Book Review: The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

 GOODREADS SUMMARY:

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.

As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.

Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.

TEE'S THOUGHTS:

The Villa is a slow-burn thriller ( but I am going to put it in the suspense category ), that is written in a dual timeline of past and present.

Emily and Chess have been best friends for as long as they could remember, but life, careers, and marriages have taken them in separate directions causing them to grow apart. Both are writers and decide to meet up at an Italian Villa to give them a change of scenery and help them write, catch up with each other and help Emily heal from a broken marriage.

The two narrators of the story are Emily ( present-day ) and Meri ( the past which is set in the 1970s). I myself have become a bit bored with the dual timeline trend, but I know a lot of readers who love it, and  I will admit that this one seems to work with the story well. I did become bored with Emily's present timeline, it did pick up toward the end, but I enjoyed Meri's through most of the book. I have found that this is usually the case with me, for some reason I enjoy the past much more.

I thought none of the characters were that likable. Emily appeared overly jealous of Chess, and honestly, I found no redeemable qualities in Chess at all. I did feel slightly bad for the situation Meri was in with Lara and Pierce but also felt she could have easily left and improved her situation. 

The book caught my attention because one of the influences was Mary Shelley's weekend at Lord Byron's where she wrote Frankenstein in a contest. Yes, there was a story written within the story, but to me, that was the only similarity, but of course, it was only an influence and not based on anything more. I am not sure if they were hoping for a gothic feel with the Italian Villa, but there was not enough mention of it to be a gothic story, nor did I think it had a creepy or foreboding feel about it. It only had the previous murder, but even with the line The House Remembers, which was stated several times, I did not get a creepy feel. I wish it had been written with more of that gothic imagery, I think it would have been a great story.

Don't get me wrong, The Villa wasn't a bad read, I think I just went into it thinking it would be something other than it was. It had some great parts so please read it and do not let my review prevent you from doing so.