REVIEW: "The Swap" by Robyn Harding
*Thank you, Gallery Books, for a gifted copy of this title.
For someone who spends a lot of time on instagram — or, more specifically, bookstagram — I am surprisingly disenchanted with influencer culture.
Specifically annoying are the lifestyle influencers and mommy bloggers.
You know, the ones who dress their six children in carefully coordinated clothes and line them up by height, standing at the end of the line with one foot popped into their air, tenderly planting kisses on the cheeks of their adoring husbands.
Or the ones who pose in their gleaming white kitchens, the early morning sun filtering in through the window, as they stand wearing a bra, fully made up, hair cascading in the natural-looking beachy waves you only accomplish with a solid 45 minutes of strategic curling.
The thing is, we all know that the images they are projecting aren’t true.
We all know that managing that many kids IRL is probably a lot like herding cats.
We all know that their real morning looks are definitely less polished.
But still we watch. And, in some cases, aspire to emulate these lives.
And it's probably because I don't hold these posed people with these carefully curated personas high in my esteem that I felt no love for Freya, the enigmatic and intriguing newcomer whose arrival on a Pacific Northwest island triggered a chain reaction of drama and mayhem.
Though she may not have been the first islander who saw Freya, Low was certainly the first to be captivated by her beauty and mystique.
A 17-year-old senior in high school, Low forming a friendship with 30-something Freya would seem unlikely. But when Freya, a talented artist, advertised for pottery students, Low saw a way to get closer to the woman who, from afar, seemed irresistibly magnetic.
As teacher and student spent time in Freya’s studio, Low learned much about her.
She learned that Freya’s relocation was triggered, at least in part, by her former-hockey-star husband’s fall from grace.
She learned that Freya valued appearances and didn’t aspire to motherhood.
And she learned that Freya’s serenity was just a facade. That, really, this woman had darkness and anger bubbling just under the surface.
Though Low is arguably the most devoted of Freya’s disciples, she’s far from the only person drawn in by the former-influencer’s tantalizing appeal.
Not only is Freya’s other newly acquired friend, Jamie a more logical friend for Freya, given their similarity in age, she is also a relative newcomer to the island.
When Jamie’s husband Brian got a book deal, the pair decided to move to the idyllic location so he could live out his dream of writing full-time and she could realize her goal of owning a shop.
Like Low, Jamie finds something in Freya to admire.
Something she wants to mimic.
So, when Freya suggests that, perhaps, the pair engage in a partner swap, Jamie is surprised to find herself actually considering it.
The generally unorthodox practice is surprisingly common on the liberal island on which both couples are making their new homes. And, Jamie rationalizes, her relationship is feeling the libido-killing effects of years of infertility treatments.
This might just be the kick it needs.
But, there is a reason women don’t swap partners like they swap casserole recipes. As they will all learn the hard way, affairs of the heart — and affairs in the bedroom — have life-altering ramifications.
As with Harding’s other novels, The Swap is a fast moving, character-driven thriller that leaves you guessing until the end.
Nothing was superfluous in this read, with every scene serving an integral function in driving the plot forward to its inevitable and *slight spoiler* bloody conclusion.
Another feature of this novel that I have come to expect from Harding’s reads: it is rife with unlikable characters.
There isn’t any character in this novel who doesn’t, at one point, engage in behavior that could be called into question. And… I think I like that. I like that all of the characters — even the for-the-most-part-good ones — sometimes do some bad shit. Because, IRL, even good people sometimes do stuff that is, maybe, not the best.
The absolute only thing this novel left me wanting was a little bit more development of the setting. I wanted more information about this intriguing, oddly sexually liberal island.
A little more history.
A little more description.
A little more...explanation as to why all of its inhabitants were so perpetually horny for each other's spouses.
This desire was really probably more rooted in my own personal curiosity than anything else.
Because I, the resident of a tame and traditional Ohio suburb, can’t even imagine the looks I would get from my neighbor Jackie if I suggested that I take a turn in the bedroom with her husband, Branch — yes… that’s really his name.
Ultimately, though, what Harding crafted was super impressive.
Her story left me thinking.
I thought about it, days after finishing it, when my 10 year old — who doesn’t come down to the breakfast table perfectly polished in attire that matches his little brother — came to me for help with his school work. He was studying ecosystems and food webs.
So I checked his assignment, my shirt still wrinkled from having been slept in and my hair haphazardly piled on my head less as an attempt at styling and more as a way to ensure that no locks fall into my coffee while I hunch over my book. And, as I did, I realized that this subarea of science is surprisingly germane to this novel.
It's because of the interdependence of all of these characters that populate The Swap that the events of this novel can play out as they do.
Their divergent skills.
Their overlapping wants.
Their complex baggage.
Harding had set the scene perfectly for conflict.
And she delivered an explosive and engaging tale that will inevitably captivate even the most prudish and resistant and readers.
Harding delivers again, with this 4 out of 5 cocktail read.
All of Harding’s books are a bit sexy, but this one was definitely her sexiest IMO. What is the sexiest book you’ve ever read? Tell me about it in the comments, below.
I’m on such a good reading streak. Let’s see if I can continue! Subscribe to updates in the sidebar on the right and follow me on Goodreads to see what I pick up next.
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