I went in expecting this to be a normal Peter Swanson thriller and I was gleefully wrong. I enjoyed the reverse time. The plot was great as well as the pace.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and @WilliamMorrow for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kill Your Darlings is not your typical domestic thriller and that’s kind of what makes it stand out. It’s a slow-burning, reverse told story about a long, complicated marriage held together by secrets and maybe a shared crime or two.

We start in the present, with Wendy quietly plotting her husband Thom’s murder, and then work our way backward through their marriage. It’s like peeling back layers of a relationship to get to the original rot. Along the way, we see major milestones birthdays, houses, deaths, betrayals and begin to understand how two seemingly average people ended up locked in such a dark, twisted dance.

Peter Swanson plays with time and memory in a really clever way. The structure takes a minute to get used to, but once it clicks, it’s addictive. It's less about high stakes thrills and more about emotional tension, regret, and the gray area between loyalty and guilt.

That said, it’s a quiet kind of suspense. The pacing is more meditative than pulse-pounding, so if you’re looking for nonstop action, this might not be your thing. But if you’re into slow-burn psychological drama with sharp writing and moral murkiness, this one delivers.

3.75 Stars rounded to 4!

#NetGalley, #WilliamMorrow, #KillYourDarlings, #PeterSwanson, #SuspenseBooks

Objectively, Kill Your Darlings is clever and well-written. I wasn't a fan of the backwards timeline, but it was meticulously plotted, and I appreciated the brilliant way the story ended.

However, I also find his writing to be verbose. There is actually very little action in the book; much of the plot centers around Wendy and Thom's married life, in a character study I found dull and dreary. I would have been more interested in the narrative if flashbacks were interspersed with current events.

Wendy and Thom have been together a long time and are bound to each other by a long-ago murder. But a relationship with a secretive component faces lots of obstacles. Told in reverse order, this shorter mystery book is a glimpse into a complicated relationship with some dark characters.

I liked this book, although at times I felt like the backwards timeline was a bit confusing and unnecessary. I did really like the ending that I keep thinking about- it's subtle but effective. I liked that it was shorter and felt very much like an old school mystery. I really like Swanson's writing style and I'm glad to see him branch out a little but also stay true to his style. Mystery lovers are going to enjoy this one a lot, I think.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this free copy of "Kill Your Darlings."

An ingenious mystery told backwards about a marriage built on a foundation of deceit. And how long does it take for the foundation to crack?

Ah, the ending (which is really the very beginning of Wendy and Thom, but wow)! So memorable! And who would have known that such a small detail kept secret would have repercussions 30+ years later...?

Another chilling thriller from author Swanson!

Wendy and Thom have been married over 25 years and live a beautiful life in north shore MA with fulfilling jobs, a great son, and one big secret. Oh, and Wendy has been dreaming of killing her husband. Knowing she can not divorce him because of their big secret, she begins to daydream of how to kill him instead.

This book is told in reverse, which is not something I have ever seen before and I thought it was so interesting! There were some points I would have liked more current day context, but in general I found the formal so fun. Neither Wendy or Thom are good people, but I still enjoyed seeing how they got to how they are today.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Swanson is one of my favorite authors and this book was another hit. What I loved about this one was that it was so different from his other books. I appreciate that he doesn't follow the same formula every book.

This book starts at the end of the story in 2023 and works back to the beginning of the story in 1982. Wendy and Thom's love story starts in 1982 on their 8th grade DC trip. They lose touch but reconnect, which is the arc of the story. But, their secrets keep them together, while also pulling them apart and tainting their relationship.

I don't want to give any spoilers, but the development of the characters, especially in reverse order, was really strong. This one is definitely a slow burn as you find out what happens right at the start of the book. But, there are lots of mysteries to unravel throughout the story.

What I will say is that the final page literally made me gasp! I happened to be reading it while floating on a pool on vacation. I got to the end and he turned thinking I was falling off my float when he heard me. Well done, Swanson, yet again!

Peter Swandon knocks it out of the park again.
This time telling the story in reverse chronological order

Not as strong as Gone Girl, but exciting story of a love lost and a couple staying out of habit.
Nice quick summer read

Another great read by Swanson! The backwards timeline was amazing. It took me a hot minute to get into it, but once I did I truly enjoyed the way the story went back and revealed secrets. Nice Job Peter!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #WilliamMorrow for the book #KillYourDarlings by #PeterSwanson. Peter Swanson is one of my favorite authors and this book is just one of the reasons why. This story is told in reverse and it was perfectly done. Thomas and Wendy have been married for over 25 years and have a son named Jason. They also have a big secret from long ago and will do anything to protect it. Wendy had grown tired of their marriage and wants to kill her husband. The fantastic plot twists that keep coming are just amazing and the last one is the best! Never saw that coming.

Mutually assured destruction is a solid foundation to build a marriage on, right? That’s essentially the premise of Peter Swanson’s newest thriller and while I can’t say either Wendy or Thom was in the least relatable, they were both fascinating sociopaths I wanted to know everything about. The unique narrative structure takes the reader from the present, where Wendy really wants to kill her husband, through the years to when they first met in the 8th grade. Along the way they make several questionable choices and one really big bad one that is obliquely referred to throughout the book until it’s revealed to the reader exactly what they did so many years ago.

Considering the playful format and the constant references to the Bad Thing, I really hoped for a little more oomph to the big reveal. The thing they did was bad, sure, but what made these two relatively average people willing to do it? I feel like a little too much time was spent dancing around the central crime of the story when more time spent with Wendy and Thom in their childhoods and early relationship would have made the basis of their commitment to one another more believable. Additionally, there was a small scene with a side character early on that made me think “this will be important later” and then it was… but it was basically left on the side of the page to die rather than become consequential to the story.

Fifty more pages of resolution and reflection would have made this one a huge success for me but regardless it was a very dark and fascinating portrait of a marriage that will leave you with a lot to ponder. And despite my criticisms of how the resolution played out, the last chapter was actually quite a clever way to leave things.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to be an early reader of this title, available now!

This was such a different take on what I've read from Peter in the past.I definitely loved the backwards telling of a love story. It begins with Wendy despising her husband, Thom, and wanting to get rid of him & then takes us back to when they first met at 14. This book had a lot of clues that lead up to the last chapter. The last chapter has me questioning the entire book and I can't put my finger on if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

All in all, i think that this was an okay book but I never experienced the WOW factor that i normally get with Peter's books. I will look for the next one though because I usually do enjoy his books.

I loved this twisty, slow burn, yet propulsive thriller. I loved the flashbacks in time and perspectives. It kept me on my toes nonstop and it also featured two very unlikeable yet likeable main characters.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc. I love the idea of their marriage being told in reverse! What a tense thriller

KILL YOUR DARLINGS is a popcorn thriller and a fast read. I wasn't completely captured by the book but did enjoy the story. I think I'd recommend this for readers who don't always read thrillers or ones that are looking for a quick easy read.

Told in a reverse timeline, this slow burn was realllly slow. I came to really dislike both of these characters.

I featured Kill Your Darlings in my June 2025 new releases video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q31xhbo1tE, and though I have not read it yet, I am so excited to and expect 5 stars! I will update here when I post a follow up review or vlog.

"Sometimes people are only good for part of their lives, and then they move on. Or we move on without them."

This was a bit of a slow burn but that last sentence was so worth it. I really enjoyed the layout of the book, we meet Wendy and Thom when they’ve already been married for 20 years and then the book goes back and shows us key moments in their lives in both of their perspectives that shows what lead them here. I had a lot of fun reading this one and it’ll stick with me for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review

Labeled as a reverse murder mystery, in a nutshell, Wendy and Thom are married and in the very first sentence we learn that Wendy is actively trying to kill her husband. Why? You have to read backwards to find the answer to that. This is definitely an engaging story with the drama and suspense building throughout and yet the whole sordidness really does get to be a bit much! I thank Netgalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A slow burn tale of domestic suspense, Kill Your Darlings centered around one heck of a dastardly pair. Told in reverse order starting with the end, it was a classic Swanson move to focus not on the growing love story, but the demise of it instead. You see, this sweet romance ended—or should I say started—off with quite the bang. Instantly grabbing my attention with the promise of many a dark secret, I flew through this novel in only matter of hours. After all, with quirky characters, plenty of dark humor, and a gasp-worthy last page, it had all of the pieces to make it an out-and-out winner, including one heck of a twist, even if it took a while to get there.

Unfortunately, though, there was plenty that let me down between the attention-grabbing start and shocking last page. The definition of a slow-boiling suspense/thriller, while there was tension imbued within every page, we found out the big plot points way too early on. My biggest pet peeve, though, was how unattached I was to the handful of characters. Perhaps it was due to the original format, but the stop-and-start narrative kept me from really connecting. Alongside of unnecessary details and a repetitive feel, I’m truly sad to report that this newest release by one of my all-time favorite authors landed with a thud rather than a bang.

All said and done, despite being less than blown away by this clever spin on a love story’s undoing, I was nevertheless hooked from beginning to end. Was this down to my preexisting love for the author—or the tension and intrigue that oozed from the pages? I’m not sure I’ll ever be 100% sure, but I am positive that while this wasn’t my favorite by Swanson, it was still an overall good read. An intense character study of the dual POVs as well as marriage, it made me think long and hard. Just the same, it wasn’t the slam dunk that I was expecting, as I much prefer Swanson’s edge-of-your-seat thrill rides over this somewhat puzzle-like read. Rating of 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Peter Swanson, William Morrow Books, and NatGalley for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.