I was lucky enough to receive an ARC from NetGalley for Peter Swanson's newest release.

This was a different format as it brought the reader from present to the past. It was a slow burn for me. Although I admire Peter Swanson, this was not my favorite.

Told in reverse, this book recounts the marriage of Thom and Wendy graves from its demise, to its beginning.
Though the story spans 30 years, it’s fast paced enough to stay interesting without losing its details.
A story of guilt, selfishness, and the things some people will do for love.
I absolutely loved the ending!

The story begins in 2023, with married couple Thom and Wendy. They are both pretty unlikable characters, but they have a good life together as a poet and teacher, and have a lovely grown son. Everything is pointing to a perfect, happy life…. except for the fact that Wendy wants to murder her husband.

The unique part about this book is that the story is told in reverse! Starting in 2023 and ending in 1982, when the couple first met at school. This is a slow burn, that gradually gives us pieces to the story.

I really enjoy Peter Swanson’s books! He is an auto-buy author for me, and I have read everything he has written. That being said, this was not my favorite book, as it left me with far too many questions. At the suggestion of a friend, I did reread the last chapter twice… I had missed a very subtle twist that I thought was clever! So if you missed it- try again!! Thank you so much to publisher and NetGalley for this fun book!

The beginning of this book was so good and it immediately drew me into the story. As I went along I found myself less and less intrigued with the story and I found myself getting bored and waiting for some big twist or revelation. Unfortunately, for me the book never picked back up and it was like a downhill slog. I do like this author but this book missed the mark for me. I don't mind when the big event happens at the beginning of the book and then the author rewinds it ala Tarantino style, but this one lacked the punch at the ending for me.

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

I enjoyed the formatting of this book. Getting a look at the characters lives in reverse was very interesting. I enjoyed learning about the couple and the twist but this was not my favorite Peter swanson book.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC of Kill Your Darlings. Unfortunately, this was a miss for me. The story was engaging, the characters interesting but the formatting of the story was not to my liking and ultimately colored my feelings on the novel.

Peter Swanson is always an auto-read for me and will continue to be so, but this one was not my favorite.

i really wasn’t a huge fan of this book. maybe it wasn’t for me, but it just didn’t feel like a thriller. like, wendy and thom just. kind of being miserable but still being written as though they love eachother?? it felt like the writing clashed with the actual story. i don’t know about others, but it felt like pulling teeth to get through because it didn’t feel like a thriller at all. it felt slow and it really was hard to relate to either character.

slow character study in reverse order. a falling out of love story that begins with the out and ends with the love, almost like a traditional romance but very much not. strong thriller chunk. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Kill Your Darlings was a solid read for me and I enjoyed reading their lives in reverse. Thank you NetGalley and William Marrow for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

Kill Your Darlings
by Peter Swanson
Pub Date: June 10, 2025
Thanks to the author, William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
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.
Peter Swanson is one of my favorite authors' even if this may not be one of my favorite books.
This is a tale about the DEMISE of a love story, so fittingly, Peter Swanson has decided to tell it, beginning with the end. The story opens in the year 2023, and is told in reverse until the year 1982, when Thom and Wendy, who share a birthday, met at the age of fourteen.

We learn about the moments that defined their lives-and the SECRET that binds them together forever.

And, when Wendy decides that “till death do us part” seems too far off in the future, she may have to give it a nudge.

This is a SLOW BURN 🔥 character study of a marriage, which I found quite depressing, I started to become more intrigued by Wendy-as Peter Swanson always writes strong, cunning, capable women, and she is no exception.

The story IS clever, and as we are given more puzzle pieces to explain what happened in Chapter one, it becomes more interesting BUT nothing revealed after that had the same WOW factor as a good twist that comes later on in a story which is told chronologically. I read the last chapter twice to get the full meaning.
4 stars

Who doesn't love a story that starts at the end and then slowly goes back piece by piece to unwind the crimes that have taken place.

Another great one by Peter Swanson - granted not my favorite of his but solid book regardless. There were some pieces that took a some reading to figure out what was going on but that is the way the book was written. you aren't supposed to know truly what is going on until the end.

Peter Swanson has such a talent with telling stories. He is on my ‘must read everything by this author’ list. I loved this story but I felt like there were a few loose ends at the ending.

I really didn't care for this book, which is a real shame because I've loved the other novels I've read by Swanson. Telling the story in reverse was a unique take that I did like. There was a twist at the end that I would applaud, but other that, I really struggled to get through Kill Your Darlings.

I enjoyed this book but I was expecting a surprise of some kind to be revealed, I'm not sure why she did what she did to the current husband. But still an enjoyable read.

This was SO freaking good! I loved the backwards timeline and often wished I had a print copy to go back and forth with. I will definitely be buying a copy when the book releases. Thom & Wendy are "great" as a couple and I loved all the Easter eggs throughout the book. And that ending!!!!! I audibly gasped. Definitely my first 5-star thriller read of 2025.

I love Peter Swanson’s novels but this was not a favorite for me. An intriguing setup and premise but the characterization fell flat for me.

I am a new Peter Swanson fan. I loved how this story worked backwards. It felt like the ending was given away by other parts of the story though. I really enjoyed this book though. A quick read.

I’m a big Peter Swanson fan and even though this was not my favorite of his, I still enjoyed it! Written chronologically backward made me have to go back to the beginning once I finished, to pick up on the clues he had given us in the first chapter, which is always fun. Because of the way it’s written, and each chapter is a different year from the past, it’s less of a thriller and more of a twisty, “how did we get here?” plot. Thank you to William Marrow for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. #netgalley

I love Peter Swanson, and this book did not disappoint. I loved the way he told the story in reverse order. Though it wasn’t a jaw dropping ending, it was a good one.

Thanks to Net Galley, Harper Collins, and my favorite author Peter Swanson for an ARC of this book

Peter Swanson consistently writes dark, creative thrillers, and this is one of his best yet. Loved the premise where the murder happens early on in the story and time goes backwards to when the main characters first meet as teens.