This was a unique mystery that begins with a crime, then tells the story of the characters' lives in reverse. I liked this different approach, but I found that it left the end feeling a little anticlimactic... although the reveal on the last page was such a great twist! The characters Wendy and Thom were both written to be somewhat unlikeable, so while I enjoyed reading their love story in reverse, it was hard to really connect with them. This was an interesting study in how love evolves through a lifetime of partnership, but as a thriller, this missed the mark for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was definitely a slow burn, but it did have a unique premise. This book works backward through time as we watch Wendy and Thom Gaves' life unfold backwards. Wendy wants to kill Thom after 25 years of marriage, and to understand why, we must see their journey to the beginning, where a dark secret lies. I will say that the secret is not so big and was known from early on. But, the story was interesting enough that it made it a good read.

Thank you net galley and publisher for this ARC. This book was really interesting that the storyline went backwards. It was interesting to see how key pieces to the story tied in together.

Oh, how I wanted to love this one!
Thank you, William Morrow Books,  for the gifted copy of Kill Your Darlings {partner}
 
Genre: Mystery
Format: 🎧📖
Pub Date:  6.10.2025
Pages: 288
Star Rating: ☆☆

Alright, so this review pains me to write because I typically do love Swanson’s books, but this one was just not for me. Maybe it was the formatting? Or perhaps it was just how unlikable the characters were, but once I hit the 30% mark, I could not wait for the book to end. 

I think it’s one thing to have morally grey characters. Still, Thom and Wendy Graves were so awful to one another and the people around them and just a general hindrance to the world that I could not fathom reading about their terrible qualities for another minute. 

I have read one book that is written from the current time moving backward, and it was a breakup romance - that concept worked, but for a mystery, it didn’t. It was confusing, hard to follow, and seemed to remove any amount of suspense from the storyline. 

Again, I would love to recommend this, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. If you’re looking to read something from Swanson, I recommend starting with Before She Knew Him!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

I had such high hopes for this book and when I started it I was hooked but then as I continued reading I found it very slow and boring.

I had to put it down and could not finish. Maybe I will started again we will see.

Kill Your Darlings was a captivating slow burn for me. It’s different than the typical thriller but enjoyable nonetheless. The only complaint I had was the choppiness of the timeline, I usually love flashbacks in books but the overall jumping around combined with the chapter length didn’t work for me and took away some of my enjoyment. I still recommend the book, but the layout format wasn’t my favorite.

I was so excited to see this book available and couldn't wait to start reading it. It is written with the timeline going in reverse, an interesting structure, but ultimately that might be the most intriguing part of the story. The two main characters, Thom and Wendy, are simply dull and privileged. In their early 20s they conjured a scheme to get a lot of money. This in turn, has not so subtly destroyed their marriage. With the timeline as it was, I was hoping or expecting some kind of major twist at the end, but it just stopped abruptly. Pretty disappointing. Still written well though and I look forward to more from Peter Swanson, one of favorite contemporary authors.

Well told story that is told backwards (you'll only find out why in the last page! A couple held together by a secret murder...but maybe not only one! Fun and fast read.

I love a good Peter Swanson, ever since I read The Kind Worth Killing years ago.
Kill Your Darlings follows the crumbling marriage of Thom and Wendy Graves, but details the story of their relationship in reverse, starting with present day and going backwards chapter by chapter to when they met in 8th grade. I loved the creative take on the timeline, however you get most of the big “surprises” early on, with small logistical details sprinkled in as the story goes back in time. In all, I very much enjoyed the story, but the ending was a bit of a let down, as it just, ended.
3.5 ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley and William Morris Publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to read this latest thriller by Peter Swanson. The format of this book was done in a unique way with this being told in a backwards timeline, essentially each chapter going back in time in reverse.
I do enjoy the authors writing style and he did a good job with the unusual format but ultimately this wasn’t one of his best. For a thriller to be great it really has to captivate my interest and wow me. Because of the way this book was written the reverse chronology doesn’t leave room for the possibility of a twist or OMG moment like most thrillers do. I was hoping the ending would be fulfilling and satisfying but instead I was left with an empty feeling of wanting more than provided. Again I understand what the author was doing and acknowledge his unique writing style but sadly this book just missed the mark. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback and review.

This book felt like quintessential Peter Swanson - featuring complex characters with thorough development, a study of marriage and how it changes over time, and a reversed timeline. Truth be told I questioned how a story could have suspense when told this way, but I'm happy to say I was surprised still. This doesn't quite register as a thriller for me, but it certainly does have some elements of mystery. Will recommend this book and continue to make Peter Swanson an automatic read. Thank you to William Morrow for the advanced copy!

I just have to say it: I absolutely adore Peter Swanson! I've read a significant portion of his books, and every single one has earned at least 4 stars from me. So, getting approved on Net Galley (big thanks to Net Galley and William Morrow publishing) felt like a huge victory! I finished this book in about two days. The narrative follows Thom and Wendy in reverse, starting from the end and revealing how everything came to be. What a thrilling experience! Initially, I was skeptical about the reverse storytelling, but it turned out to be genius. This book revolves around two academics, Thom and Wendy, who have been in love since their teenage years. They lead a successful life with a lovely home and a small family, but dark secrets from their past threaten to unravel everything. One holds deadly intentions towards the other and one will be dead in the first few chapters and then the story is told on how it got to that point. The ride to get from there to here was intriguing and the ending was pretty good! Wasn’t expecting it.

Thank you Netgalley! Review is my own!

Let me begin with saying that I have historically really enjoyed Peter Swanson thrillers. Some definitely more than others, but overall they’ve usually been pretty solid. Now, his upcoming book was one of my most anticipated 2025 reads, but honestly I was extremely underwhelmed.

Firstly, I will give credit for the format as it was a unique way to tell a story, especially for a thriller. Basically, the story is told in reverse, so you start in the present and then slowly work your back. It starts you off by introducing Wendy and Thom, a married couple in their 50s, and then from there it continues to jump back to different points of time within their relationship. During each chapter, you begin to learn more about their marriage and the secrets they’ve harbored for years.

While it was different, I unfortunately think this format made for a VERY slow burn and I didn't find it thrilling or suspenseful at all because you already knew what happened and by the time you got to it, it was not a surprise.

For me, this book felt more just like a character study of Wendy and Thom + their marriage and how it started off strong, but slowly began to crumble. It showed a bit of the toxicity of their love and how it was built on such questionable foundation. Plus, they were both pretty terrible people.

Overall, there was never really that “aha!” moment where I felt like everything fell together and made to all feel worthwhile. Sadly I felt like nothing really happened and by the end it all seemed so drawn out with nothing to show for. Definitely not a favorite Swanson of mine. But don't let this sway you as I can see fans of the slow burn thriller perhaps enjoying this more than I did.

Peter Swanson's “Kill Your Darlings” is a story told in reverse and very reminiscent of film noir. We learn more and more about this moral-less murderous couple’s story as the story goes backwards in time. There is nothing redeeming about them, which bothered me a bit. It wasn’t until the last paragraph that I thought, oh good. Interesting and a quick read and to be honest would be a good film noir. As a book? I expected more.

This is maybe my second ot third book by Peter Swanson and I'm mad it took me so long to dive into his books because omg. This was like nothing else.

“Kill Your Darlings” is Peter Swanson’s newest psychological thriller. It starts in the present with a seemingly normal couple in their 50s, Wendy and Thom and works backward in time to their first meeting 40 years before. The main twist happens at the beginning of the novel and then the reader learns why this event has happened and the secrets the two have kept from each other. I thought it worked better as a character study than a thriller, but still enjoyed it.

I love Peter Swanson, but this book just didn’t do it for me. I liked the story well enough, but found Thom and Wendy’s characters dull and unlikeable. I found myself skimming through the last 30% just trying to finish the book. It was just ok.

3.5⭐️ thank you netgalley and william morrow for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

huuuuge peter swanson fan so my expectations were pretty high! i really did enjoy this, although it was quite different from his other books. this one is told in a backwards timeline, each chapter going back in time.

i thought swanson did a good job writing this unique style of mystery/thriller, but it wasn’t super captivating because there weren’t any huge twists or suspense. however there were a few neat little details we found out as we went back in time that were interesting (especially the last page….)

Clever story about a marriage gone wrong by one of my favorite authors. This one's a bit of a different take for Swanson as the entire story is told in reverse order, starting when a wife is thinking about ending her husband's life. Wendy and Thom are a long married couple with a grown son named Jason. They live a comfortable life near Boston and both are employed by a local college, Thom is a professor and Wendy an administrator. Wendy published a book of poetry a long time ago and Thom is still trying to write the great American novel. This is not a likable couple; Thom drinks heavily, cheats on his wife and is very needy. Wendy is snob and a cynic, convinced she is smarter than everyone else and disdainful of any sort of belief or positive thoughts others might have. In some ways they are meant for each other, so why does she want her husband to die?

As we go back in time we see the decisions the couple made including some murders, and we see how they kept drifting towards each other since they met in eighth grade. Wendy initially was attracted to Thom and his desire to make her happy no matter what the cost; but as the years went by she begins to see him as a weak man who is constantly drinking and succumbing to his desire for other women. Thom is constantly troubled by his past and feels compelled to stay with Wendy although he also feels trapped by her knowledge of his actions. The ending of this novel was very clever and I thought it was a perfect little twist! Thank you to the NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC for review.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the free eARC!

The gimmick here was that the story was being told in reverse. This had me intrigued, but in the end, it ended up being a positive and a negative. The main fireworks happen very early on in the book, so the rest of the time, you’re waiting for some big twist that just never materializes.

The story focuses on a married couple, Wendy and Thom, who have some secrets, and on top of those secrets, their marriage is falling apart. The story goes backward to reveal what caused them to get there, but it just gets kinda boring by the end. It really could have used a couple flash forwards back to the present, or at least done something at the end…some kind of epilogue.

If you have nothing better to read, sure, give it a whirl. It can be read in a few hours. A few tweaks, and this could have been something way better.