#rentsd

[shauntwaz]

I am excited because I actually get to play this game this time. Feeling nostalgic tonight as well all watch #RENTlive . I am still so grateful/thankful/awed that I was given the opportunity to play with this amazing cast & team @sandiegomusicaltheatre. It forever changed me. #thankyou #imangel #rent #RentSD #rentthemusical #jonathanlarson #shaunonstage (at San Diego Musical Theatre Inc) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtJt4iDhe6v/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15ohe1rt60tx5

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 2/5

Book Blurb: From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware. 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. Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.

Review:

Fame, romance, complicated relationships, and murder all occur in one house... told from two time lines the story revolves around a famous rockstar, two sisters, and the musician they both love.... and the murder of said musician... but after his death they both sky rocket to fame... and now in the present timeline two friends, both authors, spend a vacation at the villa in which the murder occurred... but soon they are in their own complicated web, The story follows Emily and Chess, now both in their 30s, they use to be best friends but separated due to life circumstances but Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy so both of them can work on their writing. They’ll be staying at Villa Aestas in Orveito, it is also known as Villa Rosato, a place that was rentsd by a famous rock star Noel Gordon in the summer of 1974 and in attempt to reignite his creative spark he invites up and coming musician Pierce Sheldon as well as pierce’s girlfriend Mari ( a writer) and Mari’s step sister ( a musician). This sets of a chain of events that lead to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time and Lara composing a platinum album... and ends in pierce’s brutal murder. As Emily digs around the villa she begins to find Mari’s writing about the events that occurred that summer. The more she digs in the more she becomes inspired herself yet she finds her own life reflecting those circumstances and the relationship between her and Chess are much more complexed than she thought. Think of Mari and Pierce and Mary Shelley and Percy Shelly, and their time at the villain as the time they spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva Castle, they have an open relationship but it’s complicated especially since Pierce is also sleeping with Lara, but the more time they all spend together the more trapped Mari feels and soon she’ll need to free herself. The story was anticlimactic and I found myself getting irritated with a lot of the characters and their actions. The whole murder mystery twist at the end was meh at best and honestly made the book even less likeable to me. I’m happy they got their happy endings but honestly, I just wanted the book to end. 

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[shauntwaz]

I am excited because I finally get to play. #RENT #rentlive #imangel @sandiegomusicaltheatre #rentsd #rentsdmt (at San Diego Musical Theatre Inc) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtJqyAahdnF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=p63wd2q3w1ua