The Swap by Robyn Harding

I gave Her Pretty Face two stars, then Robyn Harding’s last book, The Arrangement, three stars, so I when I saw The Swap on Netgalley I figured, well, maybe this would be four stars or even five! Here’s my review for The Swap.

About The Book 📚

Publication Date: June 23, 2020

Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press

Suggested Reader Age: Adult

Genre: Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Contemporary, Drama

My Review

› The Swap begins during Spring 2019, in a small , island town called Hawking. Seventeen-year-old Low lives on a small hobby farm with her family. She has two younger brothers and her parents are in a polyamorous relationship.

“It wasn’t uncommon for couples to swap partners on the island. Locals called it the “Hawking Shuffle” or “the island way”. But this behavior was strictly sexual, a party favor even. My parents and their partners considered themselves a family.”

› The first time Low saw Freya was at high school, putting up flyers for pottery lessons. Freya grew up in Pacific Palisades, a coastal neighbourhood west of Los Angeles and moved to Hawking with her famous husband, Maxime after he killed someone by an illegal check during a hockey game. Freya HATES that they had to move to a small town where she’s bored out of her mind. She loves the attention Low gives her.

“Freya hated these people who had lost their son, their brother, their uncle, she had no compassion, no empathy for them. Perhaps I should have taken note.”

› Freya also has a close friendship with Jamie, who was born and raised in Vancouver and married to Brian. They desperately want to start a family and recently had their hearts broken by a surrogate mother scam. Freya makes Jamie feel young, care-free and alive, so, when Freya suggests they have a couples party with just the four of them and some mushroom tea, Jamie figured, well, what’s the harm?

The only problem is…Low saw everything.

› Likes
Characters are well-developed for the most part except Max and Brian didn’t have much of a personality. Writing style was okay, I liked the dialogue.

› Dislikes: I despise when characters don’t call the police without an explanation. There is a lack of diversity and this needed more world-building, descriptions. VERY slow pace, nothing really happened until 95% with the convenient, quick ending tied up in a neat bow.

› As of May 2020, I use the CAWPILE method to rate books.
0-3 Really bad
4-6 Mediocre
7-9 Really good
10 Outstanding
Characters: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Writing Style: 6
Plot: 4
Intrigue: 4
Logic: 6
Enjoyment: 6

add up the scores
find the average 5

1.1-2.2 = ★
2.3-4.5 = ★★
4.6-6.9 = ★★★
7-8.9 = ★★★★
9-10 = ★★★★★

My Goodreads Rating ★★★

› Final Thoughts
• The Swap has some interesting characters and a compelling premise, yet the slow-burn was too slow and the fire burned out for me. I do like Harding’s writing style, so I will give her next book a try! If you liked Her Pretty Face or The Arrangement by Harding then I think you’d like The Swap as well. It also reminded me of Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon.