Book Review: Kill Your Darlings

Thom and Wendy Graves have been married for over twenty-five years. They live in a beautiful Victorian on the north shore of Massachusetts. Wendy is a published poet and Thom teaches English literature at a nearby university. Their son, Jason, is all grown up. All is well…except that Wendy wants to murder her husband. What happens next has everything to do with what happened before.

The story of Wendy and Thom’s marriage is told in reverse, moving backward through time to witness key moments from the couple’s lives—their fiftieth birthday party, buying their home, Jason’s birth, the mysterious death of a work colleague—all painting a portrait of a marriage defined by a single terrible act they plotted together many years ago. The secret, that has kept them bound together, has each wondering if they would be better off making sure their spouse carries it to the grave.

Kill Your Darlings by Peter Swanson will be published June 10, 2025. William Morrow provided an early galley for review.

I have reviewed other Swanson novels before, so seeing his new one coming out I was eager to read it.

The concept of a novel that tells the story in reverse (going from 2023 all the way back to 1982) is an interesting idea. I have to wonder if the author wrote it in reverse or if he wrote them in a chronological order then just reversed them. I imagine it would be hard to write the story in reverse. For me, as a reader, knowing how the story "ends" did have me feeling less engaged at times as we moved back in time. While curious about some aspects of their story, I also found it to less suspenseful in others.

The second thing that threw me off here is that both of the main characters are unlikable in several ways. They seem so casual about some of the questionable acts they each commit. Swanson does have a talent though in writing despicable lead characters. So, here too I found myself as a reader torn but as a writer intrigued. It definitely put me in a bit of quandary.

Still, I liked how Swanson layered in reoccurring themes and imagery. And the ending ties it all together in a full circle way. I definitely appreciated what he was trying to do with this book even if I didn't fully enjoy the execution.