3.5 in this ‘hen party that goes to hell’ story there are 2 timelines and multiple POVs so at times it can be a little confusing.

We are told from the outset that Aoife’s hen party in Marbella led to disaster. 3 years after her death, her friend Dani organises a reunion, ostensibly as an act of remembrance but really to try to reclaim her memory of what happened that night.

As with other books around a group of friends abroad, everyone has a secret and there are lots of red herrings. The central mystery is competently handled and the pace was right for the plot and it would make a good holiday read - unless you’re going to Marbella!

With thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and Jess Ryder for an arc of this novel.

I enjoyed The Villa it was a very enjoyable read. Didn't find any of the characters very likable though, but I will look out for more books by this author.

Dani's best friend Aoife is getting married, and they are off for an unforgettable weekend in Marbella.

It isn't cheap, but the girls are determined to give her the best send off.

Aoife, the hen has been friends with Tiff and Beth since School, Dani since University and Celine more recently via work.

She will shortly be marrying the man of her dreams, Nathan. The hen is her last chance to let her hair down before she settles into married life and she is determined to make the most of it.

But untold tragedy unfolds when Aoife is tragically killed.

Her killer isn't caught, and the hens return home devastated, without the bride.

Three years on and Dani is determined to mark the anniversary of Aoife's passing with a small memorial ceremony, and by finding out the truth about what happened.

She leads the others back to Marbs by persuading them that it will be good to celebrate and remember Aoife's life together, misleading them about her true reason for returning.

Seeking the truth...

Because Dani is sure that there is more to that night than she can remember, but she just doesn't realise just how much danger she has put herself and the others in by trying to discover the truth.

I quite enjoyed this story. It runs between the present and the then 3 years ago when Aoife's hen do took place. Dani is struggling to remember what happened in the lead up to Aoifes death and the gang have gone back to the same place and same resort to honour her memory.

I feel that this story is engaging and keeps you on your toes. For me personally I guessed early on but I do think this is a clever and well planned out story that a lot of people will enjoy. The characters are well developed and the story is well planned.

My name is Aoife and I'm going on my hen party next week so naturally I decided to pick up a book about a bride called Aoife who gets killed on her hen party. It's three years later and Aoife's friends/hens Dani, Tiff, Celine and Beth have returned to the location of the hen party/murder to celebrate Aoife's life but also in Dani's case retrace their steps from that faithful weekend and try to figure out what happened to end up in Aoife's death.

I think this was fun but from the start there was always a very prickly atmosphere between the girls. While Aoife is friends with Dani from college, Tiff and Beth from childhood and Celine from work, none of them really know each other and in Tiff's case downright dislikes Dani due to jealousy. This was also definitely the worst hen party I've ever heard about and not because the bride ended up dead, haha. Having only 5 people at a hen party is really odd - it's more a girl holiday than a party and they weren't close enough for that and at different points, all the hens are extremely selfish in their behaviour and I feel like they broke the cardinal rules of girlhood so many times (you never, ever leave your friends alone in a club!!).

It's obvious from the start as well that while they all love Aoife (or mostly Tiff and Dani), she can be a hard person to be friends with at times due to some party-hard behaviour and her attitude towards men. Though all of that was explained a bit throughout the novel as we see how stifled Aoife has been by her controlling relationship with Nathan (who was a slime) and how the hen party is her chance to realise she doesn't want to stay with him after all.

There were moments I couldn't believe the women's attitudes towards each other (mostly Tiff, Beth and Celine Vs Aoife and Dani) and I just know my friends would a. never leave two of us in a club on our own if there were some dodgy people about - it's either everyone goes home or no-one goes home - and also if I 'went off' with a man and the man came back without me, there would be hell raised. The fact that all of the girls dismissed Dani's behaviour when she came back in such a state and visibly injured shocked me.

I actually think there were some revelations - particularly about Nathan - that could have been left to later on in the book. The author did like to throw in some red herrings as Nathan, Matt and John all fly around in suspicions, but some elements of Nathan's true personality could have been leaked a bit better through the book rather than the very start us knowing he's had a hand in the entire (shit) hen party.

I don't think there was anything that really surprised me about some of the turn of the events and revelations at the end. Maybe the whodunnit even felt a bit tame after everything. I think I enjoyed this book more because of the particular time I'm reading it when I'm excited about my own hen party - though hopefully it doesn't end up in murder (just murder on the dancefloor lololol).

Well this has certainly been quite an entertaining and enjoyable story, with a few intriguing moments and intense scenes. The story was well written and pretty original in that it’s not predictable, however it was a bit of a slow burner, I would have liked it to be a bit more faster paced.

The 4 hens and the bride to be were certainly an interesting bunch, each different in personalities as you could get, which bought an interesting element to the story, when it came to figuring it out was being honest and who was lying. There were a couple of storylines throughout that had me guessing for sure.

As for the ultimate reveal/ending, very nicely done indeed, I certainly didn’t see that coming.

Three years ago, bride-to-be Aolife died at her own hen party. Now the hens have returned to the villa where that terrible weekend unfolded. They long for closure. But the moment they step back inside, old wounds open and tensions begin to rise. Everyone has a different version of what happened that night. Who is keeping secrets? And how far will they go to keep them hidden.

Three years ago, Aoife and her friends go to Spain for her hen party weekend, but tragically, Aoife died. Now, the hens are heading back to the villa to see if Dani can remember what had taken place.

The characters are all flawed in this fast-paced read. The story has a dual timeline - three years ago when Aoife died and the present day. It's told from multiple perspectives. It's filled with secrets and lies. I was fully invested in this story, I wanted to know why Aoife died, and why Dani had no memory of her death. This is a gripping read.

Published 18th July 2024

I would like to thank #NetGalley #RandomHouseUK #Cornerstone and the author #JessRyder for my ARC of #TheVilla in exchange for an honest review.

Headlines:
Hen weekend gone wrong
Retracing steps
Friends or enemies?

The Villa brought a story that invoked intense need to know what happened at that fated hen weekend for Aoife. The book started a few years on with the hens revisiting the villa on the anniversary of Aoife's death. We got differing POVs at the helm of chapters but Dani was the lead narrator. I honestly didn't know what to make of these four hens or Aoife for that matter. What I could immediately see was that many of these characters were morally grey.

The past and present structure really helped scaffold the telling of events but present narrative was the most prominent approach. Did I like any of these characters? Not really, but I did come to improve my initial impressions of one or two of them. I caught some earlyish forshadowing for one of the characters that came to fruition but there were lots of twists that I didn't see.

The male characters of this piece that seemed initially in the background, had some suspect roles to play. None less that Nathan, the way he orchestrated certain matters and how that played out was initially a shocker, again there was some early foreshadowing.

The Villa was entertaining, unputdownable and reminded us all that if you have a hen party only have friends you really trust with you!

Thank you to Penguin Books for the review copy.

This is. Fab read and perfect whilst lying on a sun lounger as you just can’t put it down.
An unusual concept original, well written and complete believable.
I had no idea how it would end and loved he ending and the whole story. Would thoroughly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for approving me for the ARC of The Villa. Another first for me, not read this author before.

This was a great story! Set in present day, but alternating between that and 3 years prior, it tells the tale of a hen party gone horrifically wrong, the fall out afterwards, and the relationship dynamics between the ladies.

I’m not sure if I particularly liked any of the girls, or would want to spend time with them! However, I felt they were well written and the twist at the end was not what I was expecting! A solid 4 stars and will be looking out for other novels by this author.

Once I got over the implausible plot line (I really couldn’t understand why the hens would agree to return three years later), I found this book a thrilling read. The story alternates between the original hen party and present day, as Dani tries to remember what happened. The individual personalities come through and the book certainly kept my attention right till the end.

This is such a well written book!! The atmosphere is incredible! I was so worried and wondered what was going to happen next!!
As we know from the synopsis, the original group of hens return to Ibiza, to pay their respects to their dead friend and bride to be Aoife, who was murdered in their holiday let villa.during the night. Her best friend Beth has always felt responsible, and wants to return to the scene of the crime to retrace their steps and work out who it was that wanted to murder Aoife. What would they gain? What could possibly be the reason?. There has to be a bit of hood winking to get the girls where they should be, to help Beth’s memories come back to her. She has had lots of the final night missing from her mind so she feels the need to retrace her steps.
It was tense, slightly scary, but in the end you’ll be shocked who the culprit is!!! I loved it!!! It deserves more than five stars!!!
Many thanks to Random House Uk for the opportunity to read this arc copy via Netgalley. My opinion is my own.
#Netgalley, #RandomHouseUk, #JessRyder.

I wasn't sure about whether The Villa would be for me as hen do haven't really appealed in the past. But I was surprised. Dani organises a return to the villa when her best friend, Aoife died 3 years ago on her hen night. She has ot been able to move on because that night is hazy. The other hens are not thrilled but as they are unable to find somewhere else to stay, they are stuck at the villa.
The story unfolds at a good pace as it flips from the two timeliness and between characters. Pleasing twist as well.

Firstly I would like to thank NetGalley for sending me an ARC for this book.

This is a story told from multiple POV’s set in both the past and present. What I liked the most about that was that the way the author had wrote it, it flowed perfectly from one moment to the next and I didn’t find myself getting confused.

I did however find it to be a bit of a slow burner and there was so much build up and the twist at the end I was just a bit like oh okay then, I wouldn’t say it wowed me. I thought the way they revealed who the killer was well done I did feel it was all a little bit rushed towards the end, with information just being thrown at you with no way to explore it all.

The premise of this book drew me in instantly, and the fact that it regularly changed the perspective between different characters and between present and past added great depth to the storytelling.

The mystery is introduced very early on, with a death occurring 3 years prior, yet the introduction of new plot points and characters throughout made it all the more intriguing. I enjoy a book which allows me to continuously guess and second guess where I think it may go, and this allowed for that without having any obvious answers.

The different perspectives allowed me to understand (and be frustrated by) the characters and ensure they were entirely 3D and, somewhat, relatable.

Overall I think this was a great read and I’d love to read more from this author.

A gripping read with a tense and sinister undertone running throughout.

Three years ago, Aoife was killed on her hen weekend in Marbella. Her best friend, Jess, was out of it that night and can't shake the guilt she still carries and so she convinces the other three hens to return to Spain to honour and remember Aoife on the three year anniversary of her death. What she doesn't tell them though, is that she has booked the same villa and intends to retrace their steps to try and trigger her memories of that weekend and find out the truth.

All four of the women, Jess, Tiff, Beth and Celine are strong personalities, not particularly likeable and self absorbed. This means there are clashes, tension and spats pretty much constantly, adding to the intrigue and making them all suspects.

Fast paced and twisty, this is a great summer read.

4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Jess Ryder and Random House, Cornerstone for an ARC in return for an honest review.

A thrilling read about the hen-party of your nightmares. It was great to see the fallout after the bride-to-be dies on her hen weekend in Marbella. The plot is uncovered via a dual timeline with different party goers taking their turn to tell us what happened. I thought I knew where the book was going but well done Jess you totally threw me at the end.

Bride-to-be Aoife is accompanied on a luxurious hen do with four of her best friends. The clashing of personalities and strains within the group make for a far from idyllic long weekend in the Villa Floriana, resulting in Aoife’s death. Fast forward three years and university best friend Dani, haunted by events, assembles the group together to retrace the weekend under the guise of a commemorative trip. Still awkward, the narrative of The Villa flips between present day and the past to reveal what really happened to Aoife.

I loved the back drop of this book - the locations and awkward, almost cliche, dynamics of the characters make for a believable relationships and compelling story. The hens and relationship with the bride are complex, with Aoife’s character being no exception. I think the juxtaposition of timelines worked well. Knowing that area of Spain pretty well, I could picture the scenery and thought it was a perfect location for the story. This is definitely going to be a great beach read this summer.

I loved how fast paced this book was, and I also enjoyed the multiple POVS. It felt fun trying to decipher the mystery, and I was not prepared for all of the twists and turns!

Friends return to Marbella where their friend and bride-to-be was murdered 3yrs ago. What did they expect to achieve? To actually find out what happened to their friend. We hear the story from several POVs and across the two timelines which I always really enjoy in a story.

But being back is painful and they each hold secrets. I had it sussed multiple times but was always proven wrong. Full of twist that definitely keep you guessing until the end.