The Villa by Rachel Hawkins is a woman’s literature with a mystery to it. It is being marketed as a mystery for which it is a slow burn with the reveals coming at 60%. But the story is filled with generations of women living through men who try to control them. The novel is a story within a journal about a writer who writes a story that is a sequel to a story her mother wrote. At first this novel is very confusing but makes sense quickly as it introduces it’s characters. The story is told in present day, and through a journal in the 1970’s and through a story that is from the journal writer in the 1970’s. I had a hard time connecting to the characters in this story because they keep making such stupid decisions for such smart characters. I found myself doing the horror thing where instead of me yelling don’t go in there to the character, I’m yelling don’t fall in love with him. The pace on this novel as slow as the first 60% is all set up with very few reveals that are all small. I considered not finishing put powered through to a decent ending. I really liked the final reveal, but it broke the rules of not coming from the journal of the character but of the characters actions on the day. This novels does have one great opening line with “Houses remember”. I would like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin Press for giving me a free copy to review. The Villa is published on January 3 2023.

Plot Summary: Emily is a soon to be divorced struggling writer of cozy mysteries, who is childhood best friends with Chess a best selling self help guru. Chess invites Emily to an Italian villa for rest relaxation and writing. Emily finds out the villa is named after a famous song that was written at the villa and a famous novel was written there but also a famous murder. Emily soon becomes obsessed with the murder, the song, and the book all written here in the 1970’s. She finds the author’s journal and it starts revealing hidden truths of events leading up to the murder the group consisting of a rock star drug dealer, girlfriend of murder victim, and the girlfriend’s step sister has never talked about. The situations in the past and present start mirroring themselves it the villa or something else.

What I Liked: The history surrounding the Villa was interesting. I liked the Emily and Chess scenes the best. I liked the final reveal and what it means for the past and the present. I loved that first line, “Houses remember” so much. I liked the song lyrics from the songs and what they mean to the story. I liked the well scene.

What I Disliked: The horrible choices from smart women, I wanted more reason behind their choices. I thought the part where emily listens to the podcast was lazy writing and did not need that much of the segment. Pacing was bad should have had a big reveal a lot sooner than 60% of the book. something major happens and we the audience didn’t see how it happened. The story within the story did not seem all that interesting, to become a best seller.

Recommendation: This book was hard to review there’s some parts I like and some I disliked. I think the author has talent in their descriptions but wanted a better story and a way better mystery. The end reveal was the best part but it could not save the story. I can not recommend this book. I rated The Villa by Rachel Hawkins 3 out of 5 stars.