This was my first book by Robyn Harding and it was such a good one! It was seriously like a train wreck that I couldn’t look away from.

This story is full of drama, secrets and obsession, which is the perfect cocktail for an addicting read. It was such a fast paced and captivating book that I ended up reading it in one day because I couldn’t put it down. I kept thinking that I knew what was going to happen next, but each time I was surprised.

I really enjoyed this one!! When I read the blurb I was really intrigued and I'm so glad I took a chance on it. I've never read this author before but that's about to change. What starts off as an innocent friendship between a high school student (Low) and a pottery teacher (Freya) quickly turns into something so much weirder. I can't think of another word to describe the relationship between Low and Freya. It's weird. And inappropriate. And intriguing. Low is a total and complete oddball. A reject if you will. And Freya is this gorgeous Instagram star. Low's infatuation is understandable but the direction the book ends up taking is surprising and twisty. And then the couples swap partners and the book really takes off from there. I found myself staying up past my bedtime to read this one. It's compulsive and addicting. The characters are great. The ending was also really good. Sometimes, with suspense thrillers especially, the endings can be a huge letdown and really ruin the book in my opinion. I liked this one. I want more from this author!

This book was fantastic!

Take a night out at a friend’s house, mix in some "shrooms and do a little spouse swapping and you have one heck of a mess - an enchanting, toxic, burning down like a house on fire mess.

Low Morrison lives on an island off the Pacific Northwest. She lives with her hippie polyamorous parents and younger brothers. She does not quite fit in and for once in her life finds purpose and a connection when she signs up to take pottery classes from Freya. Low soon becomes friends with Freya.

Freya, the beautiful pottery instructor is married to an ex-hockey player and was once an Instagram influencer. She now fills her days making pottery and teaches classes. Freya did not want to move to the island, but her husband insisted after the event that ended his career. She does not quite fit in either. She soon makes friends with Low.

Jamie and her husband moved to the island for quiet time. He is an Author and needs the solace to write and possibly, just possibly this will help them have a baby. Jamie sells Freya's pottery in her store and she and Freya become friends.

Low does not like that Freya and Jamie have become friends. She wanted to keep Freya to herself. But Freya and Jamie are around the same age and both are married. It makes sense that they would have more in common.

Things take a turn when Freya suggests swapping partners after an evening doing 'shrooms with Jamie and Brian. What could go wrong?

Friendship is a wonderful thing - except for when it is not. Not when it is toxic and unhealthy. I loved how this book showed how low self-esteem, loneliness, isolation, and a need for companionship can make people easily overlook, forgive, excuse, or ignore when someone is mistreating them. Plus, it also shows how vapid, self-absorbed, and manipulative some can be.

This was on heck of an absorbing page turner for me! I could not put this book down. There is a lot to digest and ponder in this book. There were also some things I was willing to overlook. I was having too good of a time reading this to care that grownups where turning to a young girl for emotional support, advice, doing their dirty work, etc. But then again, they are all so desperate and wacky that it also made sense. Plus, if Low's parents were not off having sex with everybody and their brother, they might have been more concerned about the amount of time their daughter was spending with those much older than her.

This was a fabulous distraction from current life, and I loved every single page. Heck, I may even take up pottery, what else am I going to do, read? lol.

A fast paced, well written, page turner which did not disappoint. I was hooked from page one and had a hard time putting this book down. I found it to be absorbing, fun, and full of tension. It was basically just what I needed!


I received a copy of this book from Galley/Scott Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Swap by Robyn Harding captivated me from the very first chapter. It's a page turner at its finest and kept me reading well into the night. The first chapter introduces Low, a seventeen year old girl seeking acceptance while dealing with her polyamorous family and being an outcast amongst her peers.. Freya is a former instagram influencer with a knack for bending others' will in her direction. The relationship between Low and Freya is obsessive and stalkerish, and it bothered me because it happens...this could be real life.

Freya allows Low to spend a lot of time with her at her pottery studio offering free lessons. Low feels like Freya is the only person that "gets" her. Meanwhile, Freya meets Jamie and they become fast friends, they are similar in age, both married and seem to click. Their budding friendship annoys Low since it's directly impacting her time with Freya.

After a couples night together where they share some drugs, Freya suggests that the couples swap spouses. AND it all goes down from there! All women want to share their husband's right? The couples don't have clear memories of what went on but maybe a certain stalker does.

This book was gripping because I can see it happening. I've known some couples that do this type of thing. I think Robyn Harding handles some delicate situations very well while still keeping the story thrilling!

I did not love Freya but i think Harding meant for me to feel that way. Although I didn't love Low's behaviors, I felt sorry for her. The other friend Jamie, I empathized with her. The spouses were okay, certainly not perfect but likable. Overall, the characters are well done, the atmosphere was perfect!

This was a 4 out of 5 star read for me and now I am off to find some more of Harding's books because this one was that good! Happy reading!!!

Thank you to @Netgalley and @Gallerybooks for an advanced copy of this book for my honest review.

Over the years, Robyn Harding has become an auto-read author for me. My first venture in her writing was with her domestic thriller, Her Pretty Face, and my love for her writing grew exponentially with last year's The Arrangement. I just knew that her upcoming book, The Swap would be a book that I'd have to read. Readers, Robyn Harding doesn't disappoint again.

The story is told through multiple points of view, but the main one is focused on high school student Low Morrison. Low ends up signing up for a pottery class that is taught by Instagram influencer Freya Light. Low becomes enamored by Freya and her infatuation quickly becomes obsession. Low's obsession becomes dangerous once she finds out that Freya has a best friend and she will do anything to try and sabotage it. It just so happens that Low now works for Freya's best friend, Jamie.

During one night of laughs and partying, Freya suggests swapping partners with Jamie. It seems harmless, especially after diminishing cognitive reasoning due to their celebrations, but it quickly becomes a moment that will change the couples' lives forever.

I don't know how Robyn Harding continues to send shockwaves in the psychological thriller genre, but ladies and gentlemen, she does. I read The Swap in one sitting and couldn't put it down. This book may go down as the most bingeworthy book of 2020. I know it'll be a guaranteed hit with readers when it's released. Make sure to mark your TBR's now!

Lo, a lonely girl in a small hippie community, has a girl crush on Freya, a glamorous girl who escapes to town in the aftermath of a scandal involving her husband. Lo ingratiates herself into Freya's life, but is jealous of Jamie, Freya's other new friend.

Psychological thriller, but on the light side as compared to more involved suspense type novels like Gone Girl. It was a fast read, but nothing super special to me.

This was the first book I’d read by the author and I am in the minority among reviewers, many of whom gave it high ratings.

The story line was promising, and I admit that Ms. Harding knows quite well how to structure chapters to keep the suspense going, but there were several reasons why I just didn’t like this book very much.

One was that the characterization of almost everyone was not very believable. Not the isolated, lonely teen, Low, who becomes fixated on the self-involved, formerly high-flying and very beautiful ‘influencer’ who moves to town, nor the wimpy gift-shop owner, traumatized by her failure to have a child, and especially not Freya, the selfish star of the show. Not to mention the husbands and Low’s family. Despite some very familiar teen angst (eventually extremely overdone) and other details about some of the characters, none of them seemed real to me.

Both Low and Freya were very unlikable people as portrayed by the author. At first there is sympathy for the scheming teen, but that quickly fades away, or at least it did for me. I can understand her feeling adrift and disconnected from people, but her conniving actions just came to seem evil. Same thing with the glamorous Freya. Though there weren’t a lot of clues about why Freya lied and turned on both Low and the one-time best friend, then befriended them again later, she just came across as cold and manipulative. And, somehow was forgiven because the two were so obsessed with her. Not believable.

The other thing that bothered me, related to the motivation of the characters, was the story line. I won’t give away anything but at the end I was left with an even stronger feeling of disbelief. It was all distasteful and sordid and the entire time I was reading the book, especially the end, I could not get away from the awareness of everything being made up by the author. Not once was I drawn into the story to the point where I could suspend my disbelief. I just kept wondering about the author’s choices, why she’d decided this or that.

As I said, the suspenseful pacing is quite good so I will perhaps give another of her books a try. But I do not recommend this one. Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Low doesn't fit in at school like many teenagers. Her parents chose to live a hippie, polyamorous life doesn't help and she is desperate to find a place where she feels she belongs. Low enrolls in a pottery class taught by the very glamorous Freya and she thinks she has found a real friend. Freya and her husband Max are both cool and sophisticated and she is soon drawn into their world.
When Jamie and her husband Brian arrive on the island, things quickly get out of control. Freya wants to swap husbands, just for the night, and Jamie, already captivated by Freya makes a decision that will affect all of their lives. Where is Low while all of this drama is going on? Feeling discarded by Freya, but watching, always watching what these four are doing.
Almost everything I want to say leads to spoiler territory. This is one twisted tale of obsession and manipulation. I couldn't quite relate to Freya's power, but I guess there are always people who will be drawn in by someone who appears confident and unafraid to take what she wants. This was a just one more chapter read, and the ending was unbelievably good. This book publishes in June, and if we are lucky and can go to the beach, I am sure I will see The Swap everywhere.

Well written and chock full of twists and turns, this book will keep you up *and* keep you guessing. Low, a teenager and "island girl" in the Pacific Northwest, befriends two couples and finds herself inextricably caught between them as she navigates her own insecurities, jealousies, and fantastical dreams of a life better lived. Low adores one of the wives--a self-proclaimed celebrity who is herself an adult reflection of Low. As the "adored" she pushes and pulls Low into a false sense of friendship and security and she satisfies her own vain and superficial desires by using Low as a pawn in her game of deceit, After Low observes a night of sexual adventure between the two couples, she manipulates the two women against one another in a wild series of attempts to keep herself an integral party of the celebrity wife's world.

This book is disturbing in so many ways and I loved it!

Low is a gangly, outcasted 17 year old who craves attention and love that she feels she’s never gotten at home.

Freya is a beautiful and talented adult with an aura of perfection and lust. So when Low meets Freya, all is lost except for deep deep obsession.

Then Jamie comes into the picture and starts taking away Freya’s attention. Jamie and her husband and Freya and her handsomely crafted husband can do couples things together that Low can’t. Therein lies the (BIG) problem..

How far will a young girl go to prove her love and devotion to someone who only wants to use her and throw her away?

This book is totally creepy and everyone’s obsessed with something! But who’s obsession will drive them the farthest? We get multiple POV’s, mostly from the two women competing for Freya’s attention, but everyone once in awhile we hear from the two husbands too, which is always fun!

Thanks to NetGalley, Robyn Harding and Scout Press for the opportunity to read and review this one before it’s out in June!

I got 25% in and put it down - not for me.
The writing is flat, the narration (so far, 3 POV characters, and one chapter 3rd persona narration) all had the same voice, and I actively disliked every character - which makes it not for me.
One character had infertility issues (as a device to make her the character you feel for?) and the books handling of it was painful.
At the point I quit it, nothing had happened and there was foreshadowing obsession, but no tension.

I don’t think it’s fair to give a star rating when I didn’t finish it, but netgalley won’t let me submit without one, so I’m going with 3 stars.

This was disturbing in the best way possible, like an accident you can stop staring at.

Obsession can lead us to do things we never thought possible. I questioned myself as I read through this page turner, is this love, lust or obsession.

What would you do in the the same situation?

Another page turner by Robyn Harding! Though the story didn't feel terribly original, there were plenty of twists and turns that kept me on my toes. Recommended!

Low is eighteen years old and has never fit in her small, Northwestern island community. She’s 6’1” with wild red hair, and her parents’ polyamorous lifestyle, even in this otherwise accepting town, is still considered pretty out there. When Freya comes to town with her gorgeous former professional athlete husband, Low takes a pottery class from her and thinks she’s finally found a friend in the glamorous, former social media darling.

Then Jamie and her husband arrive on the island so he can work on his novel, she can open a gift shop, and they can try to forget the years they struggled to have a baby. Jamie also quickly falls under Freya’s spell, who gets her to take shrooms and swap husbands for one night.

One of the main tensions of the novel is what happens between Jamie and her husband after that confusing evening. But it’s also about how manipulative Freya is. Both Jamie and Low are so desperate for a friend that when Freya shines her light on them, they can’t help but do her bidding, even though she treats everyone horrifically. That’s what I couldn’t understand. I guess I can understand Low a little more because she’s so young and she wants to get away from her house—her biological parents but then also the sort-of-parents that are their lovers. I’ve never lived in a town that small, but to be treated like that and to keep going back for more was cringe-worthy.


This is a fast read with a strong ending.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel, which RELEASES JUNE 23, 2020.

The Swap was just so good. Freya never wants to have children and is somewhat of a free-spirited, tortured-soul artist who has recently moved to the beachy island after running from a scandal caused by her previous life as a social media celebrity.
Low, an awkward, gangly teen girl with no support at home immediately wants to be close to Freya. At first she takes art lessons from her, then slowly she gets closer and closer until we realize what a crazy SWF freak she really is.
Enter Jamie, an unlikely friend for Freya. She is desperate to have children and has yet to conceive. The two women form a friendship, Freya convinces Jamie to hire Low at her boutique and thus begins a seriously messed up love triangle. It’s mostly platonic, and also very strange.
Low gets jealous of the friendship, Freya pushes Jamie too far and the resulting drama is worthy of a season of Desperate Housewives. It’s so good. You can’t miss this one.
Special thanks to Gallery Books and Netgalley for an advanced e-galley of this book in exchange for my honest review. This one is out June 23–so snap up your copy to enjoy as you socially distance this summer. My review will be published on my blog, Women in Trouble Book Blog, on June 6, 2020.

I think anyone that reads this could easily hate all these women, and the men in their lives as well.

Low is a high school senior that is a loner, an outcast that lives in a polyamorous family. When she sees beautiful, blonde Freya at her school putting up a flier for pottery classes, she quickly becomes obsessed with her and signs up for her class. Freya just moved to their small town and is looking for friends, so she ends up bonding with Low. Then newcomer Jamie enters the picture... when Freya walks in to her store, she befriends her and they end up becoming quick friends. Low is jealous and feels left behind by their friendship.

One night Freya, Jamie, and their husbands get together for a dinner party and magic mushrooms... and a one-night swap. A night that will forever change them all.

The book was fast-paced and entertaining, jumping between different POV's, but I constantly wanted to knock some sense in to all of them. So frustrating! I enjoyed the writing style and twists, including the deception, betrayal and jealousy that leads to bad decisions.

Boasting quite an intriguing premise, I eagerly dove between the pages of Robyn Harding’s latest novel, “The Swap.” A twisted tale of narcissism, obsession, and deceit, the story revolves around on odd triangle of friends and their laundry list of treacherous deeds. For me, however, the characters were so unlikeable, that it detracted from my overall enjoyment of this book. That said, “The Swap” is still a good read, but just not as good as I had initially hoped.

What a terrific thriller! I can already imagine Armee Hammer as the hockey player and Saorise Ronan as the teen photographer. This was a fast paced, spell binding page turner. The writer created terrific well drawn characters who leapt off the page and totally captured my attention. Rarely does a book engage the reader so totally and creatively while keeping the denouement until the very end. This was a perfect book to read especially during this pandemic when one needs to be diverted and entertained so desperately. I shall put out the word to all my fellow readers.. watch for this incredibly interesting novel with a titillating twist. Bravo. I loved it.

Swallow is the child of very hippie parents who live an unconventional lifestyle. Always an outsider, Swallow shortens her name to Low and trying to fit in, joins a pottery class. She is given personal classes by Freya and soon Low is infatuated with her. Then Jamie arrives and she and Freya become best friends which once again, makes Low the outsider. She happens to be outside Freya's home one night and sees something that she hopes will bring her back into Freya's life. That backfires and Freya calls Low a stalker, but what Low has seen will change the course of events in a way that even Low had not envisioned.
A really good fast paced read that will keep you riveted to the end.

The premise is sexy and definitely gets your attention. But it’s more than just a simple swap! The ending was so twisty and I’ll never look at a kiln the same way again. There’s jealousy, and just crazy characters. Highly recommend for thriller fans.