I’m sad to say that I was disappointed in this book. I really enjoyed “The Kind Worth Killing” by Peter Swanson and was excited to read this book, but felt the execution was lacking and the characters were flat.

It was clever to tell this story in reverse, and with the reveal at the end it tied it together well, however before the reveal the story just drags and is quite boring. Thom and Wendy are certainly not the good guys which we find out very early, however they weren’t even interesting villains. Again, I was just bored with their characters and annoyed by their personalities.

Nothing really happened in the first part of the book that added to their characters or the overall story. Things started to pick up in the last fourth of the book but by then it was too late to really be excited by anything, and it didn’t tie in the first part really. I didn’t have any moments where I was like oooh, I get why it was slow or now I see why that scene happened. Nope, you only get one tie in from the very beginning and very end.

So I’m sorry to say I won’t be recommending this book, but I’ll still give Swanson a try on other books.

TL;DR: loved the unique concept, really didn't love the execution. the characters were kinda hateful and because you start at the end of their relationship, they're miserable for most of the book as you work backwards to when they first meet. Ultimately, while I appreciate the big swing, it didn't work for me.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

We follow a married couple as we go backwards through their lives to find reveal the dark secret at the beginning of their relationship.

I was not a fan of this one. I have really liked this author in the past but this one missed the mark for me. I really just did not get the point of this one. I think the time thing was a cool idea but it just didn't do anything for the story.

I was bored and did not like the characters either. I just don't think this book offered anything and really had no point.

I hope my next Peter Swanson works for me!

This one was twisty and fast, with a really cool “story within a story” vibe. It kept me guessing the whole time, and I liked how dark and clever it got. It’s not my top Swanson book, but it was still a solid thriller that kept me turning pages.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy! Peter Swanson is my automatic buy author. He is the author who made me love reading, so I hate to say that I didn’t love this one. I unfortunately did not finish.

Swanson’s pacing is as tight as ever—short chapters that dare you to put the book down (you won’t). The premise is deliciously meta, blurring the line between a writer’s imagination and the crimes that begin to echo too close to home. Characters feel both familiar and unsettling, their motives slippery enough to keep you on edge.

It’s a clever, chilling ride—equal parts love letter to crime fiction and warning about the darkness that can hide in the stories we tell.

I am such a fan of Peter Swanson - and I normally finish his book within a day or two of starting. So I’m bummed - because this one took me the better part of a month, I had to use the audio to get through it, and when it ended I was relieved it was done.

It’s a Double Indemnity retelling - which had me so intrigued. But it’s told in reverse, and the middle third of the book was dragging and slow for me and I didn’t get much out of it.

If you’re looking for your first Peter Swanson - this one isn’t it. But if you like Double Indemnity - definitely check this out!

I am the biggest Peter Swanson fan!!! Read everything from him. I thought the way this was told was SO interesting. I had to reread the ending several times, but it was such a good one!! He's always the best at adding a little twist that you really do not see coming.

DNF @20%. Honestly was very bored and didn’t care about the characters enough to continue to find out what the crazy thing was that they had done.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Swanson's last book, and I was excited to read this one. Swanson does a great job writing truly unlikable characters but with a plot and style that suck you in anyway. I really liked the storytelling style of telling the story in reverse, and the end was super satisfying.

The story is told in reverse time ,beginning in 2023 and ending in 1983,, which enhanced the revelations that appeared to be so subtle, but said so much. What a great literary device this turns out to be. It sharpened everything for me.
It begins with Marcia asking Wendy to host a small dinner party for a small contingent of friends and colleagues at New Essex State University, where Wendy's husband Thom teaches. It is after this party that Wendy realizes she has had enough of her husband, and considers how to rid herself of his annoying, drunken presence..
As the story progresses (regresses) to an earlier time, we learn a lot about Wendy and Thom. It is a good read with shocking revelations that stunned me.. Repeatedly.
I was fascinated by how well the idea of telling the story from the present to the past, detailing every important moment in Thom's and Wendy's lives, worked.. Once I finished the book, I read the first couple of chapters again, and I am glad I did because so much is revealed and confirmed. I picked up on a lot of the little nuances.
Then, I re-read the end of the book, covering the past again, which gave tons of insight into the whole point of the book.
The author was perfectly subtle in writing the story in reverse, thereby putting the most subtle revelations to the forefront, so I would encourage the reader to go back to the beginning and ending and drink it all in. I am sitting here thinking about the book and realizing that a lot of the story becomes crystal clear, and it shocked me again.. The most innocent comments and descriptions gained importance, thus adding to my appreciation.
The author's intentions in telling the story in this unusual manner show how good a writer he is. I enjoyed the book even more as I put the timeline into its proper perspective and realized how cause and effect came together.

Thank you to the author and publisher for sending me a copy of the ARC. All opinions are strictly my own.

A murder mystery told backwards? SOLD!

This was a fun, fast paced read that I thoroughly enjoyed. Peter Swanson can be hit or miss, but I really enjoyed this one.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

As a longtime fan of Peter Swanson, I can confidently say Kill Your Darlings might be his most masterful novel yet.

Told in reverse chronological order (yes—backward), this twisty, psychological thriller unravels a marriage, a murder, and decades of secrets in the most brilliant way. I didn’t just read this, I devoured it, then sat in stunned silence when it all came together.

Swanson has always been the king of suspense for me, but this one feels more intimate, more haunting. Thom and Wendy’s story is chilling not just because of what happens, but how it happens, and how one bad decision echoes over decades. Every chapter pulled me deeper into the past and made me question everything I thought I knew.

The structure is bold, the pacing is perfect, and the writing is razor-sharp. Swanson doesn’t just tell a story, he plays with time, guilt, and memory like a master conductor.

If you love his earlier books, don’t miss this one. If you’ve never read Swanson before, this is a killer place to start.

Not the biggest fan of going backwards by years was an interesting touch but it kind of bored me since we knew what happened. I only pushed myself through because I had to review it.

Thank you to Netgalley & William Morrow for this advanced copy!

Peter Swanson has officially secured his spot on my “always delivers” thriller shelf. Kill Your Darlings gave me exactly what I’ve come to expect from him—a slow-burn, smartly written mystery that entertains and also makes me think. This one flips the script by telling the story in reverse, peeling back the layers of a messy, flawed marriage from the moment the decides to wants to kill her husband to the beginning of their relationship and how they met and EVERY crazy thing in between.

The middle meandered a bit and had starting to lower my rate…but then that final mic drop ending came and I found myself smiling and say "well done Mr. Swanson!". The clever structure, juicy unraveling, and that satisfying finish made this one such a fun, but not perfect, ride.

Smart, sharp, and satisfyingly dark, this is another solid Swanson read—one that proves he knows how to dig into the messy realities of love, betrayal, and the dangerous edges of a marriage.

Kill Your Darlings surprised me. This was my first book to read by Peter Swanson, and I kept hearing was that he was the “king of suspense!” This was a great book, but it did seem on the slower side, maybe since my expectations for suspense were so high. I will definitely read more for him as I really enjoyed this one, especially if his other novels are even more suspenseful than this! Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the advanced copy. Publication date June 10, 2025.

As a 34-year-old woman who devours psychological thrillers like coffee on a Monday morning, I went into Kill Killings Your Darlings by Peter Swanson with high expectations—and a bit of skepticism. Swanson has a reputation for tightly wound plots and morally gray characters, but would this one offer something new to someone who's been neck-deep in suspense since Gillian Flynn hit the shelves?

Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Oh hell yes.

Without giving away the plot (because spoilers are basically a crime in this genre), the novel opens with a writer’s retreat and an accidental confession—two things I never knew I needed in the same book. The story spirals quickly from calm to chaos, dragging you through a maze of secrets, guilt, and the ugly side of literary ambition. It felt like a darker, more self-aware cousin of Misery and The Secret History.

What hit me hardest, though, wasn’t just the plot twists—which are plentiful and satisfyingly sharp—but how personal it felt. As a woman in her mid-thirties, juggling expectations, creativity, and the weight of “should-have-beens,” I found the characters’ inner lives incredibly relatable. Especially the protagonist’s constant tension between her ambition and her doubt. That gnawing feeling that maybe the world isn’t what it seems—and maybe you aren't either.

Swanson knows how to plant a sense of unease and let it bloom slowly, beautifully, and viciously. He doesn’t insult your intelligence with overly dramatic reveals or tired tropes. Instead, he seduces you with subtleties: a strange look here, a suspicious gap in a timeline there. As a seasoned reader of the genre, I appreciated that respect.

If you're an avid suspense reader looking for something that understands both your genre addiction and your age, this one lands right in that sweet spot between clever and chilling. It reminds you that danger isn’t always loud—and the most dangerous people are often the ones who know how to write the story.

Peter Swanson is one of my favorite authors. Anytime someone asks for a book recommendation, I always tell them to read The Kind Worth Killing. It was an A+ read and got me hooked on his writing.

In his latest Kill Your Darlings, his writing is as good as ever. I love his writing style and will always read whatever he writes. This story was told differently than his other books and is more of a slow-burn. The heart-pounding suspense and thrills of his other novels are absent here. Not that it isn't a good book, it's a solid read.

The story drops us into the marriage of Wendy and Thom. Right away, we learn some terrible things in their past have bound them together. Instead of moving forward, we go back through the years to explore their past and what they have done.

I'm not sure if this structure will appeal to every reader, but I encourage you to give this a whirl!

I’m so sad that this one didn’t work for me. I love Peter Swanson, but I just couldn’t get into this. I do love the cover though!

So this book started with a bang. I was reading my ARC and texted my sister to be sure to put this upcoming book on her library hold because it was really good. Then a couple hours later (really short book), I was like mehhh, maybe nevermind. It's not that I didn't like the book, but I was expecting more than what I got.

At first I thought the story being told in reverse was a pretty creative take on the genre (side note this ended up NOT being a thriller in my opinion), but I think the way it was told was ultimately what made me so bored by the end. We already knew what happened so the story ended up feeling sort of repetitive. There was a bit of an ah-ha moment at the end, but it didn't really make sense for a book taking place in the 2020s and sort of bummed me out that was the only twist we got. Not that I think every book needs a twist or anything, but I thought we would get one considering the format of the book. I just didn't think it would be so straightforward?

This was an average read for me, but like I said, it was short and sweet so I don't regret reading it and would recommend it to Swanson fans because I've seen some pretty mixed reviews.

Thank you NetGally and William Morrow for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.