This book had gothic/supernatural themes to it, though at times I was left wondering, is it supernatural or is the lady just crazy like everyone thinks she is? There is a blurb before a number of chapters of quotes from various books, including the Brothers Grimm. Lauren has given birth to twins and is ‘visited’ by a female who is dressed in tattered clothes and carrying a basket with unidentifiable items in it and offers Lauren to exchange one of her twins for one in the basket. Lauren of course says no. No one else though saw this person which leads to people thinking Lauren is crazy. After an incident, it’s suggested she spend some time in the psychiatric hospital for observation. The book held my attention, the quotes from various books, while interesting, and were, for me, too obscure to relate to. That said, I would read another book from this author.

Absolutely brilliant.

This book had me questioning my own sanity at stages. The character development was incredibly detailed to the point I felt the emotions the characters were going through with them.

The novel scared me at stages and I had to stop reading, but the story was so good I instantly picked it back up.

I loved the sinister undertones and the references to old folklore throughout.

Little Darlings will leave you wondering what is happening right up until the very end. Is Lauren losing her mind, possibly afflicted with post-partum depression? If not, have her babies really been swapped with someone, or something, else?

This story is a successful blend of psychological suspense, ghost story, and fairy tale. Dark things exist in the world that Lauren Tranter inhabits, and it’s up to the reader to decide what is real and what is imagined.

I devoured this book in two sittings. It was almost impossible for me to put down – I just had to know what was going to happen. I can’t recommend this thriller enough.

I've recently gotten into reading stories based on folklore so I was very happy when I won Melanie Golding's first novel through Bookish Firsts and Crooked Land Books. The novel offered up a creepy retelling of Irish folklore involving changelings set in modern day and addressing mental health and postpartum psychosis. The protagonist was a strong-willed female detective who was admirable in her diligence to follow her intuition. There is a crime and a mystery which may or may not be fully resolved at the end, however the end is satisfying. Ms. Golding's depiction of new motherhood in the first 6 weeks postpartum is spot on. I wanted to wring the husband's neck several times. The addition of changeling folklore at the beginning of each chapter created a chilling atmosphere that propelled the reader through a well-written novel about the sleep-deprived mind and the power of superstition.

Well ladies and gentlemen, I have finished this at last! It is 1:30 in the morning and all I have to say is HOLY SMOKES that was a fun ride. This book was sort of peculiar to me in the sense that I did not truly care about the story in the beginning. Upon reading the first half of the book, I found myself slightly bored and thought of the mother's (Lauren) personality as eye-rolling and slightly agitating. Then, I remembered back to when my children were born and how rough those sleepless nights were and how I never could have done that by myself, much less whilst fearing for the lives of my children, so I get it. I forced myself to carry on through the dry dialog and I am so glad that I did! The last half of this book was thrilling and made the first have completely worth it. I feel the book isn't quite deserving of a full 5 stars just because the story was left a little open ended and solved one too many mysteries, but all in all I feel this was a great read and would CERTAINLY recommend!

The book starts off with a pretty standard thriller set up which left me pretty bored. However, when it starts to twist and turn it doesn't end up where I expected. Well written but characters like the bumbling husband and random cop who doesn't seem to fit take away from the plot.

Little Darlings is the type of book that will keep you up at night!

Lauren is a new mom with beautiful, healthy twin boys. Things take a dark turn when she is certain there is someone is her hospital room. Someone who is threatening to take her babies!

The even bigger problem is no one is believing her. Was there ever really a woman there or is it all in Lauren’s head?

Finally, Lauren is released from the hospital, but one afternoon at her local park, her babies are taken! Luckily, the stroller is quickly found - with twins in it - who certainly LOOK alike Lauren’s babies....

But she is certain these are not hers.

I was gripped from the first chapter. This is a must-read for fans of thrillers and dark twists. Loved all the references to Grimm’s fairy tales. I’m still sleeping with the lights on!

This book was a non stop read of the creepy psychological variety. The book opens with Lauren and her husband Patrick in the hospital as Lauren gives birth to twin boys, Riley and Morgan. While initially Lauren is afraid she won’t love them, that fear is quickly dispelled, but it’s replaced by a more disturbing fear: someone is trying to take the babies.

There’s an epigraph at the beginning of each chapter that grounds the book in the idea of the changeling, an ancient folkloric concept that the real baby is taken and replaced by an elf baby or an ice baby or in Lauren’s case, a river baby. And if this was the straight up thrust of the novel, it would have been almost a cliché.

But Golding – and this is a first novel, which is remarkable – instead creates doubt in the mind of the reader as she paints a picture of a woman so exhausted and overwhelmed by twins that she could be delusional. Still in the hospital, she makes an emergency call to the police while locked in the bathroom, reporting that someone is trying to steal the babies. The call is dismissed and Lauren is referred to mental health services instead.

Lauren does agree to go home shortly afterwards though she feels far from ready – and who, newborn in tow, hasn’t had that feeling on leaving the hospital? – but her husband is sure it will help her to be at home. However it’s just as overwhelming at home, especially as her husband takes his earplugs and heads for the spare room to get a good night’s sleep. As she’s breastfeeding, he points out, he can’t be much help.

Lauren feels completely alone and overwhelmed. Understandable. But she’s sure someone is trying to get in the house and she gets her husband to put three locks on her bedroom door, to protect the babies. Her husband is skeptical, but she can’t get past a vision of an old woman with a basket in her hospital room who wanted to trade babies with her.

Her husband finally gets her to agree to leave the house, but when she heads out, she’s sure she sees the old woman lurking in the bushes. She perseveres however and does go out, only to have the babies snatched away. Though they are found, she is sure they have been changed out and are no longer her own dear twins.

Golding provides ample evidence for each point of view. Lauren is definitely having some sort of psychotic break or experiencing postpartum depression, but on the other hand the twins, as described after their return, do seem different. The resolution is simultaneously gripping and ambiguous and for the entire read, you’re inside Lauren’s head. It’s hard to judge the reality of what she’s feeling because it’s as though you’re feeling it yourself. This is a masterful first novel, and when you finish it, you’ll be thinking about the ending and trying to decide for yourself what might really have happened.

This book was creepy to the max. It hit me right in the heart, as a mother of three little ones. I was right there with Lauren feeling all of her emotions. I’m not sure how many times I yelled at my kindle app “why will no one believe her?”. It was beyond frustrating to see Lauren continually dismissed. Enter Harper, she was a wonderful character with her own motives pushing her onto this case and she certainly maintained the balance from all of those who thought Lauren was “ill”.

The combination of fairytale, thriller and folklore was definitely pretty cool. And I can honestly say the only part of this book that I disliked was Patrick. 4 stars, must read!

Whew. I need a minute to process this one, because it was intense, messed up, twisted, and GOOD.  So let's say you have newborn twins, you are sleep deprived, you have no help from your sorry jerk of a husband, a river woman is trying to steal them when you do sleep, and hangs around your house letting you know she is waiting. Then you fall asleep for a hot minute and wake up and they are gone! Oh, and no one believes a word you say when you tell folks that they aren't your babies when you get them back, and these 'creatures', aka babies, start messing with you when no one is looking. What would you do??? This would literally be the worst possible scenario, but guess what, it all happens to Lauren.  And guess what, I enjoyed every single minute of it, trying to figure out what in the world was going on, whether it was all in her head or whether she was telling the truth.

The use of changelings (e.g. a fairy child left in place of a human child) was well done and fascinating.  It left me second guessing myself on what was really happening, as I am just not that familiar with this concept.  The ending was not unrealistic which was good, because obviously with this premise it certainly could have been.

The detective side of the story was a little distracting from the rest.  DI Harper is a good detective, using her gut instincts to break big cases, but in this one she had to constantly rely on a reporter for what appeared to be basic research skills, which seems odd and a bit unrealistic given her history.

Overall this was 4 stars - I loved the story, the tie-in of old folklore/fairy tales, and the creep factor. This is Golding's first novel, a solid debut. Also, not surprisingly, it has been already been optioned for the big screen.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books for the advanced copy of the book to review.  This review is part of the blog tour for this book.

Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for the advanced copy.

I started and finished this book in 24 hours on a lazy Sunday. It was hard to put down. 

Is Lauren Crazy?! Is Patrick a liar?! Will Harper figure out what going on?! So many questions will go through your mind.

The intensity of the story had me reading page after page nonstop. If you like supernatural thrillers, you will like this one.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and Crooked Lane books in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting premise of a book that I thought would creep me out! A woman gives births to twins and then feels like she is being harassed by an evil old woman trying to steal her babies.

Unfortunately for me the story dragged on in parts and was not the least bit creepy. I think there were too many side stories that bogged the story down for me. If it would have focused more on the mother and less on the detective and her story, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

Nonetheless, an interesting premise for a story when you see a lot of the same recycled storylines!

I am crossing my fingers that this is, in fact, the beginning of a series starring Jo Harper. Please, please, please let this be true! This was a perfect combination of detective novel, psychological thriller, and supernatural mythology! I truly didn’t know what to believe throughout this novel, but believe this! It’s a creepy thrill ride (think Baby Teeth vibes here).

I would STRONGLY recommend not reading this if you are pregnant or recently gave birth (it will give you nightmares). Everyone else should definitely give this one a try, because it’s great! Those babies are so disturbing - and so is the story.

I will certainly be reading anything Melanie Golding writes.

Little Darlings is a deeply dark, haunting, mesmerizing and very atmospheric tale about a mother´s unconditional love and unsurpassable instinct.
This grim fairytale, based on a legend about changelings, starts on a hot summer day on which Lauren gives birth to adorable and healthy identical twins Morgan and Riley. Traumatized by her birth experience, in pain and very sleep deprived, she starts seeing a dark-haired "river woman", who wants her babies instead of two creepy creatures in her mud stained basket. Although the police and her husband Patrick are convincing her the woman is just a figment of her imagination, the result of her post-natal hormonal unbalance, she knows ...She knows her babies are in great danger. And she knows the four staring eyes, transformed from blue to green, are not the ones of her own babies. And when everyone else hears regular cries from two newborns ...She hears the two monsters speaking to her, asking her to return them to where they came from ...to the river.
This book challenges the reader´s imagination, driving him to question what is real and what is just a product of a confused mind of a mother who would crash every possible barrier to protect her little darlings.

As other reviewers are saying, this was one creepy book. I have mixed feelings about it, both good and bad. While I hate to leave negative feedback, I have to say that I feel the book is overrated. It started out so good. I couldn’t put it down. Then as it progressed, my mind started wondering. Any mother will relate to the beginning when the main character gives birth then how she is so exhausted but never sleeps the same again because of worrying about the babies still breathing or someone taking them. But to top it off, someone, or rather SOMETHING, is trying to take her babies before she even leaves the hospital! The nurses all say no one was in there and she still has the same babies she gave birth to. This book blends real life drama with fairy tales. I love stories about changlings and that touch on this book seems so real. It’s a grown up fairy tale touch. All through the book, the reader doesn’t know what is real or what is imagined. Who to believe or trust or if the mother is crazy. The husband was odd. His character was ok but after the first half he was sort of bland and one dimensional. Because of the last half not holding my interest as much and mainly because I hated the ending, I gave it three stars. I hope the movie is a lot better.

Thank you so much to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this early.

This book was great! It’s a fast paced thriller that you don’t want to put down!! I’m breathless after reading it.

I love Grimm’s Fairytales. Love them! So when I seen this book was like that I couldn’t pass it up to review. I so happy I didn’t! It was phenomenal! I brushed up on my Faerie folklore within these pages and I was reminded why I fell in love with them when I was a small child.

Lauren is not like most pregnant women. When she goes into labor she couldn’t have been expecting the pain and fear of what was to come. I wholeheartedly believe she had postpartum depression. I, myself, suffered from it and it’s not a pretty disease. Not pretty at all. It’s like you want all these feelings you hear other moms talk about but when you look at your beautiful baby there’s nothing there but anxiety. I felt so bad for her and I still do. What she went through in this book is not for the faint of heart.

She suffered and lost so much in a small amount of time. Everything she went through made her stronger and a better mom. Sometimes it takes one little look or one little mishap to make us realize how much we love our children.

I do have some things that I feel like as left unanswered. I need to know more about her husband. I had/have a lot of questions and I know they won’t go away until I talk about it with someone. Hopefully the author as I think she can be the only one to give me insight.

I’ve never read a book by Melanie Golding and that will be the only time you will read that sentence. Her words were poetry on a bright sunny morning until the dark clouds started rolling in. The twist she leads us through was nothing short of remarkable. I already added it to one of my top reads this year. I really hope there’s another because I need closer.

Not sure what to make of this book.
Based around a woman who gave birth to identical twins who was then pursued by a strange woman was creepy. Thinking that her babies were swapped with changlings was a great idea.. The beginning was really good, kept me gripped, very creepy and disturbing. As the book went on I lost it a little bit. I felt myself thinking that the main character was.weak and I could not really warm to her. Her husband was also an interesting character but I did'nt feel as though there was enough background about him.
The story was more of a fairytale. It was enjoyable and interesting but left me a little confused and cold.

I think most of the reactions to this book will be the same...creepy and chilling! This novel follows a mother and her newborn twin boys; the mother is insistent that someone is trying to take them. Is she having mental health issues or is it real? Throughout reading, I was clueless as to what would happen next and how it would end. I enjoyed this mysterious debut novel.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books and Author Melanie Golding for the digital ARC in return for my unbiased review

Blurb! as they say it better than i ever can!

Everyone says Lauren Tranter is exhausted, that she needs rest. And they’re right; with newborn twins, Morgan and Riley, she’s never been more tired in her life. But she knows what she saw: that night, in her hospital room, a woman tried to take her babies and replace them with her own…creatures. Yet when the police arrived, they saw no one. Everyone, from her doctor to her husband, thinks she’s imagining things.

A month passes. And one bright summer morning, the babies disappear from Lauren’s side in a park. But when they’re found, something is different about them. The infants look like Morgan and Riley—to everyone else. But to Lauren, something is off. As everyone around her celebrates their return, Lauren begins to scream, These are not my babies.

Determined to bring her true infant sons home, Lauren will risk the unthinkable. But if she’s wrong about what she saw…she’ll be making the biggest mistake of her life.

wow what a take on a domestic horror/thriller i say horror as to me the premise as a mother myself was horrifying, after the birth of twins an attempted kidnap of them and then they do go missing, everyone is so thrilled they are found but what if you know they are not yours? how do you convince others without seeming crazy yourself?

in a world with now much more understanding over postnatal depression and psychosis i found this book such a perfect mix of psychological understanding and creepy horror

fantastic novel really enjoyed

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This was a strange, twisty story. At first it starts out a little slow, with the author setting up the background information. As the story unfolds, it does so at a slow, but even pace. If you are looking for a book with shocking twists and turns, this is not the one for you. However, if you are looking for a story that slowly builds to a somewhat expected, yet satisfying conclusion, then this is definitely your kind of read!

It starts with a woman who gives birth to twins who has an extraordinary visit by an unexpected visitor. From there, she cares for her newborns with no help from her emotionally distant and lazy husband. We do not know if what she is about to go through is from an actual stalker, or just a descent into post-partum psychosis.

While the story never has a “big reveal,” it does have just enough mystery and suspense to keep you reading until the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy to read. All opinions are my own.