I wanted to enjoy this book, especially because it’s going to be turned into a movie, but it was just weird. I mean, I know it’s supposed to be a creepy folklore book, but it was just beyond strange.

This book had me engaged from the moment I started reading it. It splits its time equally between being a detective drama and a psychological fairy tale. Golding is great at building the tension and showing us the anxiety of the moment.

Thank you to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of Little Darlings.

I love fairy tales, myths and legends from ye olden days and Little Darlings gives it a modern, contemporary twist in the form of Lauren, an exhausted mother who has just delivered a pair of beautiful twin boys.

Soon after the delivery, she is visited by a threatening, bedraggled old woman who is eager to exchange her foul twins for Lauren's mortal babes and Lauren freaks out, locks herself and her boys in the bathroom and calls the cops.

No one believes her; in fact, everyone thinks she is suffering from postpartum psychosis. Everyone except DS Jo Harper, a dedicated detective who feels there is more to the story than meets the eye.

When the twins are abducted a few weeks later, but found safe and unharmed, Lauren is convinced these babies are not her own and she will do anything to recover her twins, even at the sake of her sanity and freedom.

The author weaves a creepy and disturbing tale about a woman struggling to adapt to her new roles as mother and caretaker. It's hard being a parent, but especially a mother when you are expected to do everything, with a smile, as societal and personal stereotypes dictate.

You don't need to be a mother or a parent to empathize with Lauren; a parent's greatest fear is losing a child and not being able to provide comfort and security to their child.

Lauren's terror and grief is palpable when her babies go missing, she is stark and crazed when she is convinced her babies are not her own and ferocious in her determination to get them back.

Lauren is real, she could be my mother; exhausted, sleep deprived and confused mentally and emotionally, but absolute in her conviction to protect her children at all costs.

DS Harper is a good character, reliable, a typical rule breaker with secrets of her own. Her tenacity and doggedness on following through with Lauren's case, even though her superior deemed it closed, was admirable.

Perhaps it was due to her personal life but Harper's willingness to see the case to the end provided some answers, not all, but enough to tie up some loose ends but still leave the reader guessing and wondering, which is the best way to close out a book like this, in my opinion.

I did feel Harper's on-again, off-again whining about a potential lover was unnecessary; it was childish, almost infantile, considering her age and profession but hey, some of us act like idiots when we are in lust and/or attracted to someone.

I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the magical and the real; the fairytale elements alongside the ominous history of the village and what the creepy old woman might represent and embody in the town.

The author dropped just the right amount of little clues and tidbits to foster doubt for the reader, adding to the magical elements but with enough details that gave credence that Lauren may be mentally ill as well.

I liked the open ended finale: is Lauren suffering a mental breakdown?

Will Harper ever find out who the old woman is?

Why is Lauren's husband such a douche?

Because, sometimes men are.

I look forward to more books by this author.

Lauren is a new mom to twin boys, Riley and Morgan. While in the hospital, she becomes convinced that a woman is attempting to kidnap her children and replace them with her own- changling style. The woman trying to swap babies is dirty and unkempt. The babies are not typical either. They sin and make strange noises. One night Lauren called the police and the call is brushed off as a mental health issue. No one believes her. Her husband the the medical staff keep telling her she is exhausted and has post partum depression.

But is there more to this story than meets the eye? One dedicated officer thinks so and she is willing to investigate the case further.

It was an interesting read, different from what I typically read because of the fantasy aspect. However, I wasn’t very captivated by the book. It wasn’t a book that I couldn’t put down. At times it felt a little repetitive and dragged out. Just an okay read.

Little darlings was an mostly enjoyable read. I was able to breeze through it in a day and it kept my interest. The storyline wasn’t my usual favorite... thriller/suspense with a twist of fantasy/magic isn’t usually my preference. But it was overall a pleasant read. Would recommend on a vacay when you want something quick.

LITTLE DARLINGS is the first book that I've read by Melanie Golding and one I couldn't put down. I would describe this book as a Psychological Thriller/Folklore. LITTLE DARLINGS hooked me in from the very first page and kept me guessing until the very end. Highly recommend.

Lauren Tranter gives birth to identical twin boys, Riley and Morgan, and while still in the hospital she is approached by a weird, smelly woman with her own set of twins. The woman appears again and tries to abduct Riley and Morgan and the police are called. Understandably, Lauren wasn’t believed by the doctors, the police, her husband or me. What hospital would let this woman (filthy, scraggly looking and singing) roam around to patient rooms? She doesn’t appear on surveillance tapes. However Lauren persists in believing that this woman will keep trying to take her twins.

I understand that parents worry about their children being taken and they can also feel that a baby is a strange alien creature that has suddenly invaded their homes. These concerns seem to have resulted in changeling myths in many cultures. Some of those myths are inserted as filler between the chapters of this book. But unfortunately nothing happened in this book to make me believe that anything other than postnatal paranoia was going on. I kept waiting for a twist but it never came. There was also a pointless side story about a police detective who unprofessionally shared case information with a reporter because she was attracted to her. Fortunately for the detective, the reporter was much better at detection than the police were. This was another domestic thriller that disappointed.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Harking on the theme of various Grimm’s Brothers faerie tales and other folklore, it started off really well and held my intrigue for about a third of the way before sliding down the murky river bank.
Lauren Tranter is a new mom of twins and as is natural, overwhelmed and tired. To top it off, her husband is largely unsympathetic and she gets visits from a mysterious woman who looks like she was just dragged out from a swamp and who threatens to swap her newborn babies with her own. Golly, that was good stuff and I continued reading. The policewoman on her case, Jo Harper, doesn’t really know what to think as there are several contradictory accounts from her and the hard evidence that follows.
Halfway through, though the story starts getting overly dramatic without accomplishing anything. Many unnecessary characters are introduced and we lose that mythic, fairy-tale feeling. For instance, I loved that every chapter began with a “changeling” tale from different cultures and that made the anticipation even stronger.
By the end of the book, however, there were more questions than answers. I dare say the premise is really good and there was potential for that suspenseful, sinister quality to be heightened further.
Thanks to #NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

-Description-
New mother, Lauren, has just given birth to twin boys when another mother tries to take them...well, switch them. Between being exhausted by all the mothering responsibilities, having twins, and a partner that doesn’t do a whole lot to help...we don’t know if it’s psychosis, someone trying to hurt her, or if she’s doing all this to herself. Here comes Detective Harper to help us figure it all out...

-Thoughts-
1. Page-turner right off the bat. I could feel her anxiety, exhaustion, frustration. In fact, I had a hard time reading it and staying awake. It was like this tug on my eyelids as soon as I would start to read.
2. It was an easy read & I was interested. We had a lot of explaining throughout but then the end felt rushed and not explained.
2. I kept waiting for the reveal. For the explanation that never really came.

-Similar Recommended Reads-
The Silent Patient
The Perfect Couple
An Anonymous Girl

DS Joanna Harper has been on the police force for a number of years. She is dedicated and always on the edge of getting into trouble as she is a tenacious detective and refuses to ignore even one clue.

Lauren has just given birth to twin boys with her husband, Patrick, at her side. They name the boys Morgan and Riley. In the UK hospital, Lauren is left alone at night when Patrick is sent home by the hospital, leaving her with total responsibility for the babies after a harrowing birth. During the exhausting night attending to and feeding the boys, something happens that terrifies her causing her to run with the babies and hide in the bathroom. While this event gets dismissed as a psychological case, there seems to be much more going on than that. When DS Harper learns of the incident at the hospital, she becomes involved.

This book is a mixture of fantasy, fairy tales, and psychological disorders. The story winds around Lauren’s actions where we wonder if she is hallucinating or truly knows something we don’t. I will give the author credit for her imagination, but can honestly say that for myself, I don’t believe in fairies.

Copy provided by NetGalley and Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A hauntingly beautiful mix of fairy tale and psychological thriller. The descriptions were so well written it really fell in line with the feeling you were in a real life fairy tale of the darkest kind. I found Lauren to be relatable in the desperate need to protect your children and the questioning of reality when you’re a sleep deprived new mother. I loved how this story exaggerated and embellished those relatable things so they melted in with this tale of changelings. Detective Harper's determination to follow her instinct seemed to ground the story at times and added a perspective that kept me curious. By midway through the story I had to know how this finished and found myself in awe of the sophisticated way the twists and turns kept me on edge of this dark and creepy story. It was beautiful and intense and proved that the sacrifice for those you love is found within both the supernatural and the reality.

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding
Published 30th April 2019

THE TWINS ARE CRYING.
THE TWINS ARE HUNGRY.
LAUREN IS CRYING.
LAUREN IS EXHAUSTED.
Behind the hospital curtain, someone is waiting . . .
Lauren is alone on the maternity ward with her new-born twins when a terrifying encounter in the middle of the night leaves her convinced someone is trying to steal her children. Lauren, desperate with fear, locks herself and her sons in the bathroom until the police arrive to investigate.
When DS Joanna Harper picks up the list of overnight incidents that have been reported, she expects the usual calls from drunks and wrong numbers. But then a report of an attempted abduction catches her eye. The only thing is that it was flagged as a false alarm just fifteen minutes later.
Harper's superior officer tells her there's no case here, but Harper can’t let it go so she visits the hospital anyway. There's nothing on the CCTV. No one believes this woman was ever there. And yet, Lauren claims that she keeps seeing the woman and that her babies are in danger, and soon Harper is sucked into Lauren's spiral of fear. But how far will they go to save children who may not even be in danger?

Personally I found it tricky to get into this book at first but then I was captured! I could not put it down! I had to know the truth! It is a creepy, dark story that will have you hooked! If you like an unsettling read, this ones for you!
And I’ve just read that it is being made into a film! 📚

Little Darlings was superbly creepy and DEFINITELY the worst book I could read right after finding out I was pregnant.

This was so believable and realistic I'm still a bit paranoid about protecting my unborn child from changelings.

Needless to say, this book was brilliant purely for the captivating storyline, well plotted pacing and complex characters

The story is inspired by some deliciously creepy dark fairy tales that adds an extra layer to the sinister, menacing and eerie feel of the book. I absolutely love these types of tales and found myself devouring this one!

LITTLE DARLINGS by MELANIE GOLDING is an unsettling, compulsive and mysterious tale that had me constantly wavering between believing Lauren’s story and thinking maybe she really is just imagining it all. The feelings that I had for Lauren throughout were quite intense and had me feeling her fear. I wanted to believe her!

I love books that give me an unsettled, eerie feeling while reading it and Little Darlings hit the mark. A new mother, Lauren, has just given birth to twin boys when a strange disheveled woman appears on the maternity ward threatening to swap her "babies" with Lauren's as "its only fair". What follows is a journey deep into a world of dark fairy tales, old folklore, psychosis, and at the heart of it all a mother's belief that she has to protect her babies no matter the cost. It's soooo good!

Lauren Tranter is a young mother who has just given birth to twins boys, Morgan and Riley. From the moment the babies are born Lauren begins to struggle with their care but only wants to be a good mother to her boys no matter how exhausting it may become.

As Lauren becomes more and more exhausted in those first days in the hospital learning to balance the needs of each baby she begins to hear another mother nearby with twins too it seems. But as Lauren investigates the other mother what she finds scares her beyond measure only to be told by hospital staff that it’s all in her head, a symptom of exhaustion but she knows she needs to protect her sons at all costs.

Creepy and compelling are some choice words that come to mind thinking back on reading Little Darlings by Melanie Golding. This one is like taking a psychological thriller up to the next level putting a touch of horror into it by mixing in the supernatural. The story uses old folklore to set an atmospheric vibe and to keep readers hooked on every last page waiting to see what is real or imagined themselves. I can definitely envision this one on the big screen and recommend checking it out.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was an interesting book! It is a fairy tale, involving actual fairies and also has a bit of cop mystery entwined! Lauren Tranter is a new mother of twin boys! She's overwhelmed and exhausted (like any new mother of one!) and she's a little lonely as she's in the hospital with only the Morgan & Riley to keep her company. Soon, she hears a woman in the cubicle next to her, singing to her own twin boys but she's not exactly what Lauren thinks! She wants to trade her twins with Lauren's! Lauren then has to do what she needs to do to protect her babies but yet, no one seems to believe her. She goes through quite the ordeal! I loved how this book was told from Lauren's perspective and also Detective Joanna Harper. They are both characters you learn to care about.

Initial Thoughts
I really enjoyed this one. It was mystery more than anything but I liked the fact that there was a bit of otherness to the story as well. I liked Lauren a lot and really felt for her over the course of the story. I listened to this book and thought that the narrator did a fabulous job with the story which added to my enjoyment.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley and a copy of the audiobook was purchased. Full review to be posted soon.

Very interesting concept for a book. Little Darlings was a nice change of pace and I was intrigued by the storyline. As Mother’s, we have been in the hospital exhausted from delivery and all that comes with it. What if you thought you saw your child/children kidnapped? Was it your imagination? Would anyone believe you? Would you doubt yourself? I agree with other reviews that this is a dark, twisted story that is reminiscent of a folklore tale. I enjoy books that make you think long and hard about the people in your own life and what would you do if something this creepy happened to you? I highly recommend this book, but just don’t read it before bedtime!

What a creepy book! Creepy in an interesting, kept my interest sort of way. Males me think of the old folk tales that were told to us as children. After I read this, I wasn't sure if I really knew what the ending actually meant. An enjoyable read tho, it will keep me wondering for a while!