Trigger Warning: Chronic Sickness, Death of a Child, Drug Abuse

I did not expect this book to work for me as much as it did. After liking “The Wife Upstairs” a lot and being really disappointed by “Reckless Girls” I was not even going to give this one a try. I did not pay attention to the plot at all so when I was looking for a quick audiobook and it was available at my library I decided to just try. Looking into I probably would have found it interesting because it has tropes I love. Friends taking a trip to a secluded location, multiple timelines, those timelines overlapping. These are all classic tropes that get me all the time. 

The back-and-forth tension between the timelines was so exciting and kept me hooked. The frenemy of the Emily/Chess relationship that mirrored the rocky Mari/Laura was a solid narrative choice that keeps the reader engaged but both timelines were distinct enough to not get lost in which POV you were in. The chapters were long and would move back and forth a lot which using the audiobook was easy to track but when reading physically I dislike long chapters so that is something to note that could affect the enjoyment level one may feel. I think the thriller/mystery elements were maybe obvious but added to the tension because you could feel these large confrontations coming it was just a matter of when and what would blow the lid for everything. 

Overall, I loved this. Is it the best, most shocking, well-written mystery-thriller novel? No, but it is fun and quick which will be perfect for Summer beach reads or a quick afternoon read. 

The Villa has parallel stories of Mari and her summer in the 70s and Emily in present day. Emily is in the middle of a divorce when her best friend, Chess, offers her a summer in Italy at the same villa where a murder occurred. Emily is a cozy mystery writer and takes Chess up on the offer to see if she can get her mind off the divorce and back into writing. While there, she gets sucked into Mari’s world by reading the late author’s book that was published after the tragedy. 

I loved the double story telling. As the 70s murder mystery unraveled, Emily’s story got built up and up. I suspected some twists but didn’t see others coming. I will say that my biggest letdown was that Mari’s story was much more exciting, the climax was strong, and the ending intriguing. Emily and Chess’ story fell a little flat and didn’t seem to have as fleshed out of an ending as the other story. Other than that, the story was great. I loved diving into the murder mystery while trying to figure out the best friends’ dynamic. 

This book is unlike any I’ve read recently. It had the atmospheric glow of an Italian summer but is still very thriller-heavy. We are not skipping down cobblestones eating gelato, we are taking cautious steps and trying not to get caught in lies. It is perfect for anyone wanting something immersive or for fans of duel timelines. I’m really happy to have had the chance to read this! 

(I still have so many thoughts and questions and I wish that book reviews could just be filled with spoilers so I could unleash everything. But this is where I say “read The Villa!” instead.)

I like Rachel Hawkins a lot and this book was typically complex and creative. I didn’t feel like the payoff was as strong as I would’ve wanted—the post reveal plot line happened mostly off screen and felt undeveloped. Solid, but not her best

A decent thriller made excellent on audio!

This one is split into two timelines—the past timeline (minus the murder) is inspired by Mary Shelley's life when she wrote Frankenstein and I love that for this story. I once again found the past more interesting than the present, with all the complicated relationships between the characters and a dramatic summer that we know ends in death. The present storyline was just okay, though it did get a lot more interesting once Emily actually arrived at the villa—and her and Chess's relationship became the focus. I liked that part, even though I'm not sure that I ended up liking either character lol.

I will say though, with this book being called The Villa, I expected the villa to actually play a more important role. A lot of times the location feels like its own character, but that did not happen here, which was a bit disappointing. The villa just happened to be the place where these things happened, rather than the *only* place where these things could happen.

The ending did not surprise me; I didn't guess it but once I read it, it just felt like the only ending. I do think it added to the story though, definitely mixed things up!

Thanks to Libro.fm, Macmillan Audio, and the author for my ALC.