Kill Your Darlings by Peter Swanson

My rating:
3.5/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I love Peter Swanson’s writing style so much. I typically find the pacing of his books is what makes them so enjoyable.

This story was told in a reverse timeline which I didn’t mind at first but towards the end I started forgetting details from the beginning that I knew I would need to remember to fully understand the ending. I will say the ending of this book was clever, but it was definitely a slow burn book.

Overall while this wasn’t my favorite read by the author, I was leaning towards a 4 star rating for most of the story but the last 30% sort of lost me.
I still would recommend it but it wouldn’t be high on my list of recommendations.

Thank you netgalley and William Morrow for the ARC! This will be published on June 10th, 2025 so add it to your TBR now!

The story focuses on the 25 marriage of Wendy and Thom and the dark secrets and sordid affairs that span their relationship. I loved the plot of this thriller, but I don't think the reverse chronological storytelling fit the narrative.
Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the chance to read and review the ARC of Kill Your Darlings.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for an advanced copy to honestly review.

Peter Swanson once again proves his mastery of psychological suspense with Kill Your Darlings, a brilliantly constructed thriller that unravels a marriage in reverse. From the opening revelation—that Wendy Graves is plotting to kill her husband—readers are immediately drawn into a dark and twisted journey through time, peeling back the layers of a relationship built on secrets, guilt, and a past that refuses to stay buried.

What sets this novel apart is its unique narrative structure. Moving backward through key moments in Thom and Wendy’s marriage, Swanson expertly reveals how a single, fateful decision in their youth shaped their entire lives. Each chapter delivers new revelations, shifting perspectives on love, loyalty, and betrayal. As the story rewinds, the tension only deepens, culminating in a shocking truth that redefines everything the reader thought they knew.

Swanson’s writing is razor-sharp, his character work nuanced, and his ability to keep readers guessing is on full display. Kill Your Darlings is a chilling exploration of the ties that bind—and what happens when those ties begin to snap. Fans of slow-burning psychological thrillers with an unconventional structure will find this novel both gripping and unforgettable.

I love Peter Swanson's books and I liked that he went in a very different direction with Kill Your Darlings written in reverse, following a couple, Wendy and Thom, in present day all the way backwards to when they were in middle school and had just met. It was very interesting to watch their relationship unfold and piece things together as you got to the next chapter. There were some twists along the way that I always appreciate in Swanson's books. I really enjoyed this one and the new path Swanson went in with writing it!

I enjoy Peter Swanson's writing and this one didn't disappoint. This book tells the story of a marriage in reverse, a marriage that was doomed from the start. I didn't mind the reverse order of the story. I found it different and refreshing. I wish there had been an epilogue but I also like that there wasn't one, if that makes sense...It was worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an ARC of Kill Your Darlings.

Writing the book in reverse chronological order was an interesting change-up to the usual thriller formula, which I appreciate, but unfortunately it just didn't work for me. The story felt so clunky read backwards and what was supposed to be the big twist at the end (or was it the beginning?) felt underwhelming as a result. The main characters were deplorable and so many random things happened in the story for such a short book. Sadly, a miss for me.

2.5 stars

I've read four of Peter Swanson's other novels and a novella and he has consistently great books. When I saw he had another book out I was excited to read it, and it didn't disappoint! I'm nearly all the way through his back list and he has become an auto-read author for me. 5 stars!

Creative, unique, fresh, exciting, riveting. This book will blow you away. I was not ready for what's in store here. I don't want to give anything away. Just brace yourself.

KILL YOUR DARLINGS was a mind bender of a novel, working backwards in time and twisting the reader’s mind to put the pieces together. The plot was designed perfectly for this type of gimmick, it made sense in reverse order and the author did a great job laying the clues out. I did wish there was one final chapter or epilogue to take the reader back to present time, as there were a lot of unanswered questions yet to be resolved.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read and review KILL YOUR DARLINGS.

I’m not quite sure how to read this book. I wanted to love it because of the author Peter Swanson is amazing, but at the same time this was also book that I have yet to be sure about. It was written in a manner that I can’t quite convey. This book was insane in the fact that it was written backwards, and the last chapter was insanely creative. I really enjoyed the book but also I was so frazzled with it. Not sure how to have it come across. I rated it so high because I do love this author and it did intrigue me.

Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow or this crazy read!

I am a big fan of Peter Swanson;, but Kill Your Darlings left me with mixed feelings. Written in a reverse timeline, (think Memento) beginning at the tragic end of the long, somewhat arduous relationship of Thom and Wendy. It was a slow burn, but it kept my interest. Richly flawed characters and a well developed plot pulls the reader along, butI feel that this would draw a bigger audience as a movie or Netflix limited series.

I have enjoyed several earlier novels by Peter Swanson. Kill Your Darlings is not one of them. Written in a reverse Memento-style order, KYD tells the story of Thom and Wendy, a middle age married couple with a grown son. After an untimely incident at the end of chapter 2023, Swanson goes backwards, year by year, exploring the evil exploits of the New England couple.
Evil deeds, sordid affairs, and yes, even murder, line their history. But the story just isn’t very interesting.
Thank goodness it’s only a bit over 250 pages.
Kill your reading time with one of Swanson’s other, better novels. You’ll thank me in the future.

I love Peter Swanson and everything he writes but this one left me feeling unsatisfied. I think the premise was great but I don’t think the timeline fit quite right. It peaked very early on and fizzled out from there for me. I kept waiting for something else to happen. It does provide some great character development but don’t expect anything more than that. Overall, not a bad book but not my favorite from Peter.

I didn't love this book and found it to be repetitive. I also thought the timeline told in reverse took away from the overall story. The book centers on married couple Thom and Wendy, starting in the current state where they have been together for decades, and working back to when they met as teenagers. The beginning of the book alludes to a secret they are keeping and how each handles that differently, and the book is a slow burn to get back to the event that changed them.

Neither Thom nor Wendy was that likable of a character, and I often couldn't understand either one of their reasons for making decisions that they made (including one very big one!). I didn't think the character development was that great- maybe it is due to the reverse timeline, but I didn't see any growth in these characters over decades of time. There were also many unanswered questions, which I won't cover in detail here at risk of providing spoilers; I felt like there were some pretty major loose ends that weren't tied up. Though the book was a slow burn, I found that it moved at a faster clip in the 2nd half than it did in the first. I liked the twist on the very last page,

Overall, this wasn't really the book for me and I found it to be a bit of a slog at times. I did like the way the ending worked with the beginning, and thought the reverse timeline was unique, even if it wasn't necessarily super engaging for me. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

WOW what an interesting concept. Reading a story in reverse. I'll admit, I was hooked from the beginning. You know that something happens, but then we are seeing the story in reverse chunks. It was all very intriguing and kept my attention. Also, knowing the story but watching it unfold - I didn't think I'd have confusing thoughts of the characters but my opinions changed while we went back.

3.5🌟
I’m so conflicted!
I am a devoted fan of Peter Swanson, but this latest left me confused and perhaps a bit disappointed.

Let me break it down…

What worked:
The premise. A long married couple who’ve been holding onto a secret for years. A secret they will be taking to their graves. Mind you, this is not a “happily” married couple. Over the years there’s been an excess of infidelity and drinking. What could have led up to put them in this unfortunate place in their lives?

What didn’t work:
Almost the entire story is told in reverse. It took me a while to get my brain to reverse course to where it began making sense. But in the end, each chapter felt repetitive.

The saving grace:
The ending! Bravo! Well done!🙌🏼

I know authors want to explore new directions, whether it be genres or in this case the format. Sometimes it works…in this case not as much.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow

This is a perfect book for a cozy afternoon or in my case a travel day. The characters are quirky and fun and the story is told in reverse order so you don’t really know who did it, what they did or why until the end.

This was an interesting take on a marriage gone wrong, told in backwards time, from the present when Wendy wants to get rid of her husband to their young romance at 14 yrs old, birthday twins. The unraveling is done subtly giving us little clues and most surprisingly the ordinariness of murder being a solution. the rewinding of ordinary people not being so ordinary after all. It is primarily a character study and is smart and done so quietly that you can miss the surprises. 4.5

3.5 stars If you’re the kind of person that reads the endings of books first, this is probably the perfect book for you. Unfortunately, I am not. I liked the beginning, and the end twists were interesting, but between 50-80% it really dragged for me. It felt like parts got repetitive. I also didn’t really like the main characters- they were awful people, but also kind of boring. I just wish the last chapter had returned to the present to wrap things up.

Thanks to NetGalley for my ARC

I don't have much to say about Kill Your Darlings. It was just okay. I didn't particularly care about the characters. Beginning the story at the end just felt gimmicky to me. I did have a good time with a couple of small reveals, but it's ultimately forgettable.