Scary; chillingly realistic! The feelings are very believable as are the happenings. Is it real? Where are your children? Are you sure??

Are you in the mood for a good horror story? One that starts off slow and gradually pulls you in once you've really connected with the main characters? Ahh I have a delicious read if you think you can handle it as it may really spook you.... Little Darlings is a craftily written, truly spooky, creepy tale of twin baby boys switched with mysterious changelings. Their mother is the one person who knows that the switch happened and her desperation increases as the plot starts to build! Introduce a loving husband and a good detective with a mind of her own and the combination is frightfully good!!! Far from a suspense novel, Little Darlings is a nightmare come true for the exhausted new mother Lauren. This story gives me shivers just thinking about it, so I am sure the book and the upcoming movie will do the same to you!!!!

This book was just ok for me. I thought it had a good plot and premised but I just didn’t find the changeling aspect believable

Seems I'm in the minority on this book. I thought it was a well written, mildly creepy, and an excellent premise. For me though, it just felt like it didn't really go anywhere.

I will say that a big strength of the book is the lead detective investigating the case. She's very fully realized. We understand why she's so personally invested in the case, and her efforts to figure out what's going on are engaging. I would have read any mystery she played a central role in solving. Unfortunately, I felt like this particular mystery actually didn't give her a whole lot to do.

I did also liked the mother, Lauren and felt like the author did a good job of getting into her head, capturing how overwhelmed she was as a new mother, and helping us understand how the mother was evaluating and questioning her own sanity.

The think the problem for me was it felt like this book was coasting a bit on its premise (which is admittedly, a creepy one.) Someone wanting to switch out newborns for changelings makes for great drama (which is probably why those stories have been around for so long.) I was totally willing to invest in that premise from the get go. I wanted the real world investigation to be tangential and the author to deep dive on those otherworldly aspects of the plot. Instead the reverse happened--we got caught up into the real world investigation and all of the cool details about the "other mother" and the changelings, etc. were glossed over.

I like dark horror, I like myths and folklore, I like detectives solving mysteries. But I kind of felt like this book was trying to check all of those boxes at the same time. In doing so I felt like it missed the mark a bit. Not a BAD book by any means, just didn't feel cohesive for me personally.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a definite page turner!
Real life new mother trepidations meet malicious folklore legend of switching babies with changkings! Did it really happen or is she going mad?

Melanie Golding hits the mark with Little Darlings. Chilling, completely absorbing, and keep you reading until the final page.

Wow! This book was so creepy! Lauren has just given birth to twin boys. It was a difficult birth and she is trying to recover while nursing and tending to two infants. Of course anyone who has had an infant or has taken care of one knows you can become sleep deprived very quickly! When Lauren calls the police saying a woman is trying to abduct her boys the nurses and guards find no one around. It is put off as a hallucination, but is it?

OMG! What a creepy suspense thriller! This story follows new mother, Lauren who has just given birth to twins. While at the hospital after giving birth she is terrorized by a woman wanting to swap her babies. her pleas for help are ultimately dismissed and just chalked up to a hallucination. Later after coming home her husband has her leave the house after shes been staying in. She takes a leisurely stroll and fall asleep on the beach with her babies to wake up and find them gone! When they are returned to her she claims they are not hers but evil little things. This story was so suspenseful as you wonder whats really going on! I could not put it down...

If you like a mystery with a bit of paranormal thrown in, this is the book for you. It all starts with the birth of twins and a woman trying to switch them for hers. No one believes that it actually happened with the exception of a police investigator. And when it actually does happen...you have to read it to find out what happens next. It’s not my normal read, but I did enjoy it.

I was very intrigued by the premise of this book, it reminded me of Don't Breathe a Word by Jennifer McMahon, which I loved. In this book, the story alternates between that of Lauren, a mom who just gave birth to twins and is struggling to adjust, and that of Joanna, a police sergeant who eventually investigates a crime that Lauren reports to the police. Lauren's storyline is definitely more exciting as it is difficult to tell if what is happening to her is real or the result of some postpartum psychosis. Additionally, old-timey fairy tales are used to start each chapter, which serves as a reminder that these stories have been around for centuries, and which leads you to wonder: if people have been telling these stories for so long, does that mean there is some degree of truth to them?

I also enjoyed the sections told from the perspective of the police sergeant. I found her character to be a new take on the trope of a police investigator and I enjoyed her perspective. There is also a journalist character who is used to move the story along that I didn't enjoy nearly as much.

I don't want to give anything away about what happens so I will just stop there. But I recommend this book to anyone who likes creepy books that have a psychological angle, and especially those who like fairy tales. I found the book very easy to read, easy to get into, and an overall fun reading experience. I look forward to reading more from this author!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!*

This is the unsettling story of a woman named Lauren who has just given birth to twin boys. While still in the hospital, she is stalked by a gruesome woman, who seems to be trying to take Lauren’s babies and switch them with her own. Is this real and can Lauren really trust her own mind?

I really enjoyed this creepy and atmospheric story. The fact that no one else has seen this frightening woman causes Lauren to question her own sanity. The only person who takes the young mother’s allegations seriously is Detective Sergeant Jo Harper. Throughout the book we switch perspectives between DS Harper and Lauren as we get more and more information about the danger or perceived danger to Lauren’s newborn twins.

The story would have been better for me if details about DS Harper’s personal and romantic life were minimized or left out altogether. I found it distracting and it didn’t gel with the rest of the narrative.

The writing was especially strong in the its description of becoming a new mother. It was so real and will bring back memories to anyone who has experienced this amazing, terrifying, and exhausting time. I also loved the inclusion of the excerpts of traditional folklore about changelings.

This was a very strong debut and I can’t wait to see what Melanie Golding comes up with next!

I'll admit, I was not thrilled at first when I saw in a review that I skimmed that there was a supernatural element to this book - I am so glad I didn't let that deter me from jumping in anyway!

Poor Lauren, a new mother of identical twins, had her babies nearly stolen from her and then her sanity questioned throughout the book - but is she really crazy, or is there a darker force in place here? When others won't see what she sees, are they in denial or brushing off the "impossible" and sticking to facts?

Little Darlings is creepy, dark ,and throws in these little twists and hints that make you wonder if you're on the right track with where it's going... and man did the end tie things together in the weirdest but coolest way!

Normally I wouldn't do a review this ear

Having been through an experience where I just gave birth and my nurse commented "I won't steal your baby, you can go to the bathroom", which sent me into an all out melt down, where I pulled my baby into the bathroom bed and all, and threatened the nurse. This was so realistic to me. Obviously a lot of women are not in the best place mentally, or hormonally, after going through the exhaustion of giving birth.

I don't want to spoil any of the story. I do want to say I read this in two days and was totally drawn into Lauren's world. I loved Harper and hope she will return for another Golding novel.

The atmosphere this book created was absolutely chilling. I can only hope that Golding will continue to write. This was perfect for Halloween. I loved that the ending wrapped up all the storylines. Bravo Melanie Golding! You have a new fan!!!

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding was a perfect novel to read in the lead-up to Halloween. This book is creepy, scary, and unsettling, in the vein of traditional fairy and folk tales. Each section begins with an excerpt from such a tale to set the disturbing mood.

During the worst drought since 1976, Lauren Tanter gave birth to twins. The hospital where she delivered didn’t allow her (rather useless) husband Patrick to stay overnight (is this normal in the UK?), so she was alone, drugged after hemorrhaging. In the middle of the night, she heard a woman singing a creepy lullaby to her own newborn twins. On the way to the bathroom, Lauren asked her to quit singing as it could disturb the other patients. Strangely, the woman’s bay had no hospital bed. She was dirty with stringy hair and her babies were in a basket. The woman asked her to switch one baby. The Tranters’ babies had every advantage; it wasn’t fair. Lauren gathered her twins, barricaded herself in the bathroom, and called 999. The responding officers determined no one was in the ward and referred the case to Mental Health Services. DS Joanna Harper, though, thought it worth investigating, even though the psychiatrist chalked the incident up to postpartum hallucinations.

Frightened, Lauren stayed in her house after she was discharged until she finally met her friends Rosa and Cindy at Bishop Valley Park. Lauren took a walk after her friends departed. Waking up, the twins’ stroller was missing. DS Harper rushed to the park and found the twins with a woman who was struggling with the stroller at the edge of the water. When DS Harper came upon them, the woman ran. Quickly captured, she claimed she wasn’t kidnapping the twins at all; she had found the babies and was returning them.

At first, Lauren was overjoyed. Then, she took the stroller and started running towards the river, convinced that the babies weren’t hers; they’d been replaced with the dirty woman’s creatures. Despite everyone’s attempts to convince Lauren otherwise, she believes that her babies aren’t her own. And, as DS Harper investigates the abduction, she begins to see evidence herself that the boys might not be the real babies.

Little Darlings has lots of provocative elements: changeling babies, a drowned city, a mysterious and similar crime from 1976. Even better, it’s ending is satisfying but ambiguous enough that it leaves the reader unsettled and disturbed, perfect for a horror tale.

Review: LITTLE DARLINGS by Melanie Golding. Great book and an excellent horror/thriller mix. Modern day meets old time fairy tale when a woman becomes convinced that her Newborn twin boys have been replaced by river monsters. ⭐⭐⭐⭐Four Stars.

Lauren has Twin boys ,the night they are born she thinks some stranger is trying to steal them and calls cops. Nobody see's a thing but her. Everybody thinks she is crazy. She gets locked away breaks free trys to toss the boys in river like a book told her to. She now knows HER boys are safe but still her husband keeps her locked away. Good story but never says if she gets out.

Oh, this was excellent! I'm writing this review way past my bedtime because there was no way I could go to bed without finishing this book!

<i>Little Darlings</i> is the story of Lauren, a new mother of twins, who is under some serious stress. After an especially hard birth, she is confronted by a strange and menacing woman in her hospital room, who threatens to take Lauren's babies and replace them with her own. Lauren calls the police, but is told she imagined the entire incident. When she returns home, sleep-deprived and dealing with an unhelpful husband, her fears that this woman will take her babies persist. And when she finally ventures out of the house, and her babies are taken and then returned, she is convinced they are changelings and that she needs to get her real babies back. Is there something supernatural going on? Or is Lauren's precarious mental state causing her to imagine the whole thing?

This story was deliciously creepy, and the author did an excellent job of slowly ratcheting up the tension and putting the reader off-balance. The stress Lauren experienced as a new mother was palpable, and it was easy to empathize with what she was going through, even as someone who has never had children. I constantly vacillated between believing Lauren's story and being convinced she was delusional.

We also get a dose of a more reliable narrator through a second POV character, Jo Harper, a police officer who has taken an interest in Lauren's case. Jo is drawn to the case and continues to dig into it even after being told not to by her boss. Like the reader, Jo isn't sure whether to believe Lauren or not, but she's willing to believe there may be more going on than meets the eye. I liked Jo a lot, and if Melanie Golding's plan is to write more books that feature her as a detective, I am so here for it!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves psychological thrillers or a good mystery. <i>Little Darlings</i> is creepy, atmospheric, and completely addicting.

This book grabs you from the first sentence. I could not put this book down. Lauren, a new mother, faced with twins and a husband that was less than helpful, insists that her babies were switched with evil changelings. Is she crazy or does she know something everyone else doesn't? The story meshes a thrilling mystery with a folklore story and a crime procedural. This brilliant mix keeps you guessing as to what is going to happen next. This is a great read and I hope to see more of the dectective Harper in future books.

I finished this book, mostly just to find out if Lauren was crazy or if there was actually changelings running around disguised as her infant children. In this book, Lauren gives birth to identical twins and even from the first night in the hospital, something is off. She hears a woman singing to twins beside her, but the nurses say no one is in that bed. She calls for the police because a woman is trying to steal her twins, but they say no ones there. She calls again because someone is in the bushes outside her house, but again they say no one is there. She sees her twins changing, but the nurses say that babies can change as they grow - hair can darken or lighten and eyes can change color. I kept reading to see if they really were her twins of if they had really been switched, but I felt like I was forcing my way through it. I didn't enjoy reading it - it was just a chore to get through to get to see the end.

Loved this book! It was so different than anything I"ve read in a long time. It's so refreshing to read something unique. Once I started reading I couldn't stop! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a creepy, eerie, folksy-like, mystery. And don't even get me started on the last chapter!! The ending...I don't have anyone to discuss with!!!