emmonsannae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, and Adult/minor relationship
elisalasater's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Violence, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Pregnancy
jkarki's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I don't think I really liked a single character in this book, but I loved to hate them. Emily and Mari were tolerable, but not sure why Emily didn't also
Spoiler
"let" Chess drown too.A nice easy read, would be a great beach read! Maybe don't read it if you're planning a trip to a remote Italian town and staying in an old villa though.
Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Suicide, Murder, Child death, Infidelity, Drug use, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Minor: Chronic illness, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Stalking
a_lyttle_book_blog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
I wasn't super interested when it would go back to the earlier timeline. I liked the current timeline story and found myself not as engaged during the earlier timeline, which I think made it harder to get into overall. I felt that the end was a bit rushed, but the story was still good.
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Chronic illness, and Toxic relationship
frenchvanillapowdercreamer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Murder, Infidelity, Child death, Death, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Violence, Pregnancy, and Chronic illness
Minor: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Suicide
itsheyfay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Violence, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Addiction, Drug use, Child death, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Miscarriage and Vomit
vanella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Murder, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, and Cursing
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Vomit
Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
theonlybaillie's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide
Minor: Grief, Terminal illness, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Vomit
jpellwood's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicide, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Addiction, and Drug use
Minor: Terminal illness
thebakerbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
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.
Graphic: Infidelity, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Miscarriage
Minor: Suicide