosts.

Lisa Scottolina's descriptions of Italy weren't enough to make me enjoy this book.

I felt no connection to any of the characters. Once the super natural was incorporated, I lost all hope of enjoying this book.

I gave up at 46%.

This could be the hardest review I've ever written. I love Lisa Scottoline, but in all honesty, I was ready to stop reading this book halfway through, and I probably would have if I didn't feel obligated to review a book that I had gotten from Netgalley as well as the fact that she had written it and I just couldn't believe that she was writing a book that revolved around a character who was so totally wrapped up in her horoscope. I tried to brush it off, but when weirder and weirder things started happening, it was hard for me to keep reading. But the writing was very good and I WAS engrossed in the storyline, so I kept reading. And I am SO glad I did. It ended up being just what you would expect from Lisa Scottoline - suspenseful, twisty, and with a satisfying ending, meaning that all the loose ends were wrapped up at the perfect pace, with perfectly reasonable explanations. When this book comes out in July, I will be going straight to my friends who like her and tell them exactly what I have said here. I would hate for anyone to give up on her or this book just because the kind of people who like her books probably aren't used to reading about where this book seems to be heading - even the title makes it sounds like she is going crazy. This was a great book, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she will write about next!

Having the chance to read an early copy of The Unraveling of Julia by Lisa Scottoline was an intriguing experience. This psychological thriller, set to release in July 2025, weaves together mystery, self-discovery, and historical intrigue in a way that kept me engaged from start to finish.

The story follows Julia Pritzker, a young widow who has endured devastating losses, including the deaths of her adoptive parents and the murder of her husband. Just as she’s attempting to rebuild her life, an unexpected inheritance changes everything. A woman she has never heard of, Emilia Rossi, leaves her a villa and vineyard in Tuscany. With no knowledge of any biological relatives, Julia embarks on a journey to Italy to uncover the truth behind this mysterious connection.

What she finds only deepens the mystery. Emilia was a reclusive figure who believed she was a descendant of Renaissance-era ruler Duchess Caterina Sforza. As Julia investigates, she begins to see eerie similarities between herself, Emilia, and even Caterina. Their shared physical features and unusual interests—like an obsession with astrology—blur the lines between coincidence and fate. The deeper she digs, the more she feels an unsettling presence following her, leaving her to question whether she’s truly uncovering her past or losing her grip on reality.

Scottoline delivers a gripping blend of historical and psychological suspense, using the stunning backdrop of Tuscany to enhance the novel’s atmosphere. The exploration of ancestry, identity, and fate versus free will adds a compelling depth to the narrative. The slow unraveling of secrets creates a steady tension that makes it difficult to put the book down.

Overall, this novel left a lasting impression. It masterfully balances historical intrigue with the emotional and psychological struggles of its protagonist. Fans of psychological thrillers with rich, layered storytelling will find this book especially compelling.

i kinda felt like this book had a historical, horror, and thriller vibe all in one going on. This is my first book by this author and I love it because of her writing style and the way she depicts the characters in the story. I was hooked the whole time and had no problem staying focused on the story. I will be checking more of this author work.

This book has everything...tragedy, love, intrigue, location, astrology, history and so much more. Julia has a terrible feeling that something bad is going to happen and that night her husband is murdered. Flash forward, she gets a call from an Italian lawyer, informing her that she has inherited a villa outside of Florence. From the moment she sets foot in her villa, things happen at a fast pace. Loved the attention to detail, history, food and so much more.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC, it was a pleasure to give my feedback.

Julia, still grieving the loss of her older adoptive parents, finds out she is the recipient of an old Italian villa from a woman she's never heard of. At first she is convinced it is a misunderstanding, but once she arrives in Italy it becomes clear that there's been no mistake, and that perhaps Emilia Rossi knew something Julia didn't.

There are many mysteries to uncover in the old Italian villa, about the proprietress and the family that once lived there. Julia begins almost immediately having vivid visions once she arrives that has her convinced there is a tether somewhere there of Julia's biological family.

Like any good psychological thriller, the lines of reality get a little bit blurry, and almost everything we think we know is constantly in doubt. Who is this woman who left Julia this decrepit property? Did she really have ties to an ancient Italian duchess with a scandalous history? Are either or both of them of any relation to Julia? And why is she feeling so much pressure to sell and leave the past to be buried with the old crone who left it to her?

This book explores something I don't often encounter in books: a spiritual intuition. Astrology, horoscopes, intuition, and even communicating beyond the veil as a medium. I tend to believe there is a spiritual realm of some sort of which we normally do not have access to. I love the idea that sometimes, under the right circumstances, or with the right people, we can connect over that bridge. If you are fully anti-'woo-woo', you will probably not enjoy this book.

While I did really enjoy this story, it didn't really grab me fully under its spell. Theoretically I really enjoy the idea of this book, but I just wasn't able to fully sink in the way I like. It might have been a timing issue, or something about trying to juggle so many theories without knowing up from down for so much of the novel. Was it a good book? Absolutely. Will I continue to read every Lisa Scottoline book I can get my hands on? Also yes. If you're a fan of the ol' psychological thriller, I think you'll find a lot to enjoy about The Unraveling of Julia.

Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Unraveling of Julia by Lisa Scottoline is a book that will keep you turning pages until the very end. It has suspense, drama, murder, romance, ghosts, and even a conspiracy. I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley.com and I always review every book that I read. I read this one in 2 days! I could not wait to find out how all would turn out. It has scenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that were familiar to me and also some of the areas in Italy brought back memories. The book is well written. The plot and characters are well developed. You can read the synopsis for yourself, so I won't reiterate it. I will say that I highly recommend it. Enjoy.