Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

65 reviews

minimicropup's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Inquisitive, ghoulish, contemplative

We follow characters from two timepoints - the '70s and present day. Both timePOVs are set in a Villa on the outskirts of Orvieto, Italy. The present day characters (a cozy mystery author and wellness influencer) are working on their slightly estranged friendship and are enticed by the history of the villa. In the 1970s a platinum album was composed and a classic horror novel written at the villa.

Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐺🐕: 

• I liked the depth of character development and how the hint of campiness slowly escalated through a realistic slow burn mystery
• Bit of grown-up Goosebumps energy with discovering the history of the Villa and what went down by decoding hints in the author's horror novel
• The setting was immersive and kind of evolved into its own entity in the story
• If you're in this just for the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll you may be disappointed. It's in the plot, but isn't the main focus. I liked how it was worked into the plot naturally and seemed realistic.

Cred Rating 👌: Realistic with just a touch of campy

Mood Reading Match Up: 

• Friendship and sibling dramas with bits of 'cattiness', jealousy, scheming, and competition + heartwarming and empathetic moments
• Slowly unraveling murder mysteries and blackmail 
• Elements of "good for her" revenge
• Summer vacation vibes, nostalgic 1970s vibes

Content Heads-Up: Good childfree-by-choice rep (female). Gaslighting and emotional abuse. Drug and alcohol use. Death of a baby.

Format: Scribd Digital and Audio

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Sexual harassment

Sexual content is with consent. Adult/minor relationship is early 20s with 15-16 year olds running away from family together.

cheypreston's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug use and Murder

vanella's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Vomit

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

britnidudley's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug use and Murder

jenxreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

meghanm404's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

nickoliver's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This wasn't very original, most things were very easily predictable - though admittedly, the very last chapter did take me a bit by surprise, and it did add a bit of a dark, tragic twist. Also, it was very fast-paced, and once I really sat down to read, the pages flew quickly. I just wished the loose ends hadn't stayed so loose; I felt like there were certain plot points that alluded to things that never actually ended up happening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide and Violence

Minor: Cancer and Miscarriage

jpellwood's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicide, and Pregnancy

Minor: Terminal illness

ohennui's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicide, Grief, and Pregnancy

ronnieb's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Chronic illness and Drug use