4 stars

A thriller told in reverse seems unusual. We join Wendy and Thom at the end of their story and work our way backwards to the origin of their relationship. We know a murder occurred in the early 1990's but we don't know specific details, just that Wendy and Thom were in it together. As we travel back in time, we learn more about them as a couple and each of them as individuals and how they each ended up where we find them in the first chapter.

This really worked for me. The characters were interesting and highly flawed. While they both seemed unlikeable at first, I found truly drawn to Thom by the end. The way this story came full circle made for a very satisfying ending to what I would describe as a great choice for a summer read. Excellent poolside reading, the chapters moved at a nice pace, and the reveals were worthwhile.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an advance reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

You can't go wrong with any Peter Swanson novel, but this one was a doozy. At first I was curious how a murder mystery would play out in reverse but I absolutely loved this! It had me going right up until the very last line when I uttered the words "Holy S&#t" at the conclusion! A must read for customers who love any genre!

Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders comes an inventive, utterly propulsive murder-mystery in reverse, tracing a marriage back in time to uncover the dark secret at its heart.

Thom and Wendy Graves have been married for over twenty-five years. They live in a beautiful Victorian on the north shore of Massachusetts. Wendy is a published poet and Thom teaches English literature at a nearby university. Their son, Jason, is all grown up. All is well…except that Wendy wants to murder her husband.

What happens next has everything to do with what happened before. The story of Wendy and Thom’s marriage is told in reverse, moving backward through time to witness key moments from the couple’s lives—their fiftieth birthday party, buying their home, Jason’s birth, the mysterious death of a work colleague—all painting a portrait of a marriage defined by a single terrible act they plotted together many years ago.

Eventually we learn the details of what Thom and Wendy did in their early twenties, a secret that has kept them bound together through the length of their marriage. But its power over them is fraying, and each of them begins to wonder if they would be better off making sure their spouse carries their secrets to the grave.

I really enjoy Peter Swanson's writing style and I thought the first chapter was exceptional. He has a way of being very concise yet communicating a lot about his characters, and he successfully achieves a realistic portrayal of marriage.

Despite the concept of a novel going backwards being a cool idea, I found it unsatisfying and even frustrating in execution. I was constantly wanting to see things play out further, and I think I would've enjoyed this more had it just been told in a linear fashion going forward through time.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

I couldn't figure out why it needed to be written backward, but by the end it finally made sense. However, it wasn't a particularly interesting story. I have read every single book Peter Swanson has written, and sadly this is going to go down as my least favorite. He's a great writer, I just didn't care at all about the characters and I didn't feel like they were ever fully developed, particularly Wendy.

This is the first book I have read from Peter Swanson. I have had a few of his books on my tbr for a while, so when I saw this was coming out, I thought it was the perfect time to start his books. I was really impressed with his writing, I liked how it was told backwards. I can’t think of another book I’ve read like that. I liked that he took his time with the characters and you really got to know them. I am very impressed with his writing and will be reading his backlog soon.

First line: The first attempt at killing her husband was the night of the dinner party.

Summary: Thom and Wendy have been married for years and the whole time they have had a secret that has bound them together. But now Wendy is sure that she is ready to make sure that Thom will never reveal this secret, which means she needs to kill him. Everything leading the Wendy’s decision is evident from their past. Told in reverse the story hits on major life events going all the way back to their secret and the childhood that brought them together. Sometimes only two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead.

My Thoughts: Of all the Peter Swanson books, this was probably my least favorite. I loved the premise which several authors have used recently. Sometimes it works and other times not as much. At the beginning I was really interested in how it would work out. However, I felt that much of it dragged on and on. I did not like any of the characters. They all had major flaws and we see where it came from as the story progressed. Even the ending felt rather blah. There was a bit of information that ties back to the beginning and shows what consequences may be coming for our characters. This slow burn was interesting but Swanson’s other books have been much more engaging for me.

Swanson is a great suspense writer, and this is no exception. We meet married couple Thom and Wendy, and follow their story backwards to see how we got to Wendy wanting to kill Thom. We find out Wendy and Thom's dark secrets from their past as we reverse back through their story. This was a unique way to write the story, and I really enjoyed it.

If you enjoy a slow burn story told in reverse this is a great book for you. This is not your typical love story and more about how it all falls apart. I enjoyed seeing what was going to happen right from the beginning but then you get al the pieces that led up to that point. It was a very clever way to do it and I enjoyed this book overall. The character building was really good and to the point you don't like the characters but also want to know why they are so horrible. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC,

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC of Kill Your Darlings by Peter Swanson. I have read another book by Swanson, so I was excited to get a chance to read this new one by him. This is story is told in reverse, which I thought would be weird, but as it progressed, I found it to be an interesting way to tell the story.

This follows Thom and Wendy, who have been married over twenty-five years. They have a great life, with a grown son Jason. It begins their fiftieth birthday party and backs up from there, hitting over pivotal events until you get to current day. Ultimately you find out what binds them together and why Wendy wants to kill Thom. Marriage means different things to different people and everyone has different ideas going into this institution…

I recommend this book if you enjoy suspense/thriller type stories.

I actually don’t get the point of this book and maybe that’s my bad and why I didn’t like it lol. I’ll just say it wasn’t for me.

As expected, Peter Swanson absolutely kills it with his new book. Kill Your Darlings follows Wendy. and Thom, a seemingly normal married couple with a deadly past they've sworn to never let see the light of day. The story opens in the year 2023 and ends in 1982. I really enjoyed the writing style and the way the plot unfolds with each chapter going back in time, revealing Thom and Wendy's love story and the wicked secret that lies at the center of their marriage. Peter Swanson's writing is always incredibly intentional. There are rarely filler scenes or dialogue, every detail matters and often plays a bigger role in the conclusion to the story. He is one of my favorites for this very reason. I simply cannot put down his work once I have started. Kill Your Darlings didn't disappoint!

A huge thank you to Peter Swanson, NetGalley, & William Morrow for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review ♡

Big thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for my ARC copy of Kill Your Darlings! This one really stood out to me—it's a twisty, backwards look at a seriously messy marriage. Right from the first sentence, we know Wendy wants to kill her husband, Thom. The real mystery isn’t what happens, but why—and the story takes us backward through their lives to figure it out.

Wendy and Thom have been married for over 25 years. She’s a former poet who hasn’t written in ages, and he’s a literature professor who drinks too much, flirts/cheats way too often, and has a knack for long, boring speeches. Things between them are already rocky when Wendy discovers he’s writing a novel that could blow up a massive secret they’ve been keeping for decades. And that’s when she decides he might actually have to die.

The book is told in reverse—from 2023 all the way back to 1982—which makes it super unique. It’s definitely a slow burn, but I was totally hooked. With each chapter, you learn more about how they got to this point and what kind of people they really are. It’s not about big twists or dramatic reveals—this one’s more about watching two people unravel, layer by layer.

What’s interesting is that the focus stays almost completely on Wendy and Thom. Everyone else kind of fades into the background, which actually makes sense—it shows just how self-involved they both are. And honestly, they’re not super likable, but that just made the whole thing more fascinating.

By the end (or technically, the beginning), I actually felt a little sad. Seeing how their love story started—even if it was always kind of twisted—added a surprising emotional punch. The ending ties everything together in a way that makes sense, even if it’s not some huge plot twist.

If you’re into character-driven stories with a unique writing structure and a darker vibe, Kill Your Darlings is definitely worth checking out. Just don’t go in expecting big thrills. This one takes its time, but it pays off.

3.5-3.75

3.5 stars
I’m a big fan of Peter Swanson and I wanted to love this one, but it didn’t hit as well as his books usually do for me. The story follows the unusual love of Thom and Wendy Graves. Unlike usual thriller stories about couples, this one tells their story in reverse. It begins with them today and ends with them meeting as kids. I was curious with how the reverse timeline would work and afterwards I felt like it took away the surprise of the story. I enjoyed the story more once it hit the point of the earlier years of Wendy & Thom’s relationship. Here you really learn more about them, how they came to be, what makes them tick. To me, the story would’ve been more enjoyable if it was told in chronological order so suspense would’ve built until the climax. It would’ve added mysteriousness to the story because we wouldn’t have known where their relationship was going to go or how it would end up as adults.

This was a very slow burn and did feel repetitive at times. Overall, this was just an okay read for me.

Thank you to William Morrow for the review copy!

I always enjoy Peter Swanson’s books—he has a knack for drawing readers into the messiness of relationships, the ways secrets complicate lives, and how people inevitably get in each other’s way. His writing style reliably creates a sense of unease and mistrust that keeps me engaged.

Kill Your Darlings started off strong for me. The voice was immediately compelling, and I was hooked by the “what the heck is going on here?” vibe. There’s a dark humor (to me anyway) that landed for me in the first opening pages of the book. That said, the pacing began to drag a bit as the story went on. I found myself wishing it would expand in scope, or perhaps that it had been trimmed down into a novella or short story to keep the tension tighter and the narrative momentum sharper.

Still, it’s a solid read. Swanson continues to deliver unique and compelling stories, even if this one isn’t among my personal favorites from him. I’d still recommend it—especially as a summer read for anyone in the mood for something a little offbeat and unsettling. Plus, the title and cover are sure to make people on the beach or in your coffee shop do a double take and give you some reading space. 😊

Kill Your Darlings 👩🏻‍🤝‍👨🏽

Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Genre: Suspense
Pub Date: June 10, 2025

Wendy and Thom have a seemingly happy wedded life. A beautiful house, comfortable life, grown son. Except Wendy wants to kill Thom. Told in reverse order from present to past, we see their lives and what ties them together

I was not a fan. Neither Wendy or Thom were likable characters, and neither were well developed. Here’s what I know about Wendy: she likes poems and plotting out murder. And for Thom: He likes to drink, likes to look at other women, and loves his wife. That’s it.

The reverse timeline also didn’t help the situation. You know pretty early on what bound them together in their marriage. And then it slowly unfolds in a very not exciting manner. Sure there are some reveals and “twists” along the way, that were fine. The very final reveal was good, but sadly that was not enough to win me over.

Would you like to know how a book ends before you read it? Most readers try to avoid SPOILERS so that they can have an authentic reading experience.

Peter Swanson’s Kill Your Darlings turns this notion on its head by telling the domestic suspense story in reverse order. Intriguing concept, but is this plot device successful?

Nope, it didn’t work for me!

Why?

1. I already knew the ending, so I was less invested in the characters and the plot.
2. It was difficult to get my brain to remember that the story was being told in reverse!

I listened to the audiobook which is expertly read by one of my favorites, Steven Weber, while following along with the Ebook. I enjoyed the audiobook and believe that it is what helped me finish it.

The twists were also not as exciting as I had hoped, and it took a very long time to get there.

Peter Swanson is a hit or miss author for me (with more misses than hits), so I might be taking a break from his work for a while.

2.5/5 stars rounded up

Expected publication date: 6/10/25

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARCs of Kill Your Darlings in exchange for an honest review.

For Fans Of: Lisa Jewell, Steve Cavanagh
Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕
Genre: 🔪 Thriller
Violence: 🪓🪓🪓
Triggers: Drowning, alcoholism

Synopsis: Thom & Wendy have a perfect life. Except Wendy wants to murder her husband. As key moments in their history are unfurled, we learn how the seeds of their marriages unraveling were planted long in the past.

Thoughts: I have been a fan of Swanson’s since I read his meta thriller Eight Perfect Murders (if you haven’t read it, do so immediately). It and all his books are twisty thrillers but also love letters to books, especially classic mysteries. Just as the title Kill Your Darlings is a wink to the rule #1 of fiction writing. What makes Swanson stand out among his peers is that he swaps pulse-pounding scenes for deep character studies without sacrificing the suspense. Thom & Wendy—like all the nuanced characters Swanson excels at crafting—possess ambiguous moral codes yet invoke the reader’s empathy. In Kill Your Darlings, the author reveals further range with its unique structure: it’s told in reverse. Think knowing the end sacrifices the suspense? Think again. This book is so cleverly structured that mystery remains until the very end. If you like good writing, compelling characters, and unique thrillers, I can’t recommend this book enough.

Thank you to William Morrow & NetGalley for a gifted book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Peter Swanson and William Morrow for my copy of Kill Your Darlings. This book was about Thom and Wendy, a couple who have been married for twenty-five years. They have an adult son and Wendy wants to kill her husband. But why? This book reverses history, showing their marriage in reverse to show how they came to be where they are today. Their relationship was built on a single act, but even before that, Thom and Wendy had history that made them the perfect…or most diabolical couple.

Thoughts: This was SUCH a slow burn. It was very repetitive, talking about Thom’s drinking problem and Wendy’s obsession with toeing the line of danger. I loved the idea of the backwards timeline, but I think it could have been done in a way that had some twists and turns. This story was very straightforward and I didn't feel that there was much to be revealed. The book was very well written, but I felt both Thom and Wendy were one dimensional characters without much depth. This book felt like an in-depth look at the history of a fraughtful marriage and what it takes to be in a committed relationship. This book was not a thriller, but more of a domestic drama. 3-stars.

Even though this is far from my favorite Swanson title I still have to give it a four start for creativity in the "Memento" esque storytelling aspect of it. While it is interesting to tell the story this way in this particular domestic suspense thriller it wasn't quite as successful as I hoped. It started off with a bang but as we got closer and close to the end which is the beginning it lost steam because you already knew where it was going but I'm always going to love Swanson's killer stories.

Thank you to the publisher and author for this arc!
This book was slightly challenging for me having been told in reverse. However, I loved the premise and the ending was spectacular!