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A review by justagirlwithabook
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Emily and Chess, 30-something best friends, decide to take a summer vacation away from everything and escape to Villa Aestas in Italy. Emily is in the process of getting a divorce from a toxic husband and also needs to meet a looming deadline from her publisher for the next book in her cozy mystery series. Chess is working on her next book, full of positive vibes, 'you can do its,' and self-help. Both of them are a little unhappy, but the trip to the Villa is sure to brighten up their outlook on life and their current situations.
Flashback to 1974, where the Villa was the location of a scandal. Up-and-coming musician Pierce, along with his girlfriend Mari and her step-sister Lara all join famous musician Noel for a summer free of inhibitions but full of inspiration. Things take a turn, though, when one of them is murdered.
So what really happened that night? And what secrets can be found when Emily and Chess start digging around, not just into the past lives of famous people and their murder house, but each others' lives as well?
What I enjoyed:
- The writing overall was well done from a literary standpoint (though, that being said, I am the type of reader that prefers more plot than what was given here).
- There was a decent enough amount of suspense to keep me reading initially (which sort of petered out a little before halfway through), and the suspense did come back towards the very end with a few things being revealed.
- I did appreciate that the storyline was inspired by a mix 70s music and real events (the Manson Murders & Percy and Mary Shelley's summer with Lord Byron).
- Some of the reveals and discoveries were enjoyable to learn about and helped spur on some of the plot, which made everything feel like it got more fast-paced (thank goodness!).
What I didn't enjoy:
- This one slogged a bit. Once I got to 40%, I remember thinking, "Gosh, I'm already 40% in and feel like hardly anything has really happened." Sure, there was a bit of scratching like "surely we're leading up to something happening ... I feel like I can feel it coming" ... and then I continued to wait and wait. At that point, I was setting down the book and it just wasn't drawing me back to it. I was on the verge of DNF'ing but decided to stick to it and finish it out. But things only really started rolling and feeling more suspenseful at the 75% mark, and even then, the results of that were a bit lackluster and deflating.
- The characters weren't generally likeable, and that could have been done on purpose but I didn't really feel connected to the main POV characters and really didn't have an opinion one way or the other if things went well for them or not.
- I was hoping for some good twists that would make the slowness and the not-super-likeable characters all worth it, but the twists that happened just left me saying, "Oh. That's it?" Hawkins dropped in one, what I think was inteneded to be, "large" twist at the very end, but it didn't seem to really land with what I think was the intended effect.
- The dual timelines and their characters are very similar to one another (by design) - a bit mirrored - but there were times when the switching back and forth did get confusing especially more in the beginning with keeping the characters all straight in your mind.
Overall:
I was hopeful that this would be a solid mystery/suspense novel but it fell a bit short for me. I do have to hand it to the author for the writing because it was well crafted, but as a reader, I need more plot to help keep the pace up, and I wanted larger, more impactful twists that would leave me with eyes wide and my hand over my jaw-dropped mouth. Because it was well-written and clearly well thought out, I'm handing it a 4 of 5 stars (rounding up what feels more like a 3.5 to me). I do think there is an audience of readers that will enjoy this immensely, but I'll be considerate of recommending this book to those who don't necessarily need big twists to enjoy a storyline and who also don't mind heavier character-driven novels.
A thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the e-ARC! This one publishes January 3, 2023!
Flashback to 1974, where the Villa was the location of a scandal. Up-and-coming musician Pierce, along with his girlfriend Mari and her step-sister Lara all join famous musician Noel for a summer free of inhibitions but full of inspiration. Things take a turn, though, when one of them is murdered.
So what really happened that night? And what secrets can be found when Emily and Chess start digging around, not just into the past lives of famous people and their murder house, but each others' lives as well?
What I enjoyed:
- The writing overall was well done from a literary standpoint (though, that being said, I am the type of reader that prefers more plot than what was given here).
- There was a decent enough amount of suspense to keep me reading initially (which sort of petered out a little before halfway through), and the suspense did come back towards the very end with a few things being revealed.
- I did appreciate that the storyline was inspired by a mix 70s music and real events (the Manson Murders & Percy and Mary Shelley's summer with Lord Byron).
- Some of the reveals and discoveries were enjoyable to learn about and helped spur on some of the plot, which made everything feel like it got more fast-paced (thank goodness!).
What I didn't enjoy:
- This one slogged a bit. Once I got to 40%, I remember thinking, "Gosh, I'm already 40% in and feel like hardly anything has really happened." Sure, there was a bit of scratching like "surely we're leading up to something happening ... I feel like I can feel it coming" ... and then I continued to wait and wait. At that point, I was setting down the book and it just wasn't drawing me back to it. I was on the verge of DNF'ing but decided to stick to it and finish it out. But things only really started rolling and feeling more suspenseful at the 75% mark, and even then, the results of that were a bit lackluster and deflating.
- The characters weren't generally likeable, and that could have been done on purpose but I didn't really feel connected to the main POV characters and really didn't have an opinion one way or the other if things went well for them or not.
- I was hoping for some good twists that would make the slowness and the not-super-likeable characters all worth it, but the twists that happened just left me saying, "Oh. That's it?" Hawkins dropped in one, what I think was inteneded to be, "large" twist at the very end, but it didn't seem to really land with what I think was the intended effect.
- The dual timelines and their characters are very similar to one another (by design) - a bit mirrored - but there were times when the switching back and forth did get confusing especially more in the beginning with keeping the characters all straight in your mind.
Overall:
I was hopeful that this would be a solid mystery/suspense novel but it fell a bit short for me. I do have to hand it to the author for the writing because it was well crafted, but as a reader, I need more plot to help keep the pace up, and I wanted larger, more impactful twists that would leave me with eyes wide and my hand over my jaw-dropped mouth. Because it was well-written and clearly well thought out, I'm handing it a 4 of 5 stars (rounding up what feels more like a 3.5 to me). I do think there is an audience of readers that will enjoy this immensely, but I'll be considerate of recommending this book to those who don't necessarily need big twists to enjoy a storyline and who also don't mind heavier character-driven novels.
A thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the e-ARC! This one publishes January 3, 2023!